A Brief History of the English Barons

The date of our story refers to a period towards the end of the reign of Richard I. When his return from his long captivity had become an event rather wished than hoped for by his despairing subjects. Here fought many of the most desperate battles during the Civil Wars of the Roses, and here also flourished in ancient times those bands of gallant outlaws whose deeds have been rendered so popular in English song. The situation of the inferior gentry, or Franklin's as they were called, became now unusually precarious.