when William the Conqueror ascended the throne, hardly
any other power was possessed by the king of France than what he
inherited from the great fiefs of the Capetian family. War with such a
potentate was not exceedingly to be dreaded, and William, besides his
immense revenue, could employ the feudal services of his vassals, which
were extended by him to continental expeditions. These circumstances
were not essentially changed till after the loss of Normandy; for the
acquisitions of Henry II. kept him fully on an equality with the French
crown, and the dilapidation which had taken place in the royal demesnes
was compensated by several arbitrary resources that filled the exchequer
of these monarchs. But in the reigns of John and Henry III., the
position of England, or rather of its sovereign, with respect to France,
underwent a very disadvantageous change. The loss of Normandy severed
the connexion between the English nobility and the continent; they had
no longer estates to defend, and took not sufficient interest in the
concerns of Guienne to fight for that province at their own cost. Their
feudal service was now commuted for an escuage, which fell very short of
the expenses incurred in a protracted campaign. Tallages of royal towns
and demesne lands, extortion of money from the Jews, every feudal abuse
and oppression, were tried in vain to replenish the treasury, which the
defence of Eleanor's inheritance against the increased energy of France
was constantly exhausting. Even in the most arbitrary reigns, a general
tax upon landholders, in any cases but those prescribed by the feudal
law, had not been ventured; and the standing bulwark of Magna Charta, as
well as the feebleness and unpopularity of Henry III., made it more
dangerous to violate an established principle. Subsidies were therefore
constantly required; but for these it was necessary for the king to meet
parliament, to hear their complaints, and, if he could not elude, to
acquiesce in their petitions. These necessities came still more urgently
upon Edward I., whose ambitious spirit could not patiently endure the
encroachments of Philip the Fair, a rival not less ambitious, but
certainly less distinguished by personal prowess, than himself. What
advantage the friends of liberty reaped from this ardour for continental
warfare is strongly seen in the circumstances attending the Confirmation
of the Charters.

But after this statute had rendered all tallages withou