626 



ENGLAND. 



1Ii.--.-wr. 



Invasion of 



: ,-x-cc. 



Treaty of 



Brcti 



A. O. 1360. 



Discontent 

 in the con- 

 quertd pro- 



monw concourse of spectators. The captive king rode 

 a white i-ti parisonrd. while his con- 



queror attended him upon :i ill ick pilt'iey. John ex- 

 ]K-ricnced the same generous treatment from the lather 

 which lie had received from tlie son; but wa ltd by 

 his mUfortr.ne-. to submit to a treaty, which would have 

 ruined and di.-mcnihcrcd his kingdom. He agreed to 

 all the provinces which had bet-n possessed hy 

 Henry II. and his two sons, without any obligation of 

 homage or fe.ilty. This pernicious treaty, however, was 

 rcjcitcd h\ the Dauphin, who had assumed the govern- 

 ment upon the captivity of his father, and who was re- 

 solved to maintain the integrity of his dominions. Ed- 

 ward endeavoured to eompel him to submission ; and 

 entering France with 100,000 men, laid waste the pro- 

 vinces of Picardy and Champagne, and advanced to the 

 gates of Paris. The prudent Dauphin, sensible ol' his 

 inability to withstand such a force in the field, had re- 

 solved to act upon the defensive. He filled all the con- 

 siderable towns with proper garrisons and stores, and 

 shut himself up in the capital. Unawed by the pre- 

 .scnce of the enemy before his gates, he maintained his 

 resolution ; and Edward, after desolating the open coun- 

 try, found it prudent to accept more moderate terms of 

 peace. The treaty of Bretigni was accordingly conclu- 

 ded, by which it was stipulated, that King John should 

 pay three millions of crowns of gold for his ransom, 

 about 1,500,000 of our money ; that the King of Eng- 

 land should for ever renounce all claim to the crown of 

 France, and to the provinces of Normandy, Maine, Tou- 

 raine, and Anjou, and should receive in return the full 

 sovereignty of Guienne, with the provinces of Poictou, 

 Xaintonge, 1'Agenois, Perigort, the Limousin, Quercy, 

 Rovergue, 1'Angoumois, and other districts in that quar- 

 ter, also Calais, Guisnes, Montreuil, and the county of 

 Ponthieu ; and that France should renounce all title to 

 feudal jurisdiction or homage, or appeal from them. 

 These terms, though severe and very disadvantageous to 

 France, John, as soon as he had regained his liberty, 

 prepared to execute with the most scrupulous fidelity ; 

 but he found considerable difficulty in accomplishing 

 his honourable intentions, from the great reluctance 

 which many of the towns and vassals in the ceded pro- 

 vinces shewed in submitting to the dominion of Eng- 

 land. That no endeavours, however, might be want- 

 ing on his part, to adjust all differences between the 

 two kingdoms, he resolved to take a journey to Eng- 

 land ; and when his council endeavoured to dissuade 

 him from this step, and hinted their displeasure at his 

 anxiety to fulfil a treaty which necessity alone had for- 

 ced him to accept, he made this memorable reply, 

 " That though good faith were banished from the rest 

 of the earth, she ought still to retain her habitation in 

 the breasts of princes." This good prince died while in 

 England, and was succeeded by his son Charles the 

 \\ "is.-, who had more political prudence, but less inte- 

 gritv than his fatlrer. 



Young Edward, who had been invested with the sove- 

 reignty of the conquered provinces, under the title of the 

 principality of Aquitaine, had involved himself in debt, 

 by an expedition which he undertook for the restoration 

 of Peter the Cruel to the throne of Castile, and was un- 

 der^the necessity of imposing a heavy tax upon his new 

 subjects. This measure excited general discontent, and 

 some of the nobles even carried Sieir complaints to the 

 King of France. Charles considering this a favourable 

 opportunity of reviving his cl-iim of lord paramount in 

 these provinces, cited the Prince of Wales to appear at 

 Paris, to justify his conduct toward* his vassals. The 



Prince answered that he would come to Paris, but it Hiitey. 

 should be at the head of liO.OOO warriors. Hostilities 

 immediately commenced, and the French, aided by the 

 favourable di-po*iiinn of the inhabitants, and no longer 

 opposed by the abilities of the Black Prince, who was 

 oOUffcd, on account of his infirm state of health, to return 

 to r.ngland, made such progress in their conquests, that retaken by 

 thc\ soon regained almost all that they had lost by the the French, 

 treaty of Bretigni. Calais, with Bourdeaux and Bay- 

 onne, alone remained to Edward of all his vast posses- 

 sions on the continent. 



The Prince of Wales, after a lingering consumption, Death of 

 died at Westminster in the -kith year of his age ; and ": Mt * 

 his father survived him only about a twelvemonth. He A t l$ig } 

 died at Kew in Surry, in the i>5th year of his age, and an df the 

 51t of his reign. The reign of Edward III. is one of king, 

 the longest and most glorious in the annals of England. A. L). 137T 

 The discontents and dissensions occasioned by the weak- 

 ness of his predecessor, were forgotten in the domestic 

 tranquillity which succeeded. He curbed the licen- 

 tious spirits of the nobles, by the prudence and vigour 

 of his administration ; and gained their affections by 

 his affability and munificence. He drained the king- 

 dom, however, of its wealth and population, by his ib* 

 reign wars, which, though they added to his own fame 

 and aggrandizement, were of no real utility to his peo- 

 ple. His valour and military talents were only out- 

 shone by those of his son, whose name, while it spread 

 terror among his enemies, was hailed among his coun- 

 trymen with the warmest feelings of enthusiasm and 

 affection. The warlike achievements of young Edward 

 were the least of his praise. He had won all hearts by 

 his affability, kindness, and moderation ; and the many 

 eminent virtues for which he was distinguished, would 

 have rendered him an ornament to human nature in 

 any country or age. England had long to regret her 

 loss, in the disturbances and insurrections which dis- 

 tracted the succeeding reigns. 



Richard II. the son of the Black Prince, ascended Richard I 

 the throne of his grandfather, when only eleven years 

 of age. The administration of the government, which 

 had been in a great measure intrusted by Edward, du- 

 ring his old age, to his second son the Duke of Lan- 

 caster, was still retained by that prince, who was sup- 

 ported by the authority of his two brothers, the Dukes 

 of York and Gloucester. As Edward had fixed upon no 

 plan of government during the minority of his grand- 

 son, a council of nine peers was appointed by parlia- 

 ment, with full powers to conduct the business of the 

 state for one yew. The administration was carried 011 

 in the king's name ; but the sovereign authority virtu- 

 ally resided in his uncles. These princes kept in obe- 

 dience the turbulent barons, who were always ready to 

 take advantage of any change in the government, and 

 their opposite characters also served as a check upon 

 each other. Lancaster was reserved and unambitious ; 

 York was weak and indolent ; but Gloucester possessed 

 considerable abilities, was )>old and enterprising, and 

 had besides gained the favour of the people. Ilk-hard 

 himself was of a violent temper, and, though young and 

 inexperienced, could not brook the subjection in which 

 he was kept. He was immoderate in his expences and 

 pleasures ; and often neglected the most important af- 

 fairs, that he might indulge in indolence or amusement 

 The wars which his grandfather had left him to finish, 

 had exhausted the treasury, and impoverished his peo- 

 ple ; and the parliament, in order to relieve his cxigcn- 

 cies, had recourse to a poll-tax, which was the cause of ^ p 

 much discontent. They imposed three groats a head A. b. 1381. 



