II. Henry. 1271. Mar. 13. Philip, his son and successor, was anxious to CHAP. take possession of his kingdom and to men unacquainted with the climate, the navigation of the Mediterranean in the winter appeared a formidable undertaking. The English prince found himself compelled to return with his associates to Italy. He fixed his residence at Trepani, that he might resume his journey with the first appearance of spring; and dispatched his cousin Henry with private instructions to England. That prince was led by curiosity to Murder visit Viterbo in the company of the kings of of prince France and Sicily, to witness the election of a successor to pope Clement IV. Early one morning he entered a church to hear mass. After its conclusion he remained intent on his devotions, when he was suddenly alarmed by the sound of a well-known voice, exclaiming, "Thou traitor, Henry, thou shalt not escape." Turning he saw his two cousins, the outlaws Simon and Guy de Montfort; hastening towards him with their swords drawn, and in complete armour. The unfortunate prince immediately sprang to the altar. But the sanctity of the place could not save him. Of two clergymen who generously interposed, one was killed; and the other was left for dead. Henry himself fell under a multitude of wounds. The two brothers glutted their revenge with the mutilation of his dead body, dragged it to the door of the church, and mounted their horses in triumph under the II. CHAP. protection of the count Aldobrandini, Guy's father-in-law. This sacrilegious assassination spread a general gloom through the city. The Montforts were instantly excommunicated by the college of cardinals: Charles issued orders for their apprehension; and Philip publicly expressed the deepest horror of their conduct. These princes were perhaps sincere: but no demonstrations of grief or resentment could expunge from the mind of Edward the suspicion that, if the murder were not perpetrated, at least the escape of the murderers was effected, with their consent or connivance.119 Death of Richard, the king's brother, still retained his pretensions to the empire. He had lately reRomans. visited his nominal kingdom, entertained the king of the German princes at Worms, and abolished with their concurrence the exorbitant customs levied on the passage of merchandise by the towns on both banks of the Rhine. Though advanced in age he married a second wife, the daughter of Theodoric de Falquemort, a German baron: and proud of his young bride, hastened to display her superior beauty in his own country; but his vanity was checked by the melancholy catastrophe of his son, whose body he buried in the church of Hales, an abbey which he had founded. Soon afterwards his own remains were deposited in the same vault. 119 Rym. i. 871. 890. 892. ii. 4—10. Wikes, 92. 94. CHAP. II. Dec. 12. 1272. April 2. At Kirkham, a paralytic stroke deprived him of the use of his limbs: nor could the skill of his physicians prolong his life above a few months. Henry followed his brother. Repeated maladies had gradually worn out the king's constitution. In the last year he had been in the most imminent danger, and had earnestly required by letter the return of prince Edward. On his recovery he undertook to provide for the liquidation of his debts, by appointing commissioners to receive and administer his revenue, reserving for his private use no more than one hundred and twenty pounds in the year.120 But the death of his brother, the murder of his ne- And of Henry. phew, and the absence of his son, added anxiety of mind to infirmity of body: his health rapidly declined and he expired at Westminster, with the most edifying sentiments, in the fifty-seventh year of his reign. The abbey church, which he had rebuilt from the foundations, was selected for the place of his burial, and his body was deposited in the very tomb out of which he had formerly removed into a golden shrine the bones of Edward the confessor. Many prelates and Nov. 20. barons attended the funeral: before the tomb was covered, the earl of Glocester stepped forward, and putting his hand on the body of the king, swore fealty to prince Edward: and his 120 Rym. i. 871. Henry had on several other occasions retrenched the expenses of his household for the purpose of paying his debts. Faris, 697. 860, II. CHAP. example was eagerly followed by the surrounding spectators. The new monarch was imme diately proclaimed by the style of Edward, king of England, lord of Ireland, and duke of Aqui taine, 121 The king's From the preceding pages the reader will character. have learned to appreciate the character of Henry. Gentle and credulous, warm in his attachments, and forgiving in his enmities, without vices, but also without energy, he was a good man, and a weak monarch. In a more peace, ful age, when the empire of the laws had been strengthened by habits of obedience, he might have filled the throne with decency, perhaps with honour: but his lot cast him into one of the most turbulent periods of our history, without the talents to command respect, or the authority to enforce submission. Yet his incapacity was productive rather of inconvenience to himself than of misery to his subjects. Under his weak but pacific sway the nation grew more rapidly in wealth and prosperity than it had done under any of his military progenitors. Out of the fifty-six years, through which he extended 121 Rym. i. 888, 889. Wikes, 98. Annal. Wigorn. 499. By the native historians of the age the new church of Westminster was deemed superior in magnificence to any other in christendom. Quam idem rex opere sumptuosissimo fabricatam, amota prorsus vetere, quæ nullius omnino valoris extiterat, de propriis fisci regalis exitibus a fundamentis construxit, quæ quidem sumptibus et decore sic cæteris per orbem ecclesiis præponi decernitur, ut videatur comparem non habere. Wikes, 89. II. his reign, but a very small portion was marked CHAP. with the calamities of war: the tenants of the crown were seldom dragged by him into foreign countries, or impoverished by scutages for the support of mercenary armies: the proprietors, deprived of two sources of wealth, the plunder of an enemy, and the ransom of captives, turned their attention to the improvement of their estates: salutary enactments invigorated the spirit of commerce: and there scarcely existed a port from the coast of Norway to the shores of Italy, that was not annually visited by English merchants. This statement may perhaps surprise those, who have listened only to the remonstrances of factious barons, or the complaints of discontented historians: but the fact is, that of all the kings since the conquest, Henry received the least money from the tenants of the crown. According to the most accurate calculation, the average amount of his expenses did not exceed twenty-four thousand marks per annum:122 and we are assured that in the course of a reign which continued half a century, the only extraordinary aids levied by him on the nation were two fifteenths, (one thirtieth, and one fortieth for himself, and one twentieth for the relief of the holy land.123 His great resource was 192 Postquam cœperat esse regni dilapidator. Paris, 814. If these words mean from his accession, the average is 24,000, if from the year in which he came of age, about 30,000 marks. 123 Carte, ii. 171. Of course the aids are not included which the |