retire to London, and his father dying, soon after his arrival im that city he was crowned king. The issue of the further struggles between him and Canute, it is well known, terminated in the division of the kingdom between them. Lincoln, at the time of the Norman conquest, appears to have been one of the richest and most populous cities in England; and of great importance as an emporium of trade and commerce. The Domesday Survey mentions 1070 mansions, 900 Burgesses, and 12 Lagemen, having sac and soke. On the accession of the Conqueror to the throne, he appears to have felt that dread and insecurity, which ever attend usurped dominion; and having no hold upon his new subjects, but what principally arose from fear, he endeavoured by every precaution to prevent insurrection and revolt. Malcolm, King of Scotland, refusing in 1067, to give up Edgar, who had fled to him for protection, excited alarm in the.. bosom of the Conqueror; and numbers of the English flying to that country from the yoke of tyranny, tended to increase his suspicions. Convineed of the disaffection of many, and doubtful of more among his people, he ordered four strong castles to be built; one at Hastings, another at Lincoln, a third at Nottingham, and a fourth at York. In consequence of this a large and strong castle was erected A. D. 1086, on the ridge of the hill on which this city was situated. The ostensible design of it was, as a fortress to defend the city; but the more immediate and real object was to overawe and keep in subjection the inhabitants, whose numbers, wealth, and partialities the Conqueror viewed with a jealous eye.. The building was 64 yards in circumference, and occupied the space on which had stood 166 houses. These are said to have been taken down to furnish room for its erection, and 74 more were at the same time destroyed without the limits, that the whole might be insulated, or stand alone. In the reign of Henry the First a navigable canal was made, or enlarged, from the river Witham at Lincoln to the Trent near Torksey; and was probably the first canal of the sort ever made in England. This was about seven miles in length, and is at present present called the Foss-Dyke. By this a communication was formed with the river Trent, and down that by the Humber to the sea. Thus being accessible for foreign vessels, and having also the advantage of an inland navigation, the city became thriving, populous, and wealthy. And, according to Alexander Necham, a poet of the age, "Lincoln was now stored with good things, and became the support of the neighbouring country." At this period it is related by some historians that it possessed a very large share of the import and export trade of the kingdom. A. D. 1140, The Empress Maud coming over to England, to -assert her title to the crown, and oppose the pretensions of King Stephen, she took up her abode at Lincoln, strongly fortified it, and amply stored it with provisions. This, she thought, was a place of safety, and conveniently situated for keeping up a communication with those persons who were friendly to her cause. Stephen hearing of it, marched quickly thither, closely besieged ́the city and took it. But the Empress had, during the siege, found means to escape. The King having possessed himself of the city, appeased the tumults of the neighbourhood, and finding the country quiet, he left a garrison, and proceeded to his army acting in other parts of the kingdom. Shortly after this, in the same year, Ralf de Gernons, Earl of Chester, and William de Roumara, his half-brother, who had claimed the earldom of Lincoln, in right of his mother Lucia, sister to Edwin and Morcar; possessed themselves of the castle by surprise, and intended with their countesses and friends, to keep their Christmas there. The citizens espousing the king's cause, sent private intelligence to him, that the Earls were in an ́unprovided state and apprehensive of no danger; that it would be easy to secure them, and offered to assist in the enterprize. Upon this advice Stephen came by rapid marches from London, and invested the place on Christmas-day. The citizens rising in his behalf, seized and secured seventeen men at arms. The Earls knowing that the place could not hold out long, without the siege was raised, and the younger brother's liberty being necessary for that purpose, Ralf broke through the enemies' guards in the night, reached Chester, levied his vassals, obtained assistance from the Welsh, and gained over to his cause his father-in-law, Robert, earl of Gloucester; and these joining their forces marched towards Stephen, who had now laid before the city six weeks. On their approach he prepared to give them battle; but an unlucky omen, and a worse disaster, happened that day to the king: the tapers he offered according to custom broke, and the pix, with the consecrated water in it, which hung over the altar at mass, augured worse. But what really led to the fate of the day was, the defection of Alan, earl of Richmond, who, refusing to fight, marched off before the battle began. Undismayed, and persisting in his resolution, Stephen dismounted, put himself at the head of his infantry, while the earl of Gloucester placed his troops in such a position, that