influenced the future of the country by creating the great order of
the Baronage, and the history of the early period of England is
pretty much that of the struggle of the king with the Baronage and
the Church. For William fixed the type of the successful English
mediaeval king, of whom Henry II. and Edward I. were the most notable
examples afterwards. It was, in fact, with him that the struggle
towards monarchical bureaucracy began, which was checked by the
barons, who extorted Magna Charta from King John, and afterwards by
the revolt headed by Simon de Montfort in Henry III.'s reign; was
carried on vigorously by Edward I., and finally successfully finished
by Henry VII. after the long faction-fight of the Wars of the Roses
had weakened the feudal lords so much that they could no longer
assert themselves against the monarchy.

As to the other political struggle of the Middle Ages, the contest
between the Crown and the Church, two things are to be noted; first,
that at least in the earlier period the Church was on the popular
side. Thomas Beckett was canonized, it is true, formally and by
regular decree; but his memory was held so dear by the people that he
would probably have been canonized informally by them if the holy
seat at Rome had refused to do so. The second thing to be noted
about the dispute is this, that it was no contest of principle.
According to the mediaeval theory of life and religion, the Church
and the State were one in essence, and but separate manifestations of
the Kingdom of God upon earth, which was part of the Kingdom of God
in heaven. The king was an officer of that realm and a liegeman of
God. The doctor of laws and the doctor of physic partook in a degree
of the priestly character. On the other hand, the Church was not
withdrawn from the every-day life of men; the division into a worldly
and spiritual life, neither of which had much to do with the other,