 Chapter 1 of History of England in Words of One Syllable. This is a LibriVox recording, while LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. History of England in Words of One Syllable by Helen W. Pearson Chapter 1. England in the Old Times If you will look on the map of the world, you will find far up at the left of the west half of it, two isles that lie in the sea. The large isle is known now as England and Scotland. The small one is Ireland. In the Old Times these isles lay there as they do now, with a wild sea around them. The men who had their homes there knew not of the rest of the world, and none knew of them. The storms of years beat on the high white cliffs, and the wild beasts had their lairs in the woods, and the birds built in trees or reeds, with no one to fright them. A large part of the land was in woods and swamps. There were no roads, no streets, not a bridge, or a house to be seen. The homes of these wild tribes were mere huts with roofs of straw. They hid them in thick woods and made a ditch round them in a low wall of mud or the trunks of trees. They ate the flesh of their flocks for food, for they did not know how to raise corn or wheat. They knew how to weave the reeds that grew in their swamps, and they could make a coarse kind of cloth and a rude sort of wear out of the clay of the earth. From their rushwork they made boats and put the skins of beasts on them to make them tight and strong. They had swords made from tin and a red oar, but these swords were of a queer shape and so soft that they could be bent with a hard blow. They had shields and spears. These spears they could jerk back by a long strip of the skin of some beast when they had thrown them at the foe. On the butt end of their spears was a thing that made a noise to scare the steeds of their foes. A group of their huts made a town. Their beds were made of skins of wild beasts, spread on dry grass or leaves. Bulls of wood held their meat, and they drank out of cups of wood or from the rude bulls of earth, such as are shown to this day, or from cowshorns. In the cold months these men wore the skins of wild beasts for warmth. In the warm days they put on a coat of paint for clothes, which must have been cool and light. They were fond of a fine blue that they made from a plant known as woad, which grew in their woods. When clad in a suit of this none could say that their clothes did not fit them. Their food was beef and deer, hares and wild birds, and all that they could hunt or shoot. They had milk to drink and knew how to make cheese. They were brave in war and all cut up in small tribes, each of which had a king. Of course they knew how to fight, as all wild tribes do. They were fond of the horse and knew how to break him in and train him. In their fights they taught their steeds to stand still in all the din and noise. They had a strange sort of war car in which they drove to the fights. Each of these held one man to drive and three to fight. The steeds that drew them had been taught so well that they would dash on the rough stones or through the woods and tread down the foe with their hoofs. There were sharp blades of swords like sides that stuck out from the wheels of these war cards on all sides. These were cut down all in their way. Then the steeds would stop while at full speed at a word from the one who drove them, and the men would leap down and deal out blows like hail with their swords, spring back to the car, and the steeds would rush off once more. The old Britons had not heard of the true God, but they had a faith of their own. They felt as all men do that there must be a God somewhere, and as they found that the oak tree was one of the best trees in the wood, they thought God might be there. So they chose men to be their priests and to ask the gods to help them in the shade of the oaks. These priests were known as druids. They had long white beards and had fine white robes. They made the folks think that they were wise and had strange might. They wore what they said was a snake's egg in a gold case around their necks, and the folks thought they could work charms. They did know some cures for the sick made from plants that grew in the woods, and they could make salves for burns or cuts. They would not teach the folks how to use these things, for they held them in this way. The folks gave the druids part of all they had of food or skins of beasts or paint or tin for the cures they made. There is an odd plant which does not grow on the ground but on the branch of a tree. It has a small white fruit. When this was found on an oak tree and the fruit was ripe, the druids would make a great feast, and all the folks would come to it, then the most old of the druid priests all clad in white with a white band round his head, would take a gold knife and go up to the trees where this plant grew and cut it down while the rest sank songs. But all their rites were not so free from blame as this one, for it is known that they would slay men at times or put men and beasts in one cage and burn them. These druids gave laws to the kings and in fact had the real strength and rule. No one could write in those dates, and the druids made songs on what took place and taught them to the youth of the land. Those who made the songs had the name of Bards. These druids built great piles of stones where they held their rites, part of which are seen at this day. The one known as Stonehenge is the most huge and strange. The blocks are so large that we cannot see how they were put there. Men could not move them, and in those days they had not the means that we have now to lift up such a massive stone. At this time, while the Britons were in such a wild state, there was a race by the name of Romans who knew a great deal. They were so wise and brave that they had made the whole of the known world their own. They had a chief by the name of Julius Caesar, who heard in Gaul a great deal of the land with the white cliffs and of the brave tribes who dwelt there. So he thought he would just go and win Britain with the rest. He set sail with a fleet of ships and a host of men. He thought he could make short work of it, but he did not find it so light a task. For the Britons were as brave and bold then as now, and they fought so well that Caesar was glad to make terms with them and go home, much more wise than when he came. The Romans had found out that the Britons were strong and well made, and that the land was fine, and that tin and rich ore lay in it. They saw two shells by the seaside in which were the round white things which we call pearls. Of course they told tales at home of all they had seen, and the folks there thought it would be a grand thing to get that land and make slaves of its folks, and have all the tin and gold and pearls and all the rest of the good things to take to Rome. So in the spring Julius Caesar made a start once more for Britain. He brought more men and more ships, but though the Britons had such poor clothes and bad arms, they fought long and well ere they would give up a rude of their land. At last when the Romans had won a part of the land, they had to build strong walls to keep it. The Britons chose a chief who led them well, and as Napoleon said of them, they did not know when they were beat, for they rose and fought and fought, and fell with their swords in their hands. There was one brave chief of the Britons by the name of Caractatus, who fought the Romans in north Wales. But he lost the day and the foe took him and his wife and all his kin and changed to Rome. As they led him through the streets of Rome, he had the air of a king, and the folks there felt their hearts grow kind at the sight. So he was freed at last with all his dear ones, and we hear no more of him. But the Romans won at last, and they made the Britons serve them. They made them cut down the great trees and plant corn and dig the rich oars out of the earth, or fish in the seas to find pearls for the grand Roman dames. But though the race were ground down for a time, they had a chance to learn much from the Romans. As they had to work for them and help them build, they found out that a house of stone or brick was more strong than their old huts. They found out, too, how to spin and weave the wool that grew on their sheep, and so they could have clothes to wear and not coats of paint. They saw the corn made into bread and learnt to like it. And they found that they could raise all sorts of good things from the ground if they would go to work and plant seeds and roots. But more than all the rest, the Romans built schools and had men to teach the young ones how to read and write. In time some good men came in the Roman ships and taught the folk to serve the true God and that they must love him and make his word the law of their lives. The druids did all they could to put down this new faith, but in vain. The folk found out that all went on just as well, though the druids might curse them in their wrath. So they lost faith in the druids and in the oaks and the plant that creeps on it. More than one church was built where the folk learned to pray to God. End of chapter 1. Chapter 2 of History of England in words of one syllable. This is a Libydox recording. All Libydox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libydox.org. History of England in words of one syllable by Helen W Pearson. Chapter 2. When the Saxons came. When the Romans came to England, London was a mere group of huts. The Romans cut down the trees and built fine homes to live in and a place where men could buy and sell. Then of course coin came in use. They built too a good wall round the town of brick and stone and a high strong place by the name of a tower which could be made safe to hold what was put in it. In times of war they put their wives and maids and young ones in this tower. There were more towns which the Romans made fine. Bath was one of them. In bath there are springs that are said to be good for those who are ill. So the Romans built fine baths and more than one grand house where they could live and bathe and drink on the springs. In York they built some schools. To this day things are found that the Romans left in Britain. When men dig in the ground to build a house they sometimes find old coins or rust or bits of the plates from which the Romans ate. At times a man would turn up with his plough a bit of the old Roman tiles that they had to pave the streets. Walls still are found that the Romans made and old spearheads and mounds where the dead Britons were laid to rest. On the bleak moors of Northumberland there is a long low wall half hid in moss and weeds. That is the wall of Servius and Stonehenge still stands and soles be plain. At last the Romans had to go home to take care of their own land. As soon as they were gone the Picts and Scots came down on the folk in a swarm by land and the Saxons by sea. The Britons were in such hard straits that they sent word to the Romans to beg them to come back and help them. They said the wild tribes chase us to the sea and the sea throws us back on them so that we have but the hard