DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.71755#0042
38
THE BARONS' WAR
CHAP. II
knighthood and commonalty to a share in the govern-
ment of the realm — the writ to the parliament of
Jan. 20, 1265, excepted — is the remarkable poem
On the Battle of Lewes.1 It is the only document
which bases, or attempts to base, upon an adequate
theory of government the great movement from which
the reign of Henry III. derives its chief importance.
The songs of the reign of Henry III. are an especially
valuable indication of the temper of the times. In the
reign of John the eulogies and elegies which seem to
have formed the bulk of the poetical literature in the
early Anglo-Norman period had begun already to give
way to the political satire.2 Under Henry III. the
movement goes rapidly on. The language changes
from Latin to Anglo-Norman or a mixture of both,
until finally, when excitement has reached its height
and the popular imagination mocks the conquered foe
at Lewes, the first extant political poem in the English
tongue appears.
The Kyng of Alemaigne wende do ful wel,
He saisede the mulne for a castel,
1 A summary of this poem is given below, pp. 221-230.
2 Wright's Pol. Songs, Pref., p. viii. Cf. p. 6.
Savarics, reis cui cors sofraing
Greu fara bon envasimen
E pois a flac cor reerezen
Jamais nuls horn en el non poing.
This song, though written by the younger Bertrand de Born, and
therefore not English, is a fair sample of the early style, and applies
to Henry even better than to John.
3 Pol. Songs, pp. 51-56.
THE BARONS' WAR
CHAP. II
knighthood and commonalty to a share in the govern-
ment of the realm — the writ to the parliament of
Jan. 20, 1265, excepted — is the remarkable poem
On the Battle of Lewes.1 It is the only document
which bases, or attempts to base, upon an adequate
theory of government the great movement from which
the reign of Henry III. derives its chief importance.
The songs of the reign of Henry III. are an especially
valuable indication of the temper of the times. In the
reign of John the eulogies and elegies which seem to
have formed the bulk of the poetical literature in the
early Anglo-Norman period had begun already to give
way to the political satire.2 Under Henry III. the
movement goes rapidly on. The language changes
from Latin to Anglo-Norman or a mixture of both,
until finally, when excitement has reached its height
and the popular imagination mocks the conquered foe
at Lewes, the first extant political poem in the English
tongue appears.
The Kyng of Alemaigne wende do ful wel,
He saisede the mulne for a castel,
1 A summary of this poem is given below, pp. 221-230.
2 Wright's Pol. Songs, Pref., p. viii. Cf. p. 6.
Savarics, reis cui cors sofraing
Greu fara bon envasimen
E pois a flac cor reerezen
Jamais nuls horn en el non poing.
This song, though written by the younger Bertrand de Born, and
therefore not English, is a fair sample of the early style, and applies
to Henry even better than to John.
3 Pol. Songs, pp. 51-56.