Crusade.

recovery of Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulchre from the hands of the unbelievers. Pope Urban II. took up the cry, and when The first it was raised, plenty of people, some from pure motives, some from interest, were eager to join in the expedition. The kings of France and England approved the plan, for it took away some of the most warlike of their subjects, and William Rufus was glad to take Normandy in pledge for ten thousand marks, to enable his brother Robert to betake himself to the East. After numerous adventures the Crusaders, or Crossmen, who wore the cross on their backs, conquered Jerusalem and established a Christian kingdom. Except a few of the leaders, who acquired shares in the new conquests, such as Bohemund, a Norman of Tarentum, who became Prince of Antioch, few of the Crusaders gained much except glory from their efforts, and the real advantage of the Crusades fell to the peaceful inhabitants of Europe, to the kings, who, in the absence of their vassals, took the opportunity to consolidate their power, and to the merchants of the Italian republics, such as Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, who, under the banner of the Cross, re-established their trade with the far East. While Robert was away, William, who had been hunting in the New Forest in Hampshire, was found with an arrow in his heart, and though many stories were told of the event, no one can say with certainty how or by whose hand he met his death.

Death of William.

CHAPTER III.

HENRY I., 1100–1135 (35 years).

Born 1068; married {

1100, Matilda of Scotland.

1121, Adela of Louvain.

Chief Characters of the Reign.-Anselm, Robert of Bellême, Roger of

Salisbury, William Clito.

HENRY, the youngest son of the Conqueror, was hunting in the forest when Rufus was killed, and he hurried at once to Winchester to secure the treasures of the late king. Robert was still in the East, and no one pressed his claims; so a

Election of
Henry I.

small assembly of prelates and nobles chose Henry for king, and he was crowned, in the absence of Anselm, by Maurice, Bishop of London.

Popular acts.

Charter of
Henry.

Church.

The new king began his reign by four popular acts. He issued a charter, married Matilda, the daughter of Malcolm, King of Scots and Margaret, the sister of Edgar Atheling, put Ranulf Flambard in prison, and recalled Anselm. Henry's charter is a very important document; it shows us what were the chief grievances of which the nobles and clergy complained, and the way in which they might be remedied. Henry promised that the Church should be free, and that all bad customs should be abolished, especially that of making a profit out of the revenues of vacant bishoprics and abbeys, which had been the chief cause of complaint against William Rufus. The nobles were to pay to the king only such reliefs as were just and lawful, instead of any sum that the king might choose to demand; and widows were not to be married against their will. Lands which were held by knight-service, i.e. on condition that the holder should provide a horseman in armour for the king's wars, were to be free from any other service. All personal property, i.e. money, chattels, or

Nobles.

heiresses and

furniture, might be disposed of by will. To conciliate the lower orders, the tenants-in-chief were ordered to deal with

People. their tenants as the king dealt by them. The laws of

Edward the Confessor were to be retained with the improvements which had been introduced by William the Conqueror. This charter shows us the exact position of the king. He was in conflict with the higher classes, the clergy, and the nobles; but between them and the people he was an arbitrator, to whom they could look for justice, and hence, when the king found himself at war with his nobles, he could ask the people to support him as their champion.

Henry's marriage with Matilda was popular with the English, whom he wished to please; but it annoyed the Normans, who laughed at Henry and his queen, as the Goodman Godric and his wife Godgifu, after some English story. The children of the marriage, as descendants of William the Conqueror and of Alfred, had a claim to the allegiance of both peoples.

The imprisonment of Ranulf Flambard was pleasing to Churchmen, nobles, and people alike. It was said that he had not only Imprisonment fleeced, but flayed the flock. His ill-gotten wealth, of Flambard. however, helped him to get a rope conveyed into the Tower in a jar of wine, and with it he managed to escape, and fled to Normandy.

barons.

Henry had not been king long before he found himself at war War with the with his barons. Their leader was Robert of Bellême, Earl of Shrewsbury, and son of Roger of Montgomery, the old ally of Odo of Bayeux. He held a number of strong castles on the Welsh border, and was by far the most powerful lord in England. Henry marched against him, captured him and his castles, and drove him into exile. The English were delighted at his fate, and said, "Rejoice, King Henry, and praise the Lord God; for you are now a true king, having beaten Robert de Bellême and driven him into exile." Throughout his reign, Henry always had the good will of the English, for his English birth and English wife made him more to them than the Norman Williams; and to please them he learnt both to read and to speak the English tongue.

