Makers of History

 Richard I. 

 BY JACOB ABBOTT

 WITH ENGRAVINGS

 NEW YORK AND LONDON

 HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

 1902

 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, by

 HARPER & BROTHERS, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. 

 Copyright, 1885, by BENJAMIN VAUGHAN ABBOTT, AUSTIN ABBOTT, LYMAN ABBOTT, and EDWARD ABBOTT. 

PREFACE. 

The author of this series has made it his special object to confinehimself very strictly, even in the most minute details which herecords, to historic truth. The narratives are not tales founded uponhistory, but history itself, without any embellishment, or anydeviations from the strict truth so far as it can now be discovered byan attentive examination of the annals written at the time when theevents themselves occurred. In writing the narratives, the author hasendeavored to avail himself of the best sources of information whichthis country affords; and though, of course, there must be in thesevolumes, as in all historical accounts, more or less of imperfectionand error, there is no intentional embellishment. Nothing is stated, not even the most minute and apparently imaginary details, withoutwhat was deemed good historical authority. The readers, therefore, mayrely upon the record as the truth, and nothing but the truth, so faras an honest purpose and a careful examination have been effectual inascertaining it. 

CONTENTS. 

 Chapter Page

 I. KING RICHARD'S MOTHER 13

 II. RICHARD'S EARLY LIFE 35

 III. FAIR ROSAMOND 53

 IV. ACCESSION OF RICHARD TO THE THRONE 66

 V. THE CORONATION 79

 VI. PREPARATIONS FOR THE CRUSADE 89

 VII. THE EMBARKATION 101

 VIII. KING RICHARD AT MESSINA 117

 IX. BERENGARIA 143

 X. THE CAMPAIGN IN CYPRUS 160

 XI. VOYAGE TO ACRE 185

 XII. THE ARRIVAL AT ACRE 196

 XIII. DIFFICULTIES 204

 XIV. THE FALL OF ACRE 211

 XV. PROGRESS OF THE CRUSADE 229

 XVI. REVERSES 249

 XVII. THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS 267

 XVIII. THE BATTLE OF JAFFA 283

 XIX. THE TRUCE 297

 XX. THE DEPARTURE FROM PALESTINE 305

 XXI. RICHARD MADE CAPTIVE 312

 XXII. THE RETURN TO ENGLAND 324

ENGRAVINGS. 

 Page

 MAP 14

 PREACHING THE CRUSADES 19

 PORTRAIT OF KING HENRY II. 49

 VIEW OF WOODSTOCK 55

 FINAL BURIAL OF ROSAMOND 64

 PORTRAIT OF RICHARD I. 90

 RICHARD PURSUING HIS JOURNEY 113

 THE BATTERING-RAM 137

 THE BALLISTA 139

 THE CATAPULTA 140

 THE LETTER 152

 ROUTE OF RICHARD'S FLEET 164

 KING RICHARD'S SEAL 167

 RAMPARTS OF ACRE 189

 THE ASSAULT 207

 THROWING SHELLS 231

 SALADIN'S PRESENT 294

 CASTLE AND TOWN OF TIERNSTEIGN 321

KING RICHARD I. 

CHAPTER I. 

KING RICHARD'S MOTHER. 

1137-1154

Richard the Crusader. --A quarrelsome king. --Richard'skingdom. --Union of England and Normandy. --England was apossession of Normandy. --Eleanora of Aquitaine. --Thecontemporaries of Eleanora. --Royal match-making. --Theconditions of the marriage. --Apparent prosperity ofleanora. --Eleanora's accomplishments. --The Crusades. --A monkpreaching the Crusades. --The reasons why Louis and Eleanoraundertook a crusade. --Amazons. --The power of ridicule. --Theplans and purposes of the female Crusaders. --Antioch. --Meetingthe Saracens. --Choosing an encampment. --The result of the queen'sgeneralship. --A quarrel. --The queen at Jerusalem. --A divorceproposed. --The failure of the crusade. --Returning to France. --Thequeen's new lover. --A divorce again proposed. --The motives ofHenry. --Controversy among historians. --The real motives in thedivorce. --A violent courtship and a narrow escape. --Geoffrey'sdesigns upon Eleanora. --Customs of old times. --Eleanora eludedGeoffrey. --She is married to Henry. --Henry's expedition toEngland. --His final coronation. --Eleanora Queen of England. 

King Richard the First, the Crusader, was a boisterous, reckless, anddesperate man, and he made a great deal of noise in the world in hisday. He began his career very early in life by quarreling with hisfather. Indeed, his father, his mother, and all his brothers andsisters were engaged, as long as the father lived, in perpetual warsagainst each other, which were waged with the most desperatefierceness on all sides. The subject of these quarrels was thedifferent possessions which the various branches of the family held orclaimed in France and in England, each endeavoring to dispossess theothers. In order to understand the nature of these difficulties, andalso to comprehend fully what sort of a woman Richard's mother was, wemust first pay a little attention to the map of the countries overwhich these royal personages held sway. 

[Illustration: MAP]

We have already seen, in another volume of this series, [A] how the twocountries of Normandy on the Continent, and of England, became unitedunder one government. England, however, did not conquer and holdNormandy; it was Normandy that conquered and held England. Therelative situation of these two countries is shown on the map. Normandy, it will be seen, was situated in the northern part ofFrance, being separated from England by the English Channel. BesidesNormandy, the sovereigns of the country held various other possessionsin France, and this French portion of the compound realm over whichthey reigned they considered as far the most important portion. England was but a sort of appendage to their empire. 

[Footnote A: History of William the Conqueror. ]

You will see by the map the situation of the River Loire. It rises inthe centre of France, and flows to the westward, through a countrywhich was, even in those days, very fertile and beautiful. South ofthe Loire was a sort of kingdom, then under the dominion of a youngand beautiful princess named Eleanora. The name of her kingdom wasAquitaine. This lady afterward became the mother of Richard. She wasvery celebrated in her day, and has since been greatly renowned inhistory under the name of Eleanora of Aquitaine. 

Eleanora received her realm from her grandfather. Her father had goneon a crusade with his brother, Eleanora's uncle, Raymond, and hadbeen killed in the East. Raymond had made himself master of Antioch. We shall presently hear of this Raymond again. The grandfatherabdicated in Eleanora's favor when she was about fourteen years ofage. There were two other powerful sovereigns in France at this time, Louis, King of France, who reigned in Paris, and Henry, Duke ofNormandy and King of England. King Louis of France had a son, thePrince Louis, who was heir to the crown. Eleanora's grandfather formedthe scheme of marrying her to this Prince Louis, and thus to unite hiskingdom to hers. He himself was tired of ruling, and wished to resignhis power, with a view of spending the rest of his days in penitenceand prayer. He had been a very wicked man in his day, and now, as hewas growing old, he was harassed by remorse for his sins, and wished, if possible, to make some atonement for them by his penances before hedied. 

So he called all his barons together, and laid his plans before them. They consented to them on two conditions. One was, that Eleanorashould first see Louis, and say whether she was willing to have himfor her husband. If not, she was not to be compelled to marry him. Theother condition was, that their country, Aquitaine, was not to becombined with the dominions of the King of France after the marriage, but was to continue a separate and independent realm, to be governedby Louis and Eleanora, not as King and Queen of France, but as Dukeand Duchess of Aquitaine. Both these conditions were complied with. The interview was arranged between Louis and Eleanora, and Eleanoraconcluded that she should like the king for a husband very much. Atleast she said so, and the marriage was concluded. 

Indeed, the match thus arranged for Eleanora was, in all worldlyrespects, the most eligible one that could be made. Her husband wasthe heir-apparent to the throne of France. His capital was Paris, which was then, as now, the great centre in Europe of all splendor andgayety. The father of Louis was old, and not likely to live long;indeed, he died very soon after the marriage, and thus Eleanora, whenscarcely fifteen, became Queen of France as well as Duchess ofAquitaine, and was thus raised to the highest pinnacle of worldlygrandeur. 

She was young and beautiful, and very gay in her disposition, and sheentered at once upon a life of pleasure. She had been well educated. She could sing the songs of the Troubadours, which was thefashionable music of those days, in a most charming manner. Indeed, she composed music herself, and wrote lines to accompany it. She wasquite celebrated for her learning, on account of her being able bothto read and write: these were rare accomplishments for ladies in thosedays. 

She spent a considerable portion of her time in Paris, at the court ofher husband, but then she often returned to Aquitaine, where she helda sort of court of her own in Bordeaux, which was her capital. She ledthis sort of life for some time, until at length she was induced toform a design of going to the East on a crusade. The Crusades weremilitary expeditions which went from the western countries of Europeto conquer Palestine from the Turks, in order to recover possession ofJerusalem and of the sepulchre where the body of Christ was laid. 

It had been for some time the practice for the princes and knights, and other potentates of France and England, to go on theseexpeditions, on account of the fame and glory which those whodistinguished themselves acquired. The people were excited, moreover, to join the Crusades by the preachings of monks and hermits, whoharangued them in public places and urged them to go. At theseassemblages the monks held up symbols of the crucifixion, to inspiretheir zeal, and promised them the special favor of heaven if theywould go. They said that whoever devoted himself to this great causeshould surely be pardoned for all the sins and crimes that he hadcommitted, whatever they might be; and whenever they heard of thecommission of any great crimes by potentates or rulers, they wouldseize upon the occasion to urge the guilty persons to go and fight forthe cross in Palestine, as a means of wiping away their guilt. 

[Illustration: PREACHING THE CRUSADES. ]

One of these preachers charged such a crime upon Louis, the husbandof Eleanora. It seems that, in a quarrel which he had with one of hisneighbors, he had sent an armed force to invade his enemy's dominions, and in storming a town a cathedral had been set on fire and burned, and fifteen hundred persons, who had taken refuge in it as asanctuary, had perished in the flames. Now it was a very great crime, according to the ideas of those times, to violate a sanctuary; and thehermit-preacher urged Louis to go on a crusade in order to atone forthe dreadful guilt he had incurred by not only violating a sanctuary, but by overwhelming, in doing it, so many hundreds of innocent womenand children in the awful suffering of being burned to death. So Louisdetermined to go on a crusade, and Eleanora determined to accompanyhim. Her motive was a love of adventure and a fondness for notoriety. She thought that by going out, a young and beautiful princess, at thehead of an army of Crusaders, into the East, she would make herself arenowned heroine in the eyes of the whole world. So she immediatelycommenced her preparations, and by the commanding influence which sheexerted over the ladies of the court, she soon inspired them all withher own romantic ardor. 

The ladies at once laid aside their feminine dress, and clothedthemselves like Amazons, so that they could ride astride on horsebacklike men. All their talk was of arms, and armor, and horses, andcamps. They endeavored, too, to interest all the men--the princes, andbarons, and knights that surrounded them--in their plans, and toinduce them to join the expedition. A great many did so, but therewere some that shook their heads and seemed inclined to stay at home. They knew that so wild and heedless a plan as this could end innothing but disaster. The ladies ridiculed these men for theircowardice and want of spirit, and they sent them their distaffs aspresents. "We have no longer any use for the distaffs, " said they, "but, as you are intending to stay at home and make women ofyourselves, we send them to you, so that you may occupy yourselveswith spinning while we are gone. " By such taunts and ridicule as this, a great many were shamed into joining the expedition, whose good sensemade them extremely averse to have any thing to do with it. 

The expedition was at length organized and prepared to set forth. Itwas encumbered by the immense quantity of baggage which the queen andher party of women insisted on taking. It is true that they hadassumed the dress of Amazons, but this was only for the camp and thefield. They expected to enjoy a great many pleasures while they weregone, to give and receive a great many entertainments, and to live inluxury and splendor in the great cities of the East. So they mustneeds take with them large quantities of baggage, containing dressesand stores of female paraphernalia of all kinds. The king remonstratedagainst this folly, but all to no purpose. The ladies thought it veryhard if, in going on such an expedition, they could not take with themthe usual little comforts and conveniences appropriate to their sex. So it ended with their having their own way. 

The caprices and freaks of these women continued to harass andinterfere with the expedition during the whole course of it. The armyof Crusaders reached at length a place near Antioch, in Asia Minor, where they encountered the Saracens. Antioch was then in thepossession of the Christians. It was under the command of the PrinceRaymond, who has already been spoken of as Eleanora's uncle. Raymondwas a young and very handsome prince, and Eleanora anticipated greatpleasure in visiting his capital. The expedition had not, however, yet reached it, but were advancing through the country, defendingthemselves as well as they could against the troops of Arab horsementhat were harassing their march. 

The commanders were greatly perplexed in this emergency to know whatto do with the women, and with their immense train of baggage. Theking at last sent them on in advance, with all his best troops toaccompany them. He directed them to go on, and encamp for the night oncertain high ground which he designated, where they would be safe, hesaid, from an attack by the Arabs. But when they approached the place, Eleanora found a green and fertile valley near, which was veryromantic and beautiful, and she decided at once that this was a muchprettier place to encamp in than the bare hill above. The officers incommand of the troops remonstrated in vain. Eleanora and the ladiesinsisted on encamping in the valley. The consequence was, that theArabs came and got possession of the hill, and thus put themselvesbetween the division of the army which was with Eleanora and thatwhich was advancing under the king. A great battle was fought. TheFrench were defeated. A great many thousand men were slain. All theprovisions for the army were cut off, and all the ladies' baggage wasseized and plundered by the Arabs. The remainder of the army, with theking, and the queen, and the ladies, succeeded in making their escapeto Antioch, and there Prince Raymond opened the gates and let them in. 

As soon as Eleanora and the other ladies recovered a little from theirfright and fatigue, they began to lead very gay lives in Antioch, andbefore long a serious quarrel broke out between Louis and the queen. The cause of this quarrel was Raymond. He was a young and handsomeman, and he soon began to show such fondness for Eleanora that theking's jealousy was aroused, and at length the king discerned, as hesaid, proofs of such a degree of intimacy between them as to fill himwith rage. He determined to leave Antioch immediately, and takeEleanora with him. She was very unwilling to go, but the king was soangry that he compelled her to accompany him. So he went awayabruptly, scarcely bidding Raymond good-by at all, and proceeded withEleanora and nearly all his company to Jerusalem. Eleanora submitted, though she was exceedingly out of humor. 

The king, too, on his part, was as much out of humor as the queen. Hedetermined that he would not allow her to accompany him any more onthe campaign; so he left her at Jerusalem, a sort of prisoner, whilehe put himself at the head of his army and went forth to prosecute thewar. By-and-by, when he came back to Jerusalem, and inquired about hiswife's conduct while he had been gone, he learned some facts inrespect to the intimacy which she had formed with a prince of thecountry during his absence, that made him more angry than ever. Hedeclared that he would sue for a divorce. She was a wicked woman, hesaid, and he would repudiate her. 

One of his ministers, however, contrived to appease him, at least sofar as to induce him to abandon this design. The minister did notpretend to say that Eleanora was innocent, or that she did not deserveto be repudiated, but he said that if the divorce was to be carriedinto effect, then Louis would lose all claim to Eleanora'spossessions, for it will be recollected that the dukedom of Aquitaine, and the other rich possessions which belonged to Eleanora before hermarriage, continued entirely separate from the kingdom of France, andstill belonged to her. 

The king and Eleanora had a daughter named Margaret, who was now ayoung child, but who, when she grew up, would inherit both herfather's and her mother's possessions, and thus, in the end, theywould be united, if the king and queen continued to live together inpeace. But this would be all lost, as the minister maintained in hisargument with the king, in case of a divorce. 

"If you are divorced from her, " said he, "she will soon be marriedagain, and then all her possessions will finally go out of yourfamily. "

So the king concluded to submit to the shame of his wife's dishonor, and still keep her as his wife. But he had now lost all interest inthe crusade, partly on account of his want of success in it, andpartly on account of his domestic troubles. So he left the Holy Land, and took the queen and the ladies, and the remnant of his troops, backagain to Paris. Here he and the queen lived very unhappily togetherfor about two years. 

At the end of this time the queen became involved in new difficultiesin consequence of her intrigues. The time had passed away so rapidlythat it was now thirteen years since her marriage, and she was abouttwenty-eight years of age--old enough, one would think, to havelearned some discretion. After, however, amusing herself with variouslovers, she at length became enamored of a young prince named HenryPlantagenet, who afterward became Henry the Second of England, and wasthe father of Richard, the hero of this history. Henry was at thistime Duke of Normandy. He came to visit the court of Louis in Paris, and here, after a short time, Eleanora conceived the idea of beingdivorced from Louis in order to marry him. Henry was a great dealyounger than Eleanora, being then only about eighteen years of age;but he was very agreeable in his person and manners, and QueenEleanora was quite charmed with him. It was not, however, to beexpected that he should be so much charmed with her; for, although shehad been very beautiful, she had now so far passed the period of heryouth, and had been subjected to so many exposures, that the bloom ofher early beauty was in a great measure gone. She was now nearlythirty years old, having been married twelve or thirteen years. She, however, made eager advances to Henry, and finally gave him tounderstand, that if he would consent to marry her, she would obtain adivorce from King Louis, and then endow him with all her dominions. 

Now there was a strong reason operating upon Henry's mind to acceptthis proposal. He claimed to be entitled to the crown of England. KingStephen was at this time reigning in England, but Henry maintainedthat he was a usurper, and he was eager to dispossess him. Eleanorarepresented to Henry that, with all the forces of her dominions, shecould easily enable him to do that, and so at length the idea ofmaking himself a king overcame his natural repugnance to take a wifealmost twice as old as he was himself, and she, too, the divorced anddiscarded wife of another man. So he agreed to Eleanora's proposal, and measures were soon taken to effect the divorce. 

There is some dispute among the ancient historians in respect to thisdivorce. Some say that it was the king that originated it, and thatthe cause which he alleged was the freedom of the queen in her lovefor other men, and that Eleanora, when she found that the divorce wasresolved upon, formed the plan of beguiling young Henry into amarriage with her, to save her fall. Others say that the divorce washer plan alone, and that the pretext for it was the relationship thatexisted between her and King Louis, for they were in some degreerelated to each other; and the rules of the Church of Rome were verystrict against such marriages. It is not improbable, however, that thereal reason of the divorce was that the king desired it on account ofhis wife's loose and irregular character, while Eleanora wished for itin order to have a more agreeable husband. She never had liked Louis. He was a very grave and even gloomy man, who thought of nothing butthe Church, and his penances and prayers, so that Eleanora said he wasmore of a monk than a king. This monkish turn of mind had increasedupon the king since his return from the Crusades. He made it a matterof conscience to wear coarse and plain clothes instead of dressinghandsomely like a king, and he cut off the curls of his hair, whichhad been very beautiful, and shaved his head and his mustaches. Thisprocedure disgusted Eleanora completely. She despised her husbandherself, and ridiculed him to others, saying that he had made himselflook like an old priest. In a word, all her love for him was entirelygone. Both parties being thus very willing to have the marriageannulled, they agreed to put it on the ground of their relationship, in order to avoid scandal. 

At any rate, the marriage was dissolved, and Eleanora set out fromParis to return to Bordeaux, the capital of her own country. Henry wasto meet her on the way. Her road lay along the banks of the Loire. Here she stopped for a day or two. The count who ruled this province, who was a very gay and handsome man, offered her his hand. He wishedto add her dominions to his own. Eleanora refused him. The countresolved not to take the refusal, and, under some pretext or other, hedetained her in his castle, resolving to keep her there until sheshould consent. But Eleanora was not a woman to be conquered by such amethod as this. She pretended to acquiesce in the detention, and to becontented, but this was only to put the count off his guard; and then, watching her opportunity, she escaped from the castle in the night;and getting into a boat, which she had caused to be provided for thepurpose, she went down the river to the town of Tours, which was somedistance below, and in the dominions of another sovereign. 

In going on from Tours toward her own home, she encountered andnarrowly escaped another danger. It seems that Geoffrey Plantagenet, the brother of Henry, whom she had engaged to marry, conceived thedesign of seizing her and compelling her to marry him instead of hisbrother. It may seem strange that any one should be so unprincipledand base as to attempt thus to circumvent his own brother, and takeaway from him his intended wife; but it was not a strange thing at allfor the members of the royal and princely families of those days toact in this manner toward each other. It was the usual and establishedcondition of things among these families that the different members ofthem should be perpetually intriguing and manoeuvring one againstthe other, brother against sister, husband against wife, and fatheragainst son. In a vast number of instances these contentions broke outinto open war, and the wars thus waged between the nearest relativeswere of the most desperate and merciless character. 

It was therefore a very moderate and inconsiderable deed of brotherlyhostility on the part of Geoffrey to plan the seizure of his brother'sintended wife, in order to get possession of her dominions. The planwhich he formed was to lie in wait for the boat which was to conveyEleanora down the river, and seize her as she came by. She, however, avoided this snare by turning off into a branch of the river whichcame from the south. You will see the course of the river and thesituation of this southern branch on the map. [B] The branch whichEleanora followed not only took her away from the ambush whichGeoffrey had laid for her, but conducted her toward her own home, where, after meeting with various other adventures, she arrived safelyat last. Here Henry Plantagenet soon joined her, and they weremarried. The marriage took place only six weeks after her divorce fromher former husband. This was considered a very scandalous transactionthroughout, and Eleanora was now considered as having forfeited allclaims to respectability of character. Still she was a great duchessin her own right, and was now wife of the heir-apparent of the Englishthrone, and so her character made little difference in the estimationin which she was held by the world. 

[Footnote B: See page 14. ]

From the time of her first engagement with Henry nearly two years hadelapsed before all the proceedings in relation to the divorce had beencompleted so as to prepare the way for the marriage, and now Eleanorawas about thirty-two years of age, while Henry was only twenty. Henryseems to have felt no love for his wife. He had acceded to herproposal to marry him only in order to obtain the assistance which theforces of her dominions might supply him in gaining possession of theEnglish throne. 

Accordingly, about a year after the marriage, a military expeditionwas fitted out to proceed to England. The expedition consisted ofthirty-six ships, and a large force of fighting men. Henry landed inEngland at the head of this force, and advanced against Stephen. Thetwo princes fought for some time without any very decisive success oneither side, when at length they concluded to settle the quarrel by acompromise. It was agreed that Stephen should continue to hold thecrown as long as he lived, and then that Henry should succeed him. When this arrangement had been made, Henry returned to Normandy; andthen, after two or three years, he heard of Stephen's death. He thenwent immediately to England again, and was universally acknowledged asking. Eleanora went with him as queen, and very soon they were crownedat Westminster with the greatest possible pomp and parade. 

And thus it was that Eleanora of Aquitaine, the mother of Richard, inthe year eleven hundred and fifty-four, became queen-consort ofEngland. 

CHAPTER II. 

RICHARD'S EARLY LIFE. 

1154-1184

The sons and daughters of King Henry. --Rebellions and familyquarrels. --The appearance of the Queen Eleanora inLondon. --Illuminated portraits. --The queen's attire. --The king'sattire. --The palace at Bermondsey. --Scenes of festivity. --Thepalace at Oxford. --Its present appearance. --An earlymarriage. --The reason for marrying children four yearsold. --Vice-regencies. --The rebellions of Richard. --Eleanora'stime of suffering comes. --The queen's flight. --The captivity inWinchester. --The message from Henry. --His death. --Remorse. --Theagonies of a wicked man's death. --Affliction reconciles hostilerelatives. --Another quarrel. --Richard's long engagement. --Thesad death of Geoffrey. --Dividing the inheritance. --Portraitof King Henry II. --Richard's resistance to his father'splans. --Assistance from Philip. --King Henry's reproach of hisson John. --Lady Rosamond. 

Almost all the early years of the life of our hero were spent in warswhich were waged by the different members of his father's familyagainst each other. These wars originated in the quarrels that arosebetween the sons and their father in respect to the family propertyand power. Henry had five sons, of whom Richard was the third. He hadalso three daughters. The king held a great variety of possessions, having inherited from his father and grandfather, or received throughhis wife, a number of distinct and independent realms. Thus he wasduke of one country, earl of another, king of a third, and count of afourth. England was his kingdom, Normandy was his great dukedom, andhe held, besides, various other realms. He was a generous father, andhe began early by conveying some of these provinces to his sons. Butthey were not contented with the portions that he voluntarily assignedthem. They called for more. Sometimes the father yielded to theseunreasonable demands, but yielding only made the young men moregrasping than before, and at length the father would resist. Then camerebellions, and leagues formed by the sons against the father, and themusterings of armies, and battles, and sieges. The mother generallytook part with the sons in these unnatural contests, and in the courseof them the most revolting spectacles were presented to the eyes ofthe world--of towns belonging to a father sacked and burned by thesons, or castles beleaguered, and the garrisons reduced to famine, inwhich a husband was defending himself against the forces of his wife, or a sister against those of a brother. Richard himself, who seems tohave been the most desperate and reckless of the family, began to takean active part in these rebellions against his father when he was onlyseventeen years old. 

These wars continued, with various temporary interruptions, for manyyears, and whenever at any time a brief peace was made between thesons and the father, then the young men would usually fall toquarreling among themselves. Indeed, Henry, the oldest of them, saidthat the only possible bond of peace between the brothers seemed tobe a common war against their father. 

Nor did the king live on much better terms with his wife than he didwith his children. At the time of Eleanora's marriage with Henry, herprospects were bright indeed. The people of England, notwithstandingthe evil reports that were spread in respect to her character, received her as their queen with much enthusiasm, and on the occasionof her coronation they made a great deal of parade to celebrate theevent. Her appearance at that time attracted unusual attention. Thiswas partly on account of her personal attractions and partly onaccount of her dress. The style of her dress was quite Oriental. Shehad brought home with her from Antioch a great many Eastern fashions, and many elegant articles of dress, such as mantles of silk andbrocade, scarfs, jeweled girdles and bands, and beautiful veils, suchas are worn at the East. These dresses were made at Constantinople, and when displayed by the queen in London they received a great dealof admiration. 

We can see precisely how the queen looked in these dresses by means ofilluminated portraits of her contained in the books written at thattime. It was the custom in those days in writing books--the work ofwhich was all executed by hand--to embellish them with what werecalled illuminations. These were small paintings inserted here andthere upon the page, representing the distinguished personages namedin the writing. These portraits were painted in very brilliant colors, and there are several still remaining that show precisely how Eleanoraappeared in one of her Oriental dresses. She wears a close head-dress, with a circlet of gems over it. There is a gown made with tightsleeves, and fastened with full gathers just below the throat, whereit is confined by a rich collar of gems. Over this is an elegant outerrobe bordered with fur. The sleeves of the outer robe are very fulland loose, and are lined with ermine. They open so as to show theclose sleeves beneath. Over all is a long and beautiful gauze veil. 

The dress of the king was very rich and gorgeous too; and so, indeed, was that of all the ecclesiastics and other dignitaries that took partin the celebration. All London was filled with festivity and rejoicingon the occasion, and the queen's heart overflowed with pride and joy. 

After the coronation, the king conducted Eleanora to a beautifulcountry residence called Bermondsey, which was at a short distancefrom London, toward the south. Here there was a palace, and gardens, and beautiful grounds. The palace was on an elevation which commandeda fine view of the capital. Here the queen lived in royal state. Shehad, however, other palaces besides, and she often went to and froamong her different residences. She contrived a great manyentertainments to amuse her court, such as comedies, games, revels, and celebrations of all sorts. The king joined with her in theseschemes of pleasure. One of the historians of the time gives a curiousaccount of the appearance of the king and the court in theirexcursions. "When the king sets out of a morning, you see multitudesof people running up and down as if they were distracted--horsesrushing against horses, carriages overturning carriages, players, gamesters, cooks, confectioners, morrice-dancers, barbers, courtezans, and parasites--making so much noise, and, in a word, such anintolerable tumultuous jumble of horse and foot, that you can imaginethe great abyss hath opened and poured forth all its inhabitants. "

It was about three years after Eleanora was crowned Queen of Englandthat Richard was born. At the time of his birth, the queen wasresiding at a palace in Oxford. The palace has gone pretty much toruin. The building is now used in part as a work-house. The room whereRichard was born is roofless and uninhabitable. Nothing even of theinterior of it remains except some traces of the fire-place. The room, however, though thus completely gone to ruin, is a place ofconsiderable interest to the English people, who visit it in greatnumbers in order that they may see the place where the great hero wasborn; for, desperate and reckless as Richard's character was, thepeople of England are quite proud of him on account of his undauntedbravery. 

It is very curious that the first important event of Richard'schildhood was his marriage. He was married when he was about fouryears old--that is, he was regularly and formally affianced, and aceremony which might be called the marriage ceremony was dulyperformed. His bride was a young child of Louis, King of France. Thechild was about three years old. Her name was Alice. This marriage wasthe result of a sort of bargain between Henry, Richard's father, andLouis, the French king. They had had a fierce dispute about theportion of another of Louis's children that had been married in thesame way to one of Richard's brothers named Henry. The English kingcomplained that the dowry was not sufficient, and the French king, after a long discussion, agreed to make it up by giving anotherprovince with his daughter Alice to Richard. The reason that inducedthe King of England to effect these marriages was, that the provincesthat were bestowed with their infant wives as their dowries came intohis hands as the guardian of their husbands while they were minors, and thus extended, as it were, his own dominions. 

