CHAPTER XIII--ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE FIRST, CALLED THE LION-HEART
In the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred and eighty-nine, Richardof the Lion Heart succeeded to the throne of King Henry the Second, whosepaternal heart he had done so much to break. He had been, as we haveseen, a rebel from his boyhood; but, the moment he became a king againstwhom others might rebel, he found out that rebellion was a greatwickedness. In the heat of this pious discovery, he punished all theleading people who had befriended him against his father. He couldscarcely have done anything that would have been a better instance of hisreal nature, or a better warning to fawners and parasites not to trust inlion-hearted princes.
He likewise put his late father's treasurer in chains, and locked him upin a dungeon from which he was not set free until he had relinquished,not only all the Crown treasure, but all his own money too. So, Richardcertainly got the Lion's share of the wealth of this wretched treasurer,whether he had a Lion's heart or not.
He was crowned King of England, with great pomp, at Westminster: walkingto the Cathedral under a silken canopy stretched on the tops of fourlances, each carried by a great lord. On the day of his coronation, adreadful murdering of the Jews took place, which seems to have givengreat delight to numbers of savage persons calling themselves Christians.The King had issued a proclamation forbidding the Jews (who weregenerally hated, though they were the most useful merchants in England)to appear at the ceremony; but as they had assembled in London from allparts, bringing presents to show their respect for the new Sovereign,some of them ventured down to Westminster Hall with their gifts; whichwere very readily accepted. It is supposed, now, that some noisy fellowin the crowd, pretending to be a very delicate Christian, set up a howlat this, and struck a Jew who was trying to get in at the Hall door withhis present. A riot arose. The Jews who had got into the Hall, weredriven forth; and some of the rabble cried out that the new King hadcommanded the unbelieving race to be put to death. Thereupon the crowdrushed through the narrow streets of the city, slaughtering all the Jewsthey met; and when they could find no more out of doors (on account oftheir having fled to their houses, and fastened themselves in), they ranmadly about, breaking open all the houses where the Jews lived, rushingin and stabbing or spearing them, sometimes even flinging old people andchildren out of window into blazing fires they had lighted up below. Thisgreat cruelty lasted four-and-twenty hours, and only three men werepunished for it. Even they forfeited their lives not for murdering androbbing the Jews, but for burning the houses of some Christians.
King Richard, who was a strong, restless, burly man, with one idea alwaysin his head, and that the very troublesome idea of breaking the heads ofother men, was mightily impatient to go on a Crusade to the Holy Land,with a great army. As great armies could not be raised to go, even tothe Holy Land, without a great deal of money, he sold the Crown domains,and even the high offices of State; recklessly appointing noblemen torule over his English subjects, not because they were fit to govern, butbecause they could pay high for the privilege. In this way, and byselling pardons at a dear rate and by varieties of avarice andoppression, he scraped together a large treasure. He then appointed twoBishops to take care of his kingdom in his absence, and gave great powersand possessions to his brother John, to secure his friendship. Johnwould rather have been made Regent of England; but he was a sly man, andfriendly to the expedition; saying to himself, no doubt, 'The morefighting, the more chance of my brother being killed; and when he _is_killed, then I become King John!'
Before the newly levied army departed from England, the recruits and thegeneral populace distinguished themselves by astonishing cruelties on theunfortunate Jews: whom, in many large towns, they murdered by hundreds inthe most horrible manner.
At York, a large body of Jews took refuge in the Castle, in the absenceof its Governor, after the wives and children of many of them had beenslain before their eyes. Presently came the Governor, and demandedadmission. 'How can we give it thee, O Governor!' said the Jews upon thewalls, 'when, if we open the gate by so much as the width of a foot, theroaring crowd behind thee will press in and kill us?'
Upon this, the unjust Governor became angry, and told the people that heapproved of their killing those Jews; and a mischievous maniac of afriar, dressed all in white, put himself at the head of the assault, andthey assaulted the Castle for three days.
Then said JOCEN, the head-Jew (who was a Rabbi or Priest), to the rest,'Brethren, there is no hope for us with the Christians who are hammeringat the gates and walls, and who must soon break in. As we and our wivesand children must die, either by Christian hands, or by our own, let itbe by our own. Let us destroy by fire what jewels and other treasure wehave here, then fire the castle, and then perish!'
