is easy to recognize the Sultan Abomelique of Benamarin (thus called from his father Albohacen ;) and, indeed, if we look to the Latin historians of Spain, Rodericus Santius, (vol. ii. Wechelii Rer. Hisp. Script. p. 386,) and Marineus Siculus, (vol. ii. p. 820,) we find the kings of Benamarin designated Reges Bellamarini, from which the transition to Balmeryne is still easier. It next appears from the Chronicle, that Abomelique, after concerting measures with the Sultan of Granada, laid siege to Gibraltar; and that Alfonso, having collected a great army, resolved to raise the siege, by attacking the infidels; for which purpose he collected his best captains, and, amongst others, sent for Don Vasco Rodriguez, Master of Santiago. It is shown by the Chronicle that Abomelique laid siege to Gibraltar in the last week of February, 1330, and it was not till the 8th of June, 1331, (the siege having then lasted above three months,) that Alfonso arrived at Seville with the design of concentrating his forces, and attacking the Saracens. It was here that Douglas's ships were laid up; and there can be little doubt that at this time he and his companions were in the Spanish camp. A slight circumstance seems to corroborate this:- -On coming to Seville, Alfonso found there the Grand Master of Santiago. Now, it is stated by Barbour, who probably had his information from some of the survivors, that, in the battle which ensued, the king gave the leading of the first battle or vaward to Douglas; that he intrusted the conduct of the second to the Grand Master of Santiago; "And the great Master of Saint Jak It is necessary to consider for a moment the circumstances under which the battle was fought in which Douglas met his death, as they have not hitherto been explained by any of our historians. After a long and gallant defence, Gibraltar was treacherously betrayed by its governor, Vasco Perez, and delivered to the Sultan Abomelique, (Chronica del Rey Alonso, p. 224,) who placed in it a strong garrison. Alfonso, in his turn, laid siege to it; and the King of Granada, with his African ally, Abomelique, or, as Barbour styles him, the "high King of Balmeryne," advanced with their combined forces to its rescue. The Spanish monarch met and defeated these two soldans; and if the reader will consult Fordun, vol. ii. p. 302, he will find a detailed account of the manner in which the good Sir James was slain. It has been abridged in the text, vol. ii. p. 207, and may be compared with the description of the battle in the "Chronicle of Alonso XI., pp. 227, 228, 229. Douglas is generally believed to have been slain on the 25th of August, 1330, according to the tenor of an ancient epitaph, preserved by Fordun, where he is said to have fallen "apud Castrum Tibris." It seems to me almost certain that he was slain in August, 1331, a year later; for in 1330 there was a truce between the Moors and the Spaniards; and the war does not appear to have recommenced till Abomelique landed in Spain with his reinforcement, which happened in 1331. As for the expression, "apud Castrum Tibris," I have in vain attempted to discover its locality, and suspect some false reading of the manuscript. V. RANDOLPH, EARL OF MORAY.* In the manuscript Cartulary of Dumfermling, preserved in the Advocates' Library at Edinburgh, (p. 243 of Macfarlane transcript, and fol. 21 in the original,) there is to be found a charter of the great Randolph. In it he declares his desire that his body shall be buried "in capella sua infra Ecclesiam Conventualem de Dumfermlyn"-in his chapel situated beneath the Conventual Church of Dumfermline and devotes forty shillings sterling for the support of a priest, who is to say mass for his soul, and the souls of his ancestors, every day in the year" tam in vita nostra quam post mortem, corpore nostro ibidem sepulto vel non sepulto"- —as well during his life as after his death, and whether his body be then buried there or not. During the continuance of the mass, he gives minute directions that "duo cerei solennes ardeant a principio missæ usque ad finem, quorum unus stet apud caput et alter ad pedes"-two great wax tapers should burn from the beginning of the mass till its conclusion, the one at his head, the other at his feet. Unfortunately, this deed has neither date nor witnesses. VI. FEUDAL GOVERNMENTS.-POWER OF THE PEOPLE TO BE TRACED TO THE MEASURES OF THE CROWN. The encroachments made by the power of the feudal nobles on the authority of the crown seem to have taken place in England, France, and Scot* Vol. ii. p. 209. land under nearly similar circumstances, although not precisely at the same time; and in the three countries, the different monarchs, anxious to defend their own prerogative, and to diminish the power of the great feudal aristocracy, appear to have adopted for this purpose very nearly the same methods. The nobles became jealous of the increase of the royal authority, because it was a check and counterpoise to their own; and, although with little success, it endeavoured at least to reduce them under the obedience of the laws. It is thus in Scotland that, during the long minorities, when the royal power was necessarily feeble; or during periods of foreign war, when the king required soldiers and money, we see the nobles ever on the watch to increase their own power, and the king frequently compelled to give way, till a more favourable crisis for asserting his prerogative arrived. The reign of Edward I., one of the firmest and wisest of the English kings, affords many instances of this. We find the same struggle taking place in France; and out of the measures adopted by the crown during this struggle, arose much of the power of the people. It became the object of the feudal monarch, in order to put down, or, at least, to check the encroachments of his nobles, to increase the power of the burgesses and middle classes of the citizens; to raise them in rank and esteem; to give charters of freedom to towns and communities; to admit the burgesses into the great Council, or Parliament; to enact laws in favour of commerce and manufactures; to put an end to the right of private war; to abolish servitude and bondage; and in everything to increase that third power in the state upon which the barons looked with contempt, but the sovereign with complacency. It would not be difficult to adduce many historical proofs of these assertions, and to point out the great struggle against the exorbitant tyranny of the feudal aristocracy, of which we discern the workings in France, England, and Scotland. In France the kings, at a very early period, so soon as the middle of the twelfth century, saw the necessity of making a stand against the gigantic strength of the nobles. In that country, Louis le Gros was contemporary with David I. in Scotland, and Henry I. in England; and it was to this Louis that the body of the feudal vassals owed so much. He established free communities, by granting chartered privileges; he adopted every means of enfranchising the numerous and unfortunate class of serfs, or slaves; he abridged the odious seignorial jurisdictions, and appointed royal deputies, or commissaries (missi dominici,) whose business it was to make circuits through the kingdom; to inquire into and remedy all the abuses of the baronial courts; and either to sit in judgment and redress them, or send the appeal to the courts of the king. These wise and excellent measures originated with Garland and the Abbé Suger, his ministers.* In Scotland, it is evident that David I. raised up the power of the clergy as a check upon the fierce despotism of his feudal barons, and of the wealthy burghers. By his encouragement of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures; by his charters to towns and burghs; by his judicial progresses * Hénault, Abrégé Chronologique, vol. i. p. 179. |