London chose
him for their leader; and his presumption was nourished by the daily
accession of outlaws from different parts of the country. Henry
summoned his friends to the siege of the capital; and the Earl, when
he beheld from the walls the royal army, and reflected on the
consequences of a defeat, condemned his own temerity, accepted the
mediation of the King of the Romans, and on the condition of receiving
a full pardon, gladly returned to his duty, leaving at the same time
the citizens to the good pleasure of the King. His submission drew
after it the submission of the other insurgents. If Llewellyn remained
in arms, it was only with the hope of extorting more favorable terms.
The title of Prince of Wales with a right to the homage of the Welsh
chieftains satisfied his ambition; and he consented to swear fealty to
Henry, and to pay him the sum of twenty-five thousand marks. The
restoration of tranquillity allowed the King to direct his attention
to the improvement of his people. He condescended to profit by the
labors of his adversaries; and some of the most useful among the
provisions of the barons were with other laws enacted by legitimate
authority in a parliament at Marlborough. To crown this important
work, and to extinguish, if it were possible, the very embers of
discontent, the clergy were brought forward with a grant of the
twentieth of their revenues, as a fund which might enable those who
had been prevented by poverty to redeem their estates according to the
decision of the arbitrators at Kenilworth. The outlaws in the Isle of
Ely were also reduced. The King's poverty had disabled him from
undertaking offensive measures against them: but a grant of the tenth
part of the church revenues for three years, which he had obtained
from the Pope, infused new vigor into his councils; bridges were
thrown over the rivers; roads were constructed across the marshes; and
the rebels returned to their obedience on condition that they should
enjoy the benefit of the Dictum of Kenilworth, which they had so
contemptuously and obstinately refused.

LOUIS IX LEADS THE LAST CRUSADE

A.D. 1270

JOSEPH FRANCOIS MICHAUD

Louis IX, King of France, 1226-1270, was at once a monarch
of great ability and a man of intense religious spirit.
Naturally, in such a time as that of his reign, a man like
Louis would be a crusader. His first expedition--called the
Seventh Crusade, 1248-1254--was di