A few could not resolve to do this, but the greater part complied. Theymade a blazing heap of all their valuables, and, when those wereconsumed, set the castle in flames. While the flames roared and crackledaround them, and shooting up into the sky, turned it blood-red, Jocen cutthe throat of his beloved wife, and stabbed himself. All the others whohad wives or children, did the like dreadful deed. When the populacebroke in, they found (except the trembling few, cowering in corners, whomthey soon killed) only heaps of greasy cinders, with here and theresomething like part of the blackened trunk of a burnt tree, but which hadlately been a human creature, formed by the beneficent hand of theCreator as they were.
After this bad beginning, Richard and his troops went on, in no very goodmanner, with the Holy Crusade. It was undertaken jointly by the King ofEngland and his old friend Philip of France. They commenced the businessby reviewing their forces, to the number of one hundred thousand men.Afterwards, they severally embarked their troops for Messina, in Sicily,which was appointed as the next place of meeting.
King Richard's sister had married the King of this place, but he wasdead: and his uncle TANCRED had usurped the crown, cast the Royal Widowinto prison, and possessed himself of her estates. Richard fiercelydemanded his sister's release, the restoration of her lands, and(according to the Royal custom of the Island) that she should have agolden chair, a golden table, four-and-twenty silver cups, and four-and-twenty silver dishes. As he was too powerful to be successfullyresisted, Tancred yielded to his demands; and then the French King grewjealous, and complained that the English King wanted to be absolute inthe Island of Messina and everywhere else. Richard, however, caredlittle or nothing for this complaint; and in consideration of a presentof twenty thousand pieces of gold, promised his pretty little nephewARTHUR, then a child of two years old, in marriage to Tancred's daughter.We shall hear again of pretty little Arthur by-and-by.
This Sicilian affair arranged without anybody's brains being knocked out(which must have rather disappointed him), King Richard took his sisteraway, and also a fair lady named BERENGARIA, with whom he had fallen inlove in France, and whom his mother, Queen Eleanor (so long in prison,you remember, but released by Richard on his coming to the Throne), hadbrought out there to be his wife; and sailed with them for Cyprus.
He soon had the pleasure of fighting the King of the Island of Cyprus,for allowing his subjects to pillage some of the English troops who wereshipwrecked on the shore; and easily conquering this poor monarch, heseized his only daughter, to be a companion to the lady Berengaria, andput the King himself into silver fetters. He then sailed away again withhis mother, sister, wife, and the captive princess; and soon arrivedbefore the town of Acre, which the French King with his fleet wasbesieging from the sea. But the French King was in no triumphantcondition, for his army had been thinned by the swords of the Saracens,and wasted by the plague; and SALADIN, the brave Sultan of the Turks, atthe head of a numerous army, was at that time gallantly defending theplace from the hills that rise above it.
Wherever the united army of Crusaders went, they agreed in few pointsexcept in gaming, drinking, and quarrelling, in a most unholy manner; indebauching the people among whom they tarried, whether they were friendsor foes; and in carrying disturbance and ruin into quiet places. TheFrench King was jealous of the English King, and the English King wasjealous of the French King, and the disorderly and violent soldiers ofthe two nations were jealous of one another; consequently, the two Kingscould not at first agree, even upon a joint assault on Acre; but whenthey did make up their quarrel for that purpose, the Saracens promised toyield the town, to give up to the Christians the wood of the Holy Cross,to set at liberty all their Christian captives, and to pay two hundredthousand pieces of gold. All this was to be done within forty days; but,not being done, King Richard ordered some three thousand Saracenprisoners to be brought out in the front of his camp, and there, in fullview of their own countrymen, to be butchered.