By this time the realms of King Henry had become very extensive. Heinherited Normandy, you will recollect, from his ancestors, and he wasin possession of that country before he became King of England. Whenhe was married to Eleanora, he acquired through her a large additionto his territory by becoming, jointly with her, the sovereign of herrealms in the south of France. Then, when he became King of England, his power was still more extended, and, finally, by the marriages ofhis sons, the young princes, he received other provinces besides, though, of course, he held these last only as the guardian of hischildren. Now, in governing these various realms, the king wasaccustomed to leave his wife and his sons in different portions ofthem, to rule them in his absence, though still under his command. They each maintained a sort of court in the city where their fatherleft them, but they were expected to govern the several portions ofthe country in strict subjection to their father's general control. The boys, however, as they grew older, became more and moreindependent in feeling; and the queen, being a great deal older thanher husband, and having been, before her marriage, a sovereign in herown right, was disposed to be very little submissive to his authority. It was under these circumstances that the family quarrels arose thatled to the wars spoken of at the beginning of the chapter. Richardhimself, as was there stated, began to raise rebellions against hisfather when he was about seventeen years old. 

Whenever, in the course of these wars, the young men found themselvesworsted in their contests with their father's troops, their resourcewas to fly to Paris, in order to get King Louis to aid them. ThisLouis was always willing to do, for he took great pleasure in thedissensions which were thus continually breaking out in Henry'sfamily. 

Besides these wars, Queen Eleanora had one great and bitter source oftrouble in a guilty attachment which her husband cherished for abeautiful lady more nearly of his own age than his wife was. Her namewas Rosamond. She is known in history as Fair Rosamond. A full accountof her will be given in the next chapter. All that is necessary tostate here is that Queen Eleanora was made very wretched by herhusband's love for Rosamond, though she had scarcely any right tocomplain, for she had, as it would seem, done all in her power toalienate the affections of her husband from herself by the levity ofher conduct, and by her bold and independent behavior in all respects. At last, at one time while she was at Bordeaux, the capital of herrealm of Aquitaine, she heard rumors that the king was intending toobtain a divorce from her, in order that he might openly marryRosamond, and she determined to go back to her former husband, Louisof France. The country, however, was full of castles, which weregarrisoned by Henry's troops, and she was afraid that they wouldprevent her going if they knew of her intention; so she contrived aplan of disguising herself in man's clothes, and undertook to makeher escape in that way. She succeeded in getting away from Bordeaux, but her flight was soon discovered, and the officers of the garrisonimmediately sent off a party to pursue her. The pursuers overtook herbefore she had gone far, and brought her back. They treated her quiteroughly, and kept her a prisoner in Bordeaux until her husband came. When Henry arrived he was quite angry with the queen for having thusundertaken to go back to her former husband, whom he considered as hisgreatest rival and enemy, and he determined that she should have noopportunity to make another such attempt; so he kept a very strictwatch over her, and subjected her to so much restraint that sheconsidered herself a prisoner. 

The king had a quarrel also at this time with one of hisdaughters-in-law, and he made her a prisoner too. Soon after this hewent back to England, taking these two captives in his train. In ashort time he sent the queen to a certain palace which he had inWinchester, and there he kept her confined for sixteen years. It wasduring this period of their mother's captivity that the wars betweenthe father and his sons was waged most fiercely. 

At length, in the year eleven hundred and eighty-two, in the midst ofone of the most violent wars that had raged between the king and hissons, a message came to the king that his son Henry was verydangerously sick, and that he wished his father to come and see him. The king was greatly at a loss what to do on receiving thiscommunication. His counselors advised him not to go. It was only astratagem, they said, on the part of the young prince, to get hisfather into his camp, and so take him prisoner. So the king concludednot to go. He had, however, some misgivings that his son might bereally sick, and accordingly dispatched an archbishop to him with aring, which he said he sent to him as a token of his forgiveness andof his paternal affection. Very soon, however, a second messenger cameto the king to say that Prince Henry had died. These sad tidingsoverwhelmed the heart of the king with the most poignant grief. He atonce forgot all the undutiful and disobedient conduct of his son, andremembered him only as his dearly-beloved child. He became almostbroken-hearted. 

The prince himself, on his death-bed, was borne down with remorse andanguish in thinking of the crimes that he had committed against hisfather. He longed to have his father come and see him before he died. The ring which the archbishop was sent to bring to him arrived just intime, and the prince pressed it to his lips, and blessed it with tearsof frantic grief. As the hour of death approached his remorse becamedreadful. All the attempts made by the priests around his bed tosoothe and quiet him were unavailing, and at last his agony became sogreat that he compelled them to put a rope around him and drag himfrom his bed to a heap of ashes, placed for the purpose in his room, that he might die there. A heap of ashes, he said, was the only fitplace for such a reprobate as he had been. 

So will it be with all undutiful children; when on their death-beds, they reflect on their disobedient and rebellious conduct toward thefather and the mother to whom they owe their being. 

It is remarkable how great an effect a death in a family produces inreconciling those who before had been at enmity with each other. Thereare many husbands and wives who greatly disagree with each other intimes of health and prosperity, but who are reconciled and made tolove each other by adversity and sorrow. Such was the effect producedupon the minds of Henry and Eleanora by the death of their son andheir. They were both overwhelmed with grief, for the affection which aparent bears to a child is never wholly extinguished, howeverundutiful and rebellious a child may be; and the grief which the twoparents now felt in common brought them to a reconciliation. The kingseemed disposed to forgive the queen for the offenses, whether real orimaginary, which she had committed against him. "Now that our dear sonis dead and gone, " said he, "let us no longer quarrel with eachother. " So he liberated the queen from the restraint which he hadimposed upon her, and restored her once more to her rank as an Englishqueen. 

This state of things continued for about a year, and then the oldspirit of animosity and contention burned up once more as fiercely asever. The king shut up Eleanora again, and a violent quarrel broke outbetween the king and his son Richard. 

The cause of this quarrel was connected with the Princess Alice, towhom it will be recollected Richard had been betrothed in his infancy. Richard claimed that now, since he was of age, his wife ought to begiven to him, but his father kept her away, and would not allow themarriage to be consummated. The king made various excuses and pretextsfor the delay. Some thought that the real reason was that he wished tocontinue his guardianship and his possession of the dower as long aspossible, but Richard thought that his father was in love with Alicehimself, and that he did not intend that he, Richard, should have herat all. This difficulty led to new quarrels, in which the king andRichard became more exasperated with each other than ever. This stateof things continued until Richard was thirty-four years old and hisbride was thirty. Richard was so far bound to her that he could notmarry any other lady, and his father obstinately persisted inpreventing his completing the marriage with her. 

[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF KING HENRY II. ]

In the mean time Prince Geoffrey, another of the king's sons, came toa miserable end. He was killed in a tournament. He was ridingfuriously in the tournament in the midst of a great number of otherhorsemen, when he was unfortunately thrown from his steed, and troddento death on the ground by the hoofs of the other horses that gallopedover him. The only two sons that were now left were Richard and John. Of these, Richard was now the oldest, and he was, of course, hisfather's heir. King Henry, however, formed a plan for dividing hisdominions between his two sons, instead of allowing Richard to inheritthe whole. John was his youngest son, and, as such, the king loved himtenderly. So he conceived the idea of leaving to Richard all hispossessions in France, which constituted the most important part ofhis dominions, and of bestowing the kingdom of England upon John; and, in order to make sure of the carrying of this arrangement into effect, he proposed crowning John king of England forthwith. 

Richard, however, determined to resist this plan. The former king ofFrance, Louis the Seventh, was now dead, and his son, Philip theSecond, the brother of Alice, reigned in his stead. Richardimmediately set off for Paris, and laid his case before the youngFrench king. "I am engaged, " said he, "to your sister Alice, and myfather will not give her to me. Help me to maintain my rights andhers. "

Philip, like his father, was always ready to do any thing in his powerto foment dissensions in the family of Henry. So he readily tookRichard's part in this new quarrel, and he, somehow or other, contrived means to induce John to come and join in the rebellion. KingHenry was overwhelmed with grief when he learned that John, hisyoungest, and now his dearest child, and the last that remained, hadabandoned him. His grief was mingled with resentment and rage. Heinvoked the bitterest curses on his children's heads, and he caused adevice to be painted for John and sent to him, representing a youngeaglet picking out the parent eagle's eyes. This was to typify to himhis own undutiful and unnatural behavior. 

Thus the domestic life which Richard led while he was a young man wasimbittered by the continual quarrels between the father, the mother, and the children. The greatest source of sorrow to his mother, however, was the connection which subsisted between the king and theLady Rosamond. The nature and the results of this connection will beexplained in the next chapter. 

CHAPTER III. 

FAIR ROSAMOND. 

1184

The mystery surrounding Fair Rosamond's history. --The valleyof the Wye. --The clandestine marriage. --The palace ofWoodstock. --Rosamond's concealed cottage. --The constructionof a labyrinth. --Deceptive paths. --How Rosamond's concealmentwas discovered by the queen. --The subterraneanpassage. --Uncertainties of the story. --Rosamond retires to theconvent of Godestow. --The world's sympathy with Rosamond ratherthan with Eleanora. --The question of the validity of themarriage. --Burial of Rosamond. --The bishop orders the remains tobe removed. --The nuns bring back the remains to the chapelagain. --Rosamond's chamber. --Restoration of the house. 

During his lifetime King Henry did every thing in his power, ofcourse, to keep the circumstances of his connection with Rosamond aprofound secret, and to mislead people as much as possible in regardto her. After his death, too, it was for the interest of his familythat as little as possible should be known respecting her. Thus ithappened that, in the absence of all authentic information, a greatmany strange rumors and legends were put in circulation, and atlength, when the history of those times came to be written, it wasimpossible to separate the false from the true. 

The truth, however, so far as it can now be ascertained, seems to besomething like this: Rosamond was the daughter of an English noblemannamed Clifford. Lord Clifford lived in a fine old castle situated inthe valley of the Wye, in a most romantic and beautiful situation. TheRiver Wye is in the western part of England. It flows out from amongthe mountains of Wales through a wild and romantic gorge, which, after passing the English frontier, expands into a broad, and fertile, and most beautiful valley. The castle of Lord Clifford was built atthe opening of the gorge, and it commanded an enchanting view of thevalley below. 

It was here that Rosamond spent her childhood, and here probably thatHenry first met her while he was yet a young man. She was extremelybeautiful, and Henry fell very deeply in love with her. This was whilethey were both very young, and some time before Henry thought ofEleanora for his wife. There is some reason to believe that Henry wasreally married to Rosamond, though, if so, the marriage was a privateone, and the existence of it was kept a profound secret from all theworld. The real and public marriages of kings and princes are almostalways determined by reasons of state; and when Henry at last went toParis, and saw Eleanora there, and found, moreover, that she waswilling to marry him, and to bring him as her dowry all herpossessions in France, which would so greatly extend his dominions, hedetermined to accede to her desires, and to keep his connection withRosamond, whatever the nature of it might have been, a profoundsecret forever. 

So he married Eleanora and brought her to England, and lived with her, as has already been described, in the various palaces which belongedto him, sometimes in one and sometimes in another. 

Among these palaces, one of the most beautiful was that of Woodstock. The engraving on the opposite page represents the buildings of thepalace as they appeared some hundreds of years later than the timewhen Rosamond lived. 

[Illustration: VIEW OF WOODSTOCK. ]

In the days of Henry and Rosamond the palace of Woodstock wassurrounded with very extensive and beautiful gardens and grounds. Somewhere upon these grounds the story was that Henry kept Rosamond ina concealed cottage. The entrance to the cottage was hidden in thedepths of an almost impenetrable thicket, and could only be approachedthrough a tortuous and intricate path, which led this way and that byan infinite number of turns, forming a sort of maze, made purposely tobewilder those attempting to pass in and out. Such a place was oftenmade in those days in palace-grounds as a sort of ornament, or, rather, as an amusing contrivance to interest the guests coming tovisit the proprietor. It was called a labyrinth. A great many plans oflabyrinths are found delineated in ancient books. The paths were notonly so arranged as to twist and turn in every imaginable direction, but at every turn there were several branches made so precisely alikethat there was nothing to distinguish one from the other. Of course, one of these roads was the right one, and led to the centre of thelabyrinth, where there was a house, or a pretty seat with a view, or agarden, or a shady bower, or some other object of attraction, toreward those who should succeed in getting in. The other paths lednowhere, or, rather, they led on through various devious windings inall respects similar to those of the true path, until at length theycame to a sudden stop, and the explorer was obliged to return. 

The paths were separated from each other by dense hedges of thorn, orby high walls, so that it was impossible to pass from one to anotherexcept by walking regularly along. 

It was in a house, entered through such a labyrinth as this, thatRosamond is said to have lived, on the grounds of the palace ofWoodstock, while Queen Eleanora, as the avowed wife and queen of KingHenry, occupied the palace itself. Of course, the fact that such alady was hidden on the grounds was kept a profound secret from thequeen. If this story is true, there were probably other labyrinths onthe grounds, and this one was so surrounded with trees and hedges, which connected it by insensible gradations with the groves andthickets of the park, that there was nothing to attract attention toit particularly, and thus a lady might have remained concealed in itfor some time without awakening suspicion. 

At any rate, Rosamond did remain, it is supposed for a year or two, concealed thus, until at length the queen discovered the secret. Thestory is that the king found his way in and out the labyrinth by meansof a clew of floss silk, and that the queen one day, when riding withthe king in the park, observed this clew, a part of which had, in someway or other, become attached to his spur. She said nothing, but, watching a private opportunity, she followed the clew. It led by avery intricate path into the heart of the labyrinth. There the queenfound a curiously-contrived door. The door was almost wholly concealedfrom view, but the queen discovered it and opened it. She found thatit led into a subterranean passage. The interest and curiosity of thequeen were now excited more than ever, and she determined that themystery should be solved. So she followed the passage, and was finallyled by it to a place beyond the wall of the grounds, where there was ahouse in a very secluded spot surrounded by thickets. Here the queenfound Rosamond sitting in a bower, and engaged in embroidering. 

She was now in a great rage both against Rosamond and against herhusband. It was generally said that she poisoned Rosamond. The storywas, that she took a cup of poison with her, and a dagger, and, presenting them both to Rosamond, compelled her to choose betweenthem, and that Rosamond chose the poison, and, drinking it, died. Thisstory, however, was not true, for it is now known that Rosamond livedmany years after this time, though she was separated from the king. Itis thought that her connection with the king continued for about twoyears after his marriage with Eleanora. She then left him. It may bethat she did not know before that time that the king was married. Shemay have supposed that she was herself his lawful wife, as, indeed, itis possible that she may actually have been so. At any rate, soonafter she and Eleanora became acquainted with each other's existence, Rosamond retired to a convent, and lived there in complete seclusionall the rest of her days. 

The name of this convent was Godestow. It was situated near Oxford. Rosamond became a great favorite with the nuns while she remained atthe convent, which was nearly twenty years. During this time the kingmade many donations to the convent for Rosamond's sake, and thejealousy of the queen against her beautiful rival, of course, continued unabated. It was, indeed, this difficulty in respect toRosamond that was one of the chief causes of the domestic troublewhich always existed between Henry and the queen. The world at largehave always been most disposed to sympathize with Rosamond in thisquarrel. She was nearly of the king's own age, and his attachment toher arose, doubtless, from sincere affection; whereas the queen wasgreatly his senior, and had inveigled him, as it were, into a marriagewith her, through motives of the most calculating and mercenarycharacter. 

Then, moreover, Rosamond either was, or was supposed to be, a lady ofgreat gentleness and loveliness of spirit. She was very kind to thepoor, and while in the convent she was very assiduously devoted to herreligious duties. Eleanora, on the other hand, was a very unprincipledand heartless woman, and she had been so loose and free in her ownmanner of living too, as every body said and believed, that it waswith a very ill grace that she could find any fault with her husband. 

Thus, under the circumstances of the case, the world has always beenmost inclined to sympathize with Rosamond rather than with the queen. The question which we ought to sympathize with depends upon which wasreally the wife of Henry. He may have been truly married to Rosamond, or at least some ceremony may have been performed which she honestlyconsidered as a marriage. If so, she was innocent, and Henry wasguilty for having virtually repudiated this marriage in order toconnect himself with Eleanora for the sake of her kingdom. On theother hand, if she were not married to Henry, but used her arts toentice him away from his true wife, then she was deeply in fault. Itis very difficult now to ascertain which of these suppositions is thecorrect one. In either case, Henry himself was guilty, toward the oneor the other, of treacherously violating his marriage vows--the mostsolemn vows, in some respects, that a man can ever assume. 

Rosamond had two children, named William and Geoffrey, and at one timein the course of his life Henry seemed to acknowledge that they werehis only two children, thus admitting the validity of his marriagewith Rosamond. This admission was contained in an expression which heused in addressing William on a field of battle when he came towardhim at the head of his troop. "William, " said he, "you are my true andlegitimate son. The rest are nobodies. " He may, it is true, have onlyintended to speak figuratively in saying this, meaning that Williamwas the only one worthy to be considered as his son, or it may be thatit was an inadvertent and hasty acknowledgment that Rosamond, and notEleanora, was his true wife. As time rolled on, however, and thepolitical arrangements arising out of the marriage with Eleanora andappointment of her sons to high positions in the state became more andmore extended, the difficulties which the invalidation of the marriagewith Eleanora would produce became very great, and immense interestswere involved in sustaining it. Rosamond's rights, therefore, if shehad any, were wholly overborne, and she was allowed to linger and diein her nunnery as a private person. 

When at length she died, the nuns, who had become greatly attached toher, caused her to be interred in an honorable manner in the chapel, but afterward the bishop of the diocese ordered the remains to beremoved. He considered Rosamond as having never been married to theking, and he said that she was not a proper person to be the subjectof monumental honors in the chapel of a society of nuns; so he sentthe remains away, and ordered them to be interred in the commonburying-ground. If Rosamond was what he supposed her to be, and if heremoved the remains in a proper and respectful manner, he was right indoing what he did. His motive may have been, however, merely a desireto please the authorities of his time, who represented, of course, theheirs of Eleanora, by sealing the stamp of condemnation on thecharacter and position of her rival. 

But, though the authorities may have been pleased with the bishop'sprocedure, the nuns were not at all satisfied with it. They not onlyfelt a strong personal affection for Rosamond, but, as a sisterhood, they felt grateful to her memory on account of the many benefactionswhich the convent had received from Henry on account of her residencethere. So they seized the first opportunity to take up the remainsagain, which consisted now of dry bones alone, and, after perfumingthem and inclosing them again in a new coffin, they deposited themonce more under the pavement of the chapel, and laid a slab, with asuitable inscription, over the spot to mark the place of the grave. 

[Illustration: FINAL BURIAL OF ROSAMOND. ]

The house where Rosamond was concealed at Woodstock was regardedafterward with great interest, and there was a chamber in it that wasfor a long time known as Rosamond's Chamber. There remains a letter ofone of the kings of England, written about a hundred years after thistime, in which the king gives directions to have this house repaired, and particularly to have the chamber restored to a perfect condition. His orders are, that "the house beyond the gate in the new wall bebuilt again, and that same chamber, called Rosamond's Chamber, berestored as before, and crystal plates"--that is, glass for thewindows--"and marble, and lead be provided for it. "

From that day to this the story of Rosamond has been regarded as oneof the most interesting incidents of English history. 

CHAPTER IV. 

ACCESSION OF RICHARD TO THE THRONE. 

1189

The reverses of King Henry. --Negotiating a peace. --Thethunder-storm. --Henry's horsemanship. --The hard conditions ofpeace imposed by Philip and Richard. --The sick king. --Hisdistress at the conduct of John. --The palace at Chinon. --Theimprecations of the dying king. --The heartless conduct of thecourtiers of the dead king. --Richard following the funeral trainto the Abbey Fontevraud. --Richard immediately secures thesuccession to the throne. --Sorrow often results inhappiness. --Eleanora queen regent. --Her change ofcharacter. --Richard's return to England. --Richard's proposedcrusade. --John's dissimulation. --A delusion. --The treasures ofthe crown. --Circumstances alter cases. --Accomplices illrewarded. 

Richard was called to the throne when he was about thirty-two years ofage by the sudden and unexpected death of his father. The death of hisfather took place under the most mournful circumstances imaginable. Inthe war which Richard and Philip, king of France, had waged againsthim, he had been unsuccessful. He had been defeated in the battles andoutgeneraled in the manoeuvres, and his barons, one after another, had abandoned him and taken part with the rebels. King Henry was anextremely passionate man, and the success of his enemies against himfilled him with rage. This rage was rendered all the more violent bythe thought that it was through the unnatural ingratitude of his ownson, Richard, that all these calamities came upon him. In the anguishof his despair, he cursed the day of his birth, and uttered dreadfulmaledictions against his children. 

At length he was reduced to such an extremity that he was obliged tosubmit to negotiations for peace, on just such terms as his enemiesthought fit to impose. They made very hard conditions. The firstattempt at negotiating the peace was made in an open field, wherePhilip and Henry met for the purpose, on horseback, attended by theirretainers. Richard had the grace to keep away from this meeting, so asnot to be an actual witness of the humiliation of his father, and soPhilip and Henry were to conduct the conference by themselves. 

The meeting was interrupted by a thunder-storm. At first the two kingsdid not intend to pay any heed to the storm, but to go on with theirdiscussions without regarding it. Henry was a very great horseman, andspent almost his whole life in riding. One of his historians says thathe never sat down except upon a saddle, unless it was when he wastaking his meals. At any rate, he was almost always on horseback. Hehunted on horseback, he fought on horseback, he traveled on horseback, and now he was holding a conference with his enemies on horseback, inthe midst of a storm of lightning and rain. But his health had nowbecome impaired, and his nerves, though they had always seemed to beof iron, were beginning to give way under the dreadful shocks to whichthey had been exposed, so that he was now far less able to endure suchexposures than he had been. At length a clap of thunder broke rattlingimmediately over his head, and the bolt seemed to descend directlybetween him and Philip as they sat upon their horses in the field. Henry reeled in the saddle, and would have fallen if his attendantshad not seized and held him. They found that he was too weak and illto remain any longer on the spot, and so they bore him away to hisquarters, and then Philip and Richard sent him in writing theconditions which they were going to exact from him. The conditionswere very humiliating indeed. They stripped him of a great portion ofhis possessions, and required him to hold others in subordination toPhilip and to Richard. Finally, the last of the conditions was, thathe was to give Richard the kiss of peace, and to banish from his heartall sentiments of animosity and anger against him. 

Among other articles of the treaty was one binding him to pardon allthe barons and other chief men who had gone over to Richard's side inthe rebellion. As they read the articles over to the king, while hewas lying sick upon his bed, he asked, when they came to this one, tosee the list of the names, that he might know who they were that hadthus forsaken him. The name at the head of the list was that of hisson John--his darling son John, to defend whose rights against theaggressions of Richard had been one of his chief motives in carryingon the war. The wretched father, on seeing this name, started up fromhis bed and gazed wildly around. 

"Is it possible, " he cried out, "that John, the child of my heart--hewhom I have cherished more than all the rest, and for love of whom Ihave drawn down on mine own head all these troubles, has verilybetrayed me?" They told him that it was even so. 

"Then, " said he, falling back helplessly on his bed, "then let everything go as it will; I care no longer for myself or for any thing elsein this world. "

All this took place in Normandy, for it was Normandy that had been thechief scene of the war between the king and his son. At some littledistance from the place where the king was now lying sick there was abeautiful rural palace, at a place called Chinon, which was situatedvery pleasantly on the banks of a small branch of the Loire. Thispalace was one of the principal summer resorts of the dukes ofNormandy, and the king caused himself now to be carried there, inorder to seek repose. But instead of being cheered by the beautifulscenes that were around him at Chinon, or reinvigorated by thecomforts and the attentions which he could there enjoy, he graduallysank into hopeless melancholy, and in a few days he began to feel thathe was about to die. As he grew worse his mind became more and moreexcited, and his attendants from time to time heard him moaning, inhis anguish, "Oh, shame! shame! I am a conquered king--a conqueredking! Cursed be the day on which I was born, and cursed be thechildren that I leave behind me!"

The priests at his bedside endeavored to remonstrate with him againstthese imprecations. They told him that it was a dreadful thing for afather to curse his own children, and they urged him to retract whathe had said. But he declared that he would not. He persisted incursing all his children except Geoffrey Clifford, the son ofRosamond, who was then at his bedside, and who had never forsaken him. The king grew continually more and more excited and disordered inmind, until at length he sank into a raving delirium, and in thatstate he died. 

A dead king is a very helpless and insignificant object, whatever mayhave been the terror which he inspired while he was alive. As long asHenry continued to breathe, the attendants around him paid him greatdeference, and observed every possible form of obsequious respect, forthey did not know but that he might recover, to live and reign, andlord it over them and their fortunes for fifteen or twenty years tocome; but as soon as the breath was out of his body, all was over. Richard, his son, was now king, and from Henry nothing whatever wasany longer to be hoped or feared. So the mercenary and heartlesscourtiers--the ministers, priests, bishops and barons--began at onceto strip the body of all the valuables which the king had worn, andalso to seize and appropriate every thing in the apartments of thepalace which they could take away. These things were theirperquisites, they said; it being customary, as they alleged, that thepersonal effects of a deceased king should be divided among those whowere his attendants when he died. Having secured this plunder, thesepeople disappeared, and it was with the utmost difficulty thatassistance enough could be procured to wrap the body in awinding-sheet, and to bring a hearse and horses to bear it away to theabbey where it was to be interred. Examples like this--of which thehistory of every monarchy is full--throw a great deal of light uponwhat is called the principle of loyalty in the hearts of those whoattend upon kings. 

While the procession was on the way to the abbey where the body was tobe buried, it was met by Richard, who, having heard of his father'sdeath, came to join in the funeral solemnities. Richard followed thetrain until they arrived at the abbey. It was the Abbey Fontevraud, the ancient burial-place of the Norman princes. Arrived at the abbey, the body was laid out upon the bier, and the face was uncovered, inorder that Richard might once more look upon his father's features;but the countenance was so distorted with the scowling expression ofrage and resentment which it had worn during the sufferer's lasthours, that Richard turned away in horror from the dreadful spectacle. 

But Richard soon drove away from his mind the painful thoughts whichthe sight of his father's face must have awakened, and turned hisattention at once to the business which now pressed upon him. He, ofcourse, was heir both to the crown of England and also to all hisfather's possessions in Normandy, and he felt that he must actpromptly, in order to secure his rights. It is true that there wasnobody to dispute his claim, unless it was his brother John, for thetwo sons of Rosamond, Geoffrey and William Clifford, did not pretendto any rights of inheritance. Richard had some fears of John, and hethought it necessary to take decisive measures to guard against anyplots that John might be disposed to form. He sent at once to England, and ordered that his mother should be released from her imprisonment, and invested her with power to act as regent there until he shouldcome. In the mean time, he himself remained in Normandy, and devotedhimself to arranging and regulating the affairs of his Frenchpossessions. This was the wisest course for him to pursue, for therewas no one in England to dispute his claims to that kingdom. On theContinent the case was different. His neighbor, Philip, King ofFrance, was ready to take advantage of any opportunity to getpossession of such provinces on the Continent as might be within hisreach. 

It was certainly a good deed in Richard to liberate his mother fromher captivity, and to exalt her as he did to a position ofresponsibility and honor. Eleanora fulfilled the trust which hereposed in her in a very faithful and successful manner. The longperiod of confinement and suffering which she had endured seems tohave exerted a very favorable influence upon her mind. Indeed, it isvery often the case that sorrow and trouble have this effect. A lifeof prosperity and pleasure makes us heartless, selfish, and unfeeling, while sorrow softens the heart, and disposes us to compassionate thewoes of others, and to do what we can to relieve them. 

Eleanora was queen regent in England for two months, and during thattime she employed her power in a very beneficent manner. She releasedmany unhappy prisoners, and pardoned many persons who had beenconvicted of political crimes. The truth is that probably, as shefound herself drawing toward the close of life, and looked back uponher past career, and remembered her many crimes, her unfaithfulness toboth her husbands, and especially her unnatural conduct in instigatingher sons to rebel against their father, her heart was filled withremorse, and she found some relief from her anguish in these tardyefforts to relieve suffering which might, in some small degree, repairthe evils that she had brought upon the land by the insurrections andwars of which she had been the cause. She bitterly repented of thehostility that she had shown toward her husband, and of the countlesswrongs that she had inflicted upon him. While he was alive, and shewas engaged in her contests with him, the excitement that she wasunder blinded her mind; but now that he was dead, her passionsubsided, and she mourned for him with bitter grief. She distributedalms in a very abundant manner to the poor to induce them to pray forthe repose of his soul. While doing these things she did not neglectthe affairs of state. She made all the necessary arrangements for theimmediate administration of the government, and she sent word to allthe barons, and also to the bishops, and other great publicfunctionaries, informing them that Richard was coming to assume thegovernment of the realm, and summoning them to assemble and make readyto receive him. In about two months Richard came. 

