which they paid thirty marks to the crown. It has also been stated, that there was an association of English merchants for trading in foreign parts, called the Brotherhood of St. Thomas à Becket of Canterbury; but this does not rest on sufficient authority.

With regard to coin, the denominations and relative values of the different kinds continued the same as in the preceding period. Edward III., in 1844, struck florins of gold which were ordered to pass for six shillings, and the halves and quarters in proportion. Subsequently, finding that he had rated these pieces too high, he coined the gold noble of 6s. 8d., and recalled the florins to his treasury. It is upon the coins of this monarch that we first read the motto Dieu et mon droit, "God and my right," which was originally adopted in allusion to the claim to the French crown.

Manners and Customs, etc. – Social life in England during this period assumed a refinement and a splendour to which it had hitherto been a stranger. There was an almost unlimited hospitality in the palaces of princes and the castles of great barons, arising chiefly from the chivalrous spirit which then prevailed. Under the energetic rule of Edward I., and more especially under that of Edward III., chivalry attained its highest exaltation, and gave rise to the most heroic daring and generous deeds, which were, however, sometimes accompanied by revolting atrocities. It was by chivalry that Edward III. sought to accomplish his vast designs. Every tournament he proclaimed increased the number of his supporters, and added to his strength. His opponent, Philip of Valois, adopted the same course, and a rivalry in these pageantries was the consequence. Thus Edward established what was called a round table at Windsor, two hundred feet in diameter, which was maintained at the expense of one hundred pounds weekly; and the French king, in reprisal, established one similar at Paris, by the attractions of which he intercepted many German and Italian knights who were coming to England. Subsequently Edward instituted the illustrious order of the Garter; and then Philip increased the number and splendour of his tournaments. The splendour and recklessness of expense which this chivalrous spirit encouraged was not confined to courtly parades and tournaments: it pervaded every department of domestic as well as public and out-door life. Each man strove to outdo his neighbour: the squire endeavoured to outshine the knight;

the knight, the baron; the baron, the earl; and the earl, the king. Trains of attendants were supported at a ruinous expense. Richard II., it is said, entertained ten thousand persons daily at his tables; and Thomas, earl of Lancaster, grandson of Henry, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, expended in one year about twenty-two thousand pounds of silver in the rites of hospitality. The feastings of chivalry, indeed, crept into the every-day life of the great: the banquets of nobles and ecclesiastics were alike marked by costly profusion. Some of the great feasts of this period exhibit extraordinary bills of fare. Thus at the marriage banquet of Richard, earl of Cornwall, in 1243, thirty thousand dishes were served up; and in the following century, at the installation feast of the abbot of St. Augustine, three thousand dishes were displayed. As for wine it was consumed in abundance: three hundred and seventy-one pipes were drunk in the household of Thomas, earl of Lancaster, in one year. The wines used at this period were either compounded or pure: of the former were hippocras, pigment, and claret; the latter were the wines of France, Spain, Greece, and Syria.

The mode of living in this period required vigorous digestion, and gave rise to continual out-door sports. Hunting, falconry, and hawking were eagerly followed by all classes and both sexes. The in-door amusements differed little from those of former periods; but chess appears to have been added; and the jester became an inmate of princely and noble households. The office of a jester was to divert the jaded spirits of his lord by jests either intellectual or practical, and to keep the banquet in a roar by his wit, by the jingling of his bells, and by the grotesque display of his cap and bauble. Mumming, also, which appears to have been a coarse and primitive kind of masquerade, formed a particular amusement of this period; and, between the courses of public banquets, pageants were sometimes introduced. Mummings and masqueradings were attractive to the common people; but their chief exercise was that of archery. Every village was furnished with pricks, butts, and rovers for competition, and at these trials of skill no man was allowed to shoot at a mark less distant than one hundred and twenty-two feet.

Great improvements were made in the furniture of this period; and many new articles, as square-backed chairs.

tressels for tables, reading-desks, and clocks that struck and chimed the hour, were introduced.

There are also repeated notices in the records of this period of silver, and silver-gilt plate, consisting of dishes, chargers, basons, ewers, saltcellars, and spoons. A pair of knives with sheaths of silver, and a fork of crystal, with fire-screens and fire-dogs, or andirons, are likewise mentioned in the wardrobe accounts of Edward I.

