CHAP.
VIII.

1154.

the head of an army of two hundred thousand men; but a petty lord of Corbeil, of Puifet, of Couci, was able, at another time, to fet that prince at defiance, and to maintain open war against him.

THE authority of the English monarch was much more extenfive within his kingdom, and the difproportion much greater between him and the most powerful of his vaffals. His demesnes and revenue were very large, compared to the greatness of his ftate: He was accustomed to levy arbitrary exactions from his fubjects: His courts of judicature exercised jurisdiction in every part of the kingdom: He could crush by his power, or by a judicial fentence, well or ill founded, any obnoxious baron: And though the feudal institutions, which prevailed in his kingdom, had the fame tendency, as in other ftates, to exalt the aristocracy, and deprefs the monarchy, it required, in England, according to its present conftitution, a great combination of the vaffals to oppose their sovereign lord, and there had not hitherto arifen any baron fo powerful, as of himself to make war against the prince, and afford protection to the inferior barons.

WHILE fuch were the different fituations of France and England, and the latter enjoyed fo great advantages over the former; the acceffion of Henry II. a prince of great abilities, poffeffed of fo many rich provinces on the continent, might appear an event dangerous, if not fatal, to the French monarchy, and fufficient to break entirely the balance between the states. He was mafter, in the right of his father, of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine; in that of his mother, of Normandy; in that of his wife, of Guienne, Poitou, Xaintogne, Auvergne, Perigord, Angoumois, the Limousin. He foon after annexed Britanny

to

to his other flates, and was already poffeffed of the superiority over that province, which, on the first ceffion of Normandy to Rollo the Dane, had, by Charles the Simple, been granted in vaffalage to that formidable ravager. These provinces compofed above a third of the whole French monarchy, and were much fuperior, in extent and opulence, to those territories, which were fubjected to the immediate jurifdiction and government of the King. The vaffal was here more powerful than his liege lord: The fituation, which had enabled Hugh Capet to depofe the Carlovingian princes, feemed here to be renewed, and that with much greater advantages on the fide of the vaffal: And when England was added to fo many provinces, the French King had reafon to apprehend, from this conjuncture, fome great difafter to himself and to his family. But in reality, it was this circumftance, which appeared fo formidable, that faved the Capetian race, and, by its confequences, exalted them to that pitch of grandeur, which they at present enjoy.

THE limited authority of the prince in the feudal conftitutions prevented the King of England from employing with advantage the force of so many states, which were fubjected to his government; and thefe different members, disjoined in fituation, and disagreeing in laws, language and manners, were never thoroughly cemented into one monarchy. He foon became, both from his diftant place of refidence and from the incompatability of interefts, a kind of foreigner to his French dominions; and his fubjects on the continent confidered their allegiance as more naturally due to their fuperior lord, who lived in their neighbourhood, and who was acknowledged to be the supreme head of their nation. He was always at hand to invade them; their immediate lord was often at too great a distance to

VOL. I.

Gg g

protec

VIII.

1154.

CHAP. protect them; and any disorder in any part of his dispersed dominions gave advantages against him. The other powerful vassals of the French crown were rather pleased to see the expulfion of the English, and were not affected with that jealoufy, which would have arifen from the oppreffion of a co-vaffal, who was of the fame rank with themselves. By this means, the King of France found it more easy to conquer these numerous provinces from England, than to fubdue a duke of Normandy or Guienne, a count of Anjou, Maine or Poitou. And after reducing fuch extenfive territories, which immediately incorporated with the body of the monarchy, he found greater facility of uniting to the crown the other great fiefs, which still remained separate and independant.

BUT as these important confequences could not be foreseen by human wisdom, the French King remarked with terror the rifing grandeur of the houfe of Anjou or Plantagenet; and in order to retard its progress, he had ever maintained a strict union with Stephen, and had endeavoured to support the tottering fortunes of that bold ufurper. But after this prince's death, it was too late to think of oppofing the fucceffion of Henry, or . preventing the performance of those ftipulations, which, with the unanimous confent of the nation, he had made with his predeceffor. The English, tired with civil wars, and difgufted with the bloodshed and depredations, which, during the course of fo many years, had attended them, were little disposed to violate their oaths, by excluding the lawful heir from the fucceffion of their monarchy. Many of the most confiderable fortreffes were in the hands of his partizans; the whole nation had had occafion to see the noble qualities with which he was endowed

b

2 Matth. Paris, p. 65.

Gul. Neubr. p. 381.

and

CHAP.