Before Richard arrived in England, however, he had formed the plan, in connection with Philip, the King of France, of going on a crusade. Richard was a wild and desperate man, and he loved fighting for itsown sake; and inasmuch as now, since his father was dead, and hisclaim to the crown of England, and to all his possessions in Normandy, was undisputed, there seemed to be nobody for him to fight at home, heconceived the design of organizing a grand expedition to go to theHoly Land and fight the Saracens. 

John was very much pleased with this idea. "If Richard goes toPalestine, " said he to himself, "ten to one he will get killed, andthen I shall be King of England. "

So John was ready to do every thing in his power to favor the plan ofthe crusade. He pretended to be very submissive and obedient to hisbrother, and to acknowledge his sovereign power as king. He aided theking as much as he could in making his arrangements and in concoctingall his plans. 

The first thing was to provide funds. A great deal of money wasrequired for these expeditions. Ships were to be bought and equippedfor the purpose of transporting the troops to the East. Arms andammunition were to be provided, and large supplies of food. Then theprinces, and barons, and knights who were to accompany the expeditionrequired very expensive armor, and costly trappings and equipments ofall sorts; for, though the pretense was that they were going out tofight for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre under the influence ofreligious zeal, the real motive which animated them was love of gloryand display. Thus it happened that the expense which a sovereignincurred in fitting out a crusade was enormous. 

Accordingly, King Richard, immediately on his arrival in England, proceeded at once to Winchester, where his father, King Henry, hadkept his treasures. Richard found a large sum of money there in goldand silver coin, and besides this there were stores of plate, ofjewelry, and of precious gems of great value. Richard caused all themoney to be counted in his presence, and an exact inventory to be madeof all the treasures. He then placed the whole under the charge oftrusty officers of his own, whom he appointed to take care of them. 

The next thing that Richard did was to discard and dismiss all his ownformer friends and adherents--the men who had taken part with him inhis rebellions against his father. "Men that would join me inrebelling against my father, " thought he to himself, "would join anybody else, if they thought they could gain by it, in rebelling againstme. " So he concluded that they were not to be trusted. Indeed now, inthe altered circumstances in which he was placed, he could see theguilt of rebellion and treason, though he had been blind to it before, and he actually persecuted and punished some of those who had been hisconfederates in his former crimes. A great many cases analogous tothis have occurred in English history. Sons have often made themselvesthe centre and soul of all the opposition in the realm against theirfather's government, and have given their fathers a great deal oftrouble by so doing; but then, in all such cases, the moment that thefather dies the son immediately places himself at the head of theregularly-constituted authorities of the realm, and abandons all hisold companions and friends, treating them sometimes with greatseverity. His eyes are opened to the wickedness of making oppositionto the sovereign power now that the sovereign power is vested inhimself, and he disgraces and punishes his own former friends for thecrime of having aided him in his undutiful behavior. 

CHAPTER V. 

THE CORONATION. 

1189

The massacre of the Jews. --Their social position. --The historyof the commercial character of the Jews. --The persecutionof the Jews in France. --Conciliating the king. --A descriptionof the ceremony of coronation. --The ampulla. --Thecoronation. --Presents. --Hostility and jealousy of the people. --Analtercation. --Hunting out the Jews. --The terrors of themassacre. --Indifference of the king. --The mob unchecked. --Theimpunity of the rioters. --King Richard's edict. 

It was now time that the coronation should take place, andarrangements were accordingly made for performing this ceremony withgreat magnificence in Westminster Abbey. The day of the ceremonyacquired a dreadful celebrity in history in consequence of a greatmassacre of the Jews, which resulted from an insurrection and riotthat broke out in Westminster and London immediately after thecrowning of the king. The Jews had been hated and abhorred by all theChristian nations of Europe for many ages. Since they were notbelievers in Christianity, they were considered as little better thaninfidels and heathen, and the government that oppressed and persecutedthem the most was considered as doing the greatest service to thecause of religion. 

One very curious result followed from the legal disabilities that theJews were under. They could not own land, and they were restrictedalso very much in respect to nearly all the avocations open to othermen. They consequently learned gradually to become dealers in moneyand in jewels, this being almost the only reputable calling that wasleft open to them. There was another great advantage, too, for them, in dealing in property of this kind, and that was, that comprising, assuch property does, great value in small bulk, it could easily beconcealed, and removed from place to place whenever it was speciallyendangered by the edicts of governments or the hostility of enemies. 

From these and similar reasons the Jews became bankers andmoney-lenders, and they are to this day the richest bankers and thegreatest money-lenders in the world. The most powerful emperors andkings often depend upon them for the supplies that they require tocarry on their great undertakings or to defray the expenses of theirwars. 

The Jews had gradually increased in numbers and influence in Franceuntil the time of the accession of Philip, and then he determined toextirpate them from the realm; so he issued an edict by which theywere all banished from the kingdom, their property was confiscated, and every person that owed them money was released from allobligation to pay them. Of course, a great many of their debtors wouldpay them, notwithstanding this release, from the influence of thatnatural sense of justice which, in all nations and in all ages, has avery great control in human hearts; still, there were others whowould, of course, avail themselves of this opportunity to defraudtheir creditors of what was justly their due; and being obliged, too, at the same time, to fly precipitately from the country in consequenceof the decree of banishment, the poor Jews were reduced to a state ofextreme distress. 

Now the Jews of England, when Henry died and Richard succeeded him, began to be afraid that the new king would follow Philip's example, and in order to prevent this, and to conciliate Richard's favor, theydetermined to send a delegation to him at Westminster, at the time ofhis coronation, with rich presents which had been procured bycontributions made by the wealthy. Accordingly, on the day of thecoronation, when the great crowds of people assembled at Westminsterto honor the occasion, these Jews came among them. 

The ceremony of the coronation was performed in the following manner:The king, in entering the church and proceeding up toward the highaltar, walked upon a rich cloth laid down for him, which had been dyedwith the famous Tyrian purple. Over his head was a beautifully-wroughtcanopy of silk, supported by four long lances. These lances were borneby four great barons of the realm. A great nobleman, the Earl ofAlbemarle, bore the crown, and walked with it before the king as headvanced toward the altar. When the earl reached the altar he placedthe crown upon it. The Archbishop of Canterbury stood before the altarto receive the king as he approached, and then administered the usualoath to him. 

The oath was in three parts:

 1. That all the days of his life he would bear peace, honor, and reverence to God and the Holy Church, and to all the ordinances thereof. 

 2. That he would exercise right, justice, and law on the people unto him committed. 

 3. That he would abrogate wicked laws and perverse customs, if any such should be brought into his kingdom, and that he would enact good laws, and the same in good faith keep, without mental reservation. 

Having taken this oath, the king removed his upper garment, and putgolden sandals upon his feet, and then was anointed by the archbishopwith the holy oil on his head, breast, and shoulders. This oil waspoured from a rich vessel called an _ampulla_. [C]

[Footnote C: The ampulla used now for anointing the English sovereignsis in the form of an eagle. It is made of the purest chased gold, andweighs about ten ounces. It is deposited in the Tower of London. ]

The anointing having been performed, the king received variousarticles of royal dress and decoration from the hands of the greatnobles around him, who officiated as servitors on the occasion, andwith their assistance put them on. When thus robed and adorned, headvanced up the steps of the altar. As he went up, the archbishopadjured him in the name of the living God not to assume the crownunless he was fully resolved to keep the oaths that he had sworn. Richard again solemnly called God to witness that he would faithfullykeep them, and then advancing to the altar, he took the crown and putit into the hands of the archbishop, who then placed it upon his head, and thus the coronation ceremony was completed. 

The people who had presents for the king now approached and offeredthem to him. Among them came the Jews. Their presents were very richand valuable, and the king received them very gladly, although inannouncing the arrangements for the ceremony he had declared that noJew and no woman was to be allowed to be present. Notwithstanding thisprohibition, the Jewish deputation had come in and offered theirpresents among the rest. There was, however, a great murmuring amongthe crowd in respect to them, and a great desire to drive them out. This crowd consisted chiefly, of course, of barons, earls, knights, and other great dignitaries of the realm, for very few of the lowerranks would be admitted to see the ceremony; and these people, inaddition to the usual religious prejudice against the Jews, had manyof them been exasperated against the bankers and money-lenders onaccount of difficulties that they had had with them in relation tomoney that they had borrowed, and to the high interest which they hadbeen compelled to pay. Some wise observer of the working of humanpassions has said that men always hate more or less those to whom theyowe money. This is a reason why there should ordinarily be very fewpecuniary transactions between friends. 

At length, as one of the Jews who was outside was attempting to goin, a by-stander at the gate cried out, "Here comes a Jew!" and struckat him. This excited the passions of the rest, and they struck andpushed the poor Jew in order to drive him back; and at the same time ageneral outcry against the Jews arose, and spread into the interior ofthe hall. The people there, glad of the opportunity afforded them bythe excitement, began to assault the Jews and drive them out; and asthey came out at the door beaten and bruised, a rumor was raised thatthey had been expelled by the king's orders. This rumor, as it spreadthrough the streets, was soon changed into a report that the king hadordered all the unbelievers to be destroyed; and so, whenever a Jewwas found in the street, a riot was raised about him, he was assaultedwith sticks and stones, cruelly beaten, and if he was not killed, hewas driven to seek refuge in his home, wounded and bleeding. 

In the mean time, the news that the king had ordered all the Jews tobe killed spread rapidly over the town, and in the evening crowdscollected, and after murdering all the Jews that they could find inthe streets, they gathered round their houses, and finally broke intothem and killed the inhabitants. In some cases where the houses werestrong, the Jews barricaded the doors and the mob could not get in. Insuch cases they brought combustibles, and piled them up before thewindows and doors, and then, setting them on fire, they burned thehouses to the ground, and men, women, and children were consumedtogether in the flames. If any of the unhappy wretches burning inthese fires attempted to escape by leaping from the windows, the mobbelow held up spears and lances for them to fall upon. 

There were so many of these fires in the course of the night that thewhole sky was illuminated, and at one time there was danger that theflames would spread so as to produce a general conflagration. Indeed, as the night passed on, the excitement became more and more violent, until at length the streets, in all the quarters where Jews resided, were filled with the shouts of the mob, raving in demoniacal phrensy, and with the screams of the terrified and dying sufferers, and thecrackling of the lurid flames in which they were burning. 

The king, in the mean time, was carousing with his lords and barons inthe great banqueting-hall at Westminster, and for a time took nonotice of these disturbances. He seemed to consider them as of verylittle moment. At length, however, in the course of the night, he sentan officer and a few men to suppress the riot. But it was too late. The mob paid no heed to remonstrances which came from the leader of sosmall a force, but, on the other hand, threatened to kill the soldierstoo, if they did not go away. So the officer returned to the king, andthe riot went on undisturbed until about two o'clock of the next day, when it gradually ceased from the mere weariness and exhaustion of thepeople. 

A few of the men who had been engaged in this riot were afterwardbrought to trial, and three were hung, not for murdering Jews, but forburning some Christian houses, which, either by mistake or accident, took fire in the confusion and were burned with the rest. This was allthat was ever done to punish this dreadful crime. 

In justice to King Richard, however, it must be stated that he issuedan edict after this forbidding that the Jews should be injured ormaltreated any more. He took the whole people, he said, thenceforthunder his special protection, and all men were strictly forbidden toharm them personally, or to molest them in the possession of theirproperty. 

And this was the terrible coronation scene which signalized theinvestiture of Richard with the crown and the royal robes of England. 

CHAPTER VI. 

PREPARATIONS FOR THE CRUSADE. 

1189

Richard was thirty-two years of age at his accession. --Hisardent desires for distinction in crusades. --Motivesof the crusaders. --A strange delusion. --Thepreparations. --Navies. --Armies. --Accoutrements. --Customs ofold times. --Richard's reckless course. --Richard sold lands, offices, and titles of honor. --Extortion under pretense ofpublic justice. --Creating a regency. --Richard's regents. --John'sacquiescence. --The time for sailing appointed. --Richard crossesthe Channel. --Fears of treachery. --The treaty of alliance betweenRichard and Philip. --Completion of the preparations. 

At the time of his accession to the throne, Richard, as has alreadybeen remarked, was about thirty-two years of age. On the followingpage you have a portrait of him, with the crown upon his head. 

This portrait is taken from a sculpture on his tomb, and isundoubtedly a good representation of him as he appeared when he wasalive. 

[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF RICHARD I. ]

The first thing that Richard turned his attention to, when he foundhimself securely seated on his throne, was the preparation for acrusade. It had been the height of his ambition for a long time tolead a crusade. It was undoubtedly through the influence of hismother, and of her early conversations with him, that he imbibed hisextraordinary eagerness to seek adventures in the Holy Land. She hadbeen a crusader herself during her first marriage, as has already beenrelated in this volume, and she had undoubtedly, in Richard's earlylife, entertained him with a thousand stories of what she had seen, and of the romantic adventures which she had met with there. Thesestories, and the various conversations which arose out of them, kindled Richard's youthful imagination with ardent desires to go anddistinguish himself on the same field. These desires had been greatlyincreased as Richard grew up to manhood by observing the exaltedmilitary glory to which successful crusaders attained. And then, besides this, Richard was endued with a sort of reckless and lion-likecourage, which led him to look upon danger as a sport, and made himlong for a field where there were plenty of enemies to fight, andenemies so abhorred by the whole Christian world that he could indulgein the excitement of hatred and rage against them without anyrestraint whatever. He could there satiate himself, too, with theluxury of killing men without any misgiving of conscience, or, atleast, without any condemnation on the part of his fellow-men, for itwas understood throughout Christendom that the crimes committedagainst the Saracens in the Holy Land were committed in the name ofChrist. What a strange delusion! To think of honoring the memory ofthe meek and lowly Jesus by utterly disregarding his peaceful preceptsand his loving and gentle example, and going forth in thousands to thework of murder, rapine, and devastation, in order to get possession ofhis tomb. 

 * * * * *

In preparing for the crusade, the first and most important thing tobe attended to, in Richard's view, was the raising of money. A greatdeal of money would be required, as has already been intimated, to fitout the expedition on the magnificent scale which Richard intended. There was a fleet of ships to be built and equipped, and stores ofprovisions to be put on board. There were armies to be levied andpaid, and immense expenses were to be incurred in the manufacture ofarms and ammunition. The armor and the arms used in those days, especially those worn by knights and noblemen, and the caparisons ofthe horses, were extremely costly. The armor was fashioned with greatlabor and skill out of plates or rings of steel, and the helmets, andthe bucklers, and the swords, and all the military trappings of thehorses and horsemen, being fashioned altogether by hand, requiredgreat labor and skill in the artisan who made them; and then, moreover, it was customary to decorate them very profusely withembroidery, and gold, and gems. At the present day, men display theirwealth in the costliness of their houses, and the gorgeousness andluxury of the furniture which they contain. It is not considered ingood taste--except for ladies--to make a display of wealth upon theperson. In those days, however, the reverse was the case. The knightsand barons lived in the rudest stone castles, dark and frowningwithout, and meagerly furnished and comfortless within, while all themeans of display which the owners possessed were lavished in armingand decorating themselves and their horses magnificently for the fieldof battle. 

For all these things Richard knew that he should require a large sumof money, and he proceeded at once to carry into effect the mostwasteful and reckless measures for obtaining it. His father, Henry theSecond, had in various ways acquired a great many estates in differentparts of the kingdom, which estates he had added to the royal domains. These Richard at once proceeded to sell to whomsoever would give themost for them. In this manner he disposed of a great number ofcastles, fortresses, and towns, so as greatly to diminish the value ofthe crown property. The purchasers of this property, if they had notmoney enough of their own to pay for what they bought, would borrow ofthe Jews. Some of the king's counselors remonstrated with him againstthis wasteful policy, but he replied that he needed money so much forthe crusade, that, if necessary, he would sell the city of Londonitself to raise it, if he could only find a man rich enough to be thepurchaser. 

After having raised as much money as he could by the sale of the royallands, the next resource to which Richard turned was the sale ofpublic offices and titles of honor. He looked about the country forwealthy men, and he offered them severally high office on condition oftheir paying large sums of money into the treasury as a considerationfor them. He sold titles of nobility, too, in the same way. If any manwho was not rich held a high or important office, he would find somepretext for removing him, and then would offer the office for sale. One of the historians of those times says that at this periodRichard's presence-chamber became a regular place of trade--like thecounting-room of a merchant or an exchange--where every thing thatcould be derived from the bounty of the crown or bestowed by the royalprerogative was offered for sale in open market to the man who wouldgive the best bargain for it. 

Another of the modes which the king adopted for raising money, and insome respects the worst of all, was to impose fines as a punishmentfor crime, and then, in order to make the fines produce as much aspossible, every imaginable pretext was resorted to to charge wealthypersons with offenses, with a view of exacting large sums from them asthe penalty. It was said that a great officer of state was chargedwith some offense, and was put in prison and not released until he hadpaid a fine of three thousand pounds. 

One of the worst of these cases was that of his half-brother Geoffrey, the son of Rosamond. Geoffrey had been appointed Archbishop of York inaccordance with the wish that his father Henry had expressed on hisdeath-bed. Richard pretended to be displeased with this. Perhaps hewished to have had that office to dispose of like the rest. At anyrate, he exacted a very large sum from Geoffrey as the condition onwhich he would "grant him his peace, " as he termed it, and Geoffreypaid the money. 

When, by these and other similar means, Richard had raised all that hecould in England, he prepared to cross the Channel into Normandy, inorder to see what more he could do there. Before he went, however, hehad first to make arrangements for a regency to govern England whilehe should be away. This is always the custom in monarchical countries. Whenever, for any reason, the true sovereign can not personallyexercise the supreme power, whether from minority, insanity, long-continued sickness, or protracted absence from the realm, aregency, as it is called, is created to govern the kingdom in hisstead. The person appointed to act as regent is usually some nearrelation of the king. Richard's brother John hoped to be made regent, but this did not suit Richard's views, for he wished to make thisoffice the means, as all the others had been, of raising money, andJohn had no money to give. For the same reason, he could not appointhis mother, who in other respects would have been a very suitableperson. So Richard contrived a sort of middle course. He sold thenominal regency to two wealthy courtiers, whom he associated togetherfor the purpose. One was a bishop, and the other was an earl. It may, perhaps, be too much to say that he directly sold them the office, but, at any rate, he appointed them jointly to it, and under thearrangement that was made he received a large sum of money. He, however, stipulated that John, and also his mother, should have alarge share of influence in deciding upon all the measures of thegovernment. John would have been by no means satisfied with thisdivided and uncertain share of power were it not that he was sodesirous of favoring the expedition in every possible way, in hopesthat if Richard could once get to the Holy Land he would soon perishthere, and that then he should be king altogether. It was ofcomparatively little consequence who was regent in the mean time. Sohe resolved to make no objection to any plan that the king mightpropose. 

Richard was now ready to cross to Normandy; but just before he wentthere came a deputation from Philip to consult with him in respect tothe plans of the crusade, and to fix upon the time for setting out. The time proposed by Philip was the latter part of March. It was nowlate in the fall. It would not be safe to set out before March onaccount of the inclemency of the season, and Richard supposed that heshould have ample time to complete his preparations by the time thatPhilip named. So both parties agreed to it, and they took a solemnoath on both sides that they would all be ready without fail. 

Soon after this Richard took leave of his friends, and, accompaniedby a long retinue of earls, barons, knights, and other adventurers whowere to accompany him to the Holy Land, he left England, and crossedthe Channel to Normandy. 

In such cases as this there are always a great many last words to besaid and a great many last arrangements to be made, and Richard foundit necessary to see his mother and his brother John again beforefinally taking his departure from Europe. So he sent for them to cometo Normandy, and there another great council of state was held, atwhich every thing in relation to the internal affairs of his dominionswas finally arranged. There was still one other danger to be guardedagainst, and that was some treachery on the part of Philip himself. Solittle reliance did these valiant champions of Christianity place ineach other in those days, that both Richard and Philip, in joiningtogether to form this expedition, had many misgivings and suspicionsin respect to each other's honesty. Undoubtedly neither of them wouldhave thought it safe to leave his dominions and go on a crusade unlessthe other had been going too. The one left behind would have been sureto have found some pretext, during the absence of his neighbor, toinvade his dominions and plunder him of some of his possessions. Thiswas one reason why the two kings had agreed to go together; and now, as an additional safeguard, they made a formal treaty of alliance andfraternity, in which they bound themselves by the most solemn oaths tostand by each other, and to be faithful and true to each other to thelast. They agreed that each would defend the life and honor of theother on all occasions; that neither would desert the other in thehour of danger; and that, in respect to the dominions that they wererespectively to leave behind them, neither would form any designsagainst the other, but that Philip would cherish and protect therights of Richard even as he would protect his own city of Paris, andthat Richard would do the like by Philip, even as he would protect hisown city of Rouen. 

It is a curious circumstance that in this treaty Richard should nameRouen, and not London, as his principal capital. It confirms what isknown in many other ways, that the kings of this line, reigning overboth Normandy and England, considered Normandy as the chief centre oftheir power, and England as subordinate. It may be, however, that onereason why Rouen was named in this instance may have been because itwas nearer to the dominions of the King of France, and so better knownto him. 

This treaty was signed in February, and the preparations were nownearly complete for setting forth on the expedition in March, at theappointed time. 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE EMBARKATION. 

1190

The plan of embarking the troops. --The English fleet. --TheFrench forces. --Richard's rules. --The origin of tarring andfeathering. --Command of the fleet. --The fleet dispersedby a storm. --A delay in Lisbon. --The rendezvous atVezelai. --Devastation by the armies. --Richard goes tothe East in advance of his fleet. --The rendezvous atMessina. --Joanna. --Richard's visit. --King Richard'sexcursions. --Ostia. --A quarrel. --Why Richard quarreled withthe bishop. --Naples and Vesuvius. --The crypt. --Salerno. --Richard'svisit there. --The fleet. --Richard pursuing his journey alongthe coast of the Mediterranean. --Richard's tyrannicaldisposition. --Stealing the falcon. --Richard flees to a prioryto escape the peasants. 

The plan which Richard had formed for conveying his expedition to theHoly Land was to embark it on board a fleet of ships which he wassending round to Marseilles for this purpose, with orders to await himthere. Marseilles is in the south of France, not far from theMediterranean Sea. Richard might have embarked his troops in theEnglish Channel; but that, as the reader will see from looking on themap of Europe, would require them to take a long sea voyage around thecoasts of France and Spain, and through the Straits of Gibraltar. Richard thought it best to avoid this long circuit for his troops, andso he sent the ships round, with no more men on board than necessaryto manoeuvre them, while he marched his army across France by land. 

As for Philip, he had no ships of his own. England was a maritimecountry, and had long possessed a fleet. This fleet had been very muchincreased by the exertions of Henry the Second, Richard's father, whohad built several new ships, some of them of very large size, expressly for the purpose of transporting troops to Palestine. Henryhimself did not live to execute his plans, and so he left his shipsfor Richard. 

France, on the other hand, was not then a maritime country. Most ofthe harbors on the northern coast belonged to Normandy, and even atthe south the ports did not belong to the King of France. Philip, therefore, had no fleet of his own, but he had made arrangements withthe republic of Genoa to furnish him with ships, and so his plan wasto march over the mountains to that city and embark there, whileRichard should go south to Marseilles. 

Richard drew up a curious set of rules and regulations for thegovernment of this fleet while it was making the passage. Some of therules were the following:

 1. That if any man killed another, the murderer was to be lashed to the dead body and buried alive with it, if the murder was committed in port or on the land. If the crime was committed at sea, then the two bodies, bound together as before, were to be launched overboard. 

 2. If any man, with a knife or with any other weapon, struck another so as to draw blood, then he was to be punished by being ducked three times over head and ears by being let down from the yard-arm of the ship into the sea. 

 3. For all sorts of profane and abusive language, the punishment was a fine of an ounce of silver for each offense. 

 4. Any man convicted of theft, or "pickerie" as it was called, was to have his head shaved and hot pitch poured over it, and upon that the feathers of some pillow or cushion were to be shaken. The offender was then to be turned ashore on the first land that the ship might reach, and there be abandoned to his fate. 

The penalty named in this last article is the first instance in whichany account of the punishment of tarring and feathering is mentioned, and this is supposed to be the origin of that extraordinary and verycruel mode of punishment. 

The king put the fleet under the command of three grand officers ofhis court, and he commanded all his seamen and marines to obey themstrictly in all things, as they would obey the king himself if he hadbeen on board. 

The fleet met with a great variety of adventures on its way toMarseilles. It had not proceeded far before a great tempest arose, and scattered the ships in every direction. At last, a considerablenumber of them succeeded in making their way, in a disabled condition, into the Tagus, in order to seek succor in Lisbon. The King ofPortugal was at this time at war with the Moors, who had come overfrom Africa and invaded his dominions. He proposed to the Crusaders onboard the ships to wait a little while, and assist him in fighting theMoors. "They are as great infidels, " said he, "as any that you willfind in the Holy Land. " The commanders of the fleet acceded to thisproposal, but the crews, when they were landed, soon made so manyriots in Lisbon, and involved themselves in such frequent and bloodyaffrays with the people of the city, that the King of Portugal wassoon eager to send them away; so, in due time, they embarked again, inorder to continue their voyage. 

In the mean time, while the fleet was thus going round by sea, Richardand Philip were engaged in assembling their forces and makingpreparation to march by land. The two armies, when finally organized, came together at a place of rendezvous called Vezelai, where therewere great plains suitable for the camping-ground of a great militaryforce. Vezelai was on the road to Lyons, and the armies, after theyhad met, marched in company to the latter city. The number of troopsassembled was very great. The united army amounted, it is said, to onehundred thousand men. This was a very large force for those days. Thegreat difficulty was to find provision for them from day to day duringthe march. Supplies of provisions for such a host can not be carriedfar, so that armies are obliged to live on the produce of the countrythat they march through, which is collected for this purpose byforagers from day to day. The allied armies, as they moved slowly on, impoverished and distressed the whole country through which theypassed, by devouring every thing that the people had in store. Atlength, after marching together for some time, they came to the placewhere the roads separated, and King Philip turned off to the left inorder to proceed through the passes of the Alps toward Genoa, whileRichard and his hosts proceeded southward toward Marseilles. 

When he reached Marseilles, Richard found that his fleet had notarrived. The delay was occasioned by the storm, and the subsequentdetention of the crews at Lisbon. And yet this was very long afterthe time originally appointed for the sailing of the expedition. Thetime first appointed was the last of March; but Philip could not go atthat time, on account of the death of his queen, which took place justbefore the appointed period. Nor was Richard himself ready. It was notuntil the thirtieth of August that the fleet arrived at Marseilles. 

When Richard found that the fleet had not come he was greatlydisappointed. He had no means of knowing when to expect it, for therewere no postal or other communications across the country in thosedays, as now, by which tidings could be conveyed to him. He waitedeight days very impatiently, and then concluded to go on himselftoward the East, and leave orders for the fleet to follow him. So hehired ten large vessels and twenty galleys of the merchants ofMarseilles, and in these he embarked a portion of his forces, leavingthe rest to come in the great fleet when it should arrive. They wereto proceed to Messina in Sicily, where Richard was to join them. Withthe vessels that he had hired he proceeded along the coast to Genoa, where he found Philip, the French king, who had arrived there safelybefore him by land. 

From Marseilles to Genoa the course lies toward the northeast alongthe coast of France. Thence, in going toward Messina, it turns towardthe southeast, and follows the coast of Italy. The route may be tracedvery easily on any map of modern Europe. The reason why Messina hadbeen appointed as the great intermediate rendezvous of the fleet wastwo-fold. In the first place, it was a convenient port for thispurpose, being a good harbor, and being favorably situated aboutmidway of the voyage. Then, besides, Richard had a sister residingthere. Her name was Joanna. She had married the king of the country. Her husband had died, it is true, and she was, at that time in somesense retired from public life. She was, indeed, in some distress, forthe throne had been seized by a certain Tancred, who was her enemy, and, as she maintained, not the rightful successor of her husband. SoRichard resolved, in stopping at Messina, to inquire into and redresshis sister's wrongs; or, rather, he thought the occasion offered him afavorable opportunity to interfere in the affairs of Sicily, and tolord it over the government and people there in his usual arrogant anddomineering manner. 