choice left us to die by the sword or by the waves. But just at that time the foes of Rome were fierce and strong and they could give no help. At last the Britons fought the best plan would be to make peace with the Saxons and get them to help drive out the Picts and Scots. The prince who fought of this plan was Vordegira and he made friends with Hengist and Hosa two chiefs who led the Saxons. Both these names in the old Saxon tongue mean horse. It was the way of the Saxons to give men such names as horse, wolf, bear and hound. So as Hengist and Hosa drove out the Picts and Scots the folks had to let them stay and bring their friends. Hengist had a child, a fair girl by the name of Rowena who won the heart of Vordegira. She gave him wine in a cup of gold at one of the feasts and said in such a sweet voice, Dear King, thy health, that he was one at once. He made her his wife and she kept him the friend of the Saxons. We would not know much of those days save for the tales and songs of the old Bards who went from house to house at the feasts. They sang of a bold King Arthur who had some friends by the name of Knights and how well they fought the Saxons and how they kept part of their land from them for years. The Saxons brought in more and more of their friends and took more and more land from the Britons and went on to crowd them out till the poor folks had to live in Wales and the lands around it. The Saxons did not know the true God and for a long time they stayed in this new land and did not learn the Christian faith. They were tall with fair hair and blue eyes kind to their friends and fierce to their foes. They were known as Saxons but their real name was Angles and the land took that name Angleland or England. From then came the English race and tongue. The old Britons who had gone into Wales still talk their own tongue. The English call it Welsh. The Saxons who had most of Britain in their hands had all sorts of gods. The chief of these were Woden and Faw. Faw meant thunder. When they heard the great crash of a storm and a fierce light leaped in the sky they fought that Faw had struck a blow. They fought that their gods kept the best place in the skies for the brave who fell in a fight and they did not well care for acts of love but all their aim was to fight. They did all sorts of wrong things and were not kind to the poor. One of their worst acts was to steal the young and send them to Rome to be sold as slaves. But God brought good out of this great Rome. One day when some girls and boys were set out in the place in Rome where slaves were bought and sold a good priest by the name of Gregory went by. He saw the poor young things so fair with their blue eyes and long light hair and the sight made him sad. Who are they? he said. Angles from the Isle of Britain. Angles, said that good priest, say angels where they look fit to be the heirs of light. When he found that these poor things knew not of the true God his heart was full of grief. He sought to find out a way to send men to England to teach the faith of the Christian. He was glad when he heard that one of the chief English kings had wed a princess in Paris who was a Christian and that a priest had gone with her to her new home and a church had been built. Gregory then sent a priest by the name of Augustine to the king and queen and they with a crowd of folks met them at a tree in Canterbury and heard him preach of the true God. In time the king and his court gave up Woden and four and on that same ground where they met that day now stands the great church of Canterbury. Seabird, one of the kings near King built on a bit of marsh near London. A church where now stands Westminster Abbey and one where St. Paul stands now. When this king was dead, Edwin, king of Northumbia who was so good and had such a firm rule that it was said a child might go through his realm with a purse of gold and be safe. Fought that it would be best for his land if all had the Christian faith. He sent out to call in the folk from all parts to hear the truth. One of the priests of the old creed spoke for the new for he said he had found out that the old gods were frauds. Look at me, he said, I have sought to serve them all my life and they have done not for me. If they had the might, they would sure have had the grace to have made me rich to pay for all I have done for them. At the end of this odd speech, the priest rode off and threw his lance at the place where he had so often pled for the rights of false gods. So in the course of time, all the English left their false gods and learned the Christian faith. The next prince of fame was Egbert. He laid claim to the throne of Wessex. The king of Wessex had a wife, Queen Edbire, who had a way by which she dealt out death to those whom she did not like. She would mix some drug in a cup and give it to her foe to drink. Once by chance, the king drank two and at his death, the folk rose in great wrath and drove her out of the land. When years had flown, men said that in the streets of Rome, they had seen one in rags who sought to beg her bread. They could see that she had once been fair and some knew that poor Wretcher had not a place to lay her head, had once been England's queen. So England grew to be a Christian land. But the folk were still rude and rough. The men had not much love for ought, but the hunt for a feast. They wore a long dress like the smock of men who now drive carts and wound strips of cloth on their legs for warmth. A house in those days was all on the ground floor and had a hole in the roof for the smoke to go out. There was no glass in the land, save some that had been brought from Italy for the church in York and it was fought a great prize. When it was time to dine, the folk sat on stools with cross legs on a bench of wood. They had square bits of wood for plates and then the meat was brought to them on spits. Each one cut off a piece with his own knife. They had no forks and they drank out of cow's horns or rude cups. Straw was laid on the floor and from time to time, fresh straw was put on top of the old. Aina was one of the kings in the part of England then known as Wessex. He had the wish to have his folks learn and old books say that he went from house to house to get pence to send to Rome. These were to pay for a school there where he could send the young men. For at that time, all the men he knew much of books were in Rome. These pence came to be known as Peter's pence. So some of the young men from England went to Rome to school and they were taught to read and to write and to count. They could paint too in books as was the mode then and they knew how to sing and play on the harp. When they came home, they taught the folks what they knew and were their priests. They took care of the poor and were kind to the sick and the kings gave them gold and lands so that they might keep up the schools and all their good works. In this way, the church grew to own much land. End of chapter two. Chapter three of history of England in words of one syllable. This is a Libydox recording. All Libydox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libydox.org. History of England in words of one syllable by Helen W. Pearson. Chapter three, Alfred the Great. New foes rose at this time who came from the North and were known as Northmen or Danes. They were at home on the sea and were fierce and hard. They came in ships and burst down the huts of the folks and stole all they could in each place where they made out to land. The Saxons had by this time learned a great deal. They had made good laws so that a man felt as safe in his own house as in a fort. For none could do him harm and not pay for it in some way. There were men put in each part of the land to hold courts and find out the truth when a crime was done. If they could not prove the crime in a clear way or how it was done, the man was let off free. At times, the judge would call in 12 men who knew the facts and see what they fought. This is not the way we do in our day. For now they try to find men who do not know the facts or if they have heard them, have not made up their minds and have no thoughts on the case. When a king fought, he would like to change the old laws or make new ones. He would call all these men whom he'd put at the head of things in his land and the folks of the towns and let them hear what the new new was like. And if they said that it was good and right, it was made a law. In time, the folks of a town chose free or full men to go at such times to hear what the new law was to be and they told them what to say. Then the mass of them could stay at home and mine the plow and the trade and the shops. When the king and these men met in one place to talk of the laws, they gave the place a name which meant where wise men meet. It was like what is now known as parliament where they talk of the laws ear they are made. As I have told you, the Danes were fierce foes at this time and burned the towns and stole all they could find. But a wise and good king whose name was Alfred came to the throne in England and in time he freed his land from these bold men. King Alfred, like most men who grew up to be of use in the world, was a son of a good day. Though he was a prince, he had not yet learned to read when he was 12 years old. There were no books in print in those days for that art had not been found out. Men wrote the books, as some of them were done in fine style and were rich in bright tints and gold. The queen read some Saxon songs and one of these books one day to her boys and they all said they would like to have that book for their own. The queen said, I'll give to that one of you four who first learns to read. Alfred went at once to seek someone to teach him. And in a short time he won the book. He kept it all his life and learned the old songs by heart. In the first year of his reign he fought nine times with the Danes. At times he made peace with them and they would swear that they would not come back. But they did not care for their oaves and would come back all the same as soon as they saw a good chance to fight and burn. Once in the fourth year of King Alfred's reign they spread out through the whole of England and were so strong that the king's men took flight and left him. He had to hide in the hut of a cowherd who did not know his face. He stayed in this hut some time and his friends went to see him now and then to tell him how things went on and to beg him to stay there until they got men to fight the Danes. The cowherd's wife fought this strange man or to help her with her work as he ate her bread. So one day she left him to watch some cakes which he put to bake on the half. The king, whose mind was full of the woes of his folk and plans to get rid of the Danes did not think of the cakes. So when the Dane came back they were all burned and she wasn't a great rage. What, she said, you will be glad to eat them by and by yet you could not watch them. She did not think that she spoke to a king. But just then the cowherd came in with some of King Alfred's friends who told him that there'd been a fight and that