The French King had no part in this crime; for he was by that timetravelling homeward with the greater part of his men; being offended bythe overbearing conduct of the English King; being anxious to look afterhis own dominions; and being ill, besides, from the unwholesome air ofthat hot and sandy country. King Richard carried on the war without him;and remained in the East, meeting with a variety of adventures, nearly ayear and a half. Every night when his army was on the march, and came toa halt, the heralds cried out three times, to remind all the soldiers ofthe cause in which they were engaged, 'Save the Holy Sepulchre!' and thenall the soldiers knelt and said 'Amen!' Marching or encamping, the armyhad continually to strive with the hot air of the glaring desert, or withthe Saracen soldiers animated and directed by the brave Saladin, or withboth together. Sickness and death, battle and wounds, were always amongthem; but through every difficulty King Richard fought like a giant, andworked like a common labourer. Long and long after he was quiet in hisgrave, his terrible battle-axe, with twenty English pounds of Englishsteel in its mighty head, was a legend among the Saracens; and when allthe Saracen and Christian hosts had been dust for many a year, if aSaracen horse started at any object by the wayside, his rider wouldexclaim, 'What dost thou fear, Fool? Dost thou think King Richard isbehind it?'
No one admired this King's renown for bravery more than Saladin himself,who was a generous and gallant enemy. When Richard lay ill of a fever,Saladin sent him fresh fruits from Damascus, and snow from the mountain-tops. Courtly messages and compliments were frequently exchanged betweenthem--and then King Richard would mount his horse and kill as manySaracens as he could; and Saladin would mount his, and kill as manyChristians as he could. In this way King Richard fought to his heart'scontent at Arsoof and at Jaffa; and finding himself with nothing excitingto do at Ascalon, except to rebuild, for his own defence, somefortifications there which the Saracens had destroyed, he kicked his allythe Duke of Austria, for being too proud to work at them.
The army at last came within sight of the Holy City of Jerusalem; but,being then a mere nest of jealousy, and quarrelling and fighting, soonretired, and agreed with the Saracens upon a truce for three years, threemonths, three days, and three hours. Then, the English Christians,protected by the noble Saladin from Saracen revenge, visited OurSaviour's tomb; and then King Richard embarked with a small force at Acreto return home.
But he was shipwrecked in the Adriatic Sea, and was fain to pass throughGermany, under an assumed name. Now, there were many people in Germanywho had served in the Holy Land under that proud Duke of Austria who hadbeen kicked; and some of them, easily recognising a man so remarkable asKing Richard, carried their intelligence to the kicked Duke, whostraightway took him prisoner at a little inn near Vienna.
The Duke's master the Emperor of Germany, and the King of France, wereequally delighted to have so troublesome a monarch in safe keeping.Friendships which are founded on a partnership in doing wrong, are nevertrue; and the King of France was now quite as heartily King Richard'sfoe, as he had ever been his friend in his unnatural conduct to hisfather. He monstrously pretended that King Richard had designed topoison him in the East; he charged him with having murdered, there, a manwhom he had in truth befriended; he bribed the Emperor of Germany to keephim close prisoner; and, finally, through the plotting of these twoprinces, Richard was brought before the German legislature, charged withthe foregoing crimes, and many others. But he defended himself so well,that many of the assembly were moved to tears by his eloquence andearnestness. It was decided that he should be treated, during the restof his captivity, in a manner more becoming his dignity than he had been,and that he should be set free on the payment of a heavy ransom. Thisransom the English people willingly raised. When Queen Eleanor took itover to Germany, it was at first evaded and refused. But she appealed tothe honour of all the princes of the German Empire in behalf of her son,and appealed so well that it was accepted, and the King released.Thereupon, the King of France wrote to Prince John--'Take care ofthyself. The devil is unchained!'
Prince John had reason to fear his brother, for he had been a traitor tohim in his captivity. He had secretly joined the French King; had vowedto the English nobles and people that his brother was dead; and hadvainly tried to seize the crown. He was now in France, at a place calledEvreux. Being the meanest and basest of men, he contrived a mean andbase expedient for making himself acceptable to his brother. He invitedthe French officers of the garrison in that town to dinner, murdered themall, and then took the fortress. With this recommendation to the goodwill of a lion-hearted monarch, he hastened to King Richard, fell on hisknees before him, and obtained the intercession of Queen Eleanor. 'Iforgive him,' said the King, 'and I hope I may forget the injury he hasdone me, as easily as I know he will forget my pardon.'
