still the language of literature, while French was gaining ground in official and legal use. Architecture. It was in architecture, and not in litera- Traill, I, ture, that the spirit of the time found its truest expression. 415-427. In the latter part of the twelfth century Norman architectural forms were giving way before a style more truly national. The restoration of Canterbury after the fire of 1174 marks Important Events REIGN OF JOHN, 1199-1216. Loss of Normandy, Maine, Anjou, Touraine, 1204. REIGN OF HENRY III, 1216-1272. Wise government of Hubert de Burgh, 1219-1232. The Mad Parliament, 1258. Mise of Amiens; battle of Lewes, 1264. Battle of Evesham; death of de Montfort, 1265. The crusade organized by Louis IX of France and Edward of England, in 1270, resulted disastrously, and in 1291 the Latin Kingdom of the East came to an end. 147 Walsingham, Historia Anglicana. Langland, Piers Plowman, edited by Warren. Froissart's Chronicles, edited by Berner. The Boy's Froissart, edited by Lanier. Political Poems and Songs from Edward III to Richard III, edited by Wright. SPECIAL AUTHORITIES Stubbs, Early Platagenets. Longman, Life and Times of Edward III. Powell, The East Anglia Rising. Gasquet, The Great Pestilence. Burton, History of Scotland. IMAGINATIVE LITERATURE Chaucer, Canterbury Tales. Marlowe, Edward II. Shakespeare, Richard II. Scott, The Fair Maid of Perth. Morris, The Dream of John Ball. Characteristic Features of the Epoch.-The fourteenth century witnessed a momentous change in the relation of classes in England. As we follow the history of its wars and civil dissensions, it seems a degenerate age, a period of waste and decay, and certainly the court and the baronage lost much. in energy and prestige. If, however, we study the movements that agitated the lower ranks of society, we find symptoms of growing power. The serf, the artisan, the small freeholder, the merchant, men of the industrial as distinguished from the military classes, experienced an increase in prosperity that gave them courage to strive for better things. The aspirations of the people found expression in diverse ways. Thought was quickened and ennobled, men sought to perpetuate ideas in books, and a national literature was born. The religious instinct was deepened, and a purer faith rejected the authority of a degenerate Church. The old restraints grew irksome, and men strove to free themselves from the burdens imposed by lord and king, to secure social advancement and political influence. So it came about that in the last years of the century the people had grown strong enough to play their part in the long struggle against the arbitrary power of the king. The Right of Taxation. Progress toward constitutional government was a direct consequence of the financial necessities of the crown. During the period under consideration, military expenses constituted the most serious item in the royal debit account. The determination to regain control of Scotland suggested perennial raids across the border, while the claim to the crown of France preferred by Edward III involved England in twenty-five years of war. burden of taxation became well-nigh unendurable. The The cost of martial expeditions was defrayed by grants voted in Parliament with little grumbling, for the people were ready to pay taxes where the glory of the English name was at stake; but the expenses of the royal household were not so cheerfully met. Men argued that the king should "live of his own," that his court should be maintained out of the revenue from the royal demesne. Now the crown estates had been considerably reduced by sale and gift since the Conqueror's day, so that the private revenue of the sovereign had fallen off at the same time that the life of the court had waxed more luxurious. The ordinary income of |