It is difficult, in a Reign where the subjects were so loaded with taxations of every kind, and so generally and indiscriminately imposed, to separate any particular charge from the aggregate. Henry was a Prince that would not forego his rights and privileges; and, as his Children were all natives of England, would doubtless avail himself of such laws and indulgences as he found established, and as would operate in his favour on their account. It does not appear, upon the face of common history, that any Aid was paid for the Knighthood of his eldest Son, though I have not the least doubt but that it was comprehended in some of those numerous subsidies, tallages, &c. which he levied, from time to time, on his subjects, for his transfretations (to use a Monkish word) into foreign parts. There is some ground for the surmise that the charge might be enveloped in some of those exactions; for, though there was a national contribution or Aid demanded for the marriage of one of his daughters, yet it does not transpire but in a general Inquisition for the purpose of discoverig what monies had been received, in every County, by the Sheriffs, &c. This was effected by Itinerant Justices, who were dispatched over the whole Kingdom; and, among other articles contained in their general commission, they were directed to inquire—"concerning the Aid to marry the King's Daughter, what was received in every hundred, in every township, and of every man, and who received it[135]." This took place in the year 1170, in the sixteenth year of the King's Reign.
With regard to this King's transfretations, as I have called them, he was not contented with mere feudal contributions in lieu of personal service; but, upon a rupture with France, respecting settlements upon an intended marriage between two Sons of Henry (Henry, the then eldest, and Richard, the then second Son) with two Daughters of France; the King commanded all his Tenants in capite, Earls, Barons, and Knights, to attend him in person, properly prepared with horse and arms, who were to serve a whole year in Normandy at their own charge[136].
To conclude all I have to observe upon the subject of exactions towards the King's expences in foreign wars, when he passed outre-mer; I can but remark one, which fell not a little heavy on the subject, imputable indeed to the religious frenzy of the times, which was occasioned by a joint resolution of Henry of England and Philip of France to go to the relief of Jerusalem, in what is known by the name of the Holy War. These levies were made in the most oppressive manner; every one who did not go in person being taxed to the extent of his property real and personal; and this was not called an Aid, a Subsidy, or a Tallage, but (forsooth!) an Alms[137]. It ought not to be forgotten that those who did go, whether Clerk or Layman, were to have a free pardon of all sins repented of; and their securities were God, St. Peter, St. Paul, and the Pope[138].
RICHARD I.
The following Reign is too full of the business of the Holy War, with which Richard was, above all men, most infatuated, to afford much matter for our purpose. Henry had, by the good government and direction of his revenues, left behind him great treasures; but these, or ten times as much, would not answer the purpose of his Successor, who ransacked every corner of his Kingdom for money to carry on this work of zeal, which had seized all Christendom, whereby Richard, on the Throne of a great and opulent Kingdom, thought he saw so fair a prospect of reaping honour and renown.
Henry left in his treasury at Winchester more than nine hundred thousand pounds[139], besides jewels, and other valuable things[140]; but this would go but a very little way towards recovering Jerusalem, which had been taken, and was now in the hands of the Saracens. Before the death of Henry, Richard had bound himself in a vow to Philip of France, to join in this undertaking; and every one, ad Regis exemplum, strove either to go in person, or to supply money towards the expence of the expedition. Nothing, however sacred, could withstand Richard, in his schemes to raise money for this purpose. Most of the Crown lands which Henry had, with so much prudence and address, but a few years before, recovered out of private hands, and annexed to the State, were again put up to public sale, to be purchased by such as were able. Every expedient was devised, to create a fund for this enterprize; and among the rest, he obtained of the Pope a power to dispense with the vows of such who had rashly engaged in the Crusade, by which he raised very large sums. The Bishop of Norwich paid him 1000 marks, to be excused. Where he could, he borrowed; and where he could not borrow, he compelled. The people murmured at his oppression, and the alienation of the estates of the Crown; but Richard told them, he would sell London itself, if he could meet with a purchaser. So great, however, was the general infatuation, that he had less difficulty in raising men than money. The Clergy laboured as zealously to procure him soldiers, as he himself had been active in raising subsidies; his army soon became very numerous, and at a cheap rate, for every officer and private soldier provided himself with necessaries. One would think the great wealth that Richard had amassed would have answered all his purposes; but in a few years after, he had occasion for fresh supplies, to carry on a war with Philip of France; not to mention the ransom which was paid for his release, on his being taken prisoner by the Emperor Henry, amounting to 150,000 marks, which were raised for the occasion by his subjects in England. Philip of France had so maltreated Richard, by leaguing himself with his Brother John, and bribing the Emperor to detain him prisoner, that, as soon as Richard returned home, he could no longer deny himself the satisfaction of revenge. His Kingdom was already drained, and little able to furnish out supplies for a war with France; but Richard was resolved, and money must be had at any rate, let the means be ever so dishonourable. For this purpose he revoked all the grants of the Crown lands, which he had made before his expedition to Palestine. The pretext for this was, that the purchasers had enjoyed them long enough to re-imburse themselves out of the profits, and therefore he did them no injury by taking the lands back again. This was one device; the next was, to avail himself of the loss of the Great Seal, by ordering a new one to be made; and obliged all who had commissions under the old one, to renew them, and have them resealed, by which he must have raised a considerable sum[141].
King Richard I. having no child of either sex, there was not an opening for demanding the two common Aids; but the third, in the order they are usually placed, viz. for the ransom of the King's Person, was exercised for the first time in this Reign. Other taxations, heavy and enormous, on frivolous and nugatory occasions, not to our immediate purpose, were copiously extorted from the subject, and even in a shameful manner[142]. If ever the Latin adage, "Quicquid delirant Reges," &c. could be properly applied, it belonged to Richard.