attention of the people was diverted from the improvement of their lands; and the uncertain tenure by which farmers held their possessions had a still greater effect in preventing the improvement of the soil. Gardening being under the protection of the nobility, had better success: every castle and monastery had its garden, orchard, and vineyard, and a considerable quantity of wine was made in England, said to be not much inferior to that of foreign countries.

In architecture this period produced the best models of what has been called the "lighter Gothic style” of building, many of the cathedrals which afford the finest examples of this style of architecture having been erected in this age. The chief characteristics of the sacred edifices of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries are steeples with spires and pinnacles; pillars formed of clusters of columns; lofty windows, sometimes towering to a point, sometimes much enlarged, and divided into several lights by stone mullions, and always filled by beautiful stained glass, representing the stories of saints and martyrs. There was a gradual improvement also at this time in domestic architecture, and castles and houses were erected of far greater elegance than had hitherto been seen in England. The progress of architecture was much assisted by foreign workmen, who, forming themselves into societies under the title of Free Masons, offered their services to the opulent and noble.

Sculpture and painting made at this time some advances, though not so great as those of architecture; apartments of state, and even those of private individuals, were sometimes ornamented with historical pictures, though they appear to have been of no very high order of merit. Painting on glass is first mentioned at this time in the form of precepts for glazing three windows in St. John's Chapel in the Tower of London, with representations of the Virgin Mary holding the Child, a Trinity, and a St. John the Apostle. The mode of executing such works was in medallions of various forms, inlaid upon a kind of mosaic ground in brilliant colours.

Several musical instruments besides the harp were now in use among minstrels; and a manuscript roll of the offices of Edward III. contains a list of performers on the trumpet, oboe, clarion, dulcimer, tabret, violin, and flute. Several other instruments are mentioned by Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales and House of Fame; and the same poet, in the Romance of the Rose, speaks of a lady's singing in language that implies much vocal ability and knowledge of music. Of British musical composition, however, no remains can be found until the fifteenth century.

Commerce. - The chief manufactures of England in this era were those of wool and leather; the exports were tin, worsted

stuffs, feathers, cheese, butter, honey, tallow, skins of various kinds, and "gaular," supposed to be osiers for making baskets. The greater part of the domestic trade was still carried on in fairs, which were frequented by great numbers of people from different countries, and stored with all kinds of commodities then known. Great impediments and embarrassments to trade were created by ignorant and contradictory legislation; but English commerce, nevertheless, made considerable progress during this period. A powerful impulse was given to navigation and commerce by the introduction of the mariner's compass, which was in common use soon after the middle of the thirteenth century. The exports appear to have been much larger than the imports, for in an account preserved of both in the Exchequer for the year 1354 the former exceed the latter by nearly 200,000l. Wool constituted in this year about thirteen-fourteenths of the whole exports of the kingdom; and it was during this whole period and for a long time afterwards the staple commodity of the export trade.

There were at this time societies of foreign merchants in England; the principal of which appears to have been that of the merchants of Cologne, who had a hall or factory in London, called their Guildhall, for the legal possession of which they paid thirty marks to the crown. It is also said that there was in existence an association formed by English merchants for trading in foreign countries, and called the Brotherhood of St. Thomas à Becket of Canterbury; but this does not rest on sufficient authority to be certain.

The denominations and values of the various kinds of coin continued much the same as in the preceding period. Edward III. in 1344 struck golden florins, which were ordered to pass for 6s., and the halves and quarters were in proportion; but subsequently, on finding that he had rated them too high, he recalled these pieces, and coined the gold noble of 6s. 8d. It is on the coinage of this monarch that we first read the motto, "Dieu et mon droit," which was originally adopted in allusion to the claim to the French crown. Manners and Customs. Social life in England assumed during this period a refinement and splendour hitherto unknown. The chivalrous spirit then prevalent led to the exercise of almost unlimited hospitality in the palaces of princes and the castles of great barons, and it also, under the energetic rule of Edward I., and still more of Edward III., gave rise to many deeds of generous and heroic daring, though unfortunately such exploits were often accompanied by acts of revolting atrocity. By the influence of chivalry Edward III. sought to accomplish his vast designs, and every tournament he proclaimed increased the number of his supporters and added to his strength. His opponent Philip of Valois adopted the same course; so that a rivalry of pageants was kept up between