When Robert came home he naturally claimed the crown, in Robert's claim accordance with the arrangement made with Rufus; but the English supported Henry, and Robert was

to the Crown.

obliged to content himself with Normandy. When Robert of Bellême was expelled, he retired to Normandy and set himself to stir up war between the duke and his brother. In 1106 Henry, with an army of whom many were English, completely defeated Robert at Tenchebrai. The duke was captured and imprisoned, and Henry became master of the whole of Normandy. The English looked on Tenchebrai as a revenge for their defeat at Hastings forty years before. In 1118 Henry completely defeated the French at Brenville.

During the early years of his reign, Henry was engaged in a quarrel with Anselm. As the clergy held most of their lands from the king as feudal vassals, and had to perform the same military

Henry's

Anselm.

services as laymen, it was of great importance to the quarrel with king that his bishops and abbots should not be his enemies. The kings, therefore, insisted upon their right of granting investiture to abbots and bishops by giving them the ring and staff, and of receiving homage from them for their lands. When Anselm was on the Continent, he became acquainted with an attempt which the pope was making to regain for the Church the control over her own officers, and on his return he refused to consecrate bishops who had done homage for their lands to the king. Henry clearly could not allow the clergy, who owned a very large part of the country, to become independent of him, so he refused to give way. But both Henry and Anselm were reasonable men, and in 1107 it was agreed that the election of bishops should be in the hands of the cathedral clergy, but that the choice should be made in the king's court, that the man chosen should then do homage 1 for his land to the king, and that the archbishop should not refuse to consecrate the bishop-elect, and give him the ring and staff, because he had done such homage for his land. In ' this way the Church was saved from the scandal of having her bishops directly appointed by the king; on the other hand, the king retained his hold over the feudal services due from the Church lands, and in reality was still able to secure the election of his friends.

Election of

bishops.

After Henry had settled his difficulties with his brother Robert

To do homage meant to become the man of another from whom you held land, by an oath binding you to become his man of life and limb, and to hold faith for the lands held from him.

Henry's constitutional

reforms.

and with Anselm, and had defeated the barons in the person of Robert of Bellême, few events of importance occurred for some years, and the time was employed in organizing the administration of the country. In this he was aided by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, who had risen from being the king's chaplain to be his most trusted adviser, and who played a most important part in the system of government. and hundred- Shire-moots and hundred-moots were ordered to meet regularly as heretofore, which was a great advantage to the common people and a great check to the barons, because they gave ready justice to all, and as they were presided over by the king's officer, the sheriff, the nobles were prevented from getting into their hands the administration of justice.

Shire-moots

moots.

Concilium.

Curia Regis.

After the Conquest the place of the Witena-gemot was taken by the Magnum Concilium, or Great Council, in which sat the archMagnum bishops, bishops, chief abbots, and earls, and also the tenants-in-chief, that is, men who held their land as vassals of the king, who took the place of the king's Thegns. It was, however, summoned only on great occasions, and the chief business was done by the Curia Regis, or king's law court, which tried all cases between the great nobles, and other cases on appeal from the shire-moot. The members of this court were mainly the great officers of the realm, such as the Justiciar, Chancellor, Treasurer, and others; but the king could always name any one else to be a member of the court. When the court was sitting to give advice to the king on matters of state, it was called the king's Ordinary Council, as opposed to the Great Council which sat on special occasions; when it was dealing with matters concerning the king's revenue, which formed at that time a large share of the business, it was called the Court of Exchequer; and when it acted as a law court, simply the King's Court, or Curia

1 The Justiciar, under the Norman and early Angevin kings, was the chief officer of the realm. He usually acted as the king's representative, and in the king's absence presided over the Curia Regis. From this his chief duties became legal, and his title is still preserved in that of Chief Justice. The Chancellor was the king's chief secretary, and keeper of his seal. He afterwards took the Justiciar's place as Chief Minister. The Treasurer kept the king's treasure. He succeeded the Chancellor as Chief Minister, and is now represented by a set of Commissioners of whom the chief is called the First Lord of the Treasury.