Omaha daily bee., 1910-05-07
CHANGES IN ENGLISH RULE
Throne Of Great Britain Subject of
Many Struggles,
TROUBLES FROM THE BEGINNING
william the Conaueror's Invasion
Followed by n Long Line OF
Fierce Contests and
Disputes.

Disputes.
From the time Of Norman conquest to
the present day Englands government so
generally accepted as an institution of
solidty and permanence. has been subject
to many changes. II has never previously
happened that there has been four rulers in
direct succession without a crisis which,
at the time. threatened to affect the en-
tire nation II not to result in change
OF government
The time of the Norman conquest is
taken as a starting point because until
then II cannot be said that England had
a settled government. There we're kings
but in the modern sense of the word Eng
land had no government worthy OF the
name. Might made right. The government
of Saxon England was. as has been said
of Russia In more modern times, "a des-
potism tempered by assassination" The
names of fifty-six Saxon kings have been
preserved to us. and of this number all
! but four died q violent death, and of the
four the end OF two is uncertain. Poison,
the sword, midnight assassination, armed
rebellion. the fortune Of battle. the result
of a drunken brawl-some went one way,
some another, but only two out OF the
:
fully in their beds The early Norman
times were not much better. and the deaths
of many OF the kings were far from
creditabIe either to the nation or to the
royal family. Several were assasslnated,
some in the most brutal manner; some
died under exceedingly suspicious circum-
stances, but there was less drunkenness
and assassination among them than among
their Saxon predecessors, so review OF
the history Of the English sovereigns since
the Norman conquest would not be unfair
as a basis Of comparison.
The Norman Kings.
William the Conqusror closed his bloody
reign by dying like a dog, and before his
naked body had been trampled into a dis
puted grave his sons were fighting for the
kingdom. William was succeeded by his
son, William Rufus, who left the bedside
of his dying father to take horse, ride
away and secure that fathers castles and
treasure. For time he played the tyrant,
In the language OF the historian, fearing
not God, regarding not the wrath OF man,
esteeming not the honor Of woman" then
was killed by Sir Walter Tyrrell in the
New Forest. Poetic justice was meted out
in his case also. He had deserted his dying
fathers bedside, so, at his last moments,
his servants deserted him, leaving his body
lying in the forest and riding posthaste to
} plumber the royal palace. Some travellers
saw the royal corpse, but passed on, and
day or so later a charcoal burner, recog-
mixing the body as that of the king, threw
E 1t into his cart and brought it to Winches'
ter A general scuffle for the throne en-
D sued among the kings relatives, and Henry
Q l. nicknamed "Beauclerk," succeeded III
= winning the prize He was too much Of
glutton and drunkard to give more
than the necessary attention to the affairs
r of the kingdom, died of overeating ant
n was buried with the honors due to hi
g presumed scholarship, This made the frs
e trio. whose combined reigns lasted from
1886 to llS5. Then there was q change il
the succession. The throne was seize'
by Stephen, styled the usurper," becaus
someone of the opposite party wrote hi
history He was, in fact, no more of
; usurper than most other kings Of his time
The truth was that upon the death o
Henry there was the same scramble 70
} the throne that had followed the death o
William and Of his son, Rufus and Ste
phen in the scuffle was victorious. prob
ably because his principal competitor wa
a woman. However, he succeeded, seize
l. the government and held the throne unit
. his death, or from A, d. 1875 to A. ID. lis
II Another Revolution.
: Upon the death OF Stephen the crown re
: verified to the family OF Henry l., who's
u daughter Maud had contested 1t wit
u Stephen, and by treaty secured II to he
l. son, who assembled the throne under tn
&c title Of Henry II. This king was the so
q OF Godfrey Plantagenet, and after tn
crisis brought on by stephen this Henri
- was the first to rentroduce the regular lin
r. of succession Henry II. left the throne I
his son, Richard l., in 1889, who. afte
/ reigning ten years, spending less than 81
months in England and the balance Of til
time on the continent or in his crusade
died from a wound received while besiel
ing the castle OF rebellious vassel an
turned the scepter over to his brother job
r. whose nickname was Latin term while
l6 might be freely translated THE Washer
20 John was the third of the second grou
AZ and as IL attended by ill-fortune at ever
IS step, almost Immediately got into troub
Is with his barons. They overpowered hin
ls forced him to sign the Magma Charta
As step which he so bitterly regretted that
g soon as he was free to act he collected tri
a. utes for the purpose Of putting down his r
a bellious vassals The barons secured Il
A assistance OF the pope. who laid Englal
- under an interdiet and kindly presented
: friend. the Dauphin with the English crov
as a gift. John went on with his prepar
lions for war, but having lost his bagga
and treasure by tidal wave while eros
] ing an arm Of the sea, he died of mortific
ton and was buried at Worcester betwe
= the shrines OF two famous saints in whC
he felt unbornded confidence. and thel
fore, hesitated not to trust his body a
soul to their keeping. Thus was the seeo
group OF regns, lasting from 1854 TO ~
terminated by most serious crisis. I
kingdom being given away by the pc
and strong effort made on the part
the French to seize II. To the Engli
people, however, this crisis was the me
important from the fact that the found
ton of English liberties dates from
latter part of the reign of John.
The Edwards.
Henry III. Immediately after assumi
regal power. made peace with the po
who changed his tactics. left France I'm
lurch, reinstated England in his 60
grAces, and confirmed the power OF Hen
T.. 1T .