Henry, however, had a canopy held over him, supported by four lances; and an attendant on either hand, guiding him by the arms lest he should stumble. When he arrived at Westminster, he was met by the whole convent at the church door; but not even then did the king relinquish his precious burden: he went round the church, the chapels, and the adjoining court, and at length presented the vase and its contents "to God and the church of St. Peter." Mass was then sung; and the Bishop of Norwich, ascending the pulpit, delivered a sermon to the people, extolling the value of the relic, lauding the great devotion of the king, and anathematising all those who hinted doubts of its genuineness. This memorable day was closed by the king's feasting sumptuously and conferring knighthood on his half-brother, William de Valence; and the well-pleased monk of St. Albans, who was present, records the gratifying circumstance that Henry, seeing him, called him, and prayed him "expressly and fully to record all these things in a well-written book."
CHAPTER XXV.
THE REIGN OF HENRY III. (concluded).
The King's Misfortunes Abroad and Exactions at Home—Ambition and Rapacity of the Church of Rome—The Council of Lyons—The Kingdom of Sicily—Henry Accepts the Crown for his Son—Consequent Extortions—Richard becomes King of the Romans—Disputes between the King and the Barons—Simon de Montfort—He becomes Leader of the National Party—The Mad Parliament and the Provisions of Oxford—Banishment of Aliens—Government of the Barons—Peace with France—Henry is Absolved from the Provisions of Oxford—The Barons Oppose Him—Outbreak of Hostilities—The Award of Amiens—The Battle of Lewes—The Mise of Lewes—Supremacy of Leicester—The Exiles assemble at Damme—The Parliament of 1265—Escape of Prince Edward—Battle of Evesham and Death of De Montfort—Continuance of the Rebellion—The Dictum de Kenilworth—Parliament of Marlborough—Prince Edward goes on Crusade—Deaths of Henry d'Almaine, Richard of Cornwall, and the King—Character of Henry.
Henry's bounty and profuse liberality to his foreign relations, his friends and favourites, might have appeared less intolerable to his subjects had anything been done for the honour of the nation. But the crown was so utterly subservient to the See of Rome, that it fell into contempt and well-deserved hatred. The regal vassal appeared to have no will but that of the Pontiff, who (as was to be expected) was not slow to abuse Henry's weakness.
It is true that the king, in 1242, declared war against Louis IX. of France, and undertook an expedition into Gascony at the earnest solicitation of the Count de la Marche, who promised to support him with all his force. He was unsuccessful in his attempts against that great monarch, was compelled to avoid destruction at Taillebourg by concluding an armistice, was deserted by his allies, lost what remained to him of Poitou, and was obliged to return, with loss of honour, into England. The Gascon nobility were attached to the English government because the distance of their sovereign allowed them to remain in a state of almost total independence; and they claimed, some time after, Henry's protection against an invasion which the King of Castile made upon their territory. Henry returned into Gascony, and was more successful in this expedition, but he thereby involved himself and his nobility in enormous debt, which both increased their discontents and exposed him to greater danger from their enterprises.
Want of economy and an ill-judged liberality were Henry's great defects; and his debts, even before this expedition, had become so troublesome, that he sold all his plate and jewels in order to discharge them. When this expedient was first proposed to him, he asked where he should find purchasers. It was replied, "The citizens of London." "On my word," said he, "if the treasury of Augustus were brought to sale, the citizens are able to be the purchasers: these clowns, who assume to themselves the name of barons, abound in everything, while we are reduced to necessaries." And he was thenceforth observed to be more forward and greedy in his exactions upon the citizens.
But the grievances which the English during this reign had reason to complain of in the civil government, seemed to have been still less burthensome than those which they suffered from usurpations and exactions of the court of Rome. On the death of Langton in 1228, the monks of Christ Church elected Walter de Hemesham, one of their own body, for his successor. But as Henry refused to confirm the election, the Pope, at his desire, annulled it, and immediately appointed Richard, Chancellor of Lincoln, for archbishop, without waiting for a new election. On the death of Richard in 1231, the monks elected Ralph de Neville, Bishop of Chichester; and though Henry was much pleased with the election, the Pope, who thought that prelate too much attached to the crown, assumed the power of annulling his election. He rejected two clergymen more, whom the monks had successively chosen; and he at last told them that if they would elect Edmund, treasurer of the church at Salisbury, he would confirm their choice, and his nomination was complied with. The Pope had the prudence to appoint both times very worthy primates; but men could not forbear observing his intention of thus drawing gradually to himself the right of bestowing that important dignity.
The avarice, however, more than the ambition of the See of Rome seems to have been in this age the ground of general complaint. The papal ministers, finding a vast stock of power amassed by their predecessors, were desirous of turning it to immediate profit, which they enjoyed at home, rather than of enlarging their authority in distant countries, where they never intended to reside. Everything was become venal in the Romish tribunals; simony was openly practised; no favours, and even no justice, could be obtained without a bribe; the highest bidder was sure to have the preference, without regard either to the merits of the person or of the cause; and besides the usual perversions of right in the decision of controversies, the Pope openly assumed an absolute and uncontrolled authority of setting aside, by the plenitude of his apostolic power, all particular rule, and all privileges of patrons, churches, and convents. On pretence of remedying these abuses, Pope Honorius, in 1226, complaining of the poverty of his See as the source of all grievances, demanded from every cathedral two of the best prebends, and from every convent two monk's portions, to be set apart as a perpetual and settled revenue of the papal crown. But all men being sensible that the revenue would continue for ever, and the abuses immediately return, his demand was unanimously rejected. About three years after, the Pope demanded and obtained the tenth of all ecclesiastical revenues, which he levied in a very oppressive manner, requiring payment before the clergy had drawn their rent or tithes, and sending about usurers, who advanced them the money at exorbitant interest. In the year 1240, Otho, the legate, having in vain attempted the clergy in a body, obtained separately, by intrigues and menaces, large sums from the convents and prelates; and on his departure is said to have carried more money out of the kingdom than he left in it.