the Danes had fled from that part of the land so that he might now leave the hut and take his place as king. You may think that the wife of the cowherd felt great shame of the harsh words she had said to her king but he had a kind heart and told her if she would think no more of her burned cakes he would not keep in his mind her hard words and he gave the poor folk's thanks that they'd let him stay so long with them. Then King Alfred went forth to have a great fight with the Danes to teach them to leave England in peace. But first it was fort best to find out how strong they were and as King Alfred knew how to play on the harp well and to sing, he put on the dress of a glee man and went to their camp. He took his harp and sang his songs in the tent of Guffrun who led the Danes. But all the time he sang, he kept watch of all that went on. He saw their tents, their arms and much more that was of use to him. Then he set out at the head of the English troops and put the foe to route. He laid siege to them for two weeks and hosts were slain but he was good as well as brave but he did not kill them all as he might have done. He said if they would leave the west part of England they might have land and make homes in the east but there must be Christians and keep the law of the land. Guffrun said he would do so and he kept his word and all his Danes did the same. They burned and stole no more but learned to plow and sow and reap and lead good lives and in time they took sacks and girls for wives. But all the Danes were not so good as those led by Guffrun. There was one bold man who came with four score of ships at the Thames and there was a plague in the land too and food was scarce. The King Alfred had a stout heart. He fought the best way to keep off the foe was to build ships as good as theirs and go and meet them on the sea and fight them there. So he built scores of good ships and he was the first King of England who had fleets of his own. He was as great in peace as he was in war and he made up his mind that all the young folks in his realm should have a chance to learn to read and write. So he would talk with wise men from far lands and write down what they told him so that his folk could read it. He learned strange tongues so that he might write the books out in English which were in them. He made good laws so that all might feel safe and he was so hard on thieves that it was said in his reign that gold chains or strings of gems might have been hung in the streets and none would touch them. He built scores and sent to Italy for books and things that the English did not then know how to make at home. And he sent ships to Russia to find if they had things which would be of use in his realm. It was the great wish of his heart to write in all things and to leave the folks of his land more good and wise than he found them. He had a time in each day for each task and as there were no clocks then he had to make a way of his own to tell the time. He had a sort of wax torch made and put in packs of the same size. These he made out to notch in such a way that as they burned down he could tell how the hours went. But as a draught would blow them out the king had each set in a case made of wood and white horn. Do you know the name of a light that is set in a case in these days? All this time the good King Alfred was far from well but he bore his pains like a brave man. When death took him his whole land was full of grief and his name has been kept in the hearts of the folks of England as one of her best and most wise kings. As soon as King Alfred was dead his son Edward came to the throne and he found he had a great deal to do for the Danes felt that now there might be a chance to get more of England. But though Edward was not so great as Alfred he fought well and the Danes fled and left the land in peace for a long time. In the end England was made one with one Saxon king. By this time there was a great change in the ways of its folk. Their homes were no more huts but built well and they had chairs and beds and all sorts of things. On the walls of the rich silk was hung with fine work on it birds or leaves or bright buds done by the wives or girls of the house. Knives and spoons had come in use and the folk ate from plates of bone or brass or it might be gold. At a feast there would be a harp and which all knew how to play in those days. They would pass it from guest to guest and each one would sing and play when his turn came. End of chapter 3. Chapter 4 of History of England in Words of One Syllable. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. History of England in Words of One Syllable by Helen W. Pearson. Chapter 4. The Six Boy Kings. On the death of Edward the son who came next was Ethelstain. He was a brave and wise man. He knew that it was good for England to have ships to keep out the Danes and to bring in all the things that they did not know how to make. So he made a law that when a man built a ship and went to sea three times in it he should have the name of a Thane. This name would give him the same rank as though he held lands. Ethelstain kept down the Danes and brought his own folks in Wales and Cornwall to a right mind for they were Britons you know and did not quite like the Saxon rule. When Ethelstain was dead Edward the first of the Six Boy Kings came to the throne. He had a short reign and one full of strife with the Danes. His life came to an end in this way. One night when he was at a feast in his hall he saw with his guests a thief by the name of Leof whom he had once sent out of England. It was in a rage that the man should dare to come there and he said, there is a thief at this board who for his crimes was sent out of the land. He is a wolf and it is right for all to hunt him out. Send him forth at once. I will not go, said Leof. No, said the king. No, by the Lord, said Leof. On that the king rose from his seat and made a clutch at the long hair of the thief to throw him down. But the thief had a knife hit in his cloak and made a stab at the king which was the cause of his death at once. Then Leof set his back to the wall and fought till the walls and floor were red with blood but he was slain at last. The next boy king was Edward who was weak and sick but had a strong mind. His troops fought with the Danes and beat them for the time but his reign did not last long. Then came the boy king Edwy who had not the real rule of the land for that was in the hands of a bold priest by the name of Dunston. This man had a wish to make all do as he chose and he sought to rule the land. This did not suit the king and his young wife at all times so there was strife. Once when the young king stole out from a feast to join his fair girl wife the priest sent for him and had men drag him back by force and said vile things to his sweet young queen. The boy king kept all this in his mind and when he got a chance he brought a charge that Dunston had kept some of the gold of the last king. Dunston fled but his friends kept at work for him at home. Odo, a dain, gave up young Edgar for king then he stole the poor young queen from her home had a brand burned in her cheeks and sold her for a slave in Ireland. But the good folks there felt sad for her and they said we will cure her and send the poor young thing back to the boy king. And so they did cure her and sent her to join the king but that bad man Dunston with his vile friend Odo laid and wait for her and as she went on full of joy the boy king once more they met her and she was hewn with swords till she was left all cut and lain to die. When Edwie who was known as the fair heard of her sad fate it was said that his heart broke and so these two young lives came to an end. The boy king Edgar was known as the peaceful he had to make friends with Dunston or you may be sure there would not have been peace he let Dunston have his own way all things so this bad priest gave out that Edgar was the best of kings. Church bells first came in use in his time. King Edgar though he was weak and did more than one bad act took care of his land he went to all parts of it and had the ships kept in good trim and new ones built. He sent men to hunt the wolves and wild beasts that did so much harm and he made the kings of Scotland and Waleson in scores of wolfs heads and a court of tax. By this means England was freed from wild beasts and men could sleep in peace. When Edgar was dead his son Edward was made king for he was the first born but king Edgar had been twice wed so there was a young boy the son of his last wife the bad queen thought she could kill Edward so that her child might have the throne. I will tell you how she did it. Edward was fond of the hunt and one hot day when he came from the chase he rode up to the gate of the house where the bad queen Elfrita dwelt to ask for a drink of wine. The queen brought it to him but while he dreamt she made a sign to one of her men to stab him in the back. The king let fall the cup and put spurs to his horse to ride off but he soon grew faint with loss of blood and fell to the ground. There they found him his very young face torn with thorns young curls full of mire and dirt dead. The boy Ethelred who had seen the young king slain said to have wept at the sight so that the bad queen beat him with a torch in her rage he was the last of the boy kings and the folks did not love him they could not cease to think of the crime that gave him the throne but Dunstan had no one else to put on the throne so Ethelred was made king Dunstan was old by this time but hardened stern as he had been all his life he had the rules still as though he were king the bad queen of Frida made her son do as she chose for a time but he grew to have a will of his own at last and she left the court and let us hope she saw her sins in a true light we know she built more than one church but we do not think she could build out the sight of the fair boy whom she had slain with his bright curls dim with blood in his young face torn by the stones in the tenth year of Ethelred's reign Dunstan's death came they made him a saint but we think the king must have been glad to have been rid of him he was a weak king and had the name of the Unready the Danes found out how weak he was and one of them by the name of Seywin, a son of the king of Denmark came with a horde of men each year and took spoils from the large towns Ethelred gave these sea kings gold to coax them to go but you may be sure that they came back for more each time he gave them more and more till he had put a great tax on his poor folks Danes they still came for more gold he thought it would be a good plan for him to take away from some strong race who would lend him men to fight for him so he was wed with a fair girl from Normandy in this reign was done a deed such as fills all who have to speak or write with shame the king sent out word to all parts of his realm that at a sign the folks should rise up and kill all the Danes men and their wives, the girls and the boys the babes at the breast they must spare none of course we know there were fierce bad Danes who had done great