there could be no retreat. Both armies fought desperately, but Stephen's cavalry being routed, he was surrounded by the enemy's horse; and though he behaved with the utmost intrepidity, his main body was soon broken, and himself taken by the earl of Gloucester; by whom he was conducted prisoner to the castle of Bristol. Stephen, was exchanged for Robert, earl of Gloucester, who had been taken by William of Ypres, and being released out of prison, and restored to the throne by capitulation, his affairs assumed a more pleasing aspect, Oxford and many other places yielded, Ralf, earl of Chester, sided with him, and delivered up his castles of Coventry and Lincoln; and here, A. D. 1044, he passed his Christmas+. The deed of pacification drawn up between the Empress and Stephen, by which Prince Henry his son was to succeed to the crown; among other articles of agreement stipulates, That the castle of Lincoln should be put into the hands of Jordan de Bus sey? * Simon of Durham testifies that Stephen entered Lincoln in triumph, having on his royal robes and wearing his crown, which was as new a species of pomp, as it was surprising and disgusting to the people. Carte's Hist. Eng. sey, as governor; who, on taking possession, was sworn to deliver it to Prince Henry, or whom he might appoint, on the death of Stephen*. Lincoln having been made notorious in the contest between the Empress and that king, obtained a degree of consequence in the estimation of future monarchs. After Henry the Second had been crowned in London, Speed says, he was afterwards, in the year 1155, crowned at Lincoln. Rapin describes the event as having taken place at Wickford, an adjacent village, in A. D. 1158. But the date of Speed is likely to be right, as it is highly probable, that Henry adopted this measure among others, to secure the fidelity of his subjects previous to his departure for Flanders. Carte, however, says, that "it was probably on his return from the north, where he had been to meet Malcolm, King of Scotland, and at the festival either of Easter or Whitsuntide, that Henry wore his crown at Lincoln; not in the city, but in the suburbs, called Wickford, out of a prudent compliance with the superstitious notions of the people, who imagined that a king's wearing it within the walls was always the forerunner of some disaster." In the time of Richard the First, Gerard de Camville possessed the castle, and had the government of the city and county granted him; but was dispossessed of both in the fifth year of that king's reign. During the contentions between King John and his refractory barons, who were assisted by Lewis, Dauphin of France, this city was taken by Gilbert de Gaunt, who had been made by the usurper, earl of Lincoln; but the castle still held out for the kingt. John having raised a powerful army, marched in the autumn of the year 1216 to relieve it. Taking the nearest way from Norfolk across the washes, he left in that dangerous pass, all his carriages, treasure, portable chapel, regalia, and other bag Qq4 * Matth. Paris Hist. It was kept and defended by a noble Lady of the name of Nichole: gage. gage. This loss so affected him, that it hastened his death. Gilbert however had, in consequence of the king's approach, retreated, but hearing of his death, he reinvested the place, took it, and again besieged the castle. The Pope, taking the part of the young King Henry, by his Legate, solemnly execrated Gilbert and his abettors; and granted indulgences to all persons who would take up arms against them for the recovery of the castle. The earl of Pembroke, then Regent, soon raised a powerful army, and encamped at Stow, eight miles off. The numbers appeared greater than they were, by a well managed ruse de guerre. The noblemen and bannerets each of them had two ensigns, the one borne by themselves, or squires, and the other advanced among the carriages. This formidable appearance intimidated the confederate army, and prevented their coming to meet the English. In the mean time, Foulk de Brent, a powerful baron in the 'King's interest, threw himself, with a reinforcement, into the castle, and sallying out on the besiegers, attacked them in the rear, while the troops, with the Earl of Pembroke at their head, assailed them in front. The French, under the Count of Perch with their abettors, and Gilbert's forces, made a resolute resistance to the sally, till the King's forces coming up on the other side, they were struck with dismay. They had previously shut the barriers, and endeavoured by every means to keep the Earl of Pembroke's forces from entering the city; but they fell upon the confederates with such fury, that almost all were either slain or taken prisoners. The Count of Perch retired into the church yard of the cathedral, where, refusing to submit to an Englishman, he was killed by a lance piercing the brain through his helmet. A few of the barons escaped; but the chief of them were taken, with about 400 knights, besides esquires; and of the inferior classes an immense number: many endeavouring to escape in boats down the Witham, were drowned; and others, flying in all directions, were put to death by the country people. The riches of the confederate camp and city became spoils to the |