A History of England in the Lives of Englishmen, Volume 1

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Page 109 - William, not to be behind with his enemy in vaunting, sent him a message by some monks, requiring him either to resign the kingdom, or to hold it of him in fealty, or to submit their cause to the arbitration of the pope, or to fight him in single combat. Harold replied that the God of battles would soon be the arbiter of all their differences.
Page 308 - As, whom to employ, whom to reward, whom to enquire of, whom to beware of, what were the dependencies, what were the factions, and the like ; keeping, as it were, a journal of his thoughts. There is to this day a merry tale ; that his monkey...
Page 255 - Some menacing expressions which they had dropped gave a suspicion of their design, and the king dispatched a messenger after them, charging them to attempt nothing against the person of the primate ; but these orders arrived too late to prevent their fatal purpose.
Page 271 - Great, verily, was the glory of the English tongue (An.-Sax.) before the Norman Conquest, in this, that the Old English could express most aptly all the conceits of the mind in their own tongue, without borrowing from any.
Page 220 - So help me God I will keep all these articles inviolate, as I am a man, as I am a Christian, as I am a knight, and as I am a king crowned and anointed.
Page 290 - And for the faithful and loving hearts, and also the great labours that ye have borne and sustained toward me in the recovering of my said right and title which I now possess, I thank you with all my heart, and if I had any better good to reward you withal than my body, ye should have it, the which shall always be ready for your defence, never sparing nor letting for no jeopardy, praying you all of your hearty assistance and good countenance, as I shall be unto you...
Page 413 - Lowth has eloquently expressed, was noble, uniform, and complete. " It was no less than to provide for the perpetual maintenance and instruction of two hundred scholars, to afford them a liberal support, and to lead them through a perfect course of education, from the first elements of letters, through the whole circle of the sciences ; from the lowest class of grammatical learning to the highest degrees in the several faculties.
Page 214 - It seems to be apparent from Glanville that villainage was a generic term for servitude in the reign of Henry II., so that the villain of the Great Charter must have been at least a species of serf. The provision which directs that the supreme civil court shall be stationary, instead of following the king's person, is a proof of that regard to the regularity, accessibility, independence, and dignity of public justice, of which the general predominance peculiarly characterizes that venerable monument...
Page 299 - Christ committed the gospel to the clergy and doctors of the Church, that they might minister it to the laity and weaker persons according to the exigency of the times and the wants of men.
Page 210 - John, however, refused; and the court pronounced judgment, that " whereas John, duke of Normandy, in violation of his oath to Philip his lord, had murdered the son of his elder brother, a homager of the crown of France and near kinsman to the king, and had perpetrated the crime within the seigniory of France, he was found guilty of felony and treason, and was therefore adjudged to forfeit all the lands which he held by homage.

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