crimes but there were good ones too who were Christians and led lives of peace and had wed English wives they were all slain they did not spare Gerd Dilda who was a child of a Danish king and had wed an English lord her lord was slain with her child in her sight and then they made an end of her too when these deeds of blood came to the ear of the sea king he swore a great oath that he would make England pay for such crimes he got a host of men in a fleet such as had never been seen in all his troops there was not one slave or old man each man was free and in the prime of life in each swore to do his best to wipe out in blood the great brawn that had been done them that fleet must have been a grand sight each ship had its own flag with a beast or bird on it and shields on the side that shone in the sun the ship that bore the flag of the king had a great snake on it with coils cut in the wood and the king said he would trust his gods no more of that snake did not strike its fangs in England's heart and so it did the host of men went on shore from the great fleet and took up their march through the land at each town they made the Saxons give them a feast and when they ate and drank their fill they rose on their host and slew them for six years this went on they burned crops and barns and mills they slew the men at work in the fields so that no seed could be sown they left heaps of burned stuff in rich towns there's one brave man who held out when the Danes laid siege to his town this was the Archbishop of Canterbury when one of the men let him the fall through the gates he said in his chains I will not bar my life with gold rung from the poor do with me as you will the Danes had him brought to the feast hall and said to him now Bishop we must have gold he knew that his time was come I had no gold he said you must get it I have told you I will not the crowd drew near with oaths and blows but he stood firm they struck him with the great ox bones from which they had torn the meat at their feast so let last one smote him dead with his axe Ethelred was not as brave as this good priest he paid more gold a great song for the Danes to go but they came back the next year the folks of England had by this time lost all faith in their king and all hope so when Saywin came once more they were glad to see him when the king fled they made Saywin king yet when Saywin's death came in a month from the time he had been made king they sent word to Ethelred that they would have his son Edmund for their king but the Danes chose the king too and his name was Canute so that there was war once more and Saxon said they would not have Canute to rule them the war did not end for three years and then the unwret he came to his death his son Edmund did not live but two months and then Canute was sole king of England End of chapter 4 Chapter 5 of history of England in words of one syllable this is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer LibriVox.org Recording by Catherine Phipps History of England in words of one syllable by Helen W. Pearson Chapter 5 Canute and the Danish Kings Canute was a wise man and did some good acts in his reign but he did not spare his foes he felt a fear of all who were kin to the late king and had most of them slain he who shall bring me the head of one of my foes shall be dear to me as my own blood he said and you may be sure there were those who were swift to do his will he sent the two boys the sons of Edmund out of the land to Sweden the king of Sweden was a kind man and he brought them up with love and care Canute wed the wife of the dead king the fair Norman girl who did not seem to mourn for one she had lost as Canute grew old he grew more kind and did not shed blood as at first he went to Rome in a pilgrim's dress to pray for his sins he brought back some of the good laws of King Alfred's time and built once more some of the schools which had been burnt in the war and sent some young men to Rome to learn in the schools there a tale is told of King Canute that as he took his walk on the seashore one day the lords of the court sought to please him by praise they told him how great he was and wise and good that the winds and the waves must do as he said Canute heard all this for some time then he said bring me a chair I want to rest he sat down on the chair just where the tide would come in and as the waves crept on him more and more he said to the sea I bid you not to let your waves wet my feet of course the waves went on and rose so high that the king was wet with them then he stood up and said learn from what you see now that there is no one great but God he who made the sea and holds it in his hand can tell it where or when to stop Canute left three sons Swain, Harold and Hardy Canute the last was the child of his Norman wife he had been king of Denmark and Norway as well as England and he left England to Harold but the Saxons said they would have Hardy Canute for their king or one of the sons of the unready who were in Normandy you know they were the sons too of Emma the wife of Canute but she did not seem to care for them she gave all her love to Hardy Canute her last born so when Prince Edward came with some men to claim the crown he found he had a friend in her and was glad to get back with his life Prince Alfred did not have as good luck for in the dead of night when he and his men slept they were set on by the king's troops they were then drawn out in a line and slain save each tenth man was kept as a slave poor Prince Alfred had his clothes torn off and was bound fast to his horse and sent out to the isle of Eli where his eyes were put out and death came to his help at last Harold was king for four years he was fond of the hunt and could run so fast that he was known as Harold Hairfoot Hardy Canute then was king for a short time and then came Edward who was as you know a son of the he is known as the Confessor a name the monks gave him he was the tool of his friends and let bad men rule him his home had been in Normandy so long that he was more fond of that land than he was of England he brought hosts of Norman friends with him and they saw what a fair land England was good for corn and tweet and how the woods were full of deer and there was great wealth in the towns so they thought they would try and get this good place for their Duke when Edward was dead their Duke came to see Edward and to get him to say he would leave the crown to him as he had no son now there was a young prince by the name of Edgar who was next of kin to Edward so that he had no right to say that he would give his throne to a Norman Duke the English did not like to see the Normans get all the best things and to hear the Norman tongue on all sides Edward did one good thing in his reign he found the laws in a sad state some parts of the land kept Danish law and some parts had the Saxon so he had wise men to meet and read all these laws and take the best and put them in one book so that all the folks could read and know them and all have the same laws Edward had made the child of Earl Godwin his wife but though she was good and fair and kind he did not treat her with love so the Earl and his sons did all they could to stir up the folks to strife and to make them hate the King and the Normans he had brought in then the King grew more and more harsh with his wife who had won the heart of the folks by her kind ways he took all her gold and gems from her and sent her to a house where the nuns dwelt and left her with but one maid to wait on her there she was kept as if she were in jail he sent Earl Godwin and his sons out of England and brought William Duke of Normandy to his court William was a brave man fond of a fine horse and dogs and arms so he was glad to come and all the Normans met him with joy but the old Earl Godwin though he was not at home had spies there and knew how the folks felt he thought the time was now ripe for his own son to have a chance for his son was English and had hosts of friends so he came with a fleet up the Thames and crowds met him with cheers at last the Norman friends of the King took fright and made the best of their way out of England the King had to give back to Earl Godwin all his lands the good Queen was brought out of her jail and sat once more in her chair of state in her grand robes and gems but the Earl Godwin did not live long he fell dead in a fit on the third day from the time he had won his cause his son Harold took his place and his wealth and fought well for the King when Edward Bessar was dead the Duke of Normandy set up a claim to the throne of England he knew that Harold would fight for this crown so he thought it would be a good plan for him to give him one of his fair girls for his wife so that he might bind him to his cause so Harold was wed to Adele and then he took an oath that he would aid the Duke then Harold went back to England and was made King at once he had good cause to make haste when the news came to the Duke of Normandy he was out on a hunt he let the bow fall from his hands and sent for all the great men of the land to talk with them the French said they would aid him and he sent word at once to Harold that he must keep his oath and give up the crown then the Duke of Normandy set sail for England with ships full of men and made out to land in Sussex Harold made haste to march on them as he drew near he saw the gleam of their spears he saw too that there was one tall man who wore a blue robe and rode a fine horse as his gaze was on this form he saw the horse make a false step and throw the man to the ground who is that man he said to one of his chiefs the King of Norway said the man he is a tall and grand king said Harold but his end is near now there was one of his own blood who fought on the side of his foes and he sent word to him that if he would draw off his troops he would make him Earl of Northumberland with great wealth and what will he give to my friend the King of Norway said the man seven feet of earth for a grave no more well as the King of Norway is a tall man there may be some more ride back and tell King Harold to come on to the fight King Harold did give them such a fight that most of them were left dead on the field but as he kept the feast of joy at this he heard that the Normans were in hastings he broke up the feast and made haste to London but it took him a week to get a force he sent spies to the Norman camp and William led them through it all and sent them save home the spies said these Normans have no beards but are smooth in the face like priests you will find that these priests can fight said Harold at last the Normans and the English came front to front with the first dawn of day they met the English were on a hill at their backs in their midst was the flag of their king on it wrought in gold thread and gems was the form of a knight in arms at the foot of this flag stood King Harold round him still as the dead stood the English troops each man with his shield on him and his war axe in his hand on the hill near was the force of the Normans with their bows strung all at once the Norman war cry God