A Student's History of England Volume I Part 1

A Student's History of England.

VOL. 1.

by Samuel Rawson Gardiner.

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION

The present work is intended for such students as have already an elementary knowledge of the main facts of English history, and aims at meeting their needs by the use of plain language on the one hand, and by the avoidance, on the other hand, of that multiplicity of details which is apt to overburden the memory.

At the close of the book I have treated the last eleven years, 1874 to 1885, in a manner which precludes all expression of my own views, either on the characters of the actors or on the value of the work performed by them; and something of the same reticence will be observed in the pages dealing with the years immediately preceding 1874. We have not the material before us for the formation of a final judgment on many points arising in the course of the narrative, and it is therefore better to abstain from the expression of decided opinion, except on matters so completely before the public as to leave no room for hesitation. Especially is this rule to be observed in a book addressed to those who are not yet at an age when independent investigation is possible.

I hope it will be understood that in my mention of various authors I have had no intention of writing a history of literature, however brief. My object has been throughout to exhibit that side of literature which connects itself with the general political or intellectual movement of the country, and to leave unnoticed the purely literary or scientific qualities of the writers mentioned. This will explain, for instance, the total omission of the name of Roger Bacon, and the brief and, if regarded from a different point of view, the very unsatisfactory treatment of writers like d.i.c.kens and Thackeray.

Those of my readers who have complained that no maps were to be found in the book may now be referred to a 'School Atlas of English History,' recently edited by me for Messrs. Longmans & Co. To include an adequate number of maps in this volume would have increased its size beyond all fitting limits.

In the spelling of Indian names I have not adopted the modern and improved system of transliteration. Admirable as it is when used by those who are able to give the right sound to each letter, it only leads to misp.r.o.nunciation in the mouths of those who are, as most of the readers of this volume will be, entirely in the dark on this point. The old rough method of our fathers at least ensures a fair approximation to the true p.r.o.nunciation.

My warmest thanks are due to Mr. GEORGE NUTT, of Rugby, and to the Rev. W. HUNT. Mr. NUTT not only looked over the proof-sheets up to the death of Edward I. with excellent results, but gave me most valuable advice as to the general arrangement of the book, founded on his own long experience of scholastic teaching. The Rev. W. HUNT looked over a considerable portion of the remaining proof-sheets, and called my attention to several errors and omissions which had escaped my eye.

The ill.u.s.trations have been selected by Mr. W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE, a.s.sistant-Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries. He wishes to acknowledge much valuable a.s.sistance given to him in the choice of portraits by GEORGE SCHARF, Esq., C.B., F.S.A., who is recognised as the highest authority on the subject.

I am indebted to Her Majesty the QUEEN for permission to engrave two of the portraits appearing in the following pages--viz., those of Bishop Fisher, on p. 393, and the Duke of Norfolk, on p. 410--the originals in both cases being at Windsor Castle.

I have to thank Earl SPENCER for permission to engrave the portrait on p. 362; the Earl of ESs.e.x for that on p. 476; the Earl of WARWICK for that on p. 403; the Earl of CARLISLE for that on p. 459; the Viscount DILLON, F.S.A., for that on p. 376; the Hon Sir SPENCER PONSONBY-FANE, K.C.B., for that on p. 365; Sir JOHN FARNABY LENNARD, Bart., for that on p. 463; Dr. EVANS for those on pp. 2, 4, 6; EDWARD HUTH, Esq., for that on p. 387; Mrs. DENT, of Sudeley, for that on p. 395; H. HUCKS GIBBS, Esq., for that on p. 419; T. A. HOPE, Esq., for that on p. 487; E. B. NICHOLSON, Esq., for the portrait of Lord Burghley in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, engraved at p. 479; the authorities of the University of Cambridge for that on p. 477; of Jesus College, Cambridge, for that on p. 414; and of Sidney Suss.e.x College, Cambridge, for that on p. 567; and the Treasurer of Christ's Hospital, London, for the portrait of Charles II. on p. 579. I have also to thank Mr. JOHN MURRAY for permission to engrave the figures on pp.

130, 150, 160, 166, 177, 188, 260; Messrs. PARKER & Co., Oxford, for those on pp. 19, 51, 75, 91, 107, 128, 170, 192, 197, 230, 245, 246, 247, 253, 409, 451; Mr. W. NIVES for those at pp. 381, 409, 451; Mr.

J. G. WALLER for those on pp. 219, 229, 292, 298, 515; Mr. BRUCE for those on pp. 17, 18, 21; Messrs. POULTON & SONS, Lee, for those on pp.

7, 132; Mr. G. A. NICHOLS, Stamford, for those on pp. 311, 316, Mr.