After waiting a short time at Genoa, Richard set sail again in one ofhis small vessels, and proceeded to the southward along the coast ofItaly. He touched at several places on the coast, in order to visitcelebrated cities or other places of interest. He sailed up the RiverArno, which you will find, on the map, flowing into the Gulf of Genoaa little to the northward of Leghorn. There are two renowned cities onthis river, which are very much visited by tourists and travelers ofthe present day, Florence and Pisa. Pisa is near the mouth of theriver. Florence is much farther inland. Richard sailed up as far asPisa. After visiting that city, he returned again to the mouth of theriver, and then proceeded on his way down the coast until he came tothe Tiber, and entered that river. He landed at Ostia, a small portnear the mouth of it--the port, in fact, of Rome. One reason why helanded at Ostia was that the galley in which he was making the voyagerequired some repairs, and this was a convenient place for makingthem. 

Perhaps, too, it was his intention to visit Rome; but while at Ostiahe became involved in a quarrel with the bishop that resided there, which led him at length to leave Ostia abruptly, and to refuse to goto Rome. The cause of the quarrel was the bishop's asking him to paysome money that he owed the Pope. In all the Catholic countries ofEurope, in those days, there were certain taxes and fees that werecollected for the Pope, the income from which was of great importancein making up the papal revenues. Now Richard, in his eagerness tosecure all the money he could obtain in England to supply his wantsfor the crusade, had appropriated to his own use certain of thesechurch funds, and the bishop now called upon him to reimburse them. This application, as might have been expected, made Richard extremelyangry. He assailed the bishop with the most violent and abusivelanguage, and charged all sorts of corruption and wickedness againstthe papal government itself. These charges may have been true, but theoccasion of being called upon to pay a debt was not the proper timefor making them. To make the faults or misconduct of others, whetherreal or pretended, an excuse for not rendering them their just dues, is a very base proceeding. 

As soon as Richard's galley was repaired, he embarked on board of itin a rage, and sailed away. The next point at which he landed wasNaples. 

Richard was greatly delighted with the city of Naples, which, risingas it does from the shores of an enchanting bay, and near the base ofthe volcano Vesuvius, has long been celebrated for the romantic beautyof its situation. Richard remained at Naples several days. There is anaccount of his going, while there, to perform his devotions in thecrypt of a church. The crypt is a subterranean apartment beneath thechurch, the floors above it, as well as the pillars and walls of thechurch, being supported by immense piers and arches, which give thecrypt the appearance of a dungeon. The place is commonly used fortombs and places of sepulture for the dead. In the crypt where Richardworshiped at Naples, the dead bodies were arranged in niches allaround the walls. They were dressed as they had been when alive, andtheir countenances, dry and shriveled, were exposed to view, presenting a ghastly and horrid spectacle. It was such means as thesethat were resorted to, in the Middle Ages, for making religiousimpressions on the minds of men. 

After spending some days in Naples, Richard concluded that he wouldcontinue his route; but, instead of embarking at once on board hisgalley, he determined to go across the mountains by land to Salerno, which town lies on the sea-coast at some distance south of Naples. Bylooking at any map of Italy, you will observe that a great promontoryputs out into the sea just below Naples, forming the Gulf of Salernoon the south side of it. The pass through the mountains which Richardfollowed led across the neck of this promontory. His galley, togetherwith the other galleys that accompanied him, he sent round by water. There was a great deal to interest him at Salerno, for it was a placewhere many parties of crusaders, Normans among the rest, had landedbefore, and they had built churches and monasteries, and foundedinstitutions of learning there, all of which Richard was muchinterested in visiting. 

He accordingly remained in Salerno several days, until at length hisfleet of galleys, which had come round from Naples by sea, arrived. Richard, however, in the mean time, had found traveling by land soagreeable, that he concluded to continue his journey in that way, leaving his fleet to sail down the coast, keeping all the time as nearas possible to the shore. The king himself rode on upon the land, accompanied by a very small troop of attendants. His way led himsometimes among the mountains of the interior, and sometimes near themargin of the shore. At some points, where the road approached so nearto the cliffs as to afford a good view of the sea, the fleet ofgalleys were to be seen in the offing prosperously pursuing theirvoyage. 

[Illustration: RICHARD PURSUING HIS JOURNEY. ]

The king went on in this way till he reached Calabria, which is thecountry situated in the southern portion of Italy. The roads here werevery bad, and as the autumn was now coming on, many of the streamsbecame so swollen with rains that it was difficult sometimes for himto proceed on his way. At one time, while he was thus journeying, hebecame involved in a difficulty with a party of peasants which wasextremely discreditable to him, and exhibits his character in a veryunfavorable light. It seems that he was traveling by an obscurecountry road, in company with only a single attendant, when hehappened to pass by a village, where he was told a peasant lived whohad a very fine hunting hawk or falcon. Hunting by means of thesehawks was a common amusement of the knights and nobles of those days;and Richard, when he heard about this hawk, said that a plaincountryman had no business with such a bird. He declared that hewould go to his house and take it away from him. This act, socharacteristic of the despotic arrogance which marked Richard'scharacter, shows that the reckless ferocity for which he was sorenowned was not softened or alleviated by any true and genuinenobleness or generosity. For a rich and powerful king thus to rob apoor, helpless peasant, and on such a pretext too, was as base a deedas we can well conceive a royal personage to perform. 

Richard at once proceeded to carry his design into execution. He wentinto the peasant's house, and having, under some pretext or other, gotpossession of the falcon, he began to ride away with the bird on hiswrist. The peasant called out to him to give him back his bird. Richard paid no attention to him, but rode on. The peasant then calledfor help, and other villagers joining him, they followed the king, each one having seized in the mean time such weapons as came mostreadily to hand. They surrounded the king in order to take the falconaway, while he attempted to beat them off with his sword. Pretty soonhe broke his sword by a blow which he struck at one of the peasants, and then he was in a great measure defenseless. His only safety nowwas in flight. He contrived to force his way through the circle thatsurrounded him, and began to gallop away, followed by his attendant. At length he succeeded in reaching a priory, where he was received andprotected from farther danger, having, in the mean time, given up thefalcon. When the excitement had subsided he resumed his journey, andat length, without any farther adventures, reached the coast at thepoint nearest to Sicily. Here he passed the night in a tent, which hepitched upon the rocks on the shore, waiting for arrangements to bemade on the next day for his public entrance into the harbor ofMessina, which lay just opposite to him, across the narrow strait thathere separates the island of Sicily from the main land. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

KING RICHARD AT MESSINA. 

1190

The triumphal entry into Messina. --The jealousy of theSicilians and the envy of the French. --The winter sets inupon Richard and Philip in Sicily. --Winter quarters. --Tancred. --Hishistory. --William of Sicily. --Constance. --Oath ofallegiance. --Joanna's estates in the promontory of MontGargano. --Tancred seizing the power. --A goodpretext for war. --Richard's demand. --Tancred'sresponse. --Reprisals. --Fortifying a monastery. --Soldiers'troubles. --The army provokes a riot in Messina. --The intenseexcitement. --The conference broken up. --Richard's uncontrollablepassion. --The attack on Messina. --Contest between Philip andRichard. --A reconciliation. --Fortifying. --Richard bringsTancred to terms. --What Richard required of Tancred. --Thefinal conditions of peace. --King Richard's league withancred. --The treaty signed. --Royal trustees are notalways faithful. --Extravagance of Richard's court. --Springapproaching. --Repairing the fleet. --Battering-rams. --Modernordnance. --The methods of war in ancienttimes. --Catapultas. --Ballistas. --Maginalls. --The religiousobservances of tyrants. --Richard's penitence and penance. --Washe sincere?

Although Richard came down to the Italian shore, opposite to Messina, almost unattended and alone, and under circumstances soignoble--fugitive as he was from a party of peasants whom he hadincensed by an act of petty robbery--he yet made his entry at lastinto the town itself with a great display of pomp and parade. Heremained on the Italian side of the strait, after he arrived on theshore, until he had sent over to Messina, and informed the officers ofhis fleet, which, by the way, had already arrived there, that he hadcome. The whole fleet immediately got ready, and came over to theItalian side to take Richard on board and escort him over. Richardentered the harbor with his fleet as if he were a conqueror returninghome. The ships and galleys were all fully manned and gayly decorated, and Richard arranged such a number of musicians on the decks of themto blow trumpets and horns as the fleet sailed along the shores andentered the harbor that the air was filled with the echoes of them, and the whole country was called out by the sound. The Sicilians werequite alarmed to see so formidable a host of foreign soldiers comingamong them; and even their allies, the French, were not pleased. Philip began to be jealous of Richard's superior power, and to bealarmed at his assuming and arrogant demeanor. Philip had arrived inMessina some time before this, but his fleet, which was originally aninferior one, having consisted of such vessels only as he could hireat Genoa, had been greatly injured by storms during the passage, sothat he had reached Messina in a very crippled condition. And now tosee Richard coming in apparently so much his superior, and with soevident a disposition to make a parade of his superiority, made himanxious and uneasy. 

The same feeling manifested itself, too, among his troops, and this tosuch a degree as to threaten to break out into open quarrels betweenthe soldiers of the two armies. 

"It will never answer, " thought Philip, "for us both to remain long atMessina; so I will set out again myself as soon as I possibly can. "

Indeed, there was another very decisive reason for Philip's sooncontinuing his voyage, and that was the necessity of diminishing thenumber of soldiers now at Messina on account of the difficulty offinding sustenance for them all. Philip accordingly made all haste torefit his fleet and to sail away; but he was again unfortunate. Heencountered another storm, and was obliged to put back again, andbefore he could be ready a second time the winter set in, and he wasobliged to give up all hope of leaving Sicily until the spring. 

The two kings had foreseen this difficulty, and had earnestlyendeavored to avoid it by making all their arrangements in the firstinstance for setting out from England and France in March, which wasthe earliest possible season for navigating the Mediterranean safelywith such vessels as they had in those days. But this plan the readerwill recollect had been frustrated by the death of Philip's queen, andthe delays attendant upon that event, as well as other delays arisingfrom other causes, and it was past midsummer before the expedition wasready to take its departure. The kings had still hoped to have reachedthe Holy Land before winter, but now they found themselves stopped onthe way, and Philip, with many misgivings in respect to the result, prepared to make the best arrangements that he could for putting hismen into winter quarters. 

Richard did in the end become involved in difficulties with Philip andwith the French troops, but the most serious affair which occupied hisattention was a very extraordinary quarrel which he instigated betweenhimself and the king of the country. The name of this king wasTancred. 

The kingdom of Sicily in those days included not merely the island ofSicily, but also nearly all the southern part of Italy--all that part, namely, which forms the foot and ankle of Italy, as seen upon the map. It has already been said that Richard's sister Joanna some years agomarried the king of this country. The name of the king whom Joannamarried was William, and he was now dead. Tancred was his successor, though not the regular and rightful heir. In order that the reader mayunderstand the nature of the quarrel which broke out between Tancredand Richard, it is necessary to explain how it happened that Tancredsucceeded to the throne. 

If William, Joanna's husband, had had a son, he would have been therightful successor; but William had no children, and some time beforehis death he gave up all expectation of ever having any, so he beganto look around and consider who should be his heir. 

He fixed his mind upon a lady, the Princess Constance, who was hiscousin and his nearest relative. She would have been the heir had itnot been that the usages of the realm did not allow a woman to reign. There was another relative of William, a young man named Tancred. Forsome reasons, William was very unwilling that Tancred should succeedhim. He knew, however, that the people would be extremely averse toreceive Constance as their sovereign instead of Tancred, on account ofher being a woman; but he thought that he might obviate this objectionin some degree by arranging a marriage for her with some powerfulprince. This he finally succeeded in doing. The prince whom he chosewas a son of the Emperor of Germany. His name was Henry. Constance wasmarried to him, and after her marriage she left Sicily and went homewith her husband. William then assembled all his barons, and made themtake an oath of allegiance to Constance and Henry, as rightfulsovereigns after his decease. Supposing every thing to be thusamicably arranged, he settled himself quietly in his capital, the cityof Palermo, intending to live there in peace with his wife for theremainder of his days. 

When he married Joanna, he had given her, for her dower, a largeterritory of rich estates in Italy. These estates were all together, and comprised what is called the promontory of Mont Gargano. You willsee this promontory represented on any map of Italy by a smallprojection on the heel, or, rather, a little way above the heel of thefoot, on the eastern side of the peninsula. It is nearly opposite toNaples. This territory was large, and contained, besides a number ofvaluable landed estates, several castles, with lakes and forestsadjoining; also two monasteries, with their pastures, woods, andvineyards, and several beautiful lakes. These estates, and all theincome from them, were secured to Joanna forever. 

Not very long after William had completed his arrangements for thesuccession, he died unexpectedly, while Constance was away from thekingdom, at home with her husband. Immediately a great number ofcompetitors started up and claimed the crown. Among them was Tancred. Tancred took the field, and, after a desperate contest with hisrivals, at length carried the day. He considered Joanna, the queendowager, as his enemy, and either confiscated her estates or allowedothers to seize them. He then took her with him to Palermo, where, asRichard was led to believe, he kept her a prisoner. All these thingshappened a few months only before Richard arrived in Messina. 

Palermo, as you will see from any map of Sicily, lies near thenorthwest corner of Sicily, and Messina near the northeast. Inconsequence of these occurrences, it happened that when Richard landedin Sicily he found his sister, the wife of the former king of thecountry, a widow and a prisoner, and her estates confiscated, while aperson whom he considered a usurper was on the throne. A better stateof things to furnish him with a pretext for aggressions on the countryor the people he could not possibly have desired. 

As soon as he had landed his troops, he formed a great encampment forthem on the sea-shore, outside the town. The place of the encampmentwas bordered at one extremity by the suburbs of the town, and at theother extremity was a monastery built on a height. As soon as Richardhad established himself here, he sent a delegation to Tancred atPalermo, demanding that he should release Joanna and send her to him. Tancred denied that Joanna had been imprisoned at all, and, at anyrate, he immediately acceded to her brother's demand that she shouldbe sent to him. He placed her on board one of his own royal galleys, and caused her to be conveyed in it, with a very honorable escort, toMessina, and there delivered up to Richard's care. 

In respect to the dower which Richard had demanded that he shouldrestore, Tancred commenced giving some explanations in regard to it, but Richard was too impatient to listen to them. "We will not wait, "said he to his sister, "to hear any talking on the subject; we will goand take possession of the territory ourselves. "

So he embarked a part of his army on board some ships and transportedthem across the Straits, and, landing on the Italian shore, he seizeda castle and a portion of territory surrounding it. He put a stronggarrison in the castle, and gave the command of it to Joanna, while hewent back to Messina to strengthen the position of the remainder ofhis army there. He thought that the monastery which flanked hisencampment on the side farthest from the town would make a goodfortress if he had possession of it, and that, if well fortified, itwould strengthen very much the defenses of his encampment in caseTancred should attempt to molest him. So he at once took possession ofit. He turned the monks out of doors, removed all the sacredimplements and emblems, and turned the buildings into a fortress. Heput in a garrison of soldiers to guard it, and filled the rooms whichthe monks had been accustomed to use for their studies and theirprayers with stores of arms and ammunition brought in from the ships, and with other apparatus of war. His object was to be ready to meetTancred, at a moment's warning, if he should attempt to attack him. 

Soon after this a very serious difficulty broke out between thesoldiers of the army and the people of Messina. There is almost alwaysdifficulty between the soldiers of an army and the people of any townnear which the army is encamped. The soldiers, brutal in theirpassions, and standing in awe of none but their own officers, areoften exceedingly violent and unjust in their demeanor toward unarmedand helpless citizens, and the citizens, though they usually endurevery long and very patiently, sometimes become aroused to resentmentand retaliation at last. In this case, parties of Richard's soldierswent into Messina, and behaved so outrageously toward the inhabitants, and especially toward the young women, that the indignation of thehusbands and fathers was excited to the highest degree. The soldierswere attacked in the streets. Several of them were killed. The restfled, and were pursued by the crowd of citizens to the gates. Thosethat escaped went to the camp, breathless with excitement and burningwith rage, and called upon all their fellow-soldiers to join them andrevenge their wrongs. A great riot was created, and bands of furiousmen, hastily collected together, advanced toward the city, brandishingtheir arms and uttering furious cries, determined to break through thegates and kill every body that they could find. Richard heard of thedanger just in time to mount his horse and ride to the gates of thecity, and there to head off the soldiers and drive them back; but theywere so furious that, for a time, they would not hear him, but stillpressed on. He was obliged to ride in among them, and actually beatthem back with his truncheon, before he could compel them to give uptheir design. 

The next day a meeting of the chief officers in the two armies, withthe chief magistrates and some of the principal citizens of Messina, was held, to consider what to do to settle this dispute, and toprevent future outbreaks of this character. But the state ofexcitement between the two parties was too great to be settled yet inany amicable manner. While the conference was proceeding, a greatcrowd of people from the town collected on a rising ground just abovethe place where the conference was sitting. They said they only cameas spectators. Richard alleged, on the other hand, that they werepreparing to attack the conference. At any rate, they were excited andangry, and assumed a very threatening attitude. Some Normans whoapproached them got into an altercation with them, and at length oneof the Normans was killed, and the rest cried out, "To arms!" Theconference broke up in confusion. Richard rushed to the camp andcalled out his men. He was in a state of fury. Philip did all in hispower to allay the storm and to prevent a combat, and when he foundthat Richard would not listen to him, he declared that he had a greatmind to join with the Sicilians and fight him. This, however, he didnot do, but contented himself with doing all he could to calm theexcitement of his angry ally. But Richard was not to be controlled. Herushed on, at the head of his troops, up the hill to the ground wherethe Sicilians were assembled. He attacked them furiously. They were, to some extent, armed, but they were not organized, and, of course, they could not stand against the charge of the soldiers. They fled inconfusion toward the city. Richard and his troops followed them, killing as many of them as they could in the pursuit. The Sicilianscrowded into the city and shut the gates. Of course, the whole townwas now alarmed, and all the people that could fight were marshaled onthe walls and at the gates to defend themselves. 

Richard retired for a brief period till he could bring on a largerforce, and then made a grand attack on the walls. Several of hisofficers and soldiers were killed by darts and arrows from thebattlements, but at length the walls were taken by storm, the gateswere opened, and Richard marched in at the head of his troops. Whenthe people were entirely subdued, Richard hung out his flag on a hightower in token that he had taken full and formal possession ofTancred's capital. 

Philip remonstrated against this very strongly, but Richard declaredthat, now that he had got possession of Messina, he would keeppossession until Tancred came to terms with him in respect to hissister Joanna. Philip insisted that he should not do this, butthreatened to break off the alliance unless Richard would give up thetown. Finally the matter was compromised by Richard agreeing that hewould take down the flag and withdraw from the town himself, and forthe present put it under the government of certain knights that he andPhilip should jointly appoint for this purpose. 

After the excitement of this affair had a little subsided, Richard andPhilip began to consider how unwise it was for them to quarrel witheach other, engaged as they were together in an enterprise of suchmagnitude and of so much hazard, and one in which it was impossiblefor them to hope to succeed, unless they continued united, and so theybecame reconciled, or, at least, pretended to be so, and made new vowsof eternal friendship and brotherhood. 

Still, notwithstanding these protestations, Richard went on lording itover the Sicilians in the most high-handed manner. Some nobles ofhigh rank were so indignant at these proceedings that they left thetown. Richard immediately confiscated their estates and converted theproceeds to his own use. He proceeded to fortify his encampment moreand more. The monastery which he had forcibly taken from the monks heturned into a complete castle. He made battlements on the walls, andsurrounded the whole with a moat. He also built another castle on thehills commanding the town. He acted, in a word, in all respects as ifhe considered himself master of the country. He did not consult Philipat all in respect to any of these proceedings, and he paid noattention to the remonstrances that Philip from time to time addressedto him. Philip was exceedingly angry, but he did not see what he coulddo. 

Tancred, too, began to be very much alarmed. He wished to know ofRichard what it was that he demanded in respect to Joanna. Richardsaid he would consider and let him know. In a short time he made knownhis terms as follows. He said that Tancred must restore to his sisterall the territories which, as he alleged, had belonged to her, andalso give her "a golden chair, a golden table twelve feet long and afoot and a half broad, two golden supports for the same, four silvercups, and four silver dishes. " He pretended that, by a custom of therealm, she was entitled to these things. He also demanded for himselfa very large contribution toward the armament and equipment for thecrusade. It seems that at one period during the lifetime of William, Joanna's husband, her father, King Henry of England, was planning acrusade, and that William, by a will which he made at that time--so atleast Richard maintained--had bequeathed a large contribution towardthe necessary means for fitting it out. The items were these:

 1. Sixty thousand measures of wheat. 

 2. The same quantity of barley. 

 3. A fleet of a thousand armed galleys, equipped and provisioned for two years. 

 4. A silken tent large enough to accommodate two hundred knights sitting at a banquet. 

These particulars show on how great a scale these military expeditionsfor conquering the Holy Land were conducted in those days, the abovelist being only a complimentary contribution to one of them by afriend of the leader of it. 

Richard now maintained that, though his father Henry had died withoutgoing on the crusade, still he himself was going, and that he, beingthe son, and consequently the representative and heir of Henry, was, as such, entitled to receive the bequest; so he called upon Tancred topay it. 

After much negotiation, the dispute was settled by Richard's waivingthese claims, and arranging the matter on a new and different basis. He had a nephew named Arthur. Arthur was yet very young, being onlyabout two years old; and as Richard had no children of his own, Arthurwas his presumptive heir. Tancred had a daughter, yet an infant. Nowit was finally proposed that Arthur and this young daughter of Tancredshould be affianced, and that Tancred should pay to Richard twentythousand pieces of gold as her dowry! Richard was, of course, to takethis money as the guardian and trustee of his nephew, and he was toengage that, if any thing should occur hereafter to prevent themarriage from taking place, he would refund the money. Tancred wasalso to pay Richard twenty thousand pieces of gold besides, in fullsettlement of all claims in behalf of Joanna. These terms were finallyagreed to on both sides. 

Richard also entered into a league, offensive and defensive, withTancred, agreeing to assist him in maintaining his position as King ofSicily against all his enemies. This is a very important circumstanceto be remembered, for the chief of Tancred's enemies was the EmperorHenry of Germany, the prince who had married Constance, as has beenalready related. Henry's father had died, and he had become Emperor ofGermany himself, and he now claimed Sicily as the inheritance ofConstance his wife, according to the will of King William, Joanna'shusband. Tancred, he maintained, was a usurper, and, of course, nowRichard, by his league, offensive and defensive, with Tancred, madehimself Henry's enemy. This led him into serious difficulty with Henryat a subsequent period, as we shall by-and-by see. 

The treaty between Richard and Tancred was drawn up in due form andduly executed, and it was sent for safe keeping to Rome, and theredeposited with the Pope. Tancred paid Richard the money, and heimmediately began to squander it in the most lavish and extravagantmanner. He expended the infant princess's dower, which he held intrust for Arthur, as freely as he did the other money. Indeed, thiswas a very common way, in those days, for great kings to raise money. If they had a young son or heir, no matter how young he was, theywould contract to give him in marriage to the little daughter of someother potentate on condition of receiving some town, or castle, orprovince, or large sum of money as dower. The idea was, of course, that they were to take this dower in charge for the young prince, tokeep it for him until he should become old enough to be actuallymarried, but in reality they would take possession of the propertythemselves, and convert it at once to their own use. 

Richard himself had been affianced in this way in his infancy toAlice, the daughter of the then reigning King of France, and thesister of Philip, and his father, King Henry the Second, had receivedand appropriated the dowry. 

Indeed, in this case, both the sums of money that Richard receivedfrom Tancred were paid to Richard in trust, or, at least, ought tohave been so regarded, the one amount being for Arthur, and the otherfor Joanna. Richard himself, in his own name, had no claims on Tancredwhatever; but as soon as the money came into his hands, he began toexpend it in the most profuse and lavish manner. He adopted a veryextravagant and ostentatious style of living. He made costly presentsto the barons, and knights, and officers of the armies, including theFrench army as well as his own, and gave them most magnificententertainments. Philip thought that he did this to secure popularity, and that the presents which he made to the French knights and nobleswere designed to entice them away from their allegiance and fidelityto him, their lawful sovereign. At Christmas he gave a splendidentertainment, to which he invited every person of the rank of aknight or a gentleman in both armies, and at the close of the feast hemade a donation in money to each of the guests, the sum beingdifferent in different cases, according to the rank and station of theperson who received it. 

The king, having thus at last settled his quarrels and establishedhimself in something like peace in Sicily, began to turn his attentiontoward the preparations for the spring. Of course, his intention was, as soon as the spring should open, to set sail with his fleet andarmy, and proceed toward the Holy Land. He now caused all his ships tobe examined with a view to ascertain what repairs they needed. Somehad been injured by the storms which they had encountered on the wayfrom Marseilles or by accidents of the sea. Others had becomeworm-eaten and leaky by lying in port. Richard caused them all to beput thoroughly in repair. He also caused a number of battering enginesto be constructed of timber which his men hauled from the forestsaround the base of Mount Ætna. These engines were for assailing thewalls of the towns and fortresses in the Holy Land. 

In modern times walls are always attacked with mortars and cannon. Theordnance of the present day will throw shot and shells of prodigiousweight two or three miles, and these tremendous missiles strikeagainst the walls of a fortress with such force as in a short time tobatter them down, no matter how strong and thick they may be. But inthose days gunpowder was not in use, and the principal means ofbreaking down a wall was by the battering-ram, which consisted of aheavy beam of wood, hung by a rope or chain from a massive frame, andthen swung against the gate or wall which it was intended to breakthrough. In the engraving you see such a ram suspended from the frame, with men at work below, impelling it against a gateway. 

[Illustration: THE BATTERING-RAM. ]

Sometimes these battering-rams were very large and heavy, and the mendrew them back and forth, in striking the wall with them, by means ofropes. There are accounts of some battering-rams which weighed fortyor fifty tons, and required fifteen hundred men to work them. 

The men, of course, were very much exposed while engaged in thisoperation, for the people whom they were besieging would gather on thewalls above, and shoot spears, darts, and arrows at them, and throwdown stones and other missiles, as you see in the engraving. 

[Illustration: THE BALLISTA. ]

Then, besides the battering-ram, which, though very efficient againstwalls, was of no service against men, there were other engines madein those days which were designed to throw stones or monstrous darts. These last were, of course, designed to operate against bodies of men. They were made in various forms, and were called catapultas, ballistas, maginalls, and by other such names. The force with whichthey operated consisted of springs made by elastic bars of wood, twisted ropes, and other such contrivances. 

[Illustration: THE CATAPULTA. ]

Some were for throwing stones, others for monstrous darts. Of course, these engines required for their construction heavy frames of soundtimber. Richard did not expect to find such timber in the Holy Land, nor did he wish to consume the time after he should arrive in makingthem; so he employed the winter in constructing a great number ofthese engines, and in packing them, in parts, on board his galleys. 

Richard performed a great religious ceremony, too, while he was atSicily this winter, as a part of the preparation which he deemed itnecessary to make for the campaign. It is a remarkable fact that everygreat military freebooter that has organized an armed gang of men togo forth, and rob and murder his fellow-men, in any age of the world, has considered some great religious performance necessary at theoutset of the work, to prepare the minds of his soldiers for it, andto give them the necessary resolution and confidence in it. It was sowith Alexander. It was so with Xerxes and with Darius. It was so withPyrrhus. It is so substantially at the present day, when, in all wars, each side makes itself the champion of heaven in the contest, andcauses Te Deums to be chanted in their respective churches, now onthis side and now on that, in pretended gratitude to God for theiralternate victories. 

Richard called a grand convention of all the prelates and monks thatwere with his army, and performed a solemn act of worship. A part ofthe performance consisted of his kneeling personally before thepriests, confessing his sins and the wicked life that he had led, andmaking very fervent promises to sin no more, and then, aftersubmitting to the penances which they enjoined upon him, receivingfrom them pardon and absolution. After the enactment of thissolemnity, the soldiers felt far more safe and strong in going forthto the work which lay before them in the Holy Land than before. 

Nor is it certain that in this act Richard was wholly hypocritical andinsincere. The human heart is a mansion of many chambers, and areligious sentiment, in no small degree conscientious and honest, though hollow and mistaken, may have strong possession of some ofthem, while others are filled to overflowing with the dear andbesetting sins, whatever they are, by which the general conduct of theman is controlled. 

CHAPTER IX. 

BERENGARIA. 

1190

Richard's betrothal to Berengaria--The obstacles which prevented themarriage of Richard and Alice. --The first acquaintance of Richardand the Princess Berengaria. --The fame of Berengaria. --Heraccomplishments. --Eleanora sent to King Sancho to ask his daughterin marriage. --Berengaria's acceptance. --The expedition to meetRichard. --Berengaria at Brindisi with Joanna. --The friendshipbetween Joanna and Berengaria. --Tancred receives a letter fromPhilip. --Treachery. --Philip's letter to Tancred. --Richard's opinionof it. --The etiquette of dueling. --Richard charges the letter uponPhilip. --Philip's reply. --Richard's declaration. --Richard and Philipcompromise their quarrel. --Re-embarkation. --Preparations for themarriage. --Richard escorting Philip. --Why the wedding waspostponed. --Richard puts Joanna and Berengaria in charge ofStephen. --The vow to conquer Acre. --Richard's present to Tancred. 

