Second war; against Richard. 1184.
Third war. 1187.
Constantly unwise in his conduct to his sons, Henry now demanded from Richard, perhaps as a recompense for his assistance, a part of Aquitaine, to be given to his favourite son John. This Richard refused to give, and consequently both John and Geoffrey of Brittany attacked him. But though Geoffrey was thus ready enough to quarrel with his elder brother, it was from no love of his father that he did so. He, as well as Richard, was hurt by Henry’s evident partiality for John. He took the opportunity of putting in his own claim for Anjou. On Henry’s refusal, he at once fled to France, where he was as usual well received. His death relieved his father for the time from his opposition, but sowed the seed of further difficulties; for on the one hand his province Brittany was at once divided between the French and English faction, and on the other King Philip II. raised claims as overlord to the guardianship of his young son Arthur. There was a growing disinclination however on all sides to plunge into war; for the Pope was constantly urging a general peace, and the combination of Christian princes for the great Eastern Crusade. A succession of weak princes, and the unnatural and artificial character of the feudal kingdom of Jerusalem, together with the rise of the new Mahomedan power of the Saracens under Saladin, had reduced European power in the East to a very low ebb; and in 1184, Heraclius, the Bishop of Jerusalem, had found it necessary to come over, to attempt to persuade the Kings of England and France to embark in a new crusade. But to Henry, although under a pledge to join such an expedition, the idea of leaving his European dominions in their present critical situation was very distasteful, and he consequently postponed taking action. The feeling however that a crusade was imminent rendered hostilities more difficult; so that when, in 1187, the arbitrary behaviour of Richard in Aquitaine had produced fresh difficulties with France, which as usual terminated in the flight of Richard and the junction of his interests with those of his father, the news of the great battle of Hettin, in which the flower of the Christian army of Jerusalem had been entirely destroyed, and the arrival of William of Tyre for the purpose of exciting the enthusiasm of the West, put a sudden end to the hostilities; and, in 1188, the two kings met in perfect friendship under the old elm in the neighbourhood of Gisors, which was their usual place of treaty, and joined with apparent heartiness in taking the Cross. Upon this occasion Henry imposed upon England the tax, known as the Saladin tax, which was a tenth on all property, and in the collection of which the King’s officers were to work hand in hand with the Church.
Last war; with Richard and Philip. 1189.
But nothing could keep the restless Richard in order; before the year was over, he was engaged in fresh quarrels with Geoffrey of Lusignan and Raymond of Toulouse. After mutual demands for the ransom of some captives, Richard advanced in arms against Raymond, who applied to his suzerain Philip for assistance. This open attack on his dominions Philip could not put up with. At length he declared himself the open enemy of the English. It was in vain that his great feudatories reminded him that he was under the crusader’s vow, in vain that a meeting was held at Gisors. The enmity of the kings was only thereby inflamed, and, in token of his eternal hostility, Philip had the old elm of reconciliation hewn down. One would have supposed that Richard, the cause of the quarrel, would have clung to his father; nor is the reason for his not doing so very plain. Perhaps it may be traced to his father’s refusal to give him up Alice, the French King’s sister, for his wife, wishing it is said to make her his own; perhaps it was continued jealousy of his brother John. Certainly he did betake himself to the French court, and with him many others of Henry’s French feudatories fell away. Henry thus found himself in a difficult situation; broken in mind and body, his resources strained to the utmost by the late heavy taxation of England, and his nobles rapidly deserting him.
Henry’s disastrous peace and death.
His health appears to have influenced his mind. He remained inactive at Le Mans, while Philip overran Maine and threatened to besiege Tours. At length Le Mans, where Henry was with his son Geoffrey, was taken. The city where he had himself been born was the particular object of Henry’s love. He felt its loss as a heavy blow, and though he knew his weakness, could not bring himself to retreat to Normandy, where his chief strength lay. With a sudden accession of energy, he reappeared in Anjou. But his appearance had no effect. One by one the fortresses of Maine were captured, and Philip constantly approached Tours. When that town fell, Henry’s spirit was quite broken. He agreed to an interview with Richard and Philip on the plain of Colombières, to make his submission. Almost fainting, and held upon his horse by his attendants, in the midst of a violent thunderstorm, he met his undutiful son, and brought himself to give him the kiss of peace, whispering as he did so, however, “May God not let me die until I have taken me due vengeance on thee.” The terms of his submission were complete. He promised to give up the Princess Alice; he allowed his nobility to swear fealty for their lands to his son Richard; he promised to pay Philip 50,000 marks for the restoration of his conquests. He had asked, in exchange, for a list of those nobles who had joined Richard in rebellion. When he found at the head of the list the name of his beloved son John, his heart was broken. “I care no more for myself nor for the world,” he said. A day or two longer he lingered, and was carried to Chinon, murmuring at intervals, “Shame, shame, on a conquered king,” and there died, attended only by his natural son and Chancellor Geoffrey.[29]
Importance of the reign.