G. T. CLARKE, for that on p. 74; Messrs. CARL NORMAN & Co., Tunbridge Wells, for that on p. 171; Mr. R. KEENE, Derby, for that on p. 318; the Rev. H. H. HENSON, Vicar of Barking, Ess.e.x, for the photograph of the monument of Sir Charles Montague on p. 507; the Science and Art Department for those on pp. 371, 440, 518, 612; Mr. W. H. WHEELER, of Oxford, for those on pp. 319, 384; Messrs. VALENTINE & SONS, Dundee, for those on pp. 109, 206, 213, 238, 244, 276, 355, 378, 485, 662, 666, 668, 683, 907, 919, 937, 942; and Mr. R. KEENE, Derby, for those on pp. 466, 467, 469, 471.

HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

PART I.

_ENGLAND BEFORE THE NORMAN CONQUEST._

CHAPTER I.

PREHISTORIC AND ROMAN BRITAIN.

LEADING DATES

Caesar's first invasion B.C. 55 Invasion of Aulus Plautius A.D. 43 Recall of Agricola 84 Severus in Britain 208 End of the Roman Government 410

1. =Palaeolithic Man of the River-Drift.=--Countless ages ago, there was a period of time to which geologists have given the name of the Pleistocene Age. The part of the earth's surface afterwards called Britain was then attached to the Continent, so that animals could pa.s.s over on dry land. The climate was much colder than it is now, and it is known from the bones which have been dug up that the country was inhabited by wolves, bears, mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, and other creatures now extinct. No human remains have been found amongst these bones, but there is no doubt that men existed contemporaneously with their deposit, because, in the river drift, or gravel washed down by rivers, there have been discovered flints sharpened by chipping, which can only have been produced by the hand of man. The men who used them are known as Palaeolithic, or the men of ancient stone, because these stone implements are rougher and therefore older than others which have been discovered. These Palaeolithic men of the river drift were a race of stunted savages who did not cultivate the ground, but lived on the animals which they killed, and must have had great difficulty in procuring food, as they did not know how to make handles for their sharpened flints, and must therefore have had to hold them in their hands.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Palaeolithic flint sc.r.a.per from Icklingham, Suffolk.

(Evans.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Palaeolithic flint implement from Hoxne, Suffolk.]

2. =Cave-dwelling Palaeolithic Man.=--This race was succeeded by another which dwelt in caves. They, as well as their predecessors, are known as Palaeolithic men, as their weapons were still very rude. As, however, they had learnt to make handles for them, they could construct arrows, harpoons, and javelins. They also made awls and needles of stone; and, what is more remarkable, they possessed a decided artistic power, which enabled them to indicate by a few vigorous scratches the forms of horses, mammoths, reindeer, and other animals. Vast heaps of rubbish still exist in various parts of Europe, which are found to consist of the bones, sh.e.l.ls, and other refuse thrown out by these later Palaeolithic men, who had no reverence for the dead, casting out the bodies of their relations to decay with as little thought as they threw away oyster-sh.e.l.ls or reindeer-bones.

Traces of Palaeolithic men of this type have been found as far north as Derbys.h.i.+re. Their descendants are no longer be met with in these islands. The Eskimos of the extreme north of America, however, have the same artistic faculty and the same disregard for the dead, and it has therefore been supposed that the cave-dwelling men were of the race to which the modern Eskimos belong.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Engraved bone from Cresswell Crags, Derbys.h.i.+re, now in the British Museum (full size).]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Neolithic flint arrow-head from Rudstone, Yorks.

(Evans.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Neolithic celt or cutting instrument from Guernsey.

(Evans.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Neolithic axe from Winterbourn Steepleton, Dorset.

(Evans.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Early British Pottery.]

3. =Neolithic Man.=--Ages pa.s.sed away during which the climate became more temperate, and the earth's surface in these regions sank to a lower level. The seas afterwards known as the North Sea and the English Channel flowed over the depression; and an island was thus formed out of land which had once been part of the continent. After this process had taken place, a third race appeared, which must have crossed the sea in rafts or canoes, and which took the place of the Palaeolithic men. They are known as Neolithic, or men of the new stone age, because their stone implements were of a newer kind, being polished and more efficient than those of their predecessors. They had, therefore, the advantage of superior weapons, and perhaps of superior strength, and were able to overpower those whom they found in the island. With their stone axes they made clearings in the woods in which to place their settlements. They brought with them domestic animals, sheep and goats, dogs and pigs. They spun thread with spindle and distaff, and wove it into cloth upon a loom. They grew corn and manufactured a rude kind of pottery. Each tribe lived in a state of war with its neighbours. A tribe when attacked in force took shelter on the hills in places of refuge, which were surrounded by lofty mounds and ditches. Many of these places of refuge are still to be seen, as, for instance, the one which bears the name of Maiden Castle, near Dorchester. On the open hills, too, are still to be found the long barrows which the Neolithic men raised over the dead. There is little doubt that these men, whose way of life was so superior to that of their Eskimo-like predecessors, were of the race now known as Iberian, which at one time inhabited a great part of Western Europe, but which has since mingled with other races. The Basques of the Pyrenees are the only Iberians who still preserve anything like purity of descent, though even the Basques have in them blood the origin of which is not Iberian.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Early British Pottery.]

