King John was again at Bridgnorth, two months after the memorable event of his signing Magna Charta. This great constitutional charter of England’s liberties the Barons had compelled the King to grant; but the faithless monarch no sooner thought that he could do so with impunity, than he revoked it; the Pope acting as an accomplice of his perfidy, by absolving him from his oath. This threw the kingdom into a state of universal confusion, and civil war raged from one end of it to the other. It was about this time that the Burgesses of Bridgnorth began to fortify their town with a wooden rampart, (a caution suggested no doubt by the troubles of the time) and a large allowance of timber from the Forest of Morfe was made to them for that purpose.[16] Historians give a dreadful picture of the state of the nation at this period. The King having levied a band of mercenaries, commenced hostilities against his own subjects, and marching through the whole extent of his kingdom laid waste the provinces on each side of him, and by fire and sword made as wide a devastation in England as if it had been an enemy’s country. It was towards the close of this destructive progress, and about two months before his death, that King John visited Bridgnorth for the last time. During his short stay of two days he issued several charters, and then proceeded to Worcester, afterwards to Gloucester, and from thence to Newark; where—either from the pressure of extreme fatigue, or great anxiety of mind, or as some naturally enough suppose, from the effects of poison—this unhappy monarch died, and “freed his kingdom,” as the historian well observes, “from the dangers to which it was equally exposed, by his success, or by his misfortune.” [Hume, Vol. 2, p. 92.]
In the reign of his son and successor Henry III., Bridgnorth was as frequently honored by a royal visit, as it had been in the previous reign. Henry III. had frequent occasion to come into Shropshire, on account of the dispute which had arisen between him and Llewelyn, Prince of Wales: sometimes for the purpose of entering into negotiations with him, and sometimes for the purpose of repelling his incursions by force of arms. It was on one of these occasions, September 1st, 1226, that the King, who had just left Bridgnorth, issued a royal edict at Kidderminster—one not of any historic interest, but of great local value; and one which the people of Bridgnorth, and of the neighbourhood, are glad at this day to take advantage of—viz: an edict which established St. Luke’s Fair in this borough. It ran in these words, “The King grants, till he come of age, that the men of Bruges may have an annual fair, to last for three days—viz: the vigil, the day, and the morrow of St. Luke the Evangelist.”—[Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol. 1, p. 302.] So that those who assemble at this annual mart of butter and cheese, to make their purchases for the winter, may bear in mind that they do so in virtue of a royal edict passed in the thirteenth century, and that the fair which they keep is consequently of more than six hundred years standing.
In the month of April of the following year, 1227, King Henry renewed to the Burgesses of Bridgnorth the Charter[17] which had passed the Great Seal in the previous reign; but on the 20th of June in the same year, he granted them a totally new one, which differed from the original charter principally in this, that it conferred on the Corporation the fee-farm of Pendlestone Mills, or, as they are now called, “The Town’s Mills.” The clause in the charter which made over this property to the Corporation of Bridgnorth, is as follows:—“Moreover we have granted to our aforesaid Burgesses, that they and their heirs may hold in fee-farm for ever our Mill at Pendlestone, without the town of Bruges, upon the river Wurgh, with suit of the town of Bruges, and all other its appurtenances; rendering therefore to us and to our heirs yearly, by their own hand, at our Exchequer £10—viz: at the feast of St. Michael, one hundred shillings, and at Easter, one hundred shillings.”—[Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol. 1, p. 303.] In virtue of this clause in the ancient charter of Henry III, the Town’s Mills are the property of the Borough, the Corporation being the Landlords of them, and the custom of paying a yearly rent to the Crown is still continued.
In the year 1265 Bridgnorth was visited by King Henry, and his gallant son Prince Edward, afterwards Edward I, on a very memorable occasion, and one connected with events of such historic interest that it deserves particular notice. The reign of Henry III was greatly disturbed by the rebellious proceedings of Simon de Montfort, son of a well known Italian nobleman of that name, who had rendered himself so famous by his cruel crusades against the Albigenses. Simon de Montfort, the younger, came into England to take possession of the estates, which his father had left him, about the middle of Henry’s reign, and he was graciously received by the King; but although the King shewed him many favors, and united him in marriage to one of the royal family, he soon raised a rebellion against him, and threw the kingdom into the same state of miserable confusion, which prevailed during the previous reign. In a successful battle, which he fought at Lewes, he got possession of the persons of the King and Prince Edward, and in consequence became virtually master of the whole realm. But during this eclipse of the King’s fortunes Shropshire faithfully adhered to the royal cause, and maintained throughout this disastrous period its character for loyalty.