help us burst from their lips the English gave back their own war cry God's rude the English fought well though the Norman darts fell on them like rain they cut down the horsemen as they rode up like groves of young trees at last Duke William made a faint as though he would fly the English gave chase but then the foes sought to close in on them and slew them in crowds the sun rose high and sank and still the fight went on the clash and din went on till night and the white light of the moon shone on heaps of dead King Harold was half blind from a dart that had struck his eye some Norman knights made a rush for the English flag and the king fell with the death wound the day was lost and the Normans had won this was known as the fight of Hastings End of Chapter 5 Chapter 6 of History of England in Words of One Syllable This is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Catherine Phipps History of England in Words of One Syllable by Helen W. Pearson Chapter 6 William the Conqueror William had the crown set on his head in Westminster Abbey he was the first William but he is best known as William the Conqueror he made more than one great change in England he took from those who had fought with Harold all their lands and wealth and gave them to his own Norman knights these men built strong and grand homes in all parts and put high walls around their lands and made what we would now call game laws in the old time a poor man who found a wild bird or a deer in his field or in the woods could kill it and take it home to eat but the Normans would let no one hunt or have game but their own selves and a few English lords if they found a poor man who had slain ought to eat they would put out his eyes or cut off his hand or make him pay a fine William was so fond of the hunt that he took land where he chose and made the poor folks give up their homes to be torn down to make a great woods and then could hunt this was known as the New Forest he made a law too that all should have their fires and lights put out at eight at night and he had a bell in the church to ring at that hour this bell was known as the curfew bell for a long time the English felt sad and sore and could not bear the new rule but William had the might in his hands and the folks could not drive him out so at last they had to make up their minds to serve him so he went on to spoil them as he chose and make his Norman knights rich but the more he gave the men the more they sought to have he sent all through his land to find out all the towns and a list of the folks who dwelt in them and he had all put down in a book which was known as the doomsday book doomsday means a day to judge things and William had this book to show him how much land he had and how great a force he could raise to write for him William the conqueror found it hard to please his Normans and to keep the English from strife and he had no peace with his own sons he had three of them one known as Robert Shortlegs one William Rufus from his red hair and one Henry who was fond of books and had the name of Beau Clerk or fine scholar when Robert grew up he thought he would like to have Normandy but give it he grew sour and cross and would give the rest no peace he was a gay youth who spent all he could get in feast and dance and song William at this time went to Rouen to meet the French king and set right some claim to land he stayed in bed most of the time and took drugs for he had grown to such a huge size that it was thought best he should do so but when he heard that the king of France had made some jests on this he swore in a great rage that he should rue his jests so he went with his troops straight into the land he had come to talk off with the French king and burned all the crops and vines and fruit and set fire to the town of Nantes but it was an ill day for him for as he rode on his horse set his foot on a hot coal and threw him in such a way that he got a hurt which was the cause of his death he was sick for six weeks first and made his will he gave England to William Normandy to Robert and a sum of gold to Henry then all his bad deeds came to his mind and he sent word that they should give gold to the English church and let all those that were in the jails for state crimes go free as the sun rose the king woke at the sound of the bell what bell is that? he said in a faint voice the church of St Mary then he said that he would pray for St Mary to help his soul and so he drew his last breath as soon as his breath was gone from him those who had been there to serve him went to work to steal all they could and get off with it in the strife the corpse of the king fell from the bed and lay for hours on the ground there lay the great conqueror till a good night came to bear him off to a church which he had built but he could not be laid at rest in peace for as he was to be let down clad in his robes of state into a tomb in this church a loud voice in the crowd said this ground is mine on it stood the home of my race this king took the house and the ground from my kin to build this church and the great name of God I hear say that this corpse shall not be put in the earth that is my right so they had to buy the ground from the man ere they laid William in the tomb for they knew his claim was just his son, William the red took small thought of the dead king but went in hot haste to get the crown he was the worst of the conqueror's sons as soon as he had the throne he sent back all the poor folks whom the conqueror had set free to jail once more Robert who was Duke of Normandy let William rule his land while he went on a crusade the crusades were wars made on the Turks to get the tomb of our lord out of their hands those who went on them had a cross cut out of cloth sewed on their clothes so they were known as crusaders the word crusader means one who fights for the cross so King William Rufus had the rule of Normandy as well as his own land in the meantime Henry who did not feel that he had had his share of the wealth made his home in a place by the name of St. Michael's Mount on the seashore of Normandy he and his men would dash out and steal what they could when they had a chance so William and Robert got troops and went to his place to drive him out they laid siege to it so that no food nor drink could go in and at last they heard that the poor folks were near dead with thirst William was glad of it for then he thought they would soon give up but Robert's heart was the best for he gave Henry leave so he might need for his troops to drink and sent him some of his own best wine you see what sort of a hard heart the king of England had so you may think there was not much grief when the news came that he was dead it came to pass in the same new forest which the conqueror had made from the lands of his poor folks he was out on a hunt with his train they had slept all night at a lodge in the woods and had made good cheer and drunk a great deal of wine and the king took with him one of his friends Sir Walter Tyrell that night a poor man who by chance went that way saw a sad sight there lay a dead man in the road with a dart in his breast and the blood still fell from the wound the man got the corpse into his cart and found out that it was the king Sir Walter Tyrell who fled to Normandy swore that the dart had been sped by one not seen and then in fear that the crime should be laid on him he had put spurs to his horse and fled to the seashore but some men thought that it was Sir Walter's dart that had struck on a tree and made a turn to one side and found the heart of the king but there was no grief in the land at the news this king did so few good things that we must tell you one he built a fine bridge on the Thames he built two Westminster Abbey part of the old wall still stands but the best part of the hall but the best part of the hall was built by Richard II End of Chapter 6 Words of One Syllable by Helen W. Pearson When it was known that William Rufus was dead the English chose Henry the fine scholar for their king for Robert was at the war in the Holy Land Henry was brave and fond of books and brought wise men round him he took for his wife a kind dame who was known as the Good Queen Maude she left two babes William and Maude William was a wild youth fond of wine and he had a hard heart he was wont to say that when he should be king of England he would yoke the men and drive them like beasts but the day did not come for him to be king he came to his death in this way he had been in Normandy with King Henry and when the time came for him to start back he chose to go on a ship with some gay young friends they stayed so long on the shore at their feast that the king was a long way on his course ere they set out then the prince and his friends had drunk so much wine that they did not know how to steer the ship so they ran on a rock down into the sea it is said that Prince William did not seek to save his life as he might have done if he would have left the ship he stayed to try and save a young girl who was near kin to him it is the one good act that we hear of him but all that gay crowd went down save one who was left to tell the tale for three days none dare go to the king for the sad news at last they sent a child who fell on his knees at the king's feet and told him with a burst of tears that the white ship and all on board of her were lost the king fell to the ground like a dead man and in all his life from that day he was not seen to smile as he had no son now he set all his love on Maud whom he had wed Henry the fifth when she was but eight years old when the emperor was dead Henry made her wed Jeffrey the Earl of Anjou she had three sons and her firstborn took the name of Henry the king's plan was that she should be queen of England when he was dead and the young Henry the next king he did all he could to make his lords vow that Maud should be queen at his death and some did so but they did not keep their word the king had been told by wise men that he ought not to eat too much but one day a dish of a kind of fish of which he was found was set on the board and he ate so much that it was the cause of his death Henry Fine Scholar was a man who did not care for his word and took all means from his own ends he had a hard heart as was seen by the way he dealt with Robert of Normandy who had the best claim to the throne he said Robert had made plots with his foes and he led troops into Normandy and cast Robert in jail for life they let him at times ride out with a guard and one day he broke from his guard and rode off and passed in a swamp and so they found him when the king heard of it he had the eyes of poor Robert burnt out and then he was left to spend long years in a cell and to die there at last he left a boy of five years old and the child would have been put to death too if his friends had not hit him so you see Fine Scholar was a hard bad man and there were few to mourn him when he was dead when Henry Fine Scholar was dead all his plans fell to bits like a heap of sand Steven, one of the grandsons of the conqueror laid claim to the throne Henry had