them. Edward established the Round Table at Windsor; a table 200 feet in diameter, and maintained at the expense of 1007. a week of the money of that time. The French king established a similar one at Paris; by the attractions of which he intercepted many German and Italian knights who were coming to England. Then Edward instituted the Order of the Garter, and again Philip also increased the number and splendour of his tournaments. The extravagance and ruthlessness of expense which this chivalrous spirit encouraged was not confined to courtly parades and tournaments, it pervaded every department of domestic, as well as of public and out-door life. Each man strove to outdo his neighbour; the squire endeavoured to outshine the knight, the knight to eclipse the baron; the baron vied with the earl, and the earl emulated the king. Trains of attendants were supported at a ruinous expense. Richard II. is said to have entertained 10,000 persons daily at his table, and Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, expended in one year 22,000 pounds of silver in hospitality. Gradually the feastings of chivalry became the every-day custom of the great, and the banquets of nobles and ecclesiastics displayed the most costly profusion. Extraordinary bills of fare of this period are in existence. At the installation feast of the Abbot of St. Augustine 3000 dishes were served up, and at the marriage banquet of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, in 1243, 30,000.

Wine was consumed in equal abundance; 371 pipes were drunk in one year in the household of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. The wines were used either compounded or pure: the former are named, as pigment, hippocras, and claret; the latter were those of Spain, Greece, or Syria.

The mode of living at this period was such as to require vigorous digestion, and accordingly hunting, hawking, and all kinds of outof-door sports were followed eagerly by all classes and both sexes. The in-door amusements differed from those of the preceding period by little else than the addition of chess. The jester, with his bells and his grotesque cap and bauble was still an inmate of noble and princely households. His office was to excite the jaded spirits of his lord by jests either intellectual or practical, and to keep the barqueting hall in a roar by his wit or his buffoonery. Mummery also a coarse and primitive kind of masquerade — formed a favourite amusement of the time; and pageants were frequently introduced between the courses of public banquets, as well as in more popular entertainments. Archery was constantly practised, every village being 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 122 feet.

Great improvements were made in the furniture of this period;

and many new articles, such as square-backed chairs, reading-desks, and clocks that struck and chimed the hours, were introduced. There are also repeated notices in the records of this age of silver, and silver-gilt plate, consisting of dishes, basins, ewers, chargers, salt-sellers, 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 were absurd enough. An English beau of the reign of Edward III. wore long pointed shoes fastened to his knees with gold or silver chains; a stocking of one colour on one leg, and of another on the other; short breeches which did not reach to the middle of his thighs; a coat, one half white and the other black or blue; and a silk hood, buttoned under the chin, and embroidered with grotesque figures of animals, and sometimes ornamented with gold, silver, or precious stones. The belles are described by Knyghton as coming to the tournaments, which were attended by many ladies of the first rank and greatest beauty, dressed in parti-coloured tunics, with their tippets very short, their caps remarkably small, and wrapped about their heads with cords; their girdles ornamented with gold and silver; and wearing short swords like daggers, "which hung across their stomachs."

They were mounted on the finest horses with richest furniture; and thus equipped they rode from place to place in quest of tournaments, by which they dissipated their fortunes and often ruined their reputation.

These ridiculous fashions of dress became the subjects of bitter reprehension from the moralists and satirists of the age; and the ladies are compared by them 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 of this period was very sumptuous, and some of the sacerdotal habits were nearly covered with gold and precious stones, and elaborately embroidered with the figures of animals and flowers. In the reign of Edward III. long beards came into fashion, and about this time mention is first made of beaver hats, which were probably manufactured in Flanders. Both in this reign and in that of Richard II. extravagant fashions prevailed in dress, and were changed "almost every year." All distinctions of rank and class, it was said, were becoming lost in the general extravagance and rage for magnificent 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, whom another writer describes as being arrayed in silk, satin, damask, and green and scarlet cloth.

CHAP. XI.

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

HENRY IV., SURNAMED BOLINGBROKE.

HENRY of Bolingbroke was crowned King of England, with the usual ceremonies, in Westminster Abbey, on the 13th of October, the feast of St. Edward the Confessor, and the anniversary of the day on which he himself had gone into exile.

At first all went "merry as a marriage bell," and Parliament was full of complaisance for the new king It was not long, however, before difficulties arose, and even during the first session violent altercations broke out among the barons, and the term "traitor" resounded from every corner of the house. Forty gauntlets were thrown upon the floor as pledges of battle in the lists; and though Henry managed to quell the storm, he created in doing so many personal enemies. A conspiracy was formed to kill him at a tournament appointed to be held at Oxford; but Lord Aumerle revealed the plot, and the mischief fell on the heads of the conspirators themselves, all of whom were taken and executed.

This attempt was soon followed by the death of the ex-king