While Richard was in the kingdom of Sicily during this memorablewinter, he made a new contract of marriage. The lady was a Spanishprincess named Berengaria. The circumstances of this betrothment weresomewhat extraordinary. 

The reader will recollect that he had been betrothed in his earliestyouth to Alice, an infant princess of France. His father had thrownhim in, as it were, as a sort of makeweight, in arranging somecompromise with the King of France for the settlement of a quarrel, and also to obtain the dower of the young princess for his own use. This dower consisted of various castles and estates, which wereimmediately put into the hands of Henry, Richard's father, and whichhe continued to hold as long as he lived, using and enjoying the rentsand revenues from them as his own property. When Richard grew oldenough to claim his bride, Henry, under whose custody and charge shehad been placed, would not give her up to him; and long and seriousquarrels arose between the father and the son on this account, as hasalready been related in this volume. The most obvious reason for whichHenry might be supposed unwilling to give up Alice to her affiancedhusband, when he became old enough to be married to her, was, that hewished to retain longer the use of the castles and estates thatconstituted her dowry. But, in addition to this, it was surmised bymany that he had actually fallen in love with her himself, and that hewas determined that Richard should not have her at all. Richardhimself believed, or pretended to believe, that this was the case. Hewas consequently very angry, and he justified himself in the wars andrebellions that he raised against his father during the lifetime ofthe king by this great wrong which he alleged that his father had donehim. On the other hand, many persons supposed that Richard did notreally wish to marry Alice, and that he only made the fact of hisfather's withholding her from him a pretext for his unnaturalhostility, the real ends and aims of which were objects altogetherdifferent. 

However this may be, when Henry died, and there was no longer anything in the way of his marriage, he showed no desire to consummateit. Alice's father, too, had died, and Philip, the present King ofFrance, and Richard's ally, was her brother. Philip called uponRichard from time to time to complete the marriage, but Richard foundvarious pretexts for postponing it, and thus the matter stood when theexpedition for the Holy Land set sail from Marseilles. 

The next reason why Richard did not now wish to carry his marriagewith Alice into effect was that, in the mean time, while his fatherhad been withholding Alice from him, he had seen and fallen in lovewith another lady, the Princess Berengaria. Richard first sawBerengaria several years before, at a time when he was with his motherin Aquitaine, during the life of his father. The first time that hesaw her was at a grand tournament which was celebrated in her nativecity in Spain, and which Richard went to attend. The families had beenwell acquainted with each other before, though, until the tournament, Richard had never seen Berengaria. Richard had, however, known one ofher brothers from his boyhood, and they had always been very greatfriends. The father of Berengaria, too, Sancho the Wise, King ofNavarre, had always been a warm friend of Eleanora, Richard's mother, and in the course of the difficulties and quarrels that took placebetween her and her husband, as related in the early chapters of thisvolume, he had rendered her very valuable services. Still, Richardnever saw Berengaria until she had grown up to womanhood. 

He, however, felt a strong desire to see her, for she was quitecelebrated for her beauty and her accomplishments. The accomplishmentsin which she excelled were chiefly music and poetry. Richard himselfwas greatly interested in these arts, especially in the songs of theTroubadours, whose performances always formed a very important part ofthe entertainment at the feasts and tournaments, and other greatpublic celebrations of those days. 

When Richard came to see Berengaria, he fell deeply in love with her. But he could not seek her hand in marriage on account of hisengagement with Alice. To have given up Alice, and to have enteredinstead into an engagement with her, would have involved both him andhis mother, and all the family of Berengaria too, in a fierce quarrelwith the King of France, the father of Alice, and also with his ownfather. These were too serious consequences for him to brave while hewas still only a prince, and nominally under his father's authority. So he did nothing openly, though a strong secret attachment sprang upbetween him and Berengaria, and all desire ever to make Alice his wifegradually disappeared. 

At length, when his father died, and Richard became King of England, he felt at once that the power was now in his own hands, and that hewould do as he liked in respect to his marriage. Alice's father, too, had died, and her brother Philip was now king, and he was not likelyto feel so strong an interest in resenting any supposed slight to hissister as her father would have been. Richard determined, therefore, to give up Alice altogether, and ask Berengaria to be his wife. So, while he was engaged in England in making his preparations for thecrusade, and when he was nearly ready to set out, he sent his mother, Eleanora, to Navarre to ask Berengaria in marriage of her father, KingSancho. He did not, however, give Philip any notice of this change inhis plans, not wishing to embarrass the alliance that he and Philipwere forming with any unnecessary difficulties which might interferewith the success of it, and retard the preparations for the crusade. So, while his mother had gone to Spain to secure Berengaria for himas his wife, he himself, in England and Normandy, went on with hispreparations for the crusade in connection with Philip, just as if theoriginal engagement with Alice was going regularly on. 

Eleanora was very successful in her mission. Sancho, Berengaria'sfather, was very much pleased with so magnificent an offer as that ofthe hand of Richard, Duke of Normandy and King of England, for hisdaughter. Berengaria herself made no objection. Eleanora said that herson had not been able to come himself and claim his bride, on accountof the necessity that he was under of accompanying his army to theEast, but she said that he would stop at Messina, and she proposedthat Berengaria should put herself under her protection, and go andjoin him there. 

Berengaria was a lady of an ardent and romantic temperament, andnothing could please her better than such a proposal as this. She veryreadily acceded to it, and her father was very willing to intrust herto the charge of Eleanora. So the two ladies, with a proper train ofbarons, knights, and other attendants, set out together. They crossedthe Pyrenees into France, and then, after traversing France, theypassed over the Alps into Italy. Thence they continued their journeydown the Italian coast by land, as Richard had done by water, until atlast they arrived at a place called Brindisi, which is on the coast ofItaly, not far from Messina. Here they halted, and sent word toRichard to inform him of their arrival. 

Eleanora thought that Berengaria could not go any farther withpropriety, for her engagement with Richard was not yet made public. Indeed, the betrothal of Richard with Alice still remained nominallyin force, and a serious difficulty was to be apprehended with Philipso soon as the new plans which Richard had formed should be announcedto him. 

Eleanora said that she could not remain long in Italy, but must returnto Normandy very soon, without waiting for Richard to prepare the wayfor receiving his bride. So she left Berengaria under the charge ofJoanna, who, being her own--that is, Eleanora's--daughter, was a veryproper person to be the young lady's protector. Joanna and Berengariaimmediately conceived a strong attachment for each other, and theylived together in a very happy manner. Joanna was glad to have for acompanion so charming a young lady, and one of so high a rank, andBerengaria, on the other hand, was much pleased to be placed under thecharge of so kind a protector. Joanna, too, having long lived inSicily, could give Berengaria a great deal of interesting intelligenceabout the country and the people, and could answer all the thousandquestions which she asked about what she heard and saw in the newworld, as it were, into which she had been ushered. 

The two ladies lived, of course, in very close seclusion, but theylived so lovingly together that one of the writers of the day, in aballad that he wrote, compared them to two birds in a cage. Speakingof Eleanora, he says, in the quaint old English of the day, "She beleft Berengere At Richard's costage. Queen Joanne held her dear; They lived as doves in a cage. "

The arrival of Berengaria at Brindisi took place in the spring of theyear, when the time was drawing nigh for the fleets and armaments tosail for the East. As yet, Philip knew nothing of Richard's plans inrespect to this new marriage, but the time had now arrived whenRichard perceived that they could no longer be concealed. Philipentertained suspicions that something wrong was going on, though hedid not know exactly what. His suspicions made him watchful andjealous, and at last they led to a curious train of circumstances, which brought matters to a crisis very suddenly. 

It seems that at one time, when Richard was paying a visit to Tancred, the King of Sicily, Tancred showed him a letter which he said he hadreceived from the French king. In this letter, Philip--if, indeed, Philip really wrote it--endeavored to excite Tancred's enmity againstRichard. It was just after the treaty between Tancred and Richard hadbeen formed, as related in the last chapter. The letter said thatRichard was a treacherous man, in whom no reliance could be placed;that he had no intention of keeping the treaty that he had made, butwas laying a scheme for attacking Tancred in his Sicilian dominions;and, finally, it closed with an offer on the part of the writer toassist Tancred in driving Richard and all his followers out of theisland. 

When Richard read this letter, he was at first in a dreadful rage, andhe broke out into an explosion of the most violent, profane, andpassionate language that can be conceived. Presently he looked at theletter again, and on reperusing it, and carefully considering itscontents, he declared that he did not believe that Philip ever wroteit. It was a stratagem of Tancred's, he thought, designed to promote aquarrel between Richard and his ally. Tancred assured him that Philipdid write the letter, or, at least, that it was brought to him asfrom Philip by the Duke of Burgundy, one of his principal officers. 

"You may ask the Duke of Burgundy, " said he, "and if he denies it, Iwill challenge him to a duel through one of my barons. "

It was necessary that the parties to a duel, in those days, should beof equal rank, so that, if a king had a quarrel with a nobleman ofanother nation, he could only send one of his own noblemen of the samerank to be his representative in the combat. But this proposal ofsending another man to risk his life in maintaining the cause of hisking on a question of veracity, in which the person so sent had nointerest whatever, illustrates very curiously the ideas of thosechivalrous times. 

Richard did not go to the Duke of Burgundy, but, taking the letterwhich Tancred had shown him, he waited until he found a goodopportunity, and then showed it to Philip. The two kings often fellinto altercations and disputes in their interviews with each other, and it was in one of these that Richard produced the letter, offeringit by way of recrimination to some charges or accusations which Philipwas making against him. Philip denied having written the letter. Itwas a forgery, he said, and he believed that Richard himself was theauthor of it. 

"You are trying every way you can, " said he, "to find pretexts forquarreling with me, and this is one of your devices. I know what youare aiming at: you wish to quarrel with me so as to find some excusefor breaking off your marriage with my sister, whom you are bound by amost solemn oath to marry. But of this you may be sure, that if youabandon her and take any other wife, you will find me, as long as youlive, your most determined and mortal enemy. "

This declaration aroused Richard's temper, and brought the affair atonce to a crisis. Richard declared to Philip that he never would marryhis sister. 

"My father, " said he, "kept her from me for many years because heloved her himself, and she returned his love, and now I will neverhave any thing to do with her. I am ready to prove to you the truth ofwhat I say. "

So Richard brought forward what he called the proofs of the veryintimate relations which had subsisted between Alice and his father. Whether there was any thing genuine or conclusive in these proofs isnot known. At all events, they made a very deep and painfulimpression on Philip. The disclosure was, as one of the writers ofthose times says, "like a nail driven directly through his heart. "

After a while, the two kings concluded to settle the difficulty by asort of compromise. Philip agreed to give up all claims on the part ofAlice to Richard in consideration of a sum of money which Richard wasto pay. Richard was to pay two thousand marks[D] a year for fiveyears, and was on that condition to be allowed to marry any one hechose. He was also to restore to Philip the fortresses and estateswhich had been conveyed to his father as Alice's dowry at the time ofher betrothment to Richard in her infancy. 

[Footnote D: The mark is about three dollars. ]

This agreement, being thus made, was confirmed by a great profusion ofoaths, sworn with all solemnity, and the affair was considered assettled. 

Still, Richard seems to have been a little disinclined to bring outBerengaria at once from her retreat, and let Philip know suddenly howfar his arrangements for marrying another lady had gone; so heconcluded to wait, before publicly announcing his intended marriage, until Philip should have sailed for the East. Philip was now, indeed, nearly ready to go; his fleet and his armament, being smaller thanRichard's, could be dispatched earlier; so Richard devoted himselfvery earnestly to the work of facilitating and hastening his ally'sdeparture, determining that immediately afterward he would bringforward his bride and celebrate his marriage. 

It is not, however, certain that he kept his intended marriage withBerengaria an absolute secret from Philip. There would be no longerany special necessity for this after the treaty that had been made. But, notwithstanding this agreement, it is not to be supposed that thenew marriage would be a very agreeable subject for Philip tocontemplate, or that it would be otherwise than very awkward for himto be present on the occasion of the celebration of it; so Richarddecided that, on all accounts, it was best to postpone the ceremonyuntil after Philip had gone. 

Philip sailed the very last of March. Richard selected from his fleeta few of his most splendid galleys, and with these, filled with achosen company of knights and barons, he accompanied Philip as he leftthe harbor, and sailed with him down the Straits of Messina, withtrumpets sounding, and flags and banners waving in the air. As soon asPhilip's fleet reached the open sea, Richard took leave, and set outwith his galleys on his return; but, instead of going back to Messina, he made the best of his way to the port in Italy where Berengaria andJoanna were lodging, and there took the ladies, who were all ready, expecting him, and embarking them on board a very elegantly adornedgalley which he had prepared for them, he conducted them to Messina. 

Richard would now probably have been immediately married, but it wasin the season of Lent, and, according to the ideas of those times, itwould be in some sense a desecration of that holy season of fasting tocelebrate any such joyous ceremony as a wedding in it; and it wouldnot do very well to postpone the sailing of the fleet until after theseason of Lent should have expired, for the time had already fullyarrived when it ought to sail, and Philip, with his division of theallied force, had already gone; so he concluded to put off hismarriage till they should reach the next place at which the expeditionshould land. 

Berengaria consented to this, and it was arranged that she was toaccompany the expedition when it should sail, and that at the nextplace of landing, which it was expected would be the island of Rhodes, the marriage ceremony should be performed. 

As it was not considered quite proper, however, under thesecircumstances, that the princess should sail in the same ship withRichard, a very strong and excellent ship was provided for her specialuse, and that of Joanna who was to accompany her, and it was arrangedthat she should sail from the port just before the main body of thefleet were ready to commence the voyage. The ship in which the ladiesand their suite were conveyed was placed under the command of a braveand faithful knight named Stephen of Turnham, and the two princesseswere committed to his special charge. 

But, although Richard's regard for the sacred season of Lent would notallow of his celebrating the marriage, he made a grand celebration inhonor of his betrothment to Berengaria before he sailed. At thiscelebration he instituted an order of twenty-four knights. Theseknights bound themselves in a fraternity with the king, and took asolemn oath that they would scale the walls of Acre when they reachedthe Holy Land. Acre was one of the strongest and most importantfortresses in that country, and one which they were intending first toattack. 

Also, before he went away, Richard made King Tancred a farewellpresent of a very valuable antique sword, which had been found, hesaid, by his father in the tomb of a famous old English knight who hadlived some centuries before. 

CHAPTER X. 

THE CAMPAIGN IN CYPRUS. 

1190

The expedition is at last ready to sail from Sicily. --The grandspectacle of the embarkation at Messina. --The order ofsailing. --Trenc-le-mer. --The storm. --Navigation in the twelfthcentury. --Limesol in Cyprus. --The wrecked ships. --King Richard'sseal. --The wreckers. --Isaac Comnenus. --Law and justice. --Law isnot the creator, but the protector of property. --Joanna'sinquiries for her brother. --An alarm. --A retreat. --Richard'svessel appears. --Richard's indignation on meeting Joanna'svessel. --Richard's contest with King Isaac Comnenus. --The historyof the law of wrecks. --Richard having landed, Isaac asksa truce. --Negotiating. --Richard was a Norman, not anEnglishman. --Preparing for war. --King Richard's battle-axe. --Theconquest of Limesol. --Signaling for the queen's galley. --Theterms of peace which Richard offered to Isaac. --How Richardfaithlessly took King Isaac a prisoner. --King Richard subjugatesCyprus. --The miserable death of King Isaac. --Richard's wedding atlast. --A coronation. --The king's accoutrement. --Favelle. --Theappearance of Berengaria. --

The time at length fully arrived for the departure of the Englishfleet from Sicily for the purpose of continuing the voyage to the HolyLand. Besides the delay which had been occasioned to Richard bycircumstances connected with his marriage, he had waited also a shorttime for some store-ships to arrive from England with ammunition andsupplies. When the store-ships at length came, the day for the sailingwas immediately appointed, the tents were struck, the encampmentabandoned, and the troops embarked on board the ships of the fleet. 

The Sicilians were all greatly excited, as the sailing of the fleetdrew nigh, with anticipations of the splendor of the spectacle. Theharbor was filled with ships of every form and size, and the movementsconnected with the embarkation of the troops on board of them, thestriking of the tents, the packing up of furniture and goods, thehurrying of men to and fro, the crowding at the landings, the rapidtransit of boats back and forth between the ships and the shore, andall the other scenes and incidents usually attendant on theembarkation of a great army, occupied the attention of the people ofthe country, and filled them with excitement and pleasure. It ishighly probable, too, that their pleasure was increased by theprospect that they were soon to be relieved from the presence of suchtroublesome and unmanageable visitors. 

Never was a finer spectacle witnessed than that which was displayed bythe sailing of the fleet, when the day for the departure of it atlength arrived. The squadron consisted of nearly two hundred vesselsin all. There were thirteen great ships, corresponding to what arecalled ships of the line of modern times. Then there were over fiftygalleys. These were constructed so as to be propelled either by oarsor by sails. Of course, when the wind was favorable, the sails wouldbe used; but in case of calms, or of adverse winds blowing off fromthe land when the vessels were entering port, or of currents driftingthem into danger, then the oars could be brought into requisition. Inaddition to these ships and galleys, there were about a hundredvessels used as transports for the conveyance of provisions, stores, tents, and tent equipage, ammunition of all kinds, including theframes of the military engines which Richard had caused to beconstructed in Sicily, and all the other supplies required for the useof a great army. Besides these there were a great many other smallervessels, which were used as tenders, lighters, and for other suchpurposes, making a total number of nearly two hundred. In the order ofsailing, the transports followed the ships and galleys, which weremore properly the ships of war, and which led the van, in order thebetter to meet any danger which might appear, and the more effectuallyto protect the convoy from it. 

Richard sailed at the head of his fleet in a splendid galley, whichwas appropriated to his special use. The name of it was the SeaCutter. [E] There was a huge lantern hoisted in the stern of Richard'sgalley, in order that the rest of the fleet could see and follow herin the night. 

[Footnote E: _Trenc-le-mer_, literally, _Cut the sea_. ]

[Illustration: MAP ILLUSTRATING THE HISTORY OF KING RICHARD'SCRUSADE]

The day of sailing was very fine, and the spectacle, witnessed by theSicilians on shore, who watched the progress of it from everyprojecting point and headland as it moved majestically out of theharbor, was extremely grand. For some time the voyage went on veryprosperously, but at length the sky gradually became overcast, and thewind began to blow, and finally a great storm came on before the shipshad time to seek any shelter. In those days there was no mariner'scompass, and of course, in a storm, when the sun and stars wereconcealed, there was nothing to be done but for the ship to grope herway through the haze and rain for any land which might be near. Theviolence of the wind and the raging of the sea was in this case sogreat that the fleet was soon dispersed, and the vessels were drivennorthward and eastward toward certain islands which lie in that partof the Mediterranean, off the coasts of Asia Minor. The threeprincipal of these islands, as you will see by the opposite map, areCandia, Rhodes, and Cyprus, Cyprus lying farther toward the east. 

The ships came very near being wrecked on the coast of Crete, but theyescaped and were driven onward over the sea, until at length a largeportion of them found refuge at Rhodes. Others were driven on towardCyprus. Richard's galley was among those that found refuge at Rhodes;but, unfortunately, the one in which Berengaria and Joanna were bornedid not succeed in making a port there, but was swept onward by thegale, and, in company with one or two others, was driven to the mouthof the harbor of Limesol, which is the principal port of Cyprus, andis situated on the south side of the island. The galley in which thequeen and the princess were embarked, being probably of superiorconstruction to the others, and better manned, succeeded in weatheringthe point and getting round into the harbor, but two or three othergalleys which were with them struck and were wrecked. One of theseships was a very important one. It contained the chancellor who boreRichard's great seal, besides a number of other knights and crusadersof high rank, and many valuable goods. The seal was an object of greatvalue. Every king had his own seal, which was used to authenticate hispublic acts. The one which belonged to Richard is represented in thefollowing engraving. 

As soon as the news of these wrecks spread into the island, the peoplecame down in great numbers, and took possession of every thing ofvalue which was cast upon the shore as property forfeited to the kingof the country. The name of this king was Isaac Comnenus. 

He claimed that all wrecks cast upon his shores were his property. That was the law of the land; it was, in fact, the law of a great manycountries in those days, especially of such as had maritime coastsbordering on navigable waters that were specially exposed to storms. 

[Illustration: KING RICHARD'S SEAL. ]

Thus, in seizing the wreck of Richard's vessels, King Isaac had thelaw on his side, and all those who, in their theory of government, hold it as a principle that law is the foundation of property, andthat what the law makes right is right, must admit that he had justiceon his side too. For my part, it seems clear that the right ofproperty is anterior to all law, and independent of it. I think thatthe province of law is not to create property, but to protect it, andthat it may, instead of protecting it, become the greatest violator ofit. This law providing for the confiscation of property cast in wrecksupon a shore, and its forfeiture to the sovereign of the territory, isone of the most striking instances of aggression made by law on thenatural and indefeasible rights of man. 

In regard to the galley which contained the queens, that havingescaped shipwreck, and having safely anchored in the harbor, the kinghad no pretext for molesting it in any way. He learned by some meansthat Queen Joanna was on board the galley; so he sent two boats downwith a messenger, to inquire whether her majesty would be pleased toland. 

Stephen of Turnham, the knight who had command of the queen's galley, thought it not safe to go on shore, for by doing so Joanna andBerengaria would put themselves entirely in King Isaac's power; andthough it was true that Isaac and the people of Cyprus over whom heruled were Christians, yet they were of the Greek Church, whileRichard and the English were Roman, and these two churches werealmost as hostile to each other as the Christians and the Turks. Stephen, however, communicated the message from Isaac to Joanna, andasked her majesty's pleasure thereupon. She sent back word to themessengers that she did not wish to land. She had only come into theharbor, she said, to see if she could learn any tidings of herbrother; she had been separated from him by a great storm at sea, which had broken up and dispersed the fleet, and she wished to knowwhether any thing had been seen of him, or of any of his vessels, fromthe shores of that island. 

The messengers replied that they did not know any thing about it, andso the boats returned back to the town. Soon after this the company onboard the galley saw some armed vessels coming down the harbor towardthem. They were alarmed at this sight, and immediately got every thingready for setting off at a moment's notice to withdraw from theharbor. It turned out that the king himself was on board one of thegalleys that was coming down, and this vessel was allowed to come nearenough for the king to communicate with the people on board Joanna'sgalley. After some ordinary questions had been asked and answered, the king, observing that a lady of high rank was standing on the deckwith Joanna, asked who it was. They answered that it was the Princessof Navarre, who was going to be married to Richard. In the reply whichthe king made to this intelligence Stephen of Turnham thought he sawsuch indications of hostility that he deemed it most prudent toretire; so the anchor was raised, and the order was given to theoarsmen, who had already been stationed at their oars, to "give way, "and the oarsmen pulled vigorously at the oars. The galley wasimmediately taken out into the offing. The King of Cyprus did notpursue her; so she anchored there quietly, the storm having now nearlysubsided. Stephen resolved to wait there for a time, hoping that insome way or other he might soon receive intelligence from Richard. 

Nor was he disappointed. Richard, whose galley, together with theprincipal portion of the fleet, had been driven farther to theeastward, had found refuge at Rhodes, and he set off, as soon as thestorm abated, in pursuit of the missing vessels. He took with him asufficient force to render to the vessels, if he should find them, such assistance or protection as might be necessary. At length hereached Cyprus, and, on entering the bay, there he beheld the galleyof Joanna and Berengaria riding safely at anchor in the offing. Thesea had not yet gone down, and the vessel was rolling and tossing onthe waves in a fearful manner. Richard was greatly enraged atbeholding this spectacle, for he at once inferred, by seeing thevessel in this uncomfortable situation outside the harbor, that somedifficulty with the authorities had occurred which prevented herseeking refuge and protection within. Accordingly, as soon as he camenear, he leaped into a boat, although burdened as he was with heavyarmor of steel, which was a difficult and somewhat dangerousoperation, and ordered himself to be rowed immediately on board. 

When he arrived, after the first greetings were over, he was informedby Stephen that three of the vessels of his fleet had been wrecked onthe coast; that Isaac, the king, had seized them as his lawful prize;and that, at that very time, men that he had sent for this purposewere plundering the wrecks. Stephen also said that he had at firstgone into the harbor with his galley, but that the indications of anunfriendly feeling on the part of the king were so decided that hedid not dare to stay, and he had been compelled to come out into theoffing. 

On hearing these things Richard was greatly enraged. He sent amessenger on shore to the king to demand peremptorily that he shouldat once leave off plundering the wrecks of the English ships, and thathe should deliver up to Richard again all the goods that had alreadybeen taken. To this demand Isaac replied that whatever goods the seacast upon the shores of his island were his property, according to thelaw of the land, and that he should take them without asking leave ofany body. 

When Richard heard this answer, he was rather pleased than displeasedwith it, for it gave him, what he always wanted wherever he went, apretext for quarreling. He said that the goods which Isaac obtained inthat way he would find would cost him pretty dear, and he immediatelyprepared for war. 

In this transaction there is no question that the King of Cyprus, though wholly wrong, and guilty of a real and inexcusable violation ofthe rights of property, had yet the law on his side. It was one ofthose cases, of which innumerable examples have existed in all ages ofthe world, where an act which is virtually the robbing of one man byanother is authorized by law, and is protected by legal sanctions. This rule--confiscating property wrecked--was the general law ofEurope at this time, and Richard, of all men, might have consideredhimself estopped from objecting to it by the fact that it was the lawin England as well as every where else. By the ancient common law ofEngland, all wrecks of every kind became the property of the king. Theseverity of the rule had been slightly mitigated a few reigns beforeRichard's day by a statute which declared that if any living thingescaped from the wreck, even were it so much as a dog or a cat, thatcircumstance saved the property from confiscation, and preserved theclaim of the owner to it. With this modification, the law stood inEngland until a very late period, that all goods thrown from wrecksupon the shores became the property of the crown, and it was not untilcomparatively quite a recent period that an English judge decided thatsuch a principle, being contrary to justice and common sense, was notlaw; and now wrecked property is restored to whomsoever can provehimself to be the owner, on his paying for the expense and trouble ofsaving it. 

On receiving the demand which Richard sent him, the King of Cyprus, anticipating difficulty, drew up his galleys in order of battle acrossthe harbor, and marched troops down to commanding positions on theshore, wherever he thought there might be any danger that Richardwould attempt to land. Richard very soon brought up his forces andadvanced to attack him. Isaac's troops retreated as Richard advanced. Finally they were driven back without much actual contest into thetown, and Richard then brought his squadron up into harbor and landed. Isaac, seeing how much stronger Richard was than he, did not attemptany serious resistance, but retired to the citadel. From the citadelhe sent out a flag of truce demanding a parley. 

Richard granted the request, and an interview took place, but it ledto no result. Richard found that Isaac was not yet absolutely subdued. He still asserted his rights, and complained of the gross wrong whichRichard was perpetrating in invading his dominions, and seeking aquarrel with him without cause; but the effect was like that of thelamb attempting to resist or recriminate the wolf, which, far frombringing the aggressor to reason, only awakens more strongly hisferocity and rage. Richard turned toward his attendants, and, utteringa profane exclamation, said that Isaac talked like a fool of a Briton. 

It is mentioned as a remarkable circumstance by the historians thatRichard spoke these words in English, and it is said that this was theonly time in the course of his life that he ever used that language. It may seem very strange to the reader that an English king should notordinarily use the English language. But, strictly speaking, Richardwas not an English king. He was a Norman king. The whole dynasty towhich he belonged were Norman French in all their relations. Normandythey regarded as the chief seat of their empire. There were theirprincipal cities--there their most splendid palaces. There they livedand reigned, with occasional excursions for comparatively briefperiods across the Channel. They considered England much as thepresent English sovereigns do Ireland, namely, as a conquered country, which had become a possession and a dependency upon the crown, but notin any sense the seat of empire, and they utterly despised the nativeinhabitants. In view of these facts, the wonder that Richard, the Kingof England, never spoke the English tongue at once disappears. 

The conference broke up, and both sides prepared for war. Isaac, finding that he was not strong enough to resist such a horde ofinvaders as Richard brought with him, withdrew from his capital andretired to a fortress among the mountains. Richard then easily tookpossession of the town. A moderate force had been left to protect it;but Richard, promising his troops plenty of booty when they should getinto it, led the way, waving his battle-axe in the air. 

