CHAPTER XXVII
THE INVADER AND HIS DUPES
Meanwhile King John had left Dover for Guildford, and marched fromGuildford to Winchester, and from Winchester to Bristol, having takenthe precaution of strongly garrisoning the castles of Windsor,Wallingford, and Corfe; and Louis of France, after landing at Sandwich,in spite of the legate, led his army to Rochester, and on the 30th ofMay, 1216, took that fortress from the garrison which John had leftwithin its walls six months earlier. Having thus inaugurated his careerin England with a conquest which raised the hopes of John’s enemies,Louis, accompanied by the Lord de Coucy, the Viscount of Melun, theCount of Nevers, and the Count of Perche, marched his army towardsLondon.
It was Thursday, the 2nd of June, when the heir of the Capets rode intothe capital of England, and met with a reception which must have excitedat once his wonder and contempt. Both by barons and citizens he waswelcomed with rapturous applause, and conducted to the church of St.Paul’s, a rude and homely structure, standing amidst the ruins of theTemple of Diana, so soon to be replaced by a magnificent edifice; andwithin St. Paul’s the mayor, aldermen, and chief citizens took the oathof allegiance. This ceremony over, Louis mounted his steed, and, ridingto Westminster, entered the abbey, where the Anglo-Norman baronssolemnly acknowledged him as their sovereign, and swore to be true tohim--the French prince taking an oath on his part to restore to everyone his rights, and to recover for the crown whatever had been lost toit by King John. Louis, being under a sentence of excommunication, couldnot be crowned. However, he was hailed King of England, and, in thatcapacity, nominated Langton to the office of chancellor.
But Louis and the companions of his adventurous enterprise were wellaware that ceremonies, however solemn, could not render his positionsecure, and that the crown could only be his by right of conquest. Notime, therefore, did he lose before letting loose his foreign troops andhis Anglo-Norman partisans on the unfortunate country which he hoped,when conquered, to govern by the strong hand. Having despatched theCount of Nevers to besiege Windsor, Robert Fitzwalter to make war inSuffolk, and the Earl of Essex to gain possession of Essex, he himselfraised the royal banner of France, led his army from London into Sussex,seized the fortresses in that county, and manned them with Frenchtroops; marched from Sussex into Surrey, taking the castles of Reigate,Guildford, and Farnham; and, passing into Hampshire, appeared on the14th of June before Winchester, and soon made himself master of theancient capital of England and all that it contained--the city, in fact,surrendering at his summons, and the king’s castle and the bishop’spalace eleven days later.
Naturally enough, so brilliant an opening of the campaign exerted apowerful influence on men of all opinions. The populace, indeed,continued sullen, and their hatred of the foreigner grew daily stronger.But people who had much to lose were startled by events so important asweekly occurred. The friends of Louis gained confidence, and took boldersteps; his foes were disheartened, and led to doubt and hesitate.Neutrals began to make up their minds as to the merits of thecontroversy, and, in most cases, decided on taking the winning side. Sofar the invader was pleasant to all men, and so charmed his Anglo-Normanpartisans by his affability, that his praise was on thousands oftongues; and he was everywhere contrasted most favourably with KingJohn. Even the reports spread abroad as to the beauty, the intelligence,and the high spirit of his wife had their effect. Besides, victoryseemed to sit on his helm, and misfortune to have claimed his rival asher own. Everywhere the shout of “Montjoie, St. Denis, God aid us, andour Lord Louis!” was shouted by warriors confident of triumph. Nowherecould John remain, even for a week at a time, without having to make ahasty exit. Daily the shouts for “our Lord Louis” became louder and moregeneral; and at length the nobles who had hitherto adhered to the royalcause, believing that, do what they might, the invader was destined toreign, lost heart and hope, and, in order to escape the utter ruin thatstared them in the face, ventured to the camp of Louis, and gave intheir adhesion.
First appeared Hugh Neville, and yielded the castle of Marlborough;then the Earls of Oxford, and Arundel, and Albemarle, and Warren madetheir submission; and so hopeless appeared the struggle, that evenSalisbury, notwithstanding the Plantagenet blood that ran in his veins,appeared at the French camp, and did as Hugh Neville and his peers theother earls had done before him. Pembroke, however, remained stanchlyloyal, and somewhat startled the conquerors by wresting the city ofWorcester from their grasp, almost while they were triumphing in thethought of having taken it; and, what in the end proved of immenseimportance to the royal cause, the mariners of the Cinque Portscontinued to be loyally devoted to the crown. Everything, however, ledLouis to believe in the ultimate success of his enterprise; and havingobtained possession of Odiham, he was already master of all the countryas far as Corfe Castle, when, on the 22nd of July, he appeared at Dover,and laid siege to that stronghold rising in silent majesty from therange of cliffs, and regarded as the key of the kingdom.
