Page:The Queens of England.djvu/114

96 THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. ducted him to his victorious son, who received him with joyful tenderness, knelt before him, and craved his paternal benediction. Great and universal was the terror felt by the rebellious subjects of Henry, of the retribution that might be taken for the sufferings endured during fourteen months by the sover- eign and his family. But, contrary to their expectations, the triumph of royalty was unstained by a single act of sanguinary vengeance. Of a nature never cruel, Henry loved better to punish the sins of his subjects through their moneys than by bloodshed. Their late crimes . of lese-majeste furnished an excellent excuse for enriching his queen's finances at a heavy cost to theirs, and he exacted from his refractory barons such heavy fines to fill his own coffers as to reduce them to absolute poverty, and to drive them into a fresh outbreak under the son of Leicester, which might have occasioned new troubles, if not disasters, had not the queen then arrived, accompanied by Cardinal Ottoboni, the pope's legate, armed with excommu- nications against Leicester and his followers, which greatly aided in quelling the rising rebellion. The tranquillity of the realm remained undisturbed until 1267, when the Earl of Gloucester headed a revolt and attacked the palace at Westminster, which the insurgents plundered and nearly destroyed, murdering with savage cruelty the royal domestics. There is little doubt that had the queen not been absent, her life would have been endangered on this occasion, for the outbreak was marked with more violence and ferocity than all former ones. The personal bravery of Prince Edward was of high importance during this rebellion, for he conquered by his own hand the last partisan of Leicester, Adam Gordon, a man no less remarkable for physical force than for high courage, and afterwards obtained his pardon through the queen. Tranquillity being now restored to his father's domains, Edward resolved to put his long-intended project of engaging in the crusades into effect. Previous to his departing, the canonization of Edward the Confessor took place, a ceremony solemnized with great pomp and state, and on which occasion the mortal remains of St. Edward were removed from the spot where they had reposed to a magnificent shrine prepared by Henry for their reception, and for the decoration of which the queen contributed some jewels of considerable value, and an