vable or personal property appears to have been
levied by Henry II, in 1188, for the support of the Crusades. Under
Henry III the idea began to become general that no class should be
taxed without their consent; out of this grew the representation of
townspeople in Parliament.

206. Henry's Extravagance.

When Henry became of age he entered upon a course of extravagant
expenditure. This, with unwise and unsuccessful wars, finally piled
up debts to the amount of nearly a million of marks, or, in modern
money, upwards of 13,000,000 pounds. To satisfy the clamors of his
creditors, he mortgaged the Jews (S119), or rather the right of
extorting money from them, to his brother Richard.

He also violated the chaters and treaties in order to compel those who
benefited from them to purchase their reissue. On the birth of his
first son, Prince Edward, he showed himself so eager for
congratulatory gifts, that one of the nobles present at court said,
"Heaven gave us this child, but the King sells him to us."

207. His Church Building.

Still, not all of the King's extravagance was money thrown away.
Everywhere on the Continent magnificent churches were rising. The
heavy and somber Norman architecture, with its round arches and
square, massive towers, was giving place to the more graceful Gothic
style, with its pointed arch and lofty, tapering spire.

The King shared the religious enthusiasm of those who built the grand
cathedrals of Salisbury and Lincoln. He himself rebuilt the greater
part of Westminster Abbey (S66) as it now stands. A monument so
glorious ought to make us willing to overlook some faults in the
builder. Yet the expense and taxation incurred in erecting the great
minster must be reckoned among the causes that bred discontent and led
to civil war (S212).

208. Religious Reformation; the Friars, 1221; Roger Bacon.

While this movement, which covered the land with religious edifices,
was in progress, religion itself was undergoing a change. The old
monastic orders had grown rich, indolent, and corrupt. The priests
had well-nigh ceased to do missionary work. At this period a reform
sprang up within the Church itself. On the Continent two new
religious orders arose, calling themselves Friars, or Brothers. They
first came to England in 1221. These Brothers bound themselves to a
life of self-denial and good works. Some labored in the outskirts of
towns among the poor and the sick and called them t