This battle-axe was a very famous weapon. It was one which Richard hadcaused to be made for himself before leaving England, and it was thewonder of the army on account of its size and weight. The object of abattle-axe was to break through the steel armor with which the knightsand warriors of those days were accustomed to cover themselves, andwhich was proof against all ordinary blows. Now Richard was a man ofprodigious personal strength, and, when fitting out his expedition inEngland, he caused an unusually large and heavy battle-axe to be madefor himself, by way of showing his men what he could do in swinging aheavy weapon. The head of this axe, or hammer, as perhaps it mightmore properly have been called, weighed twenty pounds, and mostmarvelous stories were told of the prodigious force of the blow thatRichard could strike with it. When it came down on the head of asteel-clad knight on his horse, it broke through every thing, theysaid, and crushed man and horse both to the ground. 

 * * * * *

The assault on Limesol was successful. The people made but a feebleresistance. Indeed, they had no weapons which could possibly enablethem to stand a moment against the Crusaders. They were half naked, and their arms were little better than clubs and stones. They were, inconsequence, very easily driven off the ground, and Richard tookpossession of the city. 

He then immediately made a signal for Joanna's galley--which, duringall this time, had remained at the mouth of the harbor--to advance. The galley accordingly came up, and Joanna and the princess werereceived by the whole army at the landing with loud acclamations. Theywere immediately conducted into the town, and there were lodgedsplendidly in the best of Isaac's palaces. 

But the contest was not yet ended. The place to which Isaac hadretreated was a city which he possessed in the interior of the islandcalled Nicosia. From this place he sent a messenger to Richard topropose another conference, with a view of attempting once more toagree upon some terms of peace. Richard agreed to this, and a place ofmeeting was appointed on a plain near Limesol, the port. King Isaac, accompanied by a suitable number of attendants, repaired to thisplace, and the conference was opened. Richard was mounted on afavorite Spanish charger, and was splendidly dressed in silk and gold. He assumed a very lofty bearing and demeanor toward his humbled enemy, and informed him in a very summary manner on what terms alone he waswilling to make peace. 

"I will make peace with you, " said Richard, "on condition that youhold your kingdom henceforth subject to me. You are to deliver up allthe castles and strongholds to me, and do me homage as youracknowledged sovereign. You are also to pay me an ample indemnity ingold for the damage you did to my wrecked galleys. I shall expect you, moreover, to join me in the crusade. You must accompany me to theHoly Land with not less than five hundred foot-soldiers, four hundredhorsemen, and one hundred full-armed knights. For security that youwill faithfully fulfill these conditions, you must put the princess, your daughter, into my hands as a hostage. Then, in case your conductwhile in my service in the Holy Land is in all respects perfectlysatisfactory, I will restore your daughter, and also your castles, toyou on my return. "

Isaac's daughter was a very beautiful young princess. She wasextremely beloved by her father, and was highly honored by the peopleof the land as the heir to the crown. 

These conditions were certainly very hard, but the poor king was in nocondition to resist any demands that Richard might choose to make. With much distress and anguish of mind, he pretended to agree to theseterms, though he secretly resolved that he could not and would notsubmit to them. Richard suspected his sincerity, and, in utterviolation of all honorable laws and usages of war, he made him aprisoner, and set guards over him to watch him until the stipulationsshould be carried into effect. Isaac contrived to escape from hiskeepers in the night, and, putting himself at the head of such troopsas he could obtain, prepared for war, with the determination to resistto the last extremity. 

Richard now resolved to proceed at once to take the necessary measuresfor the complete subjugation of the island. He organized a large bodyof land forces, and directed them to advance into the interior of thecountry, and put down all resistance. At the same time, he placedhimself at the head of his fleet, and, sailing round the island, hetook possession of all the towns and fortresses on the shore. He alsoseized every ship and every boat, large and small, that he could find, and thus entirely cut off from King Isaac all chance of escaping bysea. In the mean time, the unhappy monarch, with the few troops thatstill adhered to him, was driven from place to place, until at last hewas completely hemmed in, and was compelled to fight or surrender. They fought. The result was what might have been expected. Richard wasvictorious. The capital, Limesol, fell into his hands, and the kingand his daughter were taken prisoners. 

The princess was greatly terrified when she was brought into Richard'spresence. She fell on her knees before him, and cried, "My lord the king, have mercy upon me!"

Richard put forth his hand to lift her up, and then sent her toBerengaria. 

"I give her to you, " said he, "for an attendant and companion. "

The king was almost broken-hearted at having his daughter taken awayfrom him. He threw himself at Richard's feet, and begged him, with themost earnest entreaty, to restore him his child. Richard paid no heedto this request, but ordered Isaac to be taken away. Soon after thishe sent him across the sea to Tripoli in Syria, and there shut him upin the dungeon of a castle, a hopeless prisoner. The unhappy captivewas secured in his dungeon by chains; but, in honor of his rank, thechains, by Richard's directions, were made of silver, overlaid withgold. The poor king pined in this place of confinement for four years, and then died. 

As soon as Isaac had gone, and things had become somewhat settled. Richard found himself undisputed master of Cyprus, and he resolved toannex the island to his own dominions. 

"And now, " said he to himself, "it will be a good time for me to bemarried. "

So, after making the necessary arrangements for assembling his wholefleet again, and repairing the damages which had been sustained by thestorm, he began to make preparations for the wedding. Berengaria madeno objection to this. Indeed, the fright which she had suffered at seain being separated from Richard, and the anxiety she had endured when, after the storm, she gazed in every direction all around the horizon, and could see no signs in any quarter of his ship, and when, consequently, she feared that he might be lost, made her extremelyunwilling to be separated from him again. 

The marriage was celebrated with great pomp and splendor, and manyfeasts and entertainments, and public parades, and celebrationsfollowed, to commemorate the event. Among the other grand ceremonieswas a coronation--a double coronation. Richard caused himself to becrowned King of Cyprus, and Berengaria Queen of England and of Cyprustoo. 

The dress in which Richard appeared on these occasions is minutelydescribed. He wore a rose-colored satin tunic, which was fastened by ajeweled belt about his waist. Over this was a mantle of striped silvertissue, brocaded with silver half-moons. He wore an elegant and verycostly sword too. The blade was of Damascus steel, the hilt was ofgold, and the scabbard was of silver, richly engraved in scales. Onhis head he wore a scarlet bonnet, brocaded in gold with figures ofanimals. He bore in his hand what was called a truncheon, which was asort of sceptre, very splendidly covered and adorned. 

He had an elegant horse--a Spanish charger--and wherever he went thishorse was led before him, with the bits, and stirrups, and all themetallic mountings of the saddle and bridle in gold. The crupper wasadorned with two golden lions, figured with their paws raised in theact of striking each other. Richard obtained another horse in Cyprusamong the spoils that he acquired there, and which afterward becamehis favorite. His name was Favelle, though in some of the old annalshe is called Faunelle. This horse acquired great fame by the strengthand courage, and also the great sagacity, that he displayed in thevarious battles that he was engaged in with his master. Indeed, atlast, he became quite a historical character. 

Richard himself was a tall and well-formed man, and altogether a veryfine-looking man, and in this costume, with his yellow curls andbright complexion, he appeared, they said, a perfect model ofmilitary and manly grace. 

There is a representation of Berengaria extant which is supposed toshow her as she appeared at this time. Her hair is parted in themiddle in front, and hangs down in long tresses behind. It is coveredwith a veil, open on each side, like a Spanish mantilla. The veil isfastened to her head by a royal diadem resplendent with gold and gems, and is surmounted with a _fleur de lis_, with so much foliage added toit as to give it the appearance of a double crown, in allusion to herbeing the queen both of Cyprus and of England. 

The whole time occupied by these transactions in Cyprus was only abouta month, and now, since every thing had been finished to hissatisfaction, Richard began to think once more of prosecuting hisvoyage. 

CHAPTER XI. 

VOYAGE TO ACRE. 

1190

The different names of Acre. --Order of St. John. --TheHospitalers. --Knights of St. John. --Origin of the name of St. Jean d'Acre. --The order. --A description of the town ofAcre. --Philip before Acre. --The siege. --Chasing a Saracenvessel. --Desperation. --The terrible Greek fire which the Saracensused. --The ship is taken. --A massacre. --Richard's defense. --KingRichard's cupidity. --The sinking ship. 

The great landing-point for expeditions of Crusaders to the Holy Landwas Acre, or Akka, as it is often written. The town was originallyknown as Ptolemais, and the situation of it may be found designated onancient maps under that name. The Turks called it Akka, which name theFrench call Acre. It was also, after a certain time, called St. Jeand'Acre. It received this name from a famous military order that wasfounded in the Holy Land in the Middle Ages, called the Knights of St. John. 

The origin of the order was as follows: About a hundred years beforethe time of Richard's crusade, a company of pious merchants fromNaples, who went to Jerusalem, took pity, while they were there, onthe pilgrims who came there to visit the Holy Sepulchre, and who, being poor, and very insufficiently provided for the journey, suffereda great many privations and hardships. These merchants accordinglybuilt and endowed a monastery, and made it the duty of the monks toreceive and take care of a certain number of these pilgrims. 

They named the establishment the Monastery of St. John, and the monksthemselves were called Hospitalers, their business being to receiveand show hospitality to the pilgrims. So the monks were sometimesdesignated as the Hospitalers and sometimes the Brothers of St. John. 

Other travelers, who came to Jerusalem from time to time, seeing thismonastery, and observing the good which it was the means of effectingfor the poor pilgrims, became interested in its welfare, and madegrants and donations to it, by which, in the course of fifty years, itbecame much enlarged. At length, in process of time, a _military_order was connected with it. The pilgrims needed protection in goingto and fro, as well as food, shelter, and rest at the end of theirjourney, and the military order was formed to furnish this protection. The knights of this order were called Knights Hospitalers, andsometimes Knights of St. John. The institution continued to grow, andfinally the seat of it was transferred to Acre, which was a much moreconvenient place for giving succor to the pilgrims, and also forfighting the Saracens, who were the great enemies that the pilgrimshad to fear. From this time the institution was called St. John ofAcre, as it was before St. John of Jerusalem, and finally its powerand influence became so predominant in the town that the town itselfwas generally designated by the name of the institution, and it hasbeen called St. Jean d'Acre to this day. 

The order became at last very numerous. Great numbers of personsjoined it from all the nations of Europe. They organized a regulargovernment. They held fortresses and towns, and other territorialpossessions of considerable value. They had a fleet, and an army, anda rich treasury. In a word, they became, as it were, a government anda nation. 

The persons belonging to the order were divided into three classes:

 1. _Knights. _--These were the armed men. They fought the battles, defended the pilgrims, managed the government, and performed all other similar functions. 

 2. _Chaplains. _--These were the priests and monks. They conducted worship, and attended, in general, to all the duties of devotion. They were the scholars, too, and acted as secretaries and readers, whenever such duties were required. 

 3. _Servitors. _--The duty of the servitors was, as their name imports, to take charge of the buildings and grounds belonging to the order, to wait upon the sick, and accompany pilgrims, and to perform, in general, all other duties pertaining to their station. 

[Illustration: THE RAMPARTS OF ACRE. ]

The town of Acre stood on the shore of the sea, and was very stronglyfortified. The walls and ramparts were very massive--altogether toothick and high to be demolished or scaled by any means of attack knownin those days. The place had been in possession of the Knights of St. John, but in the course of the wars between the Saracens and theCrusaders that had prevailed before Richard came, it had fallen intothe hands of the Saracens, and now the Crusaders were besieging it, inhopes to recover possession. They were encamped in thousands on aplain outside the town, in a beautiful situation overlooking the sea. Still farther back among the mountains were immense hordes ofSaracens, watching an opportunity to come down upon the plain andoverwhelm the Christian armies, while they, on the other hand, weremaking continued assaults upon the town, in hopes of carrying itby storm, before their enemies on the mountains could attack them. Ofcourse, the Crusaders were extremely anxious to have Richard arrive, for they knew that he was bringing with him an immense re-enforcement. 

Philip, the French king, had already arrived, and he exerted himselfto the utmost to take the town before Richard should come. But hecould not succeed. The town resisted all the attempts he could make tostorm it, and, in the mean time, his position and that of the otherCrusaders in the camp was becoming very critical, on account of theimmense numbers of Saracens in the mountains behind them, who weregradually advancing their posts and threatening to surround theChristians entirely. Philip, therefore, and the forces joined withhim, were beginning to feel very anxious to see Richard's shipsdrawing near, and from their encampment on the plain they looked outover the sea, and watched day after day, earnestly in hopes that theymight see the advanced ships of Richard's fleet coming into view inthe offing. 

In the mean time, Richard, having sailed from Cyprus, was coming on, though he was delayed on his way by an occurrence which he greatlygloried in, deeming it doubtless a very brilliant exploit. The casewas this:

In sailing along with his squadron between Cyprus and the main land, he suddenly fell in with a ship of very large size. At first Richardand his men wondered what ship it could be. It was soon evident that, whatever she was, she was endeavoring to escape. Richard ordered hisgalleys to press on, and he soon found that the strange ship was fullof Saracens. He immediately ordered his men to advance and board her, and he declared to his seamen that if they allowed her to escape hewould crucify them. 

The Saracens, seeing that there was no possibility of escape, andhaving no hope of mercy if they fell into Richard's hands, determinedto scuttle the ship, and to sink themselves and the vessel together. They accordingly cut holes through the bottom as well as they couldwith hatchets, and the water began to pour in. In the mean time, Richard's galleys had surrounded the vessel, and a dreadful combatensued. Both parties fought like tigers. The Crusaders were furious toget on board before the ship should go down, and the Saracens, thoughthey had no expectation of finally defending themselves against theirenemies, still hoped to keep them back until it should be too late forthem to obtain any advantage from their victory. 

For a time they were quite successful in their resistance, chiefly bymeans of what was called Greek fire. This Greek fire was a celebratedmeans of warfare in those days, and was very terrible in its natureand effects. It is not known precisely what it was, or how it wasmade. It was an exceedingly combustible substance, and was to bethrown, on fire, at the enemy; and such was its nature, that when oncein flames nothing could extinguish it; and, besides the heat andburning that it produced, it threw out great volumes of poisonous andstifling vapors, which suffocated all that came near. The men threw itsometimes in balls, sometimes on the ends of darts and arrows, whereit was enveloped in flax or tow to keep it in its place. It burnedfiercely and furiously wherever it fell. Even water did not extinguishit, and it was said that in this combat the sea all around theSaracens' ship seemed on fire, and the decks of the galleys thatattacked them were blazing with it in every direction. Great numbersof Richard's men were killed by it. 

But the superiority of numbers on Richard's side was too great, andafter a time the Saracens were subdued, before the ship had admittedwater enough through the scuttlings to carry her down. Richard's menpoured in on board of her in great numbers. They immediately proceededto massacre or throw overboard the men as fast as possible, and toseize the stores and transfer them to their own ships. They also didall they could to stop the leaks, so as to delay the sinking of theship as long as possible. They had time to transfer to their ownvessels nearly all the valuable part of the cargo, and to kill anddrown all the men. Out of twelve or fifteen hundred, only aboutthirty-five were spared. 

When, afterward, public sentiment seemed inclined to condemn thisterrible and inexcusable massacre, Richard defended himself by sayingthat he found on board the vessel a number of jars containing certainpoisonous reptiles, which he alleged the Saracens were going to taketo Acre, and there let them loose near the Crusaders' camp to bite thesoldiers, and that men who could resort to so barbarous a mode ofwarfare as this deserved no quarter. However this may be, the poorSaracens received no quarter. It might be supposed that Richarddeserved some credit for his humanity in saving the thirty-five. Buthis object in saving these was not to show mercy, but to gainransom-money. These thirty-five were the _emirs_, or other officers ofthe Saracens, or persons who looked as if they might be rich or haverich friends. When they reached the shore, Richard fixed upon acertain sum of money for each of them, and allowed them to send wordto their friends that if they would raise that money and send it toRichard, he would set them at liberty. A great proportion of them werethus afterward ransomed, and Richard realized from this source quite alarge sum. 

When Richard's soldiers found that the time for the captured ship tosink was drawing nigh, they abandoned her, leaving on board everything that they had not been able to save, and, withdrawing to a safedistance, they saw her go down. The sea all around her was coveredwith the bodies of the dead and dying, and also with bales ofmerchandise, broken weapons, fragments of the wreck, and with theflickering and exhausted remnants of the Greek fire. 

The fleet then got under way again, and pursued its course to Acre. 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE ARRIVAL AT ACRE. 

1190

The besieging army at Acre. --Motives of the Saracens. --Motives ofthe Christians. --Envyings and jealousy among the besiegers. --Kingof Jerusalem. --A common danger makes a common cause. --Theterrible loss of life in the siege of Acre. --The unwieldy armorof the knights. --King Richard received by the besiegingarmy. --Berengaria a bride. --Philip's conciliation. 

While Richard was thus, with his fleet, drawing near to Acre, thearmies of the Crusaders that were besieging the town had been for sometime gradually getting into a very critical situation. This army wasmade up of a great many different bodies of troops, that had come inthe course of years from all parts of Europe to recover the Holy Landfrom the possession of the unbelievers. There were Germans, andFrench, and Normans, and Italians, and people from the differentkingdoms of Spain, with knights, and barons, and earls, and bishops, and archbishops, and princes, and other dignitaries of all kindswithout number. With such a heterogeneous mass there could be nocommon bond, nor any general and central authority. They spoke a greatvariety of languages, and were accustomed to very different modes ofwarfare; and the several orders of knights, and the different bodiesof troops, were continually getting involved in dissensions arisingfrom the jealousies and rivalries which they bore to each other. Theenemy, on the other hand, were united under the command of one greatand powerful Saracen leader named Saladin. 

There was another great difference between the Crusaders and theSaracens which was greatly to the advantage of the latter. TheSaracens were fighting simply to deliver their country from thesebands of invaders. Thus their object was _one_. If any part of thearmy achieved a success, the other divisions rejoiced at it, for ittended to advance them all toward the common end that all had in view. On the other hand, the chief end and aim of the Crusaders was to getglory to themselves in the estimation of friends and neighbors athome, and of Europe in general. It is true that they desired to obtainthis glory by victories over the unbelievers and the conquest of theHoly Land, but these last objects were the means and not the end. The_end_, in their view, was their own personal glory. The consequencewas, that while the Saracens would naturally all rejoice at anadvantage gained over the enemy by any portion of their army, yet inthe camp of the Crusaders, if one body of knights performed a greatdeed of strength or bravery which was likely to attract attention inEurope, the rest were apt to be disappointed and vexed instead ofbeing pleased. They were envious of the fame which the successfulparty had acquired. In a word, when an advantage was gained by anyparticular body of troops, the rest did not think of the benefit tothe common cause which had thereby been secured, but only of thedanger that the fame acquired by those who gained it might eclipse oroutshine their own renown. 

The various orders of knights and the commanders of the differentbodies of troops vied with each other, not only in respect to theacquisition of glory, but also in the elegance of their arms, thesplendor of their tents and banners, the beauty and gorgeouscaparisons of the horses, and the pomp and parade with which theyconducted all their movements and operations. The camp was full ofquarrels, too, among the great leaders in respect to the command ofthe places in the Holy Land which had been conquered in previouscampaigns. These places, as fast as they had been taken, had been madeprincipalities and kingdoms, to give titles of rank to the crusaderswho had taken them; and, though the places themselves had in manyinstances been lost again, and given up to the Saracens, the titlesremained to be quarreled about among the Crusaders. There wasparticularly a great quarrel at this time about the title of King ofJerusalem. It was a mere empty title, for Jerusalem was in the handsof the Saracens, but there were twenty very powerful and influentialclaimants to it, each of whom manoeuvred and intrigued incessantlywith all the other knights and commanders in the army to gainpartisans to his side. Thus the camp of the Crusaders, from one causeand another, had become one universal scene of rivalry, jealousy, anddiscord. 

There was a small approach toward a greater degree of unity of feelingjust before the time of Richard's arrival, produced by the commondanger to which they began to see they were exposed. They had been nowtwo years besieging Acre, and had accomplished nothing. All thefurious attempts that they had made to storm the place had beenunsuccessful. The walls were too thick and solid for thebattering-rams to make any serious impression upon them, and thegarrison within were so numerous and so well armed, and they hurleddown such a tremendous shower of darts, javelins, stones, and othermissiles of every kind upon all who came near, that immense numbers ofthose who were brought up near the walls to work the engines werekilled, while the besieged themselves, being protected by thebattlements on the walls, were comparatively safe. 

In the course of the two years during which the siege had now beengoing on, bodies of troops from all parts of Europe had beencontinually coming and going, and as in those days there was far lessof system and organization in the conduct of military affairs thanthere is now, the camp was constantly kept in a greater or less degreeof confusion, so that it is impossible to know with certainty how manywere engaged, and what the actual loss of life had been. The lowestestimate is that one hundred and fifty thousand men perished beforeAcre during this siege, and some historians calculate the loss at fivehundred thousand. The number of deaths was greatly increased by theplague, which prevailed at one time among the troops, and committedfearful ravages. One thing, however, must be said, in justice to thereckless and violent men who commanded these bands, and that is, thatthey did not send their poor, helpless followers, the commonsoldiers, into a danger which they kept out of themselves. It was apoint of honor with them to take the foremost rank, and to exposethemselves fully at all times to the worst dangers of the combat. Itis true that the knights and nobles were better protected by theirarmor than the soldiers. They were generally covered with steel fromhead to foot, and so heavily loaded with it were they, that it wasonly on horseback that they could sustain themselves in battle at all. Indeed, it was said that if a full-armed knight, in those days, were, from any accident, unhorsed, his armor was so heavy that, if he werethrown down upon the ground in his fall, he could not possibly get upagain without help. 

Notwithstanding this protection, however, the knights and commandersexposed themselves so much that they suffered in full proportion withthe rest. It was estimated that during the siege there fell in battle, or perished of sickness or fatigue, eighteen or twenty archbishops andbishops, forty earls, and no less than five hundred barons, all ofwhose names are recorded. So they obtained what they wentfor--commemoration in history. Whether the reward was worth the pricethey paid for it, in sacrificing every thing like happiness andusefulness in life, and throwing themselves, after a few short monthsof furious and angry warfare, into a bloody grave, is a very seriousquestion. 

 * * * * *

As soon as Richard's fleet appeared in view, the whole camp was throwninto a state of the wildest commotion. The drums were beat, thetrumpets were sounded, and flags and banners without number were wavedin the air. The troops were paraded, and when the ships arrived at theshore, and Richard and his immediate attendants and followers landed, they were received by the commanders of the Crusaders' army on thebeach with the highest honors, while the soldiers drawn up aroundfilled the air with long and loud acclamations. 

Berengaria had come from Cyprus, not in Richard's ship, although shewas now married to him. She had continued in her own galley, and wasstill under the charge of her former guardian, Stephen of Turnham. That ship had been fitted up purposely for the use of the queen andthe princess, and the arrangements on board were more suitable for theaccommodation of ladies than were those of Richard's ship, which beingstrictly a war vessel, and intended always to be foremost in everyfight, was arranged solely with a view to the purposes of battle, andwas therefore not a very suitable place for a bride. 

Berengaria and Joanna landed very soon after Richard. Philip was alittle piqued at the suddenness with which Richard had married anotherlady, so soon after the engagement with Alice had been terminated; buthe considered how urgent the necessity was that he should now be ongood terms with his ally, and so he concealed his feelings, andreceived Berengaria himself as she came from her ship, and assistedher to land. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

DIFFICULTIES. 

1191

Richard's arrogance produces dissension in the camp. --Theprogress of the quarrel between Richard and Philip. --The Englishand French armies no longer co-operate. --Preparations for anassault. --A repulse. --Reflections. --Dangers of the army. --Anominal friendship between real enemies. 

It was but a very short time after Richard had landed his forces atAcre, and had taken his position in the camp on the plain before thecity, before serious difficulties began to arise between him andPhilip. This, indeed, might have been easily foreseen. It wasperfectly certain that, so soon as Richard should enter the camp ofthe Crusaders, he would immediately assume such airs of superiority, and attempt to lord it over all the other kings and princes there inso reckless and dictatorial a manner, that there could be no peacewith him except in entire submission to his will. 

This was, accordingly, soon found to be the case. He began to quarrelwith Philip in a very short time, notwithstanding the sincere desirethat Philip manifested to live on good terms with him. Of course, theknights and barons, and, after a time, the common soldiers in the twoarmies, took sides with their respective sovereigns. One great sourceof trouble was, that Richard claimed to be the feudal sovereign ofPhilip himself, on account of some old claims that he advanced, asDuke of Normandy, over the French kingdom. This pretension Philip, ofcourse, would not admit, and the question gave rise to endlessdisputes and heartburnings. 

Presently the quarrel extended to other portions of the army of theCrusaders, and the different orders of knights and bodies of soldiersespoused, some one side and some the other. The Knights Hospitalers, described in a former chapter, who had now become a numerous and verypowerful force, took Richard's side. Indeed, Richard was personallypopular among the knights and barons generally, on account of hisprodigious strength and the many feats of reckless daring that heperformed. When he went out every body flocked to see him, and thewhole camp was full of the stories that were told of his wonderfulexploits. He made use of the distinction which he thus acquired as ameans of overshadowing Philip's influence and position. This Philip, of course, resented, and then the English said that he was envious ofRichard's superiority; and they attempted to lay the whole blame ofthe quarrel on him, attributing the unfriendly feeling simply to whatthey considered his weak and ungenerous jealousy of a more successfuland fortunate rival. 

However this may be, the disagreement soon became so great that thetwo kings could no longer co-operate together in fighting againsttheir common enemy. 

Philip planned an assault against the town. He was going to take it bystorm. Richard did not join him in this attempt. He made it an excusethat he was sick at the time. Indeed, he was sick not long after hisarrival at Acre, but whether his illness really prevented hisco-operating with Philip in the assault, or was only made use of as apretext, is not quite certain. At any rate, Richard left Philip tomake the assault alone, and the consequence was that the French troopswere driven back from the walls with great loss. Richard secretlyrejoiced at this discomfiture, but Philip was in a great rage. 

Not long afterward Richard planned an assault, to be executed with_his_ troops alone; for Philip now stood aloof, and refused to aidhim. Richard had no objection to this; indeed, he rejoiced in anopportunity to show the world that he could succeed in accomplishing afeat of arms after Philip had attempted it and failed. 

[Illustration: THE ASSAULT. ]

So he brought forward the engines that he had caused to be built atMessina, and set them up. He organized his assaulting columns andprepared for the attack. He made the scaling-ladders ready, andprovided his men with great stores of ammunition; and when theappointed day at length arrived, he led his men on to the assault, fully confident that he was about to perform an exploit that wouldfill all Europe with his fame. 

But, unfortunately for him, he was doomed to disappointment. His menwere driven back from the walls. The engines were overthrown andbroken to pieces, or set on fire by flaming javelins sent from thewalls, and burned to the ground. Vast numbers of his soldiers werekilled, and at length, all hope of success having disappeared, thetroops were drawn off, discomfited and excessively chagrined. 

The reflections which would naturally follow in the minds of Philipand Richard, as they sat in their tents moodily pondering on thesefailures, led them to think that it would be better for them to ceasequarreling with each other, and to combine their strength against thecommon enemy. Indeed, their situation was now fast becoming verycritical, inasmuch as every day during which the capture of the townwas delayed the troops of Saladin on the mountains around them weregradually increasing in numbers, and gaining in the strength of theirposition, and they might at any time now be expected to come pouringdown upon the plain in such force as entirely to overwhelm the wholearmy of the Crusaders. 

So Richard and Philip made an agreement with each other that theywould thenceforth live together on better terms, and endeavor tocombine their strength against the common enemy, instead of wasting itin petty quarrels with each other. 

From this time things went on much better in the camp of the allies, while yet there was no real or cordial friendship between Richard andPhilip, or any of their respective partisans. Richard attemptedsecretly to entice away knights and soldiers from Philip's service byoffering them more money or better rewards than Philip paid them, andPhilip, when he discovered this, attempted to retaliate by endeavoringto buy off, in the same manner, some of Richard's men. In a word, thefires of the feud, though covered up and hidden, were burning awayunderneath as fiercely as ever. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE FALL OF ACRE. 

1191

The distress of the besieged city. --Famine. --Disappointedhopes. --The various methods of warfare. --Undermining thewalls. --The effect on the walls. --A spy in the city. --The letterswhich came on arrows. --A flag of truce. --Terms proposed by theSaracens. --Richard's exactions and his threats. --Theconvention. --Hostages. --The ransom of the captives. --Saladin'sassent. --Richard enters Acre in triumph. --The Archduke ofAustria's banner. --Philip in trouble. --Philip's secretplans. --Title of King of Jerusalem. --Sibylla. --Guy ofLusignan. --Isabella. --Conrad of Montferrat. --The positions ofRichard and Philip respecting the title. --One of Richard'scompromises. --Philip announces his return. --Richard's objectionsto Philip's return. --Philip's oath to Richard. --Disapprobation ofKing Philip's course. --Saladin is unable to fulfill hispromises. --Brutality of Richard. --The massacre of the Saracencaptives. --Richard's exultation. --Supernatural approval. 

