and would no longer be bound by them, for he thought they took away some of the power of the Church. The King was very much provoked with Becket, who fled from England to France, where he stayed six years.

4. While Becket was away, the King had his eldest son, Henry, crowned as future King of England by the Archbishop of York. The coronation of the Kings was always performed by the Archbishop of Canter

bury; so this was an insult to Becket. Young Henry was to be married to Margaret, daughter of Louis, King of France, and Louis was very angry because Margaret was not crowned at the same time. He prepared for a war with England, and the Pope threatened to put England under an interdict, if Henry did not let Becket return. Then Henry gave way, and Becket returned to England. But the first thing Becket did was to punish the bishops who had crowned young Henry. The King was in France when he heard of this, and in anger he said-" Will all my knights stand by, and see me thus defied by one whom I have myself raised to power? Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?" Four of the King's knights, when they heard this, came over to England. They went to Canterbury, where they found Becket in the cathedral, and there they

THE CORONATION CHAIR.

cruelly murdered him. Henry was filled with grief when he heard the news, but by Becket's death his struggle with the Church was ended, and the King gained almost all that he wanted.

sec-re-ta-ry
as-sist-ed

chan-cel-lor

threat-en-ed

af-fec-tion
de-fi-ed

1 Secretary, one employed to write | laid under an interdict by the Pope,

for another.

2 Affection, love. 3 Interdict.

When a country was

the churches were closed, and the clergy did not perform any sacred office in the accustomed manner.

4. THE INVASION OF IRELAND.

1. Quite early in his reign, Henry had obtained from the Pope, Adrian IV.,1 leave to conquer Ireland; but he could not carry out his plan at that time. Ireland had now fallen into a very bad state, though in earlier times it had contained many wise men who had brought religion and learning to England. The Church had hardly any power, and there were constant wars between the many chiefs. Business with England had almost entirely ceased, and the Pope was glad to give Henry leave to conquer Ireland, as he thought that he could then bring that country under the power of Rome. Henry had proposed at one of his first councils to send soldiers to Ireland, but had not then been able to do so, owing to the unsettled state of affairs in England.

2. Some time afterwards, an Irish chief named Dermot came over to ask Henry's help against another chief, who had turned him out of his land. Henry gave his knights permission to assist Dermot

so Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, who was called Strongbow, crossed over to Ireland, and, with the help of Dermot and his men, took the cities of Wexford, Waterford, and Dublin. Not long after, Henry himself went over to Ireland, and 1171-72 travelled through some parts of the country. He spent his Christmas at Dublin, and astonished the Irish chiefs who had submitted to his rule by the splendour of his entertainments. He intended to conquer the country thoroughly, but was obliged suddenly to embark for Normandy. He left behind him a number of English barons, who lived in the districts of Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, and Cork. The districts in Ireland where the English lived were called the "English Pale."

3. It was a pity that Henry was not able to conquer the whole country, because law and order would have spread over the land. As it was, the English who were left were not able to subdue2 the rest of the country, nor were the Irish able to expel the English. Hence the country was divided into two parts, with different laws and customs, each of the rival nations hating the other, and neither strong enough to rule the whole land. This was the cause of much of the misery of Ireland in after times. Besides his invasion of Ireland, Henry made war upon Wales, but no very important successes were gained on either side.

re-lig-ion
mis-er-y

bus-i-ness
suc-cess-es

1 Adrian IV. (Nicholas Brakespeare), the only Englishman who has

ri-val
ceas-ed

been Pope. He died in the year 1159. 2 Subdue, conquer or reduce.

5.-HENRY'S QUARRELS WITH HIS CHILDREN.

1. The last years of Henry's life were saddened by constant quarrels with his children. He had four sons living, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, and John, and at one time the three eldest of these, Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey, aided by some foreign barons, made war upon their father. William the Lion, King of Scotland, agreed to enter England with his army from

the North; and several of the great English barons, who were angry with Henry because he had taken away some of their power, joined the league against him. Thomas Becket had become a popular1 saint after his murder. Hundreds of pilgrims used to go to his tomb at Canterbury, and in the midst of these troubles, Henry prayed one whole night before

B

the tomb. On the very next day, William the Lion. was defeated at Alnwick, and was obliged to 1174 come to York and declare Henry his over-lord. Henry's sons gave up fighting against their father, and for a time there was peace. The late rebellion showed that many of the great barons were still dangerous. So Henry revived the old militia system, which had died out at the Norman Conquest. Under this system, every freeman was bound to serve in arms for the King, and Henry thus enlisted a national army, on which he could depend to keep order and to fight for him.

3

2. Not long afterwards, the King's sons Henry and Geoffrey died. Henry had expressed penitence2 for his sins against his father, and died pressing to his lips a ring which the King had sent him. But before many years Richard again made war on his father, and he was helped by Philip, King of France. Henry opposed them in France, but several important towns were taken from him, and he did not seem to have strength to strike a blow for himself. At last, after many reverses, he agreed to make peace with Philip and Richard. He was very ill, and when they gave him a list of the men who had fought against him, and he saw at the head of the list the name of his favourite son John, the blow was more than he could bear. He turned his face to the wall, and said— "I have nothing left to care for; let all things go their way," and soon after he died. It was sad to see the great King, who had worked all his life for justice and order, dying thus, defeated, and without his children's love.

3. Henry was nearly fifty-eight years old when