Part 25 (2/2)
[287] _Mills_.--Dame-street derived its name from a dam or mill-stream near it. There was also the gate of Blessed Mary del Dam. The original name was preserved until quite recently. In the reign of Charles I. the Master of the Rolls had a residence here, which is described as being ”in a very wholesome air, with a good orchard and garden leading down to the water-side.”--Gilbert's _Dublin_, vol. ii. p. 264. In fact, the residences here were similar to those pleasant places on the Thames, once the haunts of the n.o.bility of London.
[288] _Peac.o.c.ks_.--To serve a peac.o.c.k with its feathers was one of the grandest exploits of mediaeval cookery. It was sown up in its skin after it had been roasted, when it was allowed to cool a little. The bird then appeared at the last course as if alive. Cream of almonds was also a favourite dainty. Indeed, almonds were used in the composition of many dishes; to use as many and as various ingredients as possible seeming to be the acme of gastronomy. St. Bernard had already loudly condemned the _bon vivants_ of the age. His indignation appears to have been especially excited by the various methods in which eggs were cooked. But even seculars condemned the excesses of Norman luxuries, and declared that the knights were loaded with wine instead of steel, and spits instead of lances.
[289] _Henri-curt-mantel_.--A soubriquet derived from the short mantle he constantly wore.
[290] _Good_.--Even the infidel Voltaire admitted that the Popes restrained princes, and protected the people. The Bull _In Coena Domini_ contained an excommunication against those who should levy new taxes upon their estates, or should increase those already existing beyond the bounds of right. For further information on this subject, see Balmez, _European Civilization, pa.s.sim._ M. Guizot says: ”She [the Church] alone resisted the system of castes; she alone maintained the principle of equality of compet.i.tion; she alone called all legitimate superiors to the possession of power.”--_Hist. Gen. de la Civilization en Europe_, Lect. 5.
[291] _Grounds_.--De Maistre and Fenelon both agree in grounding this power on const.i.tutional right; but the former also admitted a divine right.--De Maistre, _Du Pape_, lib. ii. p. 387.
[292] _Grant_.--See M. Gosselin's _Power of the Popes during the Middle Ages_, for further information on this subject.
[293] _Writer_.--_Ireland, Historical and Statistical_.
[294] _Bull_.--There can be no reasonable doubt of the authenticity of this doc.u.ment. Baronius published it from the _Codex Vatica.n.u.s_; John XXII. has annexed it to his brief addresed to Edward II.; and John of Salisbury states distinctly, in his _Metalogicus_, that he obtained this Bull from Adrian. He grounds the right of donation on the supposed gift of the island by Constantine. As the question is one of interest and importance, we subjoin the original: ”Ad preces meas ill.u.s.tri Regi Anglorum Henrico II. concessit (Adria.n.u.s) et dedit Hiberniam jure haereditario possidendam, sicut literae ipsius testantur in hodiernum diem. Nam omnes insulae de jure antiquo ex donatione Constantini, qui eam fundavit et dotavit, dic.u.n.tur ad Romanam Ecclesiam pertinere.”--_Metalogicus_, i. 4.
[295] _Friends.--Hib. Expug_. lib. ii. c. 38.
[296] _Hugh de Lacy_.--In a charter executed at Waterford, Henry had styled this n.o.bleman ”Bailli,” a Norman term for a representative of royalty. The territory bestowed on him covered 800,000 acres. This was something like wholesale plunder.
[297] _Building_.--This was the Danish fortress of Dublin, which occupied the greater part of the hill on which the present Castle of Dublin stands. See _note,_ Four Masters, vol. iii. p. 5. The Annals say this was a ”spectacle of intense pity to the Irish.” It certainly could not have tended to increase their devotion to English rule.
[298] _Waterford_.--The English and Irish accounts of this affair differ widely. The Annals of Innisfallen make the number of slain to be only seven hundred. MacGeoghegan agrees with the Four Masters.
[299] _Coat-of-mail_.--Costly mantles were then fas.h.i.+onable. Strutt informs us that Henry I. had a mantle of fine cloth, lined with black sable, which cost 100 of the money of the time--about 1,500 of our money. Fairholt gives an ill.u.s.tration of the armour of the time (_History of Costume_, p. 74). It was either tegulated or formed of chains in rings. The nasal appendage to the helmet was soon after discarded, probably from the inconvenient hold it afforded the enemy of the wearer in battle. Face-guards were invented soon after.
[300] _Property_.--Maurice FitzGerald died at Wexford in 1179. He is the common ancestor of the Earls of Desmond and Kildare, the Knights of Glynn, of Kerry, and of all the Irish Geraldines.
