573 
ENG 
t lfter, and Connaught ; and, as It had been ufual for the 
one or the other of thefe (fates to take the lead in their 
wars, there was commonly fome prince who feemed, for 
the time, to aft tts monarch of Ireland. Rodevic O’Con¬ 
nor, king of Connaught, was then advanced to this dig¬ 
nity;, but his government, ill obeyed even within his 
own territory, could not unite the people in any meafures, 
either for the eftabHfhinent df order, or for defence againft 
foreigners. The ambition of Henry had, very early in his 
reign, been moved by the profpeft of thefe advantages, 
to attempt the fubjugation of Ireland ; and a pretence 
was only wanting to invade a people, who, being always 
confined to their own id and, had never given offence 
to their neighbours. For this acquilition, Henry had re- 
courfe to Rome, which afTumed a right to difpofe of 
kingdoms and empires; and, not forefeeing the dangerous 
difputes which he was one day to maintain with that fee, 
he atiilfed to give Sanctions to claims which were now 
become dangerous to-all fovereigns. Adrian III. who 
then filled the papal chair, was by birth an Englifhman ; 
and, being on that account the more difpofed to oblige 
Henry, he readily countenanced the plan ; fo that Henry 
only waited for a favourable opportunity of carrying his 
arms into Ireland. 
Dermot IVTacmorroglv king of I.cinder, having render¬ 
ed himfelf obnoxious by his licentious tyranny, had been 
expelled his dominions by a confederacy, of which the 
king of Connaught was the chief. The exiled prince 
applied to Henry for fuccour, who furnifhed him with 
letters patent, by which he empowered his fubjefts to 
aid him in the recovery of his dominions. Dermot en¬ 
gaged with Richard, furnamed Strongbow, earl of Stri- 
gitl ; who dipulated, for this artirtance, the hand of his 
daughter Eva, and a promife that he dtould be declared 
heir to his' territories. While Richard was affembling his 
vaffaks, Dermot went into Wales ; and, meeting with Ro¬ 
bert Fitz-Stephens, condable of Abertevi, and Maurice 
Fitz-Gerald, he alfo engaged them in his fervice, and 
obtained their promife of invading Ireland: he himfelf 
immediately eroded the Iridi fea, concealed himfelf in a 
monadery that he had founded,- and prepared every thing 
for the reception of his Englifh allies. The troops of 
Fitz-Stephens were fird ready. He landed in Ireland 
with thirty knights, fixty efquires, and three hundred 
archers; and, with this fmall body, druck a great terror 
into the native inhabitants. The conjunction, of Maurice 
de Pendergad, who, about the. fame time, brought over 
ten knights and (ixty archers, enabled Fitz-Stephens to 
attempt the fiege of Wexford, a town then inhabited 1 by 
the Danes ; and, after gaining an advantage, he made 
himfelf mader of the place. Soon after, Fitz-Gerald ar¬ 
rived with ten knights, thirty efquires, and a hundred 
archers; and, being joined by the former adventurers, 
they.compofed a force which nothing in Ireland was able 
to withdand. 
Roderic, the chief fnonarch of the ifland, was foiled in 
different actions ; the prince of Offory was obliged to 
fubmit, and give hodages for his peaceable behaviour; 
and Dermot, not content with being redored to his king¬ 
dom of Leinder, projected the dethroning of Roderic, 
and'afpired to the foie dominion of Ireland. In profecn- 
tion of thefe views, he fent over a medenger to the earl 
of Strigul, challenging the performance of his promife, 
and difplaying tlie mighty advantages which might be 
reaped by a reinforcement of warlike troops from Eng¬ 
land. Strongbow fird fent over Raymond, one of his re¬ 
tinue, with ten knights and feventy archers, who, land¬ 
ing near Waterford, defeated a body of three thoufand 
Irith that had ventured to attack him; and, as Richard 
himfelf, who brought over two hundred horfe and a body 
of archers, joined them a few days after, the victorious 
Engli111 made themfelves maders of Waterford, and pro¬ 
ceeded to Dublin, which was taken by affault. Roderic, 
in revenge, cut off the head of Dermot’s natural fan, who 
had been left as a hoffage in his hands; and Richard, 
Vol. VI. No. 373. 
