n the king's
accession in =1216=, and again on Louis's expulsion in =1217=. Most of
the clauses binding the king to avoid oppression were allowed to
stand; but those which prohibited the raising of new taxation without
the authority of the Great Council, and the stipulation which
established a body of twenty-five to distrain on John's property in
case of the breach of the Charter, were omitted. Probably it was
thought that there was less danger from Henry than there had been from
John; but the acceptance of the compromise was mainly due to the
feeling that, whilst it was desirable that the king should govern with
moderation, it would be a dangerous experiment to put the power to
control him in the hands of the barons, who might use it for their own
advantage rather than for the advantage of the nation. The whole
history of England for many years was to turn on the difficulty of
weakening the power of a bad king without producing anarchy.

[Illustration: Effigy of Henry III. from his tomb in Westminster
Abbey.]

[Illustration: Effigy of William Longespee, Earl of Salisbury (died
1227); from his tomb in Salisbury Cathedral: showing armour worn from
about 1225 to 1250.]

3. =Administration of Hubert de Burgh. 1219-1232.=--In =1219= William
the Marshal died. For some years the government was mainly in the
hands of Hubert de Burgh, who strenuously maintained the authority of
the king over the barons, whilst at the same time he set himself
distinctly at the head of the growing national feeling against the
admission of foreigners to wealth and high position in England. As a
result of the disturbances of John's reign many of the barons and of
the leaders of the mercenaries had either fortified their own castles
or had taken possession of those which belonged to the king. In =1220=
Hubert demanded the surrender of these castles as Henry II. had done
in the beginning of his reign. In =1221= the Earl of Aumale was forced
to surrender his castles, and in =1224= Faukes de Breaute, one of the
leaders of John's mercenaries who had received broad lands in England,
was reduced to submission and was banished on his refusal to give up
his great castle at Bedford. As long as Hubert ruled, England was to
belong to the English. His power was endangered from the very quarter
from which it ought to have received most support. In =1227= Henry
declared himself of age. He was weak and untrustworthy, always ready
to give his confidence to unwo