While King Richard was in Sicily, there had been trouble in his dominionsat home: one of the bishops whom he had left in charge thereof, arrestingthe other; and making, in his pride and ambition, as great a show as ifhe were King himself. But the King hearing of it at Messina, andappointing a new Regency, this LONGCHAMP (for that was his name) had fledto France in a woman's dress, and had there been encouraged and supportedby the French King. With all these causes of offence against Philip inhis mind, King Richard had no sooner been welcomed home by hisenthusiastic subjects with great display and splendour, and had no soonerbeen crowned afresh at Winchester, than he resolved to show the FrenchKing that the Devil was unchained indeed, and made war against him withgreat fury.
There was fresh trouble at home about this time, arising out of thediscontents of the poor people, who complained that they were far moreheavily taxed than the rich, and who found a spirited champion in WILLIAMFITZ-OSBERT, called LONGBEARD. He became the leader of a secret society,comprising fifty thousand men; he was seized by surprise; he stabbed thecitizen who first laid hands upon him; and retreated, bravely fighting,to a church, which he maintained four days, until he was dislodged byfire, and run through the body as he came out. He was not killed,though; for he was dragged, half dead, at the tail of a horse toSmithfield, and there hanged. Death was long a favourite remedy forsilencing the people's advocates; but as we go on with this history, Ifancy we shall find them difficult to make an end of, for all that.
The French war, delayed occasionally by a truce, was still in progresswhen a certain Lord named VIDOMAR, Viscount of Limoges, chanced to findin his ground a treasure of ancient coins. As the King's vassal, he sentthe King half of it; but the King claimed the whole. The lord refused toyield the whole. The King besieged the lord in his castle, swore that hewould take the castle by storm, and hang every man of its defenders onthe battlements.
There was a strange old song in that part of the country, to the effectthat in Limoges an arrow would be made by which King Richard would die.It may be that BERTRAND DE GOURDON, a young man who was one of thedefenders of the castle, had often sung it or heard it sung of a winternight, and remembered it when he saw, from his post upon the ramparts,the King attended only by his chief officer riding below the wallssurveying the place. He drew an arrow to the head, took steady aim, saidbetween his teeth, 'Now I pray God speed thee well, arrow!' dischargedit, and struck the King in the left shoulder.
Although the wound was not at first considered dangerous, it was severeenough to cause the King to retire to his tent, and direct the assault tobe made without him. The castle was taken; and every man of itsdefenders was hanged, as the King had sworn all should be, exceptBertrand de Gourdon, who was reserved until the royal pleasure respectinghim should be known.
By that time unskilful treatment had made the wound mortal and the Kingknew that he was dying. He directed Bertrand to be brought into histent. The young man was brought there, heavily chained, King Richardlooked at him steadily. He looked, as steadily, at the King.
'Knave!' said King Richard. 'What have I done to thee that thoushouldest take my life?'
'What hast thou done to me?' replied the young man. 'With thine ownhands thou hast killed my father and my two brothers. Myself thouwouldest have hanged. Let me die now, by any torture that thou wilt. Mycomfort is, that no torture can save Thee. Thou too must die; and,through me, the world is quit of thee!'
Again the King looked at the young man steadily. Again the young manlooked steadily at him. Perhaps some remembrance of his generous enemySaladin, who was not a Christian, came into the mind of the dying King.
'Youth!' he said, 'I forgive thee. Go unhurt!' Then, turning to thechief officer who had been riding in his company when he received thewound, King Richard said:
'Take off his chains, give him a hundred shillings, and let him depart.'
He sunk down on his couch, and a dark mist seemed in his weakened eyes tofill the tent wherein he had so often rested, and he died. His age wasforty-two; he had reigned ten years. His last command was not obeyed;for the chief officer flayed Bertrand de Gourdon alive, and hanged him.
There is an old tune yet known--a sorrowful air will sometimes outlivemany generations of strong men, and even last longer than battle-axeswith twenty pounds of steel in the head--by which this King is said tohave been discovered in his captivity. BLONDEL, a favourite Minstrel ofKing Richard, as the story relates, faithfully seeking his Royal master,went singing it outside the gloomy walls of many foreign fortresses andprisons; until at last he heard it echoed from within a dungeon, and knewthe voice, and cried out in ecstasy, 'O Richard, O my King!' You maybelieve it, if you like; it would be easy to believe worse things.Richard was himself a Minstrel and a Poet. If he had not been a Princetoo, he might have been a better man perhaps, and might have gone out ofthe world with less bloodshed and waste of life to answer for.