[301] _Letter_.--”To Raymond, her most loving lord and husband, his own Basilia wishes health as to herself. Know you, my dear lord, that the great tooth in my jaw, which was wont to ache so much, is now fallen out; wherefore, if you have any love or regard for me, or of yourself, you will delay not to hasten hither with all speed.”--Gilbert's _Viceroys_, p. 40. It is said that this letter was read for Raymond by a cleric of his train, so it is presumable that reading and writing were not made a part of his education.
[302] _Terms_.--_Hib. Expug._ lib. i. cap. 27.
[303] _Buried_.--The early history of this church is involved in much obscurity. It probably owes its origin to the Danes. Cambrensis gives some interesting details about it, and mentions several miraculous occurrences which caused it to be held in great veneration in his days.
He specially mentions the case of a young man in the train of Raymond _le Gros_, who had robbed him of his greaves, and who had taken a false oath before the cross of that church to clear himself. After a short absence in England he was compelled to return and confess his guilt, ”as he felt the weight of the cross continually oppressing him.” Strongbow's effigy was broken in 1562, but it was repaired in 1570, by Sir Henry Sidney. Until the middle of the last century, the Earl's tomb was a regularly appointed place for the payment of bonds, rents, and bills of exchange. A rec.u.mbent statue by his side is supposed to represent his son, whom he is said to have cut in two with his sword, for cowardice in flying from an engagement. A writer of the seventeenth century, however, corrects this error, and says that ”Strongbow did no more than run his son through the belly, as appears by the monument and the chronicle.”--Gilbert's _Dublin_, vol. i. p. 113.
CHAPTER XVIII.
FitzAldelm appointed Viceroy--De Courcy in Ulster--Arrival of Cardinal Vivian--Henry II. confers the t.i.tle of King of Ireland on his son John--Irish Bishops at the Council of Lateran--Death of St. Laurence O'Toole--Henry's Rapacity--John Comyn appointed Archbishop of Dublin--John's Visit to Ireland--Insolence of his Courtiers--De Lacy's Death--Death of Henry II.--Accession of Richard I.--An English Archbishop tries to obtain Justice for Ireland--John succeeds to the Crown--Cathal Crovderg--Ma.s.sacres in Connaught--De Courcy's Disgrace and Downfall--His Death.
[A.D. 1176-1201.]
News of the Earl's death soon reached Henry II., who was then holding his court at Valognes, in Normandy. He at once nominated his Seneschal, FitzAldelm de Burgo, Viceroy of Ireland, A.D. 1176. The new governor was accompanied by John de Courcy, Robert FitzEstevene, and Miles de Cogan.
Raymond had a.s.sumed the reins of government after the death of Strongbow, but Henry appears always to have regarded him with jealousy, and gladly availed himself of every opportunity of lessening the power of one who stood so high in favour with the army. The Viceroy was received at Wexford by Raymond, who prudently made a merit of necessity, and resigned his charge. It is said that FitzAldelm was much struck by his retinue and numerous attendants, all of whom belonged to the same family; and that he then and there vowed to effect their ruin. From this moment is dated the distrust so frequently manifested by the English Government towards the powerful and popular Geraldines.
The new Viceroy was not a favourite with the Anglo-Norman colonists. He was openly accused of partiality to the Irish, because he attempted to demand justice for them. It is not known whether this policy was the result of his own judgment, or a compliance with the wishes of his royal master. His conciliatory conduct, whatever may have been its motive, was unhappily counteracted by the violence of De Courcy. This n.o.bleman a.s.serted that he had obtained a grant of Ulster from Henry II., on what grounds it would be indeed difficult to ascertain. He proceeded to make good his claim; and, in defiance of the Viceroy's prohibition, set out for the north, with a small army of chosen knights and soldiers. His friend, Sir Almaric Tristram de Saint Lawrence, was of the number. He was De Courcy's brother-in-law, and they had made vows of eternal friends.h.i.+p in the famous Cathedral of Rouen. De Courcy is described as a man of extraordinary physical strength, of large proportions, shamefully penurious, rashly impetuous, and, despite a fair share in the vices of the age, full of reverence for the clergy, at least if they belonged to his own race. Cambrensis gives a glowing description of his valour, and says that ”any one who had seen Jean de Courci wield his sword, lopping off heads and arms, might well have commended the might of this warrior.”[304]
De Courcy arrived in Downpatrick in four days. The inhabitants were taken by surprise; and the sound of his bugles at daybreak was the first intimation they received of their danger. Cardinal Vivian, who had come as Legate from Alexander III., had but just arrived at the spot. He did his best to promote peace. But neither party would yield; and as the demands of the Norman knights were perfectly unreasonable, Vivian advised Dunlevy, the chieftain of Ulidia, to have recourse to arms. A sharp conflict ensued, in which the English gained the victory, princ.i.p.ally through the personal bravery of their leader. This battle was fought about the beginning of February; another engagement took place on the 24th of June, in which the northerns were again defeated.[305]
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