VIII.

1154.

and to compare them with the mean talents of William, the fon
of Stephen; and as they were acquainted with his great power,
and were rather pleafed to fee the acceffion of fo many foreign
dominions to the crown of England, they never entertained the
least thoughts of refifting him. Henry himself, fenfible of the
advantages attending his prefent fituation, was in no hurry to
arrive in England; and being engaged in the fiege of a castle
on the frontiers of Normandy, when he received intelligence
of Stephen's death, he made it a point of honour not to depart
from his enterprize, till he had brought it to an issue. He
then fet out on his journey, and was received in England with 8th Decemb.
the acclamations of all orders of men, who fwore with pleasure
the oath of fealty and allegiance to him.

Henry's go

vernment.

THE first act of Henry's government correfponded to the high idea entertained of his vigour and abilities, and prognofticated First acts of the re-establishment of juftice and tranquillity, of which the kingdom had been fo long bereaved. He immediately dismissed all thofe mercenary foldiers, who had committed infinite diforders in the nation; and he fent them abroad, together with William d'Ypres, their leader, the great friend and confident of Stephen. He revoked all the grants made by his predeceffor, and even those which neceffity had extorted from the Emprefs, Matilda; and that princefs, who had refigned her rights in favour of Henry, made no oppofition to a measure so necessary for supporting the dignity of the crown. He repaired the coin, which had been extremely debased during his prcdcceffor's reign; and he took proper measures against the return of like abuses. He was rigorous in the execution of justice,

• Fitz Steph. p.-13. M. Paris, p. 65. d Neubr. p. 382.

Neubr. p. 381, Chron. T. Wykes, F. 30. e Hoveden, p. 491.

Ggg 2

and

CHAP.
VIII.

1155.

1156.

and in the fuppreffion of robbery and violence; and that he
might restore authority to the laws, he caufed all the new
erected caftles to be demolished, which had proved fo many fanc-
tuaries to freebooters and rebels. The earl of Albemarle,
Hugh Mortimer, and Roger, the fon of Miles of Glocefter,
were inclined to make fome refiftance to this falutary measure;
but the approach of the King with his forces, foon obliged them
to fubmit 2.

EVERY thing being restored to full tranquillity in England, Henry went abroad in order to oppose the attempts of his brother, Geoffrey, who, during his abfence, had made an incurfion into Anjou and Maine, had advanced some pretenfions to these provinces, and had got poffeffion of a confiderable part of them". On the King's appearance, the people returned to their allegiance; and Geoffrey, refigning his claim, for an annual pension of a thousand pounds, departed and took poffeffion of the county of Nantz, which the inhabitants, who had expelled count Hoel, their prince, had put into his hands'. Henry returned to England the following year; and the incurfions of the Welsh then provoked him to make an invasion

f Hoveden, p. 491. Fitz-Steph. p. 13. M. Paris, p. 65. Neubr. p. 381. Bromp·

ton, p. 1043.

Neubr. p. 382. Chron. W. Heming. p. 491. Gervafe, p. 1377.

h William of Newbridge, p. 383. (who is copied by latter historians) afferts, that Geoffrey had fome title to the counties of Maine and Anjou. He pretends, that count Geoffrey, his father, had left him thefe dominions by a fecret will, and had ordered that his body fhou'd not be buried, till Henry fhould fwear to the obfervance of it, which he, ignorant of the contents, was induced to do. But befides, that this ftory is not very likely of itfelf, and favours of monkish filion, it is found in no other antient. writer, and is contradicted by fome of them, particularly the monk of Marmoutier, who had better opportunities than Newbridge of knowing the truth. See Vita Gaufr. Duc. Norman. p. 103.