Читать книгу Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John. With an Historical Introduction онлайн

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Such difficulties were increased, as time went on, rather than removed. The Conqueror’s followers had possessed, like their lord, estates on both sides of the Channel: his wars were theirs. Before John’s reign, these simple relations had become complicated by two considerations. By forfeitures and the division of inheritances between sons of one father, holders of English fiefs and holders of Norman fiefs had become distinct; the English barons had in 1213 nothing at stake in the Crown’s selfish schemes of aggrandisement or defence. The England of John Lackland, like the England of William of Orange, objected to be entangled in foreign wars in the interests of foreign possessions of the King. On the other hand, the gradual expansion of the dominions of the wearers of the English Crown increased the number of their wars with the number of their interests, and increased, too, the trouble and expense of each expedition. The small wars with Wales and Scotland formed a sufficient drain on the resources of English magnates without their being summoned in intermediate years to fight in Maine or Gascony. The greater number of campaigns might well be reckoned a breach of the spirit of the original agreement.