It could not be denied that the castle of Dover presented a formidableaspect; and even the most sanguine of the invaders must have eyed itstowers and battlements with some misgiving. Louis, however, had no doubtof being able to reduce it. In fact, he had made preparations which hebelieved could not fail in their object, and particularly relied onengines of war sent by his father, Philip Augustus, particularly amachine called a “malvoisine,” with which to batter the walls. But theeffect was not commensurate with the prince’s expectations. Hubert deBurgh not only looked calmly upon the besieging force and apparatus, butsoon took such measures to mitigate the violence of the assault that theFrench were driven back, and forced to remove their lines to a greaterdistance from the castle than they had at first deemed necessary. Louis,Capet like, lost his temper when he found matters were not going sofavourably as he wished.
“By St. Denis!” cried he in a rage, “I swear that I will not departhence till I have taken the castle, and hanged the garrison.”
Meanwhile the Count of Nevers and the barons of England who served underhis banner had failed to take Windsor, which was defended by IngelardD’Athie, a warrior of great experience; and learning that King John wasmoving northward at the head of a slender force, they marched tointercept him. John, however, contrived to elude them; and learning thathe had taken possession of Stamford, they retraced their steps, andproceeded to Dover to aid Louis in the siege, which was making noprogress.
It happened, however, that among the prisoners taken by the French wasThomas, brother of Hubert de Burgh, and Louis now smiled with triumph ashe anticipated the hour for setting the royal standard of France on theheights of Godwin’s tower. Demanding a parley, he sent to inform Hubertde Burgh of what had happened.
“If you do not surrender the castle,” said the messengers of Louis, “youare likely presently to see your brother put to death, with everytorment likely to render death horrible.”
“I grieve to hear it,” replied Hubert, calmly; “but I cannot value anyman’s life in comparison with the loyalty which I have sworn tomaintain.”
“Our lord, Louis,” said the messengers, returning, “will give you alarge sum of money to surrender.”
“I intend to hold out the castle and maintain my loyalty,” was the briefand conclusive reply.
Finding that Hubert de Burgh was proof against threats and promises,Louis became very irritable, and treated the Anglo-Norman barons with adisdainful indifference which sorely galled them, and at the same timegave much offence by bestowing the earldoms of Wiltshire and Surrey onthe Count of Nevers, who was very avaricious and exceedingly unpopular.Jealousy was already at work in the camp before Dover, and many of thebarons were beginning to think less unkindly of King John, and wereinclined to return to their allegiance, when a story which was spreadabroad gave them an excellent excuse for changing sides, and in the longrun did better service to the royal cause than could have been renderedby a thousand knights.
While Louis was prosecuting the siege of Dover, the Viscount of Melun,who had rem
ained in London, was attacked by a malady which hisphysicians assured him could not fail to end fatally; and, findinghimself drawing near to the gates of death, he sent for Hugh deMoreville and others of the barons who were then in the capital, and,turning on his couch, he informed them that he had something on hisconscience, of which he felt bound to relieve it before going to hisaccount.
“Your fate,” continued the viscount, “grieves me, for you are doomed.Our lord Louis and sixteen of his comrades, on leaving France, boundthemselves by an oath, as soon as the realm of England is conquered andhe is crowned king, to banish for ever you who have joined his standard,as traitors, who are not to be trusted. Moreover, your whole offspringwill be exterminated or beggared. Doubt not my words. I who lie heredying was one of the conspirators. Look to your safety.”
And, having given this warning, the Viscount of Melun lay back on hiscouch and died.
Naturally enough, this story, when it reached the camp at Dover, made astrong impression, and the barons regarded the movements of theirforeign allies with grave suspicion, and communicated their thoughts toeach other in whispers. But they had placed themselves in such apredicament that they knew not what steps to take. In fact, Louis hadthem under his thumb. He had made himself master of the whole South ofEngland. In the West and in the North his power was great, supported inone quarter by the Prince of Wales and in the other by the King ofScots.
“We are like woodcocks caught in our springe,” said one.
“And ere long,” remarked others, “we may be dealt with as deer in abuckstall.”
“In truth,” observed Hugh de Moreville, “our lord Louis is a deceiver,and we are his dupes. But patience, and the tables will be turned,without our cause being lost. It is possible to dupe the deceiver.Meantime, let us use these Frenchmen while they believe they are usingus. Patience, I say, and one day they will discover with amazement thatthe tables are turned. By St. Moden, I swear it!”
“Our friends are already beginning to fall away from our cause, as ratsdesert a falling house,” said the first speaker bitterly.
“It is true,” said De Moreville; and he sighed as he thought of WalterMerley.
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