not thought of such a thing Steven brought someone to swear that the king had left him the throne on his deathbed and he got the crown set on his head with great haste some who kept their oath and took the part of Empress Maude and her son Henry so once more the poor folks land had a war that did not come to an end for years you know Maude was the grandchild of a Scotch king so the Scots came to her help whole towns were burnt down and the land laid waste the trees were cut down the sheep and herds were left with none to care for them and there was not but want and woe in all the land at last the folks were worn out and they said Steven might be king in his lifetime but Henry the son of Maude should have the next claim to the throne Steven did not live but a year from the time this piece was made then Henry the second came to the throne he was just of age he went to work to set things to rights in his realm the first thing he did was to send all the Norman and French troops that had been brought into England to fight back to their own homes he thought Englishmen were the best ones to fight for England he built up the towns that had been burnt in the wars and sent men all through the land to right the wrongs of the poor and the folks felt safe to build their homes and to plow their fields he put all the laws in force and brought wise men to his court and he was fond of those who wrote verse in Henry's time there was strife in Ireland the folks there were cut up in tribes and each tribe had a king now these kings were all the time at war one of them went to Henry and said he would help him Henry had too much to do at home but he gave his lords leave to go and help the Irish king if they chose and Dermot king of Lentster said that if they won the cause he and the rest of the Irish kings would serve England and the king of England should be Lord of Ireland from that day then an Earl who got the name of Strongbow and went to Ireland to help Dermot now the English knew so much more of the arts of war in those days than the Irish that they beat them and from that time Ireland has had no king but the English won Scotland in that time had kings of her own it was not so rich a land as England and the folks were more rude and wild one of their kings William the lion when he heard Henry was in Normandy thought there would be a good chance to get some of the good things so near him he took a man into England to rob the towns and take off the corn and beasts then the Englishman rose up and went into the north and fought him and took him to London Henry would not set him free till he took oath that from that time he was the king of England and he should be the real head of the land King Henry had a friend by the name of Thomas A. Beckett to whom he gave much wealth he had grand homes and a crowd of men to serve him and when he went in the street it was in great pomp and state now Henry said I will give my friend a high place in the church then he will do all things there for me so he made him Archbishop of Canterbury now Thomas A. Beckett was proud and had a strong will of his own he was fond of pomp and wealth but he was more fond of his own way so all at once he made a great change in his life he ate coarse food and wore sackcloth next to his skin and would fast and pray all the time he would claim to all the right to say who should give a church to a priest he chose to be in fact sole lord of the church in all England when one did not please him he laid the ban of the church on him that meant a sort of curse that would cling to him when he rose up or when he sat down when he slept or woke when he ate or drank the king could do not and he was full of wrath this sort of strife went on for years one day the king in a hot rage said in his court have I no one here who will rid me of this man there were four knights there who heard these words and went out they found the Archbishop in the church and when his men would have shut the doors Beckett said no that was the house of God and not a fort the men trod the dark aisles with a cry where is the Archbishop I am here he said they told him he must fly or go with them he said that he would not move then they struck him but he stood firm with his head bent down and gave up his soul to God then the knights went on with their blows till the Archbishop fell on the floor dead the king had not meant death to the Archbishop by his rash words and he was full of wrath when he heard the news the four knights had to fly and did not dare to be seen in the land the pope put the ban of the church on them and they went to Jerusalem to kneel at the tomb of our lord and pray for their sin this dark deed made foes for the king in his own land and it was sometime ere the pope would make peace with him King Henry was rich and he had a wife she had been so bad a wife to the French king that he sent her off and gave her all the gold she had brought with her to get rid of her now Henry when a mere youth had wed this bad wife for her gold she had four sons Henry, Richard, Jeffrey and John and she brought them all think that he would make a good king and that he ought to have part of the land he did not rest till Henry let him have the crown put on his head then the youth thought he would like to have all in his hands and he went to France to get men to help him fight the king but the prince fell ill in a French town and when he found he must die he sent for the king Henry's friends thought he might be a trick and they would not let him go but he sent a ring to his son and told him that he would be friends with him the prince took the ring with a kiss and tears he knew then what a bad son he had been and he said to the priest that knelt at his side oh, tie a rope around me and draw me out of bed that I may lie down in the dust of the floor and mourn for my sins the three sons left were as bad as the one who was dead for the queen led them to do wrong they went to war on the king to take his lands from him the king was worn out with the strife and at last as he lay on his sick bed someone brought him the list of those who had gone to the side of his foes and the first name on the list was John his last born son the most dear to his heart the sick king heard it with a cry oh John, child of my heart you for whom I strove through all my grief have you too left me then with a deep groan he said now let the world go as it will I care not and he did not seem to care to live from that time so death soon came to him and he was glad to go Henry II has been known as Henry Plantagenet it was the mode in those days for a man to wear a sort of shield for his face when he went into a fight so that he might not get wounds in his head this thing was like a cage and had bars it was hard to know who a man was when he had such a thing on so it grew to be this style for men to wear some sign to show who they were so death Henry's race wore a spray of broom and that is what Plantagenet means end of chapter 7 chapter 8 of History of England in words of one syllable this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Catherine Phipps History of England available by Helen W. Pearson chapter 8 Richard I Lionheart it is told of Richard that when he saw the dead king he was full of grief and said with tears it is I who am the cause of his death but it was too late for him to make up for what he had done Richard was a brave and strong man but he had a hot head and did rash things on the day that he was made king he was a young boy that set on the Jews and slew crowds of them his first thought was to go on a crusade and he went with Philip of France and the young girl whom he was to wed the men who held the tomb of our lord in those days were known as Saracens and they had a brave prince at their head by the name of Saladin he was good and just and out fast to the truth and his men fought so well that the crusaders had a hard time on the land but they made out to get one town on the coast by the name of Akko and Duke Leopold of Austria set up his flag on the walls Richard would not have this so he tore it down and threw it in the ditch he thought the Duke had no right to lay claim to the town in that way then Leopold and Philip of France made up their minds they would not stay with Richard and put up with his proud ways so Philip said it was too hot for him and made him ill he went back to France but Richard stayed though he too felt the heat and grew ill then Saladin sent him fruits and did all he could for him once he sent him a horse but as soon as Richard got on the back of the beast it ran with him straight to the camp of the Saracens Saladin thought Richard would take his gift as a trick to bring him into their hands so he gave him a more mild horse to ride back and the way this Saracen dealt with his foes might put some Christians to the blush Richard fought one hard fight at Joppa at last Leopold would not help with some work on hand and said he had come to fight not to work and the king struck him a blow that sent him off in a rage to his home Richard knew it was the fault of his hot head that he was left to fight on with none to help him so when he came to the top of the hill he would not look at it those who are not fit to win it are not fit to see it he said there were none more brave than Richard in the fight and he would turn his hand to all sorts of work though he was a king in the meantime Prince John with the King of France had set to work to stir up strife at home so Richard had to make peace with the Saracens for three years and start for England but on his way there were such fear storms and he was set on by sea thieves till at last there was no way for him to go save through the lands of Duke Leopold of Austria he went in the guise of a tradesman and talked but a small boy with him but he fell ill at an inn and the boy went down to get him aid someone saw a glove and the boy's belt wrought with silk the sort of thing worn but by rich and great men in those days the Duke of Austria heard of it and sent and took Richard and shut him up in a strong fort Richard's wife and friends did not know where to seek for him a tale is told that Blondel a youth who sang songs in his court went from place and sang so that the king might hear him and that one day he sang a song near the fort at trifles and a voice took up the strain and he knew he had found the king but we know the English paid a large sum of gold and had him set free at last the king went home but he found that Prince John and the French king had made bad work for him in Normandy in a fight there a dart struck the king it did not seem bad at first but there was no one there who knew how to treat it and it was soon known that the king must die he sent for the young man who had sped the dart and said to him Nave what have I done to thee that thou dost seek to take my life what hast thou done to me said the young man now how slain all my near kin with thine own hands let me die now as thou wilt I care not since thou too must die and through me the world is well quit of thee the king gave the young man one long look and then said