Although the allies failed to reduce Acre by assault, the town was atlast compelled to submit to them through the distress and misery towhich the inhabitants and the garrison were finally reduced by famine. They bore these sufferings as long as they could, but the time arrivedat last when they could be endured no longer. They hoped for somerelief which was to have been sent to them by sea from Cairo, but itdid not come. They also hoped, day after day, and week after week, that Saladin would be strong enough to come down from the mountains, and break through the camp of the Crusaders on the plain and rescuethem. But they were disappointed. The Crusaders had fortified theircamp in the strongest manner, and then they were so numerous and sofully armed that Saladin thought it useless to make any general attackupon them with the force that he had under his command. 

The siege had continued two years when Philip and Richard arrived. They came early in the spring of 1191. Of course, their arrivalgreatly strengthened the camp of the besiegers, and went far toextinguish the remaining hopes of the garrison. The commanders, however, did not immediately give up, but held out some months longer, hoping every day for the arrival of the promised relief from Cairo. Inthe mean time, they continued to endure a succession of the mostvigorous assaults from the Crusaders, of which very marvelous talesare told in the romantic narratives of those times. In thesenarratives we have accounts of the engines which Richard set upopposite the walls, and of the efforts made by the besieged to setthem on fire; of Richard's working, himself, like any common soldierin putting these engines together, and in extinguishing the flameswhen they were set on fire; of a vast fire-proof shed which was atlast contrived to cover and protect the engines--the covering of theroof being made fire-proof with green hides; and of a plan which wasfinally adopted, when it was found that the walls could not be beatendown by battering-rams, of undermining them with a view of making themtumble down by their own weight. In this case, the workmen whoundermined the walls were protected at their work by sheds built overthem, and, in order to prevent the walls from falling upon them whilethey were mining, they propped them up with great beams of wood, soplaced that they could make fires under the beams when they were readyfor the walls to fall, and then have time to retreat to a safedistance before they should be burned through. This plan, however, didnot succeed; for the walls were so prodigiously thick, and the blocksof stone of which they were composed were so firmly bound together, that, instead of falling into a mass of ruins, as Richard hadexpected, when the props had been burned through, they only settleddown bodily on one side into the excavation, and remained nearly asgood, for all purposes of defense, as ever. 

It was said that during the siege Richard and Philip obtained a greatdeal of information in respect to the plans of the Saracens throughthe instrumentality of some secret friend within the city, whocontrived to find means of continually sending them importantintelligence. This intelligence related sometimes to the designs ofthe garrison in respect to sorties that they were going to make, or tothe secret plans that they had formed for procuring supplies ofprovisions or other succor; at other times they related to themovements and designs of Saladin, who was outside among the mountains, and especially to the attacks that he was contemplating on the alliedcamp. This intelligence was communicated in various ways. Theprincipal method was to send a letter by means of an arrow. An arrowfrequently came down in some part of the allied camp, which, on beingexamined, was found to have a letter wound about the shaft. The letterwas addressed to Richard, and was, of course, immediately carried tohis tent. It was always found to contain very important information inrespect to the condition or plans of the besieged. If a sortie wasintended from the city, it stated the time and the place, and detailedall the arrangements, thus enabling Richard to be on his guard. So, ifthe Saracens were projecting an attack on the lines from within, thewhole plan of it was fully explained, and, of course, it would then bevery easy for Richard to frustrate it. The writer of the letters saidthat he was a Christian, but would not say who he was, and the mysterywas never explained. It is quite possible that there is very littletruth in the whole story. 

At all events, though the assaults which the allies made against thewalls and bulwarks of the town were none of them wholly successful, the general progress of the siege was altogether in their favor, andagainst the poor Saracens shut up within it. The last hope which theyindulged was that some supplies would come to them by sea; butRichard's fleet, which remained at anchor off the town, blockaded theport so completely that there was no possibility that any thing couldget in. The last lingering hope was, therefore, at length abandoned, and when the besieged found that they could endure their horriblemisery no longer, they sent a flag of truce out to the camp of thebesiegers, with a proposal to negotiate terms of surrender. 

Then followed a long negotiation, with displays of haughty arroganceon one side, and heart-broken and bitter humiliation on the other. TheSaracens first proposed what they considered fair and honorable terms, and Philip was disposed to accept them; but Richard rejected them withscorn. After a vain attempt at resistance, Philip was obliged toyield, and to allow his imperious and overbearing ally to have his ownway. The Saracens wished to stipulate for the lives of the garrison, but Richard refused. He told them they must submit unconditionally;and, for his part, he did not care, he said, whether they yielded nowor continued the contest. He should soon be in possession of the city, at any rate, and if they held out until he took it by storm, then, ofcourse, it would be given up to the unbridled fury of the soldiers, who would mercilessly massacre every living thing they should find init, and seize every species of property as plunder. This, he declared, was sure to be the end of the siege, and that very soon, unless theychose to submit. The Saracens then asked what terms he required ofthem. Richard stated his terms, and they asked for a little time toconsider them and to confer with Saladin, who, being the sultan, wastheir sovereign, and without his approval they could not act. 

So the negotiation was opened, and, after various difficulties anddelays, a convention was finally agreed upon. The terms were these:

 I. The city was to be surrendered to the allied armies, and all the arms, ammunition, military stores, and property of all kinds which it contained were to be forfeited to the conquerors. 

 II. The troops and the people of the town were to be allowed to go free on the payment of a ransom. 

 III. The ransom by which the besieged purchased their lives and liberty was to be made up as follows:

 1. The wood of the cross on which Christ was crucified, which was alleged to be in Saladin's possession, was to be restored. 

 2. Saladin was to set at liberty the Christian captives which he had taken in the course of the war from various armies of Crusaders, and which he now held as prisoners. The number of these prisoners was about fifteen hundred. 

 3. He was to pay two hundred thousand pieces of gold. 

 IV. Richard was to retain a large body of men--it was said that there were about five thousand in all--consisting of soldiers of the garrison or inhabitants of the town, as hostages for the fulfillment of these conditions. These men were to be kept forty days, or, if at the end of that time Saladin had not fulfilled the conditions of the surrender, they were all to be put to death. 

Perhaps Saladin agreed to these terms, under the pressure of direnecessity, compelled as he was to assent to whatever Richard mightpropose by the dreadful extremity to which the town was reduced, without sufficiently considering whether he would be really able tofulfill his promises. At any rate, these were the promises that hemade; and as soon as the treaty was duly executed, the gates of Acrewere opened to the conquerors, while Saladin himself broke up hisencampment on the mountains, and withdrew his troops farther into theinterior of the country. 

Although the treaty was made and executed in the name of both thekings, Richard had taken into his hands almost the whole conduct ofthe negotiation, and now that the army was about to take possession ofthe town, he considered himself the conqueror of it. He entered withgreat parade, assigning to Philip altogether a secondary part in theceremony. He also took possession of the principal palace of the placeas his quarters, and there established himself with Berengaria andJoanna, while he left Philip to take up his residence wherever hecould. The flags of both monarchs were, however, raised upon thewalls, and so far Philip's claim to a joint sovereignty over theplace was acknowledged. But none of the other princes or potentateswho had been engaged in the siege were allowed to share this honor. One of them--the Archduke of Austria--ventured to raise his banner onone of the towers, but Richard pulled it down, tore it to pieces, andtrampled it under his feet. 

This, of course, threw the archduke into a dreadful rage, and most ofthe other smaller princes in the army shared the indignation that hefelt at the grasping disposition which Richard manifested, and at hisviolent and domineering behavior. But they were helpless. Richard wasstronger than they, and they were compelled to submit. 

As for Philip, he had long since begun to find his situation extremelydisagreeable. He was very sensitive to the overbearing and arroganttreatment which he received, but he either had not the force ofcharacter or the physical strength to resist it. Now, since Acre hadfallen, he found his situation worse than ever. There was no longerany enemy directly before them, and it was only the immediate presenceof an enemy that had thus far kept Richard within any sort of bounds. Philip saw now plainly that if he were to remain in the Holy Land, and attempt to continue the war, he could only do it by occupying analtogether secondary and subordinate position, and to this he thoughtit was wholly inconsistent with his rights and dignities as anindependent sovereign to descend; so he began to revolve secretly inhis mind how he could honorably withdraw from the expedition andreturn home. 

While things were in this state, a great quarrel, which had for a longtime been gradually growing up in the camp of the Crusaders, but hadbeen restrained and kept, in some degree, subdued by the excitement ofthe siege, broke out in great violence. The question was who shouldclaim the title of King of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was at this time inthe hands of the Saracens, so that the title was, for the time beingat least, a mere empty name. Still, there was a very fierce contentionto decide who should possess it. It seems that it had originallydescended to a certain lady named Sibylla. It had come down to her asthe descendant and heir of a very celebrated crusader named Godfrey ofBouillon, who was the first king of Jerusalem. He became King ofJerusalem by having headed the army of Crusaders that first conqueredit from the Saracens. This was about a hundred years before the timeof the taking of Acre. The knights and generals of his army electedhim King of Jerusalem a short time after he had taken it, and thetitle descended from him to Sibylla. 

Sibylla was married to a famous knight named Guy of Lusignan, and heclaimed the title of King of Jerusalem in right of his wife. Thisclaim was acknowledged by the rest of the Crusaders so long as Sibyllalived, but at length she died, and then many persons maintained thatthe crown descended to her sister Isabella. Isabella was married to aknight named Humphrey of Huron, who had not strength or resolutionenough to assert his claims. Indeed, he had the reputation of being aweak and timid man. Accordingly, another knight, named Conrad ofMontferrat, conceived the idea of taking his place. He contrived toseize and bear away the Lady Isabella, and afterward to procure adivorce for her from her husband, and then, finally, he married herhimself. He now claimed to be King of Jerusalem in right of Isabella, while Guy of Lusignan maintained that his right to the crown stillcontinued. This was a nice question to be settled by such a rude hordeof fighting men as these Crusaders were, and some took one side of itand some the other, according as their various ideas on the subject ofrights of succession or their personal partialities inclined them. 

Now it happened that Philip and Richard had early taken opposite sidesin respect to this affair, as indeed they did on almost every othersubject that came before them. Guy of Lusignan had gone to visitRichard while he was in Cyprus, and there, having had the field all tohimself, had told his story in such a way, and also made suchproposals and promises, as to enlist Richard in his favor. Richardthere agreed that he would take Guy's part in the controversy, and hefurnished him with a sum of money at that time to relieve hisimmediate necessities. He did this with a view of securing Guy, as oneof his partisans and adherents, in any future difficulties in which hemight be involved in the course of the campaign. 

On the other hand, when Philip arrived at Acre, which it will berecollected was some time before Richard came, the friends andpartisans of Conrad, who were there, at once proceeded to lay Conrad'scase before him, and they so far succeeded as to lead Philip to commithimself on that side. Thus the foundation of a quarrel on thissubject was laid before Richard landed. The quarrel was kept down, however, during the progress of the siege, but when at length the townwas taken it broke out anew, and the whole body of the Crusadersbecame greatly agitated with it. At length some sort of compromise waseffected, or at least what was called a compromise, but really, so faras the substantial interests involved were concerned, Richard had itall his own way. This affair still further alienated Philip's mindfrom his ally, and made him more desirous than ever to abandon theenterprise and return home. 

Accordingly, after the two kings had been established in Acre a shorttime, Philip announced that he was sick, and unable any longer toprosecute the war in person, and that he was intending to return home. When this was announced to Richard, he exclaimed, "Shame on him! eternal shame! and on all his kingdom, if he goes offand abandons us now before the work is done. "

The work which Richard meant to have done was the complete recovery ofthe Holy Land from the possession of the Saracens. The taking of Acrewas a great step, but, after all, it was only a beginning. The armyof the allies was now to march into the interior of the country topursue Saladin, in hopes of conquering him in a general battle, and soat length gaining possession of the whole country and recoveringJerusalem. Richard, therefore, was very indignant with Philip forbeing disposed to abandon the enterprise while the work to beaccomplished was only just begun. 

There was another reason why Richard was alarmed at the idea ofPhilip's returning home. 

"He will take advantage of my absence, " said he, "and invade mydominions, and so, when I return, I shall find that I have been robbedof half my provinces. "

So Richard did all he could to dissuade Philip from returning; but atlength, finding that he could produce no impression on his mind, heyielded, and gave a sort of surly consent to the arrangement. "Let himgo, " said he, "if he will. Poor man! He is sick, he says, and Isuppose he thinks he can not live unless he can see Paris again. "

Richard insisted, however, that if Philip went he should leave hisarmy behind, or, at least, a large portion of it; so Philip agreed toleave ten thousand men. These men were to be under the command of theDuke of Burgundy, one of Philip's most distinguished nobles. The duke, however, himself was to be subject to the orders of Richard. 

Richard also exacted of Philip a solemn oath, that when he hadreturned to France he would not, in any way, molest or invade any ofhis--that is, Richard's--possessions, or make war against any of hisvassals or allies. This agreement was to continue in force, and to bebinding upon Philip until forty days after Richard should have himselfreturned from the Crusade. 

These things being all thus arranged, Philip began to make hispreparations openly for embarking on his voyage home. The knights andbarons, and indeed the whole body of the army, considered Philip'sleaving them as a very culpable abandonment of the enterprise, andthey crowded around the place of embarkation when he went on board hisvessel, and manifested their displeasure with ill-suppressed hissesand groans. 

 * * * * *

The time which had been fixed upon for Saladin to comply with thestipulations of the surrender was forty days, and this period was now, after Philip had gone, drawing rapidly to a close. Saladin found thathe could not fulfill the conditions to which he had agreed. As the dayapproached he made various excuses and apologies to Richard, and healso sent him a number of costly presents, hoping, perhaps, in thatway to propitiate his favor, and prevent his insisting on theexecution of the dreadful penalty which had been agreed upon in caseof default, namely, the slaughter of the five thousand hostages whichhad been left in his hands. 

The time at last expired, and the treaty had not been fulfilled. Richard, without waiting even a day, determined that the hostagesshould be slain. A rumor was set in circulation that Saladin had putto death all his Christian prisoners. This rumor was false, but itserved its purpose of exasperating the minds of the Crusaders, so asto bring the soldiers up well to the necessary pitch of ferocity forexecuting so terrible a work. The slaughter of five thousanddefenseless and unresisting men, in cold blood, is a very hard workfor even soldiers to perform, and if such a work is to be done, it isalways necessary to contrive some means of heating the blood of theexecutioners in order to insure the accomplishment of it. In thiscase, the rumor that Saladin had murdered his Christian prisoners wasmore than sufficient. It wrought up the allied army to such a phrensythat the soldiers assembled in crowds, and riotously demanded that theSaracen prisoners should be given up to them, in order that they mighthave their revenge. 

Accordingly, at the appointed time, Richard gave the command, and thewhole body of the prisoners were brought out, and conducted to theplain beyond the lines of the encampment. A few were reserved. Thesewere persons of rank and consideration, who were to be saved in hopesthat they might have wealthy friends at home who would pay money toransom them. The rest were divided into two portions, one of which wascommitted to the charge of the Duke of Burgundy, and the other Richardled himself. The dreadful processions formed by these wretched menwere followed by the excited soldiery that were to act as theirexecutioners, who came crowding on in throngs, waving their swords, and filling the air with their ferocious threats and imprecations, andexulting in the prospect of having absolutely their fill of thepleasure of killing men, without any danger to themselves to mar theenjoyment of it. 

The massacre was carried into effect in the fullest possible manner;and after the men were killed, the Christians occupied themselves incutting open their bodies to find jewels and other articles of value, which they pretended that the poor captives had swallowed in order tohide them from their enemies. 

Instead of being ashamed of this deed, Richard gloried in it. Heconsidered it a wonderful proof of his zeal for the cause of Christ. The writers of the time praised it. The Saracens, they maintained, were the enemies of God, and whoever slew them did God service. One ofthe historians of the time says that angels from heaven appeared toRichard at the time, and urged him to persevere to the end, cryingaloud to him while the massacre was going on, "Kill! kill! Spare themnot!"

It seems to us at the present day most amazing that the minds of mencould possibly be so perverted as to think that in performing suchdeeds as this they were sustaining the cause of the meek and gentleJesus of Nazareth, and were the objects of approval and favor withGod, the common father of us all, who has declared that he has made ofone blood all the nations of the earth, to live together in peace andunity. 

CHAPTER XV. 

PROGRESS OF THE CRUSADE. 

1191

Richard leaving Acre. --Modern warfare. --Contrast between modernand ancient weapons. --Purifying the places of paganworship. --Revelings of the soldiery. --The object of the Crusadeswas the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. --Order of the march fromAcre. --Jaffa. --Trumpeters. --The evening proclamation incamp. --The slow march. --Saladin's harassing movements. --The plainof Azotus. --The order of battle. --The charge of Richard'stroops. --To retreat is to be defeated. --Saladin, defeated, retires. --Richard at Jaffa again. --Sickness in the army. --Excusesfor delaying the march. --Lingering at Jaffa. --The judgment ofhistorians. --Richard's incursions from Jaffa. --Reconnoitring andforaging. --Richard's predatory excursions. --Sir William'sstratagem. --Sir William's ransom. --Incident of the KnightsTemplars. --Richard's feats of prowess among the Saracens. --TheTroubadours. --Negotiations for peace. --Saphadin. --A marriageproposed. --King Richard offered his sister in marriage toSaphadin. 

The first thing which Richard had now to do, before commencing a marchinto the interior of the country, was to set every thing in order atAcre, and to put the place in a good condition of defense, in case itshould be attacked while he was gone. The walls in many places were tobe repaired, particularly where they had been undermined by Richard'ssappers, and in many places, too, they had been broken down or greatlydamaged by the action of the battering-rams and other engines. In thecase of sieges prosecuted by means of artillery in modern times, thewhole interior of the town, as well as the walls, is usually battereddreadfully by the shot and shells that are thrown over into it. Ashell, which is a hollow ball of iron sometimes more than a foot indiameter, and with sides two or three inches thick, and filled withinwith gunpowder, is thrown from a mortar, at a distance of some miles, high into the air over the town, whence it descends into the streetsor among the houses. The engraving represents the form of the mortar, and the manner in which the shell is thrown from it, though in thiscase the shell represented is directed, not against the town, but isthrown from a battery under the walls of the town against the camp orthe trenches of the besiegers. 

[Illustration: THROWING SHELLS. ]

These shells, of course, when they descend, come crashing through theroofs of the buildings on which they strike, or bury themselves in theground if they fall in the street, and then burst with a terrificexplosion. A town that has been bombarded in a siege becomes sometimesalmost a mere mass of ruins. Often the bursting of a shell sets abuilding on fire, and then the dreadful effects of a conflagration areadded to the horrors of the scene. In ancient sieges, on the otherhand, none of these terrible agencies could be employed. Thebattering-rams could touch nothing but the walls and the outer towers, and it was comparatively very little injury that they could do tothese. The javelins and arrows, and other light missiles--even thosethat were thrown from the military engines, if by chance they passedover the walls and entered the town, could do no serious mischief tothe buildings there. The worst that could happen from them was thewounding or killing of some person in the streets who might, just atthat moment, be passing by. 

In repairing Acre, therefore, and putting it again in a perfectcondition for defense, nothing but the outer walls required attention. Richard set companies of workmen upon these, and before long everything was restored as it was before. There were then some ceremoniesto be performed within the town, to purify it from the pollution whichit had sustained by having been in the possession of the Saracens. Allthe Christian churches particularly, and the monasteries and otherreligious houses, were to be thus restored from the desecration whichthey had undergone, and consecrated anew to the service of Christ. 

In the mean time, while these works and performances were going on, the soldiers gave themselves up to indulgences of every kind. Greatstores of wine were found in the place, which were bestowed upon thetroops, and the streets, day and night, were filled with riotousrevelings. The commanders themselves--the knights and barons--and allthe other men of rank that pertained to the army, fell into the sameway, and they were very unwilling that the time should come when theywere to leave such a place of security and indulgence, and take thefield again for a march in pursuit of Saladin. 

At length, however, the time arrived when the march must be commenced. Richard had learned, by means of scouts and spies which he sent out, that Saladin was moving to the southward and westward--retreating, infact, toward Jerusalem, which was, of course, the great point that hewished to defend. That, indeed, was the great point of attack, for themain object which the Crusaders proposed to themselves in invadingPalestine was to get possession of the sepulchre where Christ wasburied at Jerusalem. The recovery of the Holy Sepulchre was thewatchword; and among all the people who were watching the progress ofthe enterprise with so much solicitude, and also among the Crusadersthemselves, the progress that was made was valued just in proportionas it tended to the accomplishment of this end. 

Richard set apart a sufficient number of troops for a garrison to holdand defend Acre, and then, on taking a census of the remainder of hisforce, found that he had thirty thousand men to march with in pursuitof Saladin. He arranged this force in five divisions, and placed eachunder the command of a competent general. There were two verycelebrated bodies of knights that occupied positions of honor in thismarch. They were the Knights Templars and the Knights of St. John, orHospitalers, the order that has been described in a previous chapterof this volume. The Templars led the van of the army, and theHospitalers brought up the rear. The march was commenced on thetwenty-second of August, which was not far from two months from thetime that Acre was surrendered. 

The course which the army was to take was at first to follow thesea-shore toward the southward to Jaffa, a port nearly opposite toJerusalem. It was deemed necessary to take possession of Jaffa beforegoing into the interior; and, besides, by moving on along the coast, the ships and galleys containing the stores for the army couldaccompany them, and supply them abundantly, from time to time, as theymight require. By this course, too, they would be drawing nearer toJerusalem, though not directly approaching it. 

The arrangements connected with the march of the army were conductedwith great ceremony and parade. The knights wore their costly armor, and were mounted on horses splendidly equipped and caparisoned. Inmany cases the horses themselves were protected, like the riders, withan armor of steel. The columns were preceded by trumpeters, whoawakened innumerable echoes from the mountains, and from the cliffs ofthe shore, with their animating and exciting music, and innumerableflags and banners, with the most gorgeous decorations, were waving inthe air. When the expedition halted at night, heralds passed throughthe several camps to the sound of trumpets, and pausing at each one, and giving a signal, all the soldiers in the camp kneeled down uponthe ground, when the heralds proclaimed in a loud voice three times, GOD SAVE THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, and all the soldiers said Amen. 

The march was commenced on the twenty-second of August, and it wasabout sixty miles from Acre to Jaffa. Of course, an army of thirtythousand men must move very slowly. There is so much time consumed inbreaking up the encampment in the morning, and in forming it again atnight, and in giving such a mighty host their rest and food in themiddle of the day, and the men, moreover, are so loaded with the armsand ammunition, and with the necessary supplies of food and clothingwhich they have to carry, that only a very slow progress can be made. In this case, too, the march was harassed by Saladin, who hovered onthe flank of the Crusaders, and followed them all the way, sendingdown small parties from the mountains to attack and cut offstragglers, and threatening the column at every exposed point, so asto keep them continually on the alert. The necessity of being alwaysready to form in order of battle to meet the enemy, should he suddenlycome upon them, restricted them very much in their motions, and made agreat deal of manoeuvring necessary, which, of course, greatlyincreased the fatigue of the soldiers, and very much diminished thespeed of their progress. 

Richard wished much to bring on a general battle, being confident thathe should conquer if he could engage in it on equal terms. But Saladinwould not give him an opportunity. He kept the main body of his troopssheltered among the mountains, and only advanced slowly, parallel withthe coast, where he could watch and harass the movements of hisenemies without coming into any general conflict with them. 

This state of things continued for about three weeks, and then atlast Richard reached Jaffa. The two armies manoeuvred for some timein the vicinity of the town, and, finally, they concentrated theirforces in the neighborhood of a plain near the sea-shore, at a placecalled Azotus, which was some miles beyond Jaffa. Saladin had by thistime strengthened himself so much that he was ready for battle. Heaccordingly marched on to the attack. He directed his assault, in thefirst instance, on the wing of Richard's army which was formed of theFrench troops that were under the command of the Duke of Burgundy. They resisted them successfully and drove them back. Richard watchedthe operation, but for a time took no part in it, except to makefeigned advances, from time to time, to threaten the enemy, and toharass them by compelling them to perform numerous fatiguingevolutions. His soldiers, and especially the knights and barons in hisarmy, were very impatient at his delaying so long to take an activeand an efficient part in the contest. But at last, when he found thatthe Saracen troops were wearied, and were beginning to be thrown in alittle confusion, he gave the signal for a charge, and rode forward atthe head of the troop, mounted on his famous charger, and flourishinghis heavy battle-axe in the air. 

The onset was terrible. Richard inspirited his whole troop by hisreckless and headlong bravery, and by the terrible energy with whichhe gave himself to the work of slaughtering all who came in his way. The darts and javelins that were shot by the enemy glanced off fromhim without inflicting any wound, being turned aside by the steelarmor that he wore, while every person that came near enough to him tostrike him with any other weapon was felled at once to the ground by ablow from the ponderous battle-axe. The example which Richard thus setwas followed by his men, and in a short time the Saracens began everywhere to give way. When, in the case of such a combat, one side beginsto yield, it is all over with them. When they turn to retreat, they, of course, become at once defenseless, and the pursuers press on uponthem, killing them without mercy and at their pleasure, and with verylittle danger of being killed themselves. A man can fight very wellwhile he is pursuing, but scarcely at all when he is pursued. 

It was not long before Saladin's army was flying in all directions, the Crusaders pressing on upon them every where in their confusion, and cutting them down mercilessly in great numbers. The slaughter wasimmense. About seven thousand of the Saracen troops were slain. Amongthem were thirty-two of Saladin's highest and best officers. As soonas the Saracens escaped the immediate danger, when the Crusaders hadgiven over the pursuit, they rallied, and Saladin formed them againinto something like order. He then commenced a regular and formalretreat into the interior. He first, however, sent detachments to allthe country around to dismantle the towns, to destroy all stores ofprovisions, and to seize and carry away every thing of value thatcould be of any use to the conquerors. A broad extent of country, through which Richard would have to march in advancing towardJerusalem, being thus laid waste, the Saracens withdrew farther intothe interior, and there Saladin set himself at work to reorganize hisbroken army once more, and to prepare for new plans of resistance tothe invaders. 

Richard withdrew with his army to Jaffa, and, taking possession of thetown, he established himself there. 

It was now September. The season of the year was hot and unhealthy;and though the allied army had thus far been victorious, still therewas a great deal of sickness in the camp, and the soldiers were muchexhausted by the fatigue which they had endured, and by their exposureto the sun. Richard was desirous, notwithstanding this, to take thefield again, and advance into the interior, so as to follow up thevictory which had been gained over Saladin at Azotus; but hisofficers, especially those of the French division of the army, underthe command of the Duke of Burgundy, thought it not safe to moveforward so soon. "It would be better to remain a short time in Jaffa, "they said, "to recruit the army, and to prepare for advancing in amore sure and efficient manner. 

"Besides, " said they, "we need Jaffa for a military post, and it willbe best to remain here until we shall have repaired thefortifications, and put the place in a good condition of defense. "

But this was only an excuse. What the army really desired was to enjoyrepose for a time. They found it much more agreeable to live in easeand indulgence within the walls of a town than to march in the hot sunacross so arid a country, loaded down as they were with heavy armor, and kept constantly in a state of anxious and watchful suspense by thedanger of sudden attacks from the enemy. 

Richard acceded to the wishes of the officers, and decided to remainfor a time in Jaffa. But they, instead of devoting themselvesenergetically to making good again the fortifications of the town, went very languidly to the work. They allowed themselves and the mento spend their time in inaction and indulgence. In the mean time, Saladin had gathered his forces together again, and was drawing freshrecruits every day to his standard from the interior of the country. He was preparing for more vigorous resistance than ever. Richard hasbeen strongly condemned for thus remaining inactive in Jaffa after thebattle of Azotus. Historians, narrating the account of his campaign, say that he ought to have marched at once toward Jerusalem beforeSaladin should have had time to organize any new means of resistance. But it is impossible for those who are at a distance from the scene ofaction in such a case, and who have only that partial and imperfectaccount of the facts which can be obtained through the testimony ofothers, to form any reliable judgment on such a question. Whether itwould be prudent or imprudent for a commander to advance after abattle can be known, in general, only to those who are on the ground, and who have personal knowledge of all the circumstances of the case. 

