PAGE SIX
into use, after the invention of gunpowder,
the great stone fortress and the armor of steel
and iron no longer gave to the feudal chief
tains, that security which they had once
enjoyed.
The middle class gradually became
stronger.
Among our own people in England there
was, strictly speaking, no feudal system, such
as there was in Europe.
Ihe Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes, had
their unwritten laws, to which they were
greatly attached; these customs of the tribes
protected the individuals, in person and
property, from arbitrary seizure, imprison
ment, confiscation, taxation, etc.
Even in those rude days.it was largely true
that the Englishman's home, however hum
ble, was his castle.
After the Norman conquest, the feudal sys
tem was introduced in all of its rigors.
William the Conqueror was the first of
these Norman tyrants who imposed his harsh
rule upon Britain; he died and was succeeded
by his sons.
After these Norman kings came those that
are known as the Anjevin kings, Henry 11.
being the first of the line. His sons rose in
< on against him and they fought out
their quarrels in France where these kings,
like the Normans had great possessions.
Richard, the Lion Hearted, was one of the
Anjevin kings, and he taxed his people very
heavily in connection with the expenses of his
crusade.
Being killed in Era nee, and leaving no
heir, his younger brother John seized the
throne, murdering his nephew, Arthur, who
was really the heir, Arthur being the legiti
mate son of an older brother.