It is scarcely possible to place the importance of this reign too high, or to overvalue the work of Henry II. We find in his reign the organization of almost all departments of the government subsequently completed by Edward I. The arrangements of the Curia Regis and the reforms in judicial procedure have been already mentioned. The exchequer also was put on a new footing. It now becomes possible to see with some clearness the sources and amount of the royal revenue. To the revenues derived from the domain lands and from the Danegelt, the Norman kings had added feudal dues. Both the proceeds of the royal domain and of the Danegelt appear to have been farmed. The farm of the counties amounted in Henry II.’s reign, after the deductions caused by the grants both of Stephen and of Henry, to about £8000 a year. The Danegelt, originally two shillings on every hide, amounted in Henry I.’s reign to about £2500. As this is about a tenth of what the tax would have produced had it been fully exacted, it must probably also have been farmed to the sheriff, who collected what he could of it, and paid a fixed sum to the exchequer. This unsatisfactory tax came to an end in Henry II.’s reign, perhaps through the agency of Becket. The other source of revenue was the Donum and Auxilium, contributions paid by vassals to assist their lords. The first term applied to the counties, the second to the towns. These names became the general names of all irregular imposts, which are also sometimes called hidage, scutage, or tallage, the tallage being the aid raised from towns, the scutage the aid raised from knights’ fees, the hidage the aid raised from tenants in socage. The importance of the scutage as a commutation for military service has been already dwelt upon. Recourse appears to have been had to these scutages only three or four times during the reign. To these sources of revenue are to be added the fees from the law courts, and the incomes arising from feudal incidents, such as wardship, marriage, and reliefs. The whole income of the country was perhaps about £50,000. The taxes seem to have been assessed by Barons of the Exchequer, aided by the declaration of the knights as to their own holdings, by juries in the case of minor tenants. But it was not only in details of administration that Henry showed his character. He constantly summoned great councils, and as his power was so great and centralized that he could certainly have acted without them, this appears to show a fixed intention on his part to assume the position of a national and constitutional king. The general effect of his work at home was to form the nation. Normans became English. The English no longer felt themselves a conquered people. Their oppressors, the feudal nobility, were destroyed or kept in restraint. The new nobles were chiefly ministers of the crown, and all sections of the people looked to the King as the national representative. The importance of Henry’s reign abroad was scarcely less striking. His immense continental dominions made him one of the great powers of Europe. His close contact with France, and the difficulties which it produced, began the hereditary policy of opposition to that country which has characterized the whole of English history. On the other hand, though he may have had no clear view of what he was doing, he set on foot also the lasting friendships of the nation. The marriage of his daughter with the Guelph Duke brought England into constant friendship with Germany, and caused Otho, the son of Henry the Lion, to be brought up in England, and to be regarded as an English prince. The marriage of his other daughter with Spain set on foot that connection which lasted even beyond the Reformation. His work as a whole may be summed up in the words of Professor Stubbs: “He was faithful to the letter of his engagements. He recovered the demesne rights of the crown, so that his royal dignity did not depend for maintenance on constant taxation. He restored the usurped estates; he destroyed the illegal castles, and the system which they typified; he maintained the royal hold on the lawful ones, and the equality and uniformity of justice which their usurpers had subverted; he restored internal peace, and with it plenty, as the riches of England in the following reign amply testify. He arranged the administration of justice by enacting good laws and appointing faithful judges. He restored the currency; he encouraged commerce, he maintained the privileges of the towns; and, without encouraging an aggressive spirit, armed his people for self-defence. He sustained the form, and somewhat of the spirit of national representation. The clergy had grounds of complaint against him for very important reasons; but their chief complaints were caused by their preference for the immunities of their class to the common safeguard of justice.”