go in peace I will not hurt thee thou art free then he sank back on his couch and was dead in the last words but took the youth and slew him John who had the name of Lackland as a sort of joke was made king at once though there was a child who was the real heir of the throne this child was Arthur the son of Geoffrey the boy was in the charge of the French king but he did not care for him save to stir up strife for England poor Arthur was a fine boy but with the king of France and John of England he was like a lamb in the pores of a wolf John had a fear that the boy might be made king and he would have been glad to have put him out of the way but did not quite dare to do so so he thought he would have Arthur's eyes put out and then he would not be fit to be a king and he could keep him in jail all his life he told a man who had Arthur in charge to put his eyes out but Hubert paid too bad men to do it when they came with their red hot bars to burn his eyes the child wept and knelt and played with them so sore that none of them had the heart to do the work but King John had no such soft heart Arthur was in his way as he thought and he made up his mind that the boy must die so he took him from Hubert who was too kind to suit the king and put him in a sort of jail in Rouen there one night Arthur heard a loud knock at the gate you may be sure his heart beat fast with fear when he saw the king and one of his men a tool who would do as he was told the name of this vile man was Maluch he took the boy by the arm and gave him a death stab in his heart then threw his corpse in the sain while the king stood by to see it done this act was so vile that the lords and chief men of the land sent word to the king that if he were not more just and wise he must give up his crown for they would not have him to rule them they said John must swear to rule them by the good old English laws which had come down from the times ere the Normans came at first John would not hear them but when he found that he must do so he said if they would fix a place he would meet them and do the best for England so they met the king at a place by the name of Ranymede near Windsor there they gave him a sheet on which would put down good laws by which kings could be kept from too stern rights that none could take from them King John did hate to put his seal to this but there was no way for him to get out of it and keep the crown so he had to do it this was known as Magna Charter which means that it was a great chart of good laws for England but John did not mean to keep it though he had put his seal to it he had such a greed for gold that it was hard for him not to throw folks in jail and take all their wealth when he chose all the time his aim was to cheat the lords and the poor folks and he did not keep his word at last the English were at their wits end and felt that they could not bear it so they sent word to the French king that if he would come and free them from this brute he might have England of course Louis came as fast as he could John fled and half sick with rage and grief he went to spend a night with some monks on the way when some fruit and ale made him so ill that death came in a few days and rid the land of him to its great joy Henry III was but nine years old when he was made king the next thing was to get rid of the French and to win those lords back who had fought on his side a good man by the name of Hubert de Burg took the charge of things while the king was a child and soon all the lords came back to swear they would serve the young king Louis lost a fight at Lincoln when his wife sent him more troops Hubert de Burg got ships and sank those of the foe and drove them out so that they had to go home and leave England in peace Henry's reign was a long and a sad one for England as he grew up he took bad men for his friends and they made him do as they chose he was led to let them take the good Hubert de Burg and put him in jail but when they sought for a smith to put chains on his feet chains for the feet of the brave man who had freed his land from the French so at last the good man got free and went to Flanders to live the king and his men spent much gold and put more than one tax on the poor folks to get it the parliament which is the name of the band of men who make the laws made up their minds that they would not let the king have more funds to waste if they could help it the king was at his wits end to get gold and at last he took the cross as if he meant to go on a crusade he thought by this means he would get some funds but he got none at last the parliament said that if he would swear to keep all the laws in the great charter they would vote him a large sum of course Henry told them he would do so and he met all the great lords and chiefs of the land the priests stood up in their robes with lights in their hands and as the archbishop read the curse for all who should break the laws of the great charter the lights would put out one by one and the king swore to keep the charter as I am a man as I am a Christian as I am a knight as I am a king it was a light thing for this king to make o's or to break them so as soon as he had the gold he went on in the old way when he had no more funds he set to work in his old style to beg for them Henry the third did one good thing for England and now stands when he had gold he gave it in a free way to those in need when a child was born to him he gave its weight in coin to the poor but things were left in such a loose way that at times there would be naught in the place for the king and queen to eat till his men went and took sheep or fowls from the poor men round the king broke all the laws of Magna Charter as he chose the parliament at last met and this time they came in arms as they found he would not keep his word they would have one of their own men to watch him the man they chose was Simon de Montfort and it was his work to see that the king did not break the laws or take gold from the folks who did not wish to give it the king was in a rage but he had to swear that he would do as they chose but Henry could not rest he felt that he was not a king while he was held by such bonds his son Edward was now grown up and they both got the help of the king of France who thought that an oath made in such a way need not be kept so the king and his friends got troops to go with them to fight for what they said were their rights and Simon de Montfort and the lords met him at a place by the name of Luz Simon and the lords won the day and took the king and Richard and Edward had to give up Simon de Montfort had the real rule of the land for a time though he let Henry still have the name of the king he kept a watch on him for the best he should get out of England and he held Edward in jail Simon was a true and kind man who had the best good of the realm at heart but he had sons who were proud and hard and prone to treat all who came in their way so ill that the lords could not get on with them one of these lords sent Edward a fine horse and one day when the prince took a ride with his guards he said to them try which of you has the best horse so they went to work and a race till their steeds were quite worn out then Edward put spurs to his fine fresh horse and rode off to the friends who were in wait for him all who were not friends to the Montforts made haste to join him so that he had soon quite a large force he met Montfort and his troops with the poor old king in their midst at Evesham in the fight the king would have been thrown down and slain but for his cry save me save me of Winchester his son heard the call ran to him and bore him off to a safe place Montfort knew from the first that there was no hope for him but he fought on and fell like a brave man on the field of the fight Edward won the day and set King Henry on his throne once more in peace but took good care that the lords of Magna Charter should be kept then he set out on a crusade and while he was gone the king's death came to pass there have been few kings as Henry of Winchester in his time the first parliament sat the word is from the French and means a talk the king has no right to get gold from the folks save when the parliament grants it the parliament has a house of lords made up of men of high birth and there are too men who are sent from the towns and farms to speak the minds of the folks who live there End of chapter 8 Chapter 9 of the history of England in words of one syllable this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Rita Butros History of England in words of one syllable by Helen W. Pearson Chapter 9 Edward the First Edward the First was one of the best and most wise of kings when he heard that Henry was dead he came home at once and brought with him his sweet and good wife Eleanor of Castile who had been his nurse when he had a sore wound he had been brought back to health by her care she won the love of the whole land Edward kept all the laws of Magna Carta and taught the folks what he had seen that was of use in the lands where he had been in his youth how to care for their beasts and to raise the best kind of grass for them how to plant new things in their fields that would be good for food you know that most of the old Britons who had fled from the Saxons to Wales where the foes could not get to them as it is a wild land of rocks and hills they had tribes each with a prince of its own there was one in north Wales and one in south Wales and one in the rest of the land the men on the line near England thought they still had a right to all they could take and they would go and burn a house and sheep when they chose King Edward sought to make friends with them and to get them to keep the peace but they would not so he had to go to war with them the two men who were at the head of the land were slain in this war and the king won the day then he told the Welsh that if they would meet him at Caernarvyn Castle he would give them a prince who had been born in their land and could not speak a word that was not Welsh they all came and the king met them with his newborn babe in his arms it had been born in Caernarvyn Castle and of course it could not speak a word at all the Welsh had to take him for their prince and the king had a Welsh nurse for him so that the first word he spoke might be Welsh since that day the first born son of the king of England is known as the Prince of Wales for a long time Wales was in a sad state the English kings did not treat the Welsh as well as they did their own folks the Welsh felt that this was not right and they would now and then try to set up a prince of their own now it came to pass and while Edward was king of England death took the Scotch king and he left no sons there were two young men near kin to him Robert Bruce and John Balliol both set up claims to the crown but as they could not both be kings they made up their minds to ask King Edward to judge for them he chose John Balliol as king but at the same time he said he was lord of Scotland and that he meant to see that the laws were kept there so if a Scotchman thought that he had caused