Some of the modes of dress of this period were very ridiculous. Thus, in the reign of Edward III., an English beau wore long pointed shoes, fastened to his knees with gold or silver chains; a stocking of one colour on one leg, and of another colour on the other; short breeches, which did not reach to the middle of his thighs; a coat, one half white and the other half black or blue; and a silk hood buttoned under the chin, embroidered with grotesque figures of animals, and sometimes ornamented with gold, silver, and precious stones. The fashionable females have been thus described by Knyghton:-"The tournaments are attended by many ladies of the first rank and greatest beauty, dressed in party-coloured tunics. Their tippets are very short, their caps remarkably small, and wrapped about their heads with cords; their girdles are ornamented with gold and silver; and they wear short swords, like daggers, before them, which hang across their stomachs. They are mounted on the finest horses with the richest furniture: thus equipped, they ride from place to place in quest of tournaments, by which they dissipate their fortunes, and often ruin their reputation." The ridiculous modes of dress became the subject of bitter reprehension from the satirists in this age. By one writer, ladies, on account of their whimsical head-tires and long trains, are compared to peacocks and pies, having long tails that trail in the dirt, a thousand times longer than those of such birds. The costume of ecclesiastics was also very sumptuous at this period: some of the sacerdotal habits were nearly covered with gold and precious stones, and others elaborately embroidered with the figures of animals and flowers. In the reign of Edward III. long beards came again into fashion; and about this time mention is first made of beaver hats, which were probably manufactured in Flanders. Both in this reign and that of Richard II., extravagant fashions prevailed in dress, which fashions were changed almost annually. Knyghton says, that all distinction of ranks and classes be

came lost in the general extravagance and rage for magnifi cent clothing; and Chaucer, in his " Parson's Tale," inveighs against the inordinate waste and excessive cost of the apparel of all classes down to the menial servants. Harding describes servants as being arrayed in silk, satin, damask, and green and scarlet cloth.

CHAPTER XI.

THE PERIOD FROM THE ACCESSION OF HENRY IV. TO THE END OF THE REIGN OF RICHARD III.

HENRY IV., SURNAMED BOLINGBROKE.

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A.D. 1399. HENRY was crowned king of England with the usual ceremonies in Westminster Abbey, October the 13th, the feast of St. Edward the Confessor, the anniversary of the day on which he had gone into exile. At first all went merrily as a marriage bell:" parliament went hand in hand with the new king. But Henry soon found himself involved in trouble and difficulties. During the first session of parliament violent altercations broke out among the barons: the term "traitor" resounded from every corner of the house, and forty gauntlets were thrown upon the floor as the pledges of battle in the lists. Henry managed to subdue this storm; but in doing so he created many personal enemies. It was followed by a conspiracy to kill him at a tournament appointed to be held at Oxford; and had not the lord Aumerle revealed the plot, he would probably have fallen a sacrifice to vengeance; as it was, the mischief fell upon the heads of the conspirators themselves, all of them being taken and executed.

This attempt was soon followed by the death of the ex-king Richard. He died at Pomfret early in the year 1400; but by what means his death was brought about is not known. It was ascribed to vexation at the defeat of his supporters; but it seems probable that he was either assassinated or starved to death. From this time Henry had no quiet. The death of Richard involved him in a quarrel with France, and inroads were made by the French on the English possessions in the south; but the court of France never declared war against

Henry, and all the transactions with the French during his reign were of minor interest.

With the people of England, the conquest of Scotland was still a popular idea, and Henry determined on an expedition into that country. This expedition was unsuccessful, and while he was absent in the north, a formidable insurrection broke out in the west under the guidance of Owen Glendower, who had been an esquire in the household of Richard, and who retained an affectionate recollection of his old master. On his return from Scotland, Henry marched into Wales to punish Owen; but the Welsh chieftain posted himself among the mountain fastnesses of his country, and compelled the king to retreat.

In the year 1402 the Scots invaded Northumberland, and were defeated at Homildon by the earl of Northumberland and his son Hotspur; the Scottish general, earl Douglas, was taken prisoner. Owen Glendower still continued in arms; and, in one of his predatory inroads into England, he took prisoner sir Edward Mortimer, the uncle of the earl of Mortimer, whose hereditary right to the English throne was stronger than that of Henry. The relations of Mortimer requested permission of Henry to ransom him; but this was refused, and a formidable conspiracy of the English nobles followed. They formed a close league with Owen Glendower; released earl Douglas on condition of his joining them with all his forces; and sent ambassadors to the kings of France and Scotland, to solicit their aid. A large army of English, Welsh, and Scots was raised, and placed under the command of Hotspur; but this army was defeated at Shrewsbury, and all the leaders either taken prisoners or slain. A.D. 1404.

Several subsequent revolts took place in England; but though they caused Henry great trouble, he was uniformly successful in his attempts to quell them. His last opponent was the old earl of Northumberland, who, with a force chiefly consisting of Scots, sought his dethronement. The aged warrior penetrated as far south as Knaresborough; but on the 28th of February, 1408, he was defeated at Branham Moor, near Tadcaster. About the same time Owen Glendower was so far subdued by prince Henry in Wales as not to cause the king any more trouble during his lifetime. The English possessions in France, however, were continually attacked by the French, nor could Henry ever obtain sufficient money from parliament to equip any great expedition