4. =Celts and Iberians.=--The Iberians were followed by a swarm of new-comers called Celts. The Celts belong to a group of races sometimes known as the Aryan group, to which also belong Teutons, Slavonians, Italians, Greeks, and the chief ancient races of Persia and India. The Celts were the first to arrive in the West, where they seized upon lands in Spain, in Gaul, and in Britain, which the Iberians had occupied before them. They did not, however, destroy the Iberians altogether. However careful a conquering tribe maybe to preserve the purity of its blood, it rarely succeeds in doing so. The conquerors are sure to preserve some of the men of the conquered race as slaves, and a still larger number of young and comely women who become the mothers of their children. In time the slaves and the children learn to speak the language of their masters or fathers. Thus every European population is derived from many races.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Bronze celt from the Isle of Harty, Kent (1/2).]

5. =The Celts in Britain.=--The Celts were fair-haired and taller than the Iberians, whom they conquered or displaced. They had the advantage of being possessed of weapons of bronze, for which even the polished stone weapons of the Iberians were no match. They burned instead of burying their dead, and raised over the ashes those round barrows which are still to be found intermingled with the long barrows of the Iberians.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Bronze lance-head found in Ireland.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Bronze caldron found in Ireland.]

6. =Goidels and Britons.=--The earliest known name given to this island was Albion. It is uncertain whether the word is of Celtic or of Iberian origin. The later name Britain is derived from a second swarm of Celts called Brythons or Britons, who after a long interval followed the first Celtic immigration. The descendants of these first immigrants are distinguished from the new-comers by the name of Goidels, and it is probable that they were at one time settled in Britain as well as in Ireland, and that they were pushed across the sea into Ireland by the stronger and more civilised Britons. At all events, when history begins Goidels were only to be found in Ireland, though at a later time they colonised a part of what is now known as Scotland, and sent some offshoots into Wales. At present the languages derived from that of the Goidels are the Gaelic of the Highlands, the Manx of the Isle of Man, and the Erse of Ireland. The only language now spoken in the British Isles which is derived from that of the Britons is the Welsh; but the old Cornish language, which was spoken nearly up to the close of the eighteenth century, came from the same stock. It is therefore likely that the Britons pushed the Goidels northward and westward, as the Goidels had formerly pushed the Iberians in the same directions. It was most likely that the Britons erected the huge stone circle of Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, though it is not possible to speak with certainty. That of Avebury is of an earlier date and uncertain origin. Both were probably intended to serve as monuments of the dead, though it is sometimes supposed that they were also used as temples.

[Ill.u.s.tration: View of Stonehenge. (From a photograph.)]

7. =Phoenicians and Greeks.=--The most civilised nations of the ancient world were those which dwelt round the Mediterranean Sea. It was long supposed that the Phoenicians came to Britain from the coast of Syria, or from their colonies at Carthage and in the south of Spain, for the tin which they needed for the manufacture of bronze.

The peninsula of Devon and Cornwall is the only part of the island which produces tin, and it has therefore been thought that the Ca.s.siterides, or tin islands, which the Phoenicians visited, were to be found in that region. It has, however, been recently shown that the Ca.s.siterides were most probably off the coast of Galicia, in Spain, and the belief that Phoenicians visited Britain for tin must therefore be considered to be very doubtful. The first educated visitor who reached Britain was Pytheas, a Greek, who was sent by the merchants of the Greek colony of Ma.s.salia (_Ma.r.s.eilles_) about =330= B.C. to make discoveries which might lead to the opening across Gaul of a trade-route between Britain and their city. It was probably in consequence of the information which he carried to Ma.s.salia on his return that there sprang up a trade in British tin. Another Greek, Posidonius, who came to Britain about two centuries after Pytheas, found this trade in full working order. The tin was brought by land from the present Devon or Cornwall to an island called Ictis, which was only accessible on foot after the tide had ebbed. This island was probably Thanet, which was in those days cut off from the mainland by an arm of the sea which could be crossed on foot at low water. From Thanet the tin was carried into Gaul across the straits, and was then conveyed in waggons to the Rhone to be floated down to the Mediterranean.