L A N D. 
marrying Eva, became foon after, by the death of Der¬ 
mot, mailer of the kingdom of Leinder, and prepared to 
extend his- authority over all Ireland. Roderic and the 
other Iridi princes, alarmed at the danger, and combining 
together, befieged Dublin with an army of thirty thou¬ 
fand men; but earl Richard, making a hidden fally at 
the head of ninety knights, with their followers, put this 
numerous army to rout, and p'urfued them with great 
(laughter. Henry, now become jealous of the progrefs 
of his own fubjefts, lent orders to recall the Englidi, and 
himfelf landed in Ireland, at the head of five hundred 
knights. The adventurers appeafed him by offering to 
hold their acquifitions in vaffallage to his majefly ; and, 
the fpirits of the Irifh being broken, nothing remained 
but to receive their fubmiflion. The whole ifland was 
formally annexed to the Englifh crown ; and Henry, after 
a few months (lay, returned in triumph to England. 
The joy which this conqueft diffufed throughout the 
realm was very great; and Henry feen'ied now to have 
attained the fummit of his iitmofl wifhes. He was the 
undifputed monarch of the greateff domain in Europe; 
father of a numerous progeny, that gave both luflre and 
authority to his crown; victorious overall his enemies, 
and implicitly obeyed by all his. fubjects. Henry, his 
elded fon, had been anointed king, and was acknowledged 
as undoubted fuccefTor; Richard, his 1 fecond fon, was in¬ 
verted with the duchy of Gujenne and PoiCtou ; Geof¬ 
frey, his third fon, inherited, in right of his wife, the 
duchy of Bretagne ; and John, his youngelf, was defigned 
to be king in Ireland. Such was the pro fpeCl: of gran¬ 
deur before the royal eyes; but -fitch is the inrtability 
of human affairs, that tills very exaltation of his family 
proved the means of embittering his future life, and of 
dirt orbing the peace of his government. 
Among the few vices aferibed to this monarch, unre- 
ftrained gallantry was one. Queen Eleanor, whom he 
had married from motives of ambition, and who had been 
divorced from her former confort for her incontinence, 
was long become difagreeable to Henry ; and Ire fought 
in others thufe fatisfaftions he could not find in her. 
Among the number of his mirtreffes we have the name 
of Fair Rofamond, whofe perfonal charms, and wlrofe 
forrowful death, make fo confpicuous a figure in tile ro¬ 
mances of that period. It is true that the fever!ty of criri- 
ciTm has rejected mod of thefe accounts as fabulous ; yet 
well-known fables, when much celebrated, make a part 
of the hiftory, at lead of the manners, of the age. Ro¬ 
famond Clifford is faid to have been the mod beautiful 
woman of her day. Henry loved her with a mod faith¬ 
ful attachment; and, in order to fecure her from the re- 
fentment of his queen, who, from having been' formerly 
incontinent herfelf, now became jealous of his inconti¬ 
nence, he concealed her in a labyrinth in Woodfi- ak 
Park, where he parted in her Company his hours-of re¬ 
laxation and pleafure. How long this intcrcourfe con¬ 
tinued, is not known ; but it was not fo clofely concealed 
but that it came to the queen’s knowledge, who, as the 
(lory goes, being guided by a clue of.filk to her fair ri¬ 
val’s retreat, compelled her, by holding a drawn dagger 
to her bread, to fwallow poifon. Whatever may he tl-.r. 
veracity of this account, certain it is, that this imperious 
queen, though formerly ottenfive by her own gallantries 
was now no lefs (o by her jealoufy ; and (he it was who 
fird fowed the feeds of diflenfion between the king and his 
children. 
Young Henry was taught to believe himfelf injured, 
when, upon being crowned as partner in’ the kingdom, he 
was not admitted into an aclivc (hare of the adminirtra- 
tion. The discontent cf young Henry was foon followed 
by that of his brothers'Geoffrey and Richard, whom the 
queen had perfuaded to affert their title to the territories 
refpeftively afligned them ; and, upon the king’s refilling 
their demand's, they all fled 1 fecr-etly. to the court of 
France, where Louis gave them countenance and protec¬ 
tion. Queen Eleanor herfelf was meditating an efcape 
7 G t@ 