to find fault with ought he would go to the king of England with his case this put the folks of Scotland and John Balliol in a rage for they thought they ought to have the rule of their own land the Scots went to war and had the worst of it for they lost and all the best part of their land fell into Edward's hands the king in fact had made up his mind to join Scotland to England and rule it all as one land but the Scots did not see things in the same light the men who were sent to rule them were most harsh and did not treat them in the right way there was one man Sir William Wallace who had lost his home and wealth at the hands of these men who fled to the woods and hills and drew a large throng with him they fought Edward's troops with the hope that they might free Scotland from his yoke and at first they won the troops of Edward fled and the Scots gave chase Wallace led his men into England and burnt homes and laid waste all in his course to make up for what the Scots had lost but he could not stand in the face of the large force brought by Edward to fight him and he had to take to the woods once more Edward sent outward that he would let all who would lay down their arms go free and gave up but Wallace still hid in the woods till one of his own men was so vile as to tell the English where he was they took him and sent him to London where the King had him put to death but his name still lives in songs and tales to this day this did not end the war for Robert Bruce was now King and he too would drive out the English troops who had been left to guard all the Scotch towns this made a new war for a long time Edward was in a rage and set out with his son and more troops to put down this new strife but first he gave a charge to his son that if he should die ere the task was done he would take it up the King was weak and ill at the time and he had a fear that the end was near Bruce lost a fight and fled to Ireland where he lay hid for a long time Edward spent the time in a raid on all that were kin to Bruce he would not spare one of them young or old but put all to death and took their goods and lands during Bruce came forth to the fray once more and at times he won at times lost Edward who was worse in health and near his death still held his course his face to the foe but at last he had to yield to a foe more strong death End of Chapter 9 Chapter 10 of the history of England in words of one syllable this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Rita Butros the history of England in words of one syllable by Helen W. Pearson Chapter 10 Edward II Edward II the first Prince of Wales was now king this young man had a friend by the name of Pierre Gaviston the old king did not like this friend and had made his son swear an oath to him on his deathbed that he would give him up but as soon as the king was dead his son broke the oath he sent for his friend ran into his arms and was so full of joy at the sight of him that he did not seem to care for ought else now this young man Pierre Gaviston was wild and bad and led the king into all sorts of vice the king gave him great wealth and rank so that the lords at the court grew to hate and fear him they said the king should have no more gold till he got rid of this bad man Edward sent Gaviston off till he got the funds then he met him with them and the two spent them in feasts and play in the meantime Bruce went on with his plans to free Scotland the lords once more took a vow that the king must give up his friend and that if Gaviston should dare to come to England he would be put to death the poor weak king pleaded for him with tears in his eyes then he was so mad as to think he might bring Gaviston back in spite of them and he did so and gave him more rank and wealth the lords laid siege to a house where the friend was and took him it had been Gaviston's way when he was at court to call the lords names in jest and to show that he did not fear them so the next day when he put on his clothes he was sent for to come down to the courtyard it was full of men in arms he grew pale when the man who led them said I think you know me I am the black dog of Arden Gaviston did know him and the name was one which he had been want to call him in scorn and now he was to feel the black dog's teeth they took him out and struck off his head the king was full of grief and rage when he heard of it and made war on the lords at once both sides were in arms for half a year as soon as this war was at an end Edward had to go and meet Bruce once more a great fight took place at Benachburn and the Scots won the day so that Edward was glad to get back home and to say that he would leave Scotland free from that time and their kings should rule them with no help from the kings of England plague and want of food now came to add woe to the bad days for England but the weak king took a new friend who seemed to mind it at all this new friend was a brave fine young man by the name of Hugh Dispenser he might have won the love of all if he had not been the friend of the king but this made men hate him at last the queen said that the king gave all his wealth to his friend and there would be none left for the prince she had no love for the king so had not sought to win it but spent all on his friends so now the queen went to France to get men to help her all who did not like Dispenser were her friends and she led the young prince to try to take the realm from the king Edward fled to Wales but they took him at last and put Dispenser to death then they made Edward say that he was not fit to reign and that he would give up the crown to his son they then threw him in jail and kept him there with poor food and in great want and scorn and the guards would mock him and crown him with hay and when they found that he was too strong to die of bad food and a damp cell they had him slain one night his cries and shrieks were heard by all who were near the house but none were there who could help the poor weak king the queen Isabella had a vile friend by the name of Mortimer and the two took the rule of the land in their own hands the young king Edward III was a boy of 12 but as soon as he grew to know what vile acts had been done he had some of the queen's worst friends put to death Mortimer was hung at Tibern then the king shut up Queen Isabella where she could work no more harm Edward III had a good wife by the name of Philippa she was fond of England and did a great deal of good there she brought men who knew how to make cloth from her own land and they taught the English their trade so that now England is the chief place in the world for wool and cloth Queen Philippa had new schools built in Oxford and brought to England a wise man by the name of Frasart that he might see the land and write of it all in a book which you may read to this day Chaucer the first man who wrote the book of note was a friend of the queen and in this reign folks left off the Norman French that they spoke and learned to speak English in much the same way they do now John Wickliffe with his friends saw in this reign to write the Bible in English so that all might read it Queen Philippa brought up her girls and boys and her first born son who was known as the black prince from his dress was thought to be one of the most brave youths in the world while war made the king leave his home the queen took good care of all when Charles king of France was dead he left no sons so king Edward who was near kin to him set up a claim to the throne but there was one Philip who was quite as near kin and thought he ought to be king and the two went to war the poor folks in France and England had a hard time while these wars went on though some of the great ones won fame by their brave deeds the parliament was so glad for the English to win that they gave great sums to keep up the war and the tax all fell on the poor so that it was hard for them to live at the first of this war there was a great sea fight near a town by the name of slews on the coast of Flanders in the place of guns to fire from the ships they had great stones for the men to throw when they were near and bows to shoot when they were far off a great fight on land which Edward won at a place by the name of Cressy the French had three times the men that the English had at Cressy so King Edward knew he must place his men with care or they would lose the day he sent his son on to lead in this fight though he was a mere boy it was there on a hot day when the first move was made on the foe and the fight was kept up till dark someone had a fear that the young prince would be hurt and sent to beg the king to come and help him is he hurt said the king no then said the king he will do well and I choose that he shall win the fame of the day two kings who had come to help the French king the host of men were slain the English lost but few when the king met his son he took him in his arms with a cry of joy and said my brave son go on in this way you have shown that you are fit to be a king a year from that time King Edward laid siege to Calais which is on the coast of France the brave folks in it came out for a year but then they had to give up for want of food the king had a mind to deal with them in a most harsh way in fact he was in such a rage that they had held out so long he said he would hang them all but his chief men pleaded for them and then he said if six of their chief men would come with not on but their shirts and ropes round their necks he would hang them and spare the rest when the folks of Calais heard these hard terms they said they would all starve and die or they would give up their brave men to such a death but there were six good brave men who said they would be glad to die to save the rest of the town so they took the keys and went out with bare heads and bare feet and not on but their shirts and the ropes as king Edward had said when the king saw them he sent for the man to cut off their heads but the queen was in his tent and she came out and fell on her knees and pleaded for them and would not get up till the king said he would spare their lives but he kept Calais till the war with France went on the next fight in which king Edward won fame was at Poitiers the black prince was there with a small force but he led them in such a way that they won the day though the French had five men where he had won the king of France and his son fell into the hands of the black prince who brought them to his tent and made them sup with him and gave them the best he had to eat when prince Edward brought them to London he let king John ride on his own fine white horse while he rode near to wait on him John was set free when peace was made but his folks could not pay the fine so he went back of his own will into the hands of the English and his death came to pass in England the black prince on whom the English had set their hopes did not live to wear the crown there was great grief for him as he had shown that he had a kind heart as well as a wise head and such kings were rare he left a boy of ten who was made king at once when Edward the third was dead of chapter 10