Among the Barons, who proved their fidelity to the King’s declining cause, the Constable of Bridgnorth, Hamo de Strange, was pre-eminent. He held the Castle in spite of de Montfort’s imperious summons to surrender; and though repeatedly commanded by the usurper in the King’s name to yield, and to leave the kingdom, he bade defiance to the mandate, and bravely maintained his post, till the great victory at Evesham over the rebels restored the monarchy.—[Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol. 1, p. 285.] In this famous battle Prince Edward, who had a short time before escaped from the hands of de Montfort, led the army of the Royalists, and by his consummate military skill, as well as by his signal valour, completely routed the rebels. De Montfort, their leader, observing the skilful disposition of the Prince’s forces, is reported to have exclaimed, in utter despair of the fortunes of the day, “The Lord have mercy on our souls, for I see our bodies are the Prince’s.” These gloomy forebodings were fully verified. In the fierce encounter, which ensued, De Montfort was slain with his eldest son, and about a hundred and sixty knights, and many other gentlemen of his party, and his army put completely to the rout, so that the Prince was left undisputed master of the field. It was not long after this memorable action, that the people of Bridgnorth, and their loyal constable, had the high honor of receiving into their town the King, the Queen, the gallant Prince, and other members of the royal household. It appears from some ancient documents, that great preparations were made for their reception on this occasion; and that the grand victory of Evesham, which brought about the restoration of the Monarchy, and the overthrow of a tyrannical usurpation, was celebrated within our Castle walls with festive rejoicings.—[p. 258.] It also appears that the loyalty of the Burgesses during the season of the adverse fortunes of the King, and the losses which they had incurred in consequence, did not pass unnoticed. The King liberally rewarded them. The official papers which attest this, allege as the reason for the royal bounty “the losses which they [the Burgesses of Bridgnorth] had sustained in the time when the kingdom was disturbed, and because they faithfully adhered to the King, and to Edward, his son, in the time aforesaid.”—[p. 309.]
The wise and energetic measures, which Edward adopted, when he succeeded to the throne, put an end to the civil dissensions by which the kingdom had been so long distracted; and this circumstance, as well as his having finally annexed the Principality of Wales to the British crown, prevented the necessity of his making those military expeditions into the border counties, which had been so customary in the reigns of his predecessors. But Edward II. proved as feeble as his father had been vigorous in his government of the kingdom, and the consequence was, that in a short time after his accession the realm was disturbed by a renewal of intestine feuds, and rebellion soon raged from one end of the kingdom to the other. A second confederacy of the Barons against the king, which was formed for the purpose of enforcing on him the banishment of his favorites, the Despencers, took place in the year 1321, and this brought about another siege of Bridgnorth Castle.
The circumstances which led to it were these:—The Earl of Baddlesmere, who owed all his honors, and the largest part of his ample estates to the bounty of the king, joined the factious Barons in their rebellion, and, adding insolence to ingratitude, proceeded so far as to countenance a great affront offered to the queen. She having occasion to pass his Castle of Leeds, in Kent, desired a night’s lodgings within its walls, and was refused admittance, and some of her attendants were wantonly killed before the gate. Edward shewed more promptitude and energy in revenging this wrong, than in any other action of his reign. He marched immediately with some forces to Leeds Castle, which he took, and executed the governor, and having secured Baddlesmere’s treasures, pursued him to his estates in Wiltshire, and from thence, after a while, to his estates near Shiffnal. The confederate Barons, taking alarm at the victorious progress of the King, assembled their forces to besiege Bridgnorth. They burnt part of the town and took the Castle, in the hope, that being masters of this important post, they would be able to check the further advance of the royal army. But they did not long keep possession of it. The King came here in person at the head of his army, and after a brief siege retook the fortress from the rebels, and from thence marched in triumph to Shrewsbury, where the Burgesses, to grace the triumph of their sovereign, came forth to meet him, clad in armour, and where the chiefs of the insurgent Barons, the two Mortimers, were obliged, as humble supplicants at his feet, to sue for mercy.
Five years after the date of this triumph the King was here again, but under very different circumstances. The aspect of his fortunes had become completely clouded, and the hopes, that had flushed his breast as he crossed the Severn in pursuit of his discomfited enemies, were exchanged for bitter disappointment and anxious forebodings; and he entered our Castle on this occasion, not as a victorious general, or an acknowledged king, but as a fugitive and an outlaw, on whose devoted head a price was set. His faithless Queen, who added political treason to private criminality, had joined in a conspiracy with Mortimer and other disaffected Barons, and had summoned a parliament for the purpose of deposing her husband. The act of deposition was easily passed. The king was virtually dethroned, and feeling, as well he might, that his life was in jeopardy, he anxiously looked out for some place of refuge, where he might remain in safety till his friends brought him succour; and judging from its position and its strong natural defences, that Bridgnorth Castle would afford him a secure retreat, he took refuge in it. This circumstance is recorded by an ancient historian,[18] who mentions that in this dangerous crisis of his affairs, when he had reason to dread personal violence from his enemies, the unhappy monarch resolved to betake himself to some well fortified place, where he might be safe till his friends should send him succour; and that he chose Bridgnorth as admirably adapted to the purpose. Therefore, after nightfall, he left his place of concealment, wherever that may have been, and entered into a small boat with a few of his attendants, and having crossed the Severn took refuge in our Castle. How long our loyal fortress shielded him from the conspirators is not known; but, after a time, they discovered his retreat, and dragged him from it—took him prisoner first to Kenilworth, thence to Berkley Castle, in Gloucestershire. The sequel is well known to every reader of English history. After suffering from those, in whose custody he was placed, every kind of indignity and insult which their malice could heap on him, he died under the hands of merciless assassins, whom they hired to despatch him, a death of extreme torture.
Such was the catastrophe which closed the reign of Edward II.—a reign so signalized by troubles, and so saddened by the personal sorrows of the sovereign, as well as by public calamities, that the affecting words, which Shakspeare has put into the mouth of one who after a short time was the successor both of his honors and of his misfortunes, might well have been adopted by Edward as his own:—
“In Winter’s tedious nights sit by the fire With good old folks, and let them tell thee tales Of woeful ages long ago betid; And ere thou bid good night to quit their grief, Tell thou the lamentable fall of me, And send the hearers weeping to their beds.” Richard II., Act v., Scene 1.