While Richard remained in Jaffa, he made frequent excursions into thesurrounding territory at the head of a small troop of adventurous menwho liked to accompany him. Other small detachments were often sentout. These parties went sometimes to collect forage, and sometimes toreconnoitre the country with a view of ascertaining Saladin's positionand plans. Richard took great delight in these excursions, nor werethey attended with any great danger. At the present day, going out onreconnoitring parties is very dangerous service indeed, for men wearno armor, and they are liable at any moment to be cut down by a Minièrifle-ball, fired from an unseen hand a mile away. In those days thecase was very different. There were no missiles that could be thrownfor a greater distance than a few yards, and for all such the heavysteel armor that the knights wore furnished, in general, an ampleprotection. The only serious danger to be feared was that of comingunwarily upon a superior party of the enemy lying in ambush to entrapthe reconnoitrers, and in being surrounded by them. But Richard had somuch confidence in the power of his horse and in his own prodigiouspersonal strength that he had very little fear. So he scoured thecountry in every direction, at the head of a small attendant squadron, whenever he pleased, considering such an excursion in the light ofnothing more than an exciting morning ride. 

Of course, after going out many times on such excursions and comingback safely, men gradually become less cautious, and expose themselvesto greater and greater risks. It was so with Richard and his troop, and several times they ventured so far as to put themselves in veryserious peril. Indeed, Richard once or twice very narrowly escapedbeing taken prisoner. At one time he was saved by the generosity ofone of his knights, named Sir William. The king and his party weresurprised by a large party of Saracens, and nearly surrounded. For amoment it was uncertain whether they would be able to effect theirretreat. In the midst of the fray, Sir William called out that he wasthe king, and this so far divided the attention of the party as toconfuse them somewhat, and break the force and concentration of theirattack, and thus Richard succeeded in making his escape. Sir William, however, was taken prisoner and carried to Saladin, but he wasimmediately liberated by Richard's paying the ransom that Saladindemanded for him. 

At another time word came to him suddenly in the town that a troop ofKnights Templars were attacked and nearly surrounded by Saracens, andthat, unless they had help immediately, they would be all cut off. Richard immediately seized his armor and began to put it on, and atthe same time he ordered one of his earls to mount his horse and hurryout to the rescue of the Templars with all the horsemen that wereready, saying also that he would follow himself, with more men, assoon as he could put his armor on. Now the armoring of a knight forbattle in the Middle Ages was as long an operation as it is at thepresent day for a lady to dress for a ball. The several pieces ofwhich the armor was composed were so heavy, and so complicated, moreover, in their fastenings, that they could only be put on by meansof much aid from assistants. While Richard was in the midst of theprocess, another messenger came, saying that the danger of theTemplars was imminent. 

"Then I must go, " said Richard, "as I am. I should be unworthy of thename of king if I were to abandon those whom I have promised to standby and succor in every danger. "

So he leaped upon his horse and rode on alone. On arriving at thespot, he plunged into the thickest of the fight, and there he foughtso furiously, and made such havoc among the Saracens with hisbattle-axe, that they fell back, and the Templars, and also the partythat had gone out with the earl, were rescued, and made good theirretreat to the town, leaving only on the field those who had fallenbefore Richard arrived. 

Many such adventures as this are recorded in the old histories of thiscampaign, and they were made the subjects of a great number of songsand ballads, written and sung by the Troubadours in those days inhonor of the valiant deeds of the Crusaders. 

The armies remained in Jaffa through the whole of the month ofSeptember. During this time a sort of negotiation was opened betweenRichard and Saladin, with a view to agreeing, if possible, upon someterms of peace. The object, on the part of Saladin, in thesenegotiations, was probably delay, for the longer he could continue tokeep Richard in Jaffa, the stronger he would himself become, and themore able to resist Richard's intended march to Jerusalem. Richardconsented to open these negotiations, not knowing but that some termsmight possibly be agreed upon by which Saladin would consent torestore Jerusalem to the Christians, and thus end the war. 

The messenger whom Saladin employed in these negotiations wasSaphadin, his brother. Saphadin, being provided with a safe-conductfor this purpose, passed back and forth between Jaffa and Saladin'scamp, carrying the propositions and counter-propositions to and fro. Saphadin was a very courteous and gentlemanly man, and also a verybrave soldier, and Richard formed quite a strong friendship for him. 

A number of different plans were proposed in the course of thenegotiation, but there seemed to arise insuperable objections againstthem all. At one time, either at this period or subsequently, whenRichard returned again to the coast, a project was formed to settlethe dispute, as quarrels and wars were often settled in those days, bya marriage. The plan was for Saladin and Richard to cease theirhostility to each other, and become friends and allies; theconsideration for terminating the war being, on Richard's side, thathe would give his sister Joanna, the ex-queen of Sicily, in marriageto Saphadin; and that Saladin, on his part, should relinquishJerusalem to Richard. Whether it was that Joanna would not consent tobe thus conveyed in a bargain to an Arab chieftain as a part of aprice paid for a peace, or whether Saladin did not consider hermajesty as a full equivalent for the surrender of Jerusalem, the planfell through like all the others that had been proposed, and at lengththe negotiations were fully abandoned, and Richard began again toprepare for taking the field. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

REVERSES. 

1191

Feuds in the Christian army. --The march in November. --Thearmy weakened by disease, mutiny, and desertion. --The returnto Ascalon. --Rebuilding the fortifications. --Saladin pressesupon the retiring army. --Skirmishing. --Contrivances of theenemy to harass the army. --Difficulties which the king metwith in repairing Ascalon. --The troops unwilling tolabor. --Resentment of Leopold. --The present which Richardmade to Berengaria. --Intercession of Leopold. --Richard'sexasperation. --Richard expels Leopold from Ascalon. --Thework goes on. --Waiting for re-enforcements. --The Abbot ofClairvaux. --The truce. --Courtesy of enemies when not atcontest. --Presents. --Saladin's present to Richard. --The Christianarmy discouraged. --King Richard uneasy respecting the stateof England. --Selfishness, not generosity, was the secretmotive. --Saladin's reason for retaining Jerusalem. --A politicalmarriage. --The compromise was opposed by the priests. --Thescheme of joint occupancy of Jerusalem abandoned. 

By this time very serious dissensions and difficulties had arisen inthe army of the Crusaders. There were a great many chieftains who feltvery independent of each other, and feuds and quarrels of longstanding broke out anew, and with more violence than ever. There weremany different opinions, too, in respect to the course which it wasnow best to pursue. Richard, however, contrived yet to maintain somesort of authority, and he finally decided to commence his march fromJaffa. 

It was now November. The fall rains began to set in. The distance toJerusalem was but about thirty-two miles. The army advanced to Ramula, which is about fifteen miles from Jaffa, but they endured very greathardships and sufferings from the extreme inclemency of the season. The soldiers were wet to the skin by drenching rains. Their provisionswere soaked and spoiled, and their armor was rusted, and much of itrendered useless. When they attempted to pitch their tents at nightat Ramula, the wind tore them from their fastenings, and blew thecanvas away, so as to deprive them of shelter. 

Of course, these disasters increased the discontent in the army, and, by making the men impatient and ill-natured, increased the bitternessof their quarrels. The army finally advanced, however, as far asBethany, with a forlorn hope of being strong enough, when they shouldarrive there, to attack Jerusalem; but this hope, when the time came, Richard was obliged to abandon. The rain and exposure had brought agreat deal of disease into the camp. The men were dying in greatnumbers. This mortality was increased by famine, for the stores whichthe army had brought with them were spoiled by the rain, and Saladinhad so laid waste the country that no fresh supplies could beobtained. Then, in addition to this, the soldiers, finding theirsufferings intolerable, and seeing no hope of relief, began to desertin great numbers, and Richard finally found that there was noalternative for him but to fall back again to the sea-shore. 

Instead of going to Jaffa, however, he proceeded to Ascalon. Ascalonwas a larger and stronger city than Jaffa. At least it had beenstronger, and its fortifications were more extensive, though the placehad been dismantled by Saladin before he left the coast. This town, asyou will see by the map, is situated toward the southern part ofPalestine, near to the confines of Egypt, and it had been a place ofimportance as a sort of entrepôt of commerce between Egypt and theHoly Land. Richard began to think that it would be necessary for himto establish his army somewhat permanently in the strong places on thecoast, and wait until he could obtain re-enforcements from Europebefore attempting again to advance toward Jerusalem. He thought itimportant, therefore, to take possession of Ascalon, and thus--Acreand Jaffa being already strongly garrisoned--the whole coast would besecure under his control. 

Accordingly, on his retreat from Jerusalem, he proceeded with a largeportion of his army to Ascalon, and immediately commenced the work ofrepairing the walls and rebuilding the towers, not knowing how soonSaladin might be upon him. 

Indeed, Saladin and his troops had followed Richard's army on theirretreat from Bethany, and had pressed them very closely all the way. It was at one time quite doubtful whether they would succeed in makinggood their retreat to Ascalon. The Saracen horsemen hovered in greatnumbers on the rear of Richard's army, and made incessant skirmishingattacks upon them. Richard placed a strong body of the Knights of St. John there to keep them off. These knights were well armed, and theywere brave and well-trained warriors. They beat back the Saracenswhenever they came near. Still, many of the knights were killed, andstraggling parties, from time to time, were cut off, and the wholearmy was kept in a constant state of suspense and excitement, duringthe whole march, by the continual danger of an attack. When, atlength, they approached the sea-shore, and turned to the south on theway to Ascalon, they were a little more safe, for the sea defendedthem on one side. Still, the Saracens turned with them, and hoveredabout their left flank, which was the one that was turned toward theland, and harassed the march all the way. The progress of the troopswas greatly retarded too, as well as made more fatiguing, by thepresence of such an enemy; for they were not only obliged to move moreslowly when they were advancing, but they could only halt at night inplaces which were naturally strong and easily to be defended, for fearof an assault upon their encampment in the night. During the night, too, notwithstanding all the precautions they could take to secure astrong and safe position, the men were continually roused from theirslumbers by an alarm that the Saracens were coming upon them, whenthey would rush from their tents, and seize their arms, and preparefor a combat; and then, after a time, they would learn that theexpected attack was only a feint made by a small body of the enemyjust to harass them. 

It might seem, at first view, that such a warfare as this would wearyand exhaust the pursuers as much as the pursued, but in reality it isnot so. In the case of a night alarm, for instance, the whole camp ofthe Crusaders would be aroused from their sleep by it, and kept in astate of suspense for an hour or more before the truth could be fullyascertained, while to give the alarm would require only a very smallparty from the army of the Saracens, the main body retiring as usualto sleep, and sleeping all night undisturbed. 

At length Richard reached Ascalon in safety, and posted himselfwithin the walls, while Saladin established his camp at a safedistance in the interior of the country. Of course, the first thingwhich he found was to be done, as has already been remarked, was torepair and strengthen the walls, and it was evident that no time wasto be lost in accomplishing this work. 

But, unfortunately, the character of the materials of which Richard'sarmy was composed was not such as to favor any special efficiency inconducting an engineering operation. All the knights, and a largeproportion of the common soldiers, deemed themselves gentlemen. Theyhad volunteered to join the crusade from high and romantic notions ofchivalry and religion. They were perfectly ready, at any time, tofight the Saracens, and to kill or be killed, whichever fate thefortune of war might assign them; but to bear burdens, to mix mortar, and to build walls, were occupations far beneath them; and the onlyway to induce them to take hold of this work seems to have been forthe knights and officers to set them the example. 

Thus, in repairing the walls of Acre, all the highest officers of thearmy, with Richard himself at the head of them, took hold of the workwith their own hands, and built away on the walls and towers like somany masons. Of course, the body of the soldiery had no excuse fordeclining the work, when even the king did not consider himselfdemeaned by it, and the whole army joined in making the reparationswith great zeal. 

But such kind of zeal as this is not often very enduring. The men hadaccomplished this work very well at Acre, but now, in undertaking asecond operation of the kind, their ardor was found to be somewhatsubsided. Besides, they were discouraged and disheartened in somedegree by the results of the fruitless campaign they had made into theinterior, and worn down by the fatigues they had endured on theirmarch. Still, the knights and nobles generally followed Richard'sexample, and worked upon the walls to encourage the soldiery. One, however, absolutely refused; this was Leopold, the Archduke ofAustria, whose flag Richard had pulled down from one of the towers inAcre, and trampled upon as it lay on the ground. The archduke hadnever forgiven this insult. 

Indeed, this rudeness on the part of Richard was not a solitaryinstance of his enmity. It was only a new step taken in an oldquarrel. Richard and the duke had been on very ill terms before. Thereader will perhaps recollect that when Richard was at Cyprus he madecaptive a young princess, the daughter of the king, and that he made apresent of her, as a handmaid and companion, to Queen Berengaria. Berengaria and Joanna, when they left Cyprus, brought the youngprincess with them, and when they were established with the king inthe palace at Acre, she remained with them. She was treated kindly, itis true, and was made a member of the family, but still she was aprisoner. Such captives were greatly prized in those days as presentsfor ladies of high rank, who kept them as pets, just as they would, atthe present day, a beautiful Canary bird or a favorite pony. Theyoften made intimate and familiar companions of them, and dressed themwith great elegance, and surrounded them with every luxury. Still, notwithstanding this gilding of their chains, the poor captivesusually pined away their lives in sorrow, mourning continually to berestored to their father and mother, and to their own proper home. 

Now it happened that the Archduke of Austria was a relative, bymarriage, of the King of Cyprus, and the princess was his niece;consequently, when she arrived at the camp before Acre as a captivein the hands of the queen, as might naturally have been expected, hetook a great interest in her case. He wished to have her released andrestored to her father, and he interceded with Richard in her behalf. But Richard would not release her. He was not willing to take her awayfrom Berengaria. The archduke was angry with the king for thisrefusal, and a quarrel ensued; and it was partly in consequence ofthis quarrel, or, rather, of the exasperation of mind that wasproduced by it, that Richard would not allow the archduke's banner tofloat from the towers of Acre when the city fell into their hands. 

The archduke felt very keenly the indignity which Richard thus offeredhim, and though at the time he had no power to revenge it, heremembered it, and remained long in a gloomy and resentful frame ofmind. And now, while Richard was endeavoring to encourage andstimulate the soldiers to work on the walls, by inducing the knightsand barons to join him in setting the example, Leopold refused. Hesaid that he was neither the son of a carpenter nor of a mason, thathe should go to work like a laborer to build walls. Richard wasenraged at this answer, and, as the story goes, flew at Leopold inhis passion, and struck and kicked him. He also immediately turned thearchduke and all his vassals out of the town, declaring that theyshould not share the protection of walls that they would not help tobuild; so they were obliged to encamp without, in company with thatportion of the army that could not be accommodated within the walls. 

But, notwithstanding the bad example set thus by the archduke, far thegreater portion of the knights, and barons, and high officers of thearmy joined very heartily in the work of building the walls. Even thebishops, and abbots, and other monks, as well as the military nobles, took hold of the work with great zeal, and the repairs went on muchmore rapidly than could have been expected. During all this time thearmy kept their communications open with the other towns along thecoast--with Jaffa, and Acre, and other strongholds, so that at lengththe whole shore was well fortified, and secure in their possession. 

Saladin, during all this time, had distributed his troops in variousencampments along the line parallel with the coast, and at somedistance from it, and for some weeks the two armies remained, in agreat degree, quiet in their several positions. The Crusaders weretoo much diminished in numbers by the privations and the sicknesswhich they had undergone, as well as by the losses they had sufferedin battle, and too much weakened by their internal dissensions, to goout of their strongholds to attack Saladin, while, on the other hand, they were too well protected by the walls of the towns to which theyhad retreated for Saladin to attack them. Both sides were waiting forre-enforcements. Saladin was indeed continually receiving accessionsto his army from the interior, and Richard was expecting them fromEurope. He sent to a distinguished ecclesiastic, named the Abbot ofClairvaux, who had a high reputation in Europe, and enjoyed greatinfluence at many of the principal courts. In his letter to the abbot, he requested him to visit the different courts, and urge upon theprinces and the people of the different countries the necessity thatthey should come to the rescue of the Christian cause in the HolyLand. Unless they were willing, he said, that all hope of regainingpossession of the Holy Land should be abandoned, they must come withlarge re-enforcements, and that, too, without any delay. 

During the period of delay occasioned by these circumstances, therewas a sort of truce established between the two armies, and theknights on each side mingled together frequently on very friendlyterms. Indeed, it was the pride and glory of soldiers in thischivalrous age to treat each other, when not in actual conflict, in avery polite and courteous manner, as if they were not animated by anypersonal resentment against their enemies, but only by a spirit offidelity to the prince who commanded them, or to the cause in whichthey were engaged. Accordingly, when, for any reason, the war was fora time suspended, the combatants became immediately the best friendsin the world, and actually vied with each other to see which shouldevince the most generous courtesy toward their opponents. 

On the present occasion they often made visits to each other, and theyarranged tournaments and other military celebrations which wereattended by the knights and chieftains on both sides. Richard andSaladin often sent each other handsome presents. At one time whenRichard was sick, Saladin sent him a quantity of delicious fruit fromDamascus. The Damascus gardens have been renowned in every age for thepeaches, pears, figs, and other fruits which they produce, andespecially for a peculiar plum, famous through all the East. Saladinsent a supply of this fruit to Richard when he heard that he was sick, and accompanied his present with very earnest and, perhaps, verysincere inquiries in respect to the condition of the patient, andexpressions of his wishes for his recovery. 

The disposition of the two commanders to live on friendly terms witheach other at this time was increased by the hope which Richardentertained that he might, by some possibility, come to an amicableagreement with Saladin in respect to Jerusalem, and thus bring the warto an end. He was beginning to be thoroughly discontented with hissituation, and with every thing pertaining to the war. Nothing sincethe first capture of Acre had really gone well. His army had beenrepulsed in its attempt to advance into the interior, and was nowhemmed in by the enemy on every side, and shut up in a few towns onthe sea-coast. The men under his command had been greatly diminishedin numbers, and, though sheltered from the enemy, the force thatremained was gradually wasting away from the effects of exposure tothe climate and from fatigue. There was no prospect of any immediatere-enforcements arriving from Europe, and no hope, without them, ofbeing able to take the field successfully against Saladin. 

Besides all this, Richard was very uneasy in respect to the state ofaffairs in his own dominions, in England and in Normandy. Hedistrusted the promises that Philip had made, and was very anxiouslest he might, when he arrived in France, take advantage of Richard'sabsence, and, under some pretext or other, invade some of hisprovinces. From England he was continually receiving very unfavorabletidings. His mother Eleanora, to whom he had committed some generaloversight of his interests during his absence, was beginning to writehim alarming letters in respect to certain intrigues which were goingon in England, and which threatened to deprive him of his Englishkingdom altogether. She urged him to return as soon as possible. Richard was exceedingly anxious to comply with this recommendation, but he could not abandon his army in the condition in which it thenwas, nor could he honorably withdraw it without having previously cometo some agreement with Saladin by which the Holy Sepulchre could besecured to the possession of the Christians. 

This being the state of the case, he had every motive for pressing thenegotiations, and for cultivating, while they were in progress, themost friendly relations possible with Saladin, and for persevering inpressing them as long as the least possible hope remained. Accordingly, during all this time Richard treated Saladin with thegreatest courtesy. He sent him many presents, and paid him many politeattentions. All this display of urbanity toward each other, on thepart of these ferocious and bloodthirsty men, has been actuallyattributed by mankind to the instinctive nobleness and generosity ofthe spirit of chivalry; but, in reality, as is indeed too often thecase with the pretended nobleness and generosity of rude and violentmen, a cunning and far-seeing selfishness lay at the bottom of it. 

In the course of these negotiations, Richard declared to Saladin thatall which the Christians desired was the possession of Jerusalem andthe restoration of the true cross, and he said that surely some termscould be devised on which Saladin could concede those two points. ButSaladin replied that Jerusalem was as sacred a place in the eyes ofMussulmans, and as dear to them, as it was to the Christians, andthat they could on no account give it up. In respect to the truecross, the Christians, he said, if they could obtain it, would worshipit in an idolatrous manner, as they did their other relics; and as thelaw of the Prophet in the Koran forbade idolatry, they could notconscientiously give it up. "By so doing, " said he, "we should beaccessories to the sin. "

It was in consequence of the insuperable objections which aroseagainst an absolute surrender of Jerusalem to the Christians that thenegotiations took the turn which led to the proposal of a marriagebetween the ex-Queen Joanna and Saphadin; for, when Richard found thatno treaty was possible that would give him full possession ofJerusalem, and the letters which he received from England made moreand more urgent the necessity that he should return, he conceived theplan of a sort of joint occupancy of the Holy City by Mussulmans andChristians together. This was to be effected by means of the proposedmarriage. The marriage was to be the token and pledge of asurrendering, on both sides, of the bitter fanaticism which hadhitherto animated them, and of their determination henceforth to livein peace, notwithstanding their religious differences. If this stateof feeling could be once established, there would be no difficulty, itwas thought, in arranging some sort of mixed government for Jerusalemthat would secure access to the holy places by both Mussulmans andChristians, and accomplish the ends of the war to the satisfaction ofall. 

It was said that Richard proposed this plan, and that both Saladin andSaphadin evinced a willingness to accede to it, but that it wasdefeated by the influence of the priests on both sides. The imamsamong the Mussulmans, and the bishops and monks in Richard's army, were equally shocked at this plan of making a "compromise ofprinciple, " as they considered it, and forming a compact between eviland good. The men of each party devoutly believed that the cause whichtheir side espoused was the cause of God, and that that of the otherwas the cause of Satan, and neither could tolerate for a moment anyproposal for a union, or an alliance of any kind, between elements soutterly antagonistical. And it was in vain, as both commanders knewfull well, to attempt to carry such an arrangement into effect againstthe conviction of the priests; for they had, on both sides, so greatan influence over the masses of the people that, without theirapproval, or at least their acquiescence, nothing could be done. 

So the plan of an alliance and union between the Christians and theMohammedans, with a view to a joint occupancy and guardianship of theholy places in Jerusalem was finally abandoned, and Joanna gave up thehope, or was released from the fear, as the case may have been, ofhaving a Saracen for a husband. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS. 

1191

The conquest of Jerusalem by Godfrey of Bouillon. --History ofthe contest for the title of King of Jerusalem. --A delicatequestion. --The Crusaders' motives. --How Richard and Philip tooksides in the quarrel. --The reason of the importance of thequarrel. --The French maintain Conrad's cause. --Richard's bargainwith Guy. --Richard's reasons for acceding to Conrad's cause. --Thecoronation of Conrad. --His assassination. --The Hassassins. --TheOld Man of the Mountains and his followers. --The reckless spiritof the Hassassins. --Seizure of the murderers. --The torture as ameans of eliciting evidence. --Conflicting accounts. --Uncertaintyrespecting the motive of Conrad's murder. --False and spurioushonor. --General opinion of Richard's conduct. --Suspicions ofPhilip. --The events consequent on Conrad's death. --Appearance ofCount Henry. --He becomes king of Jerusalem. --The question atrest. --Dissatisfaction. --The king's proclamation. 

One of the greatest sources of trouble and difficulty which Richardexperienced in managing his heterogeneous mass of followers was thequarrel which has been already alluded to between the two knights whoclaimed the right to be the King of Jerusalem, whenever possession ofthat city should by any means be obtained. The reader will recollect, perhaps, that it has already been stated that a very renownedCrusader, named Godfrey of Bouillon, had penetrated, about a hundredyears before this time, into the interior of the Holy Land, at thehead of a large army, and there had taken possession of Jerusalem;that the earls, and barons, and other prominent knights in his armyhad chosen him king of the city, and fixed the crown and the royaltitle upon him and his descendants forever; that when Jerusalem wasitself, after a time, lost, the title still remained in Godfrey'sfamily, and that it descended to a princess named Sibylla; that aknight named Guy of Lusignan married Sibylla, and then claimed thetitle of King of Jerusalem in the right of his wife; that, in processof time, Sibylla died, and then one party claimed that the rights ofher husband, Guy of Lusignan, ceased, since he held them only throughhis wife, and that thenceforward the title and the crown vested inIsabella, her sister, who was the next heir; that Isabella, however, was married to a man who was too feeble and timid to assert hisclaims; that, consequently, a more bold and unscrupulous knight, namedConrad of Montferrat, seized her and carried her off, and afterwardprocured a divorce for her from her former husband, and married herhimself; and that then a great quarrel arose between Guy of Lusignan, the husband of Sibylla, and Conrad of Montferrat, the husband ofIsabella. This quarrel had now been raging a long time, and allattempts to settle it or to compromise it had proved whollyunavailing. 

The ground which Guy and his friends and adherents took was, thatwhile they admitted that Guy held the title of King of Jerusalem inthe right of his wife, and that his wife was now dead, still, beingonce invested with the crown, it was his for life, and he could notjustly be deprived of it. After his death it might descend veryproperly to the next heir, but during his lifetime it vested in him. 

Conrad, on the other hand, and the friends and adherents who espousedhis cause, argued that, since Guy had no claim whatever except whatcame in and through his wife, of course, when his wife died, hispossession ought to terminate. If Sibylla had had children, the crownwould have descended to one of them; but she being without directheirs, it passed, of right, to Isabella, her sister, and thatIsabella's husband was entitled to claim and take possession of it inher name. 

It is obvious that this was a very nice and delicate question, and itwould have been a very difficult one for a company of gay and recklesssoldiers like the Crusaders to settle if they had attempted to look atit simply as a question of law and right; but the Crusaders seldomtroubled themselves with examining legal arguments, and still lesswith seeking for and applying principles of justice and right intaking sides in the contests that arose among them. The question foreach man to consider in such cases was simply, "Which side is it mostfor my interests and those of my party that we should espouse? Wewill take that;" or, "Which side are my rivals and enemies, or thoseof their party, going to take? We will take the other. "

It was by such considerations as these that the different princes, andnobles, and orders of knights in the army decided how they would rangethemselves on this great question. As has already been explained, Richard took up the cause of Guy, who claimed through the deceasedSibylla. He had been induced to do so, not by any convictions which hehad formed in respect to the merits of the case, but because Guy hadcome to him while he was in Cyprus, and had made such proposals therein respect to a conjunction with him that Richard deemed it for hisinterest to accept them. In a similar way, Conrad had waited uponPhilip as soon as he arrived before Acre, and had induced him toespouse his, Conrad's, side. If there were two orders of knights inthe army, or two bodies of soldiery, that were at ill-will with eachother through rivalry, or jealousy, or former quarrels, they wouldalways separate on this question of the King of Jerusalem; and just ascertainly as one of them showed a disposition to take the side of Guy, the other would immediately go over to that of Conrad, and then theseold and half-smothered contentions would break out anew. 

Thus this difficulty was not only a serious quarrel itself, but it wasthe means of reviving and giving new force and intensity to a vastnumber of other quarrels. 

It may seem strange that a question like this, which related, as itwould appear, to only an empty title, should have been deemed soimportant; but, in reality, there was something more than the meretitle at issue. Although, for the time being, the Christians wereexcluded from Jerusalem, they were all continually hoping to be verysoon restored to the possession of it, and then the king of the citywould become a very important personage, not only in his ownestimation and in that of the army of Crusaders, but in that of allChristendom. No one knew but that in a few months Jerusalem might comeinto their hands, either by being retaken through force of arms, or bybeing ceded in some way through Richard's negotiations with Saladin;and, of course, the greater the probability was that this event wouldhappen, the more important the issue of the quarrel became, and themore angry with each other, and excited, were the parties to it. ThusRichard found that all his plans for getting possession of Jerusalemwere grievously impeded by these dissensions; for the nearer he came, at any time, to the realization of his hopes, the more completely werehis efforts to secure the end paralyzed by the increased violence andbitterness of the quarrel that reigned among his followers. 

The principal supporters of the cause of Conrad were the French, andthey formed so numerous and powerful a portion of the army, and theyhad, withal, so great an influence over other bodies of troops fromdifferent parts of Europe, that Richard could not successfully resistthem and maintain Guy's claims, and he finally concluded to give up, or to pretend to give up, the contest. 

So he made an arrangement with Guy to relinquish his claims oncondition of his receiving the kingdom of Cyprus instead, the unhappyIsaac, the true king of that island, shut up in the Syrian dungeon towhich Richard had consigned him, being in no condition to resist thisdisposition of his dominions. Richard then agreed that Conrad shouldbe acknowledged as King of Jerusalem, and, to seal and settle thequestion, it was determined that he should be crowned forthwith. 

It was supposed at the time that one reason which induced Richard togive up Guy and adopt Conrad as the future sovereign of the Holy Citywas, that Conrad was a far more able warrior, and a more influentialand powerful man than Guy, and altogether a more suitable person to beleft in command of the army in case of Richard's return to England, provided, in the mean time, Jerusalem should be taken; and, moreover, he was much more likely to succeed as a leader of the troops in amarch against the city in case Richard were to leave before theconquest should be effected. It turned out, however, in the end, aswill be seen in the sequel, that the views with which Richard adoptedthis plan were of a very different character. 

Conrad was already the King of Tyre. The position which he thus heldwas, in fact, one of the elements of his power and influence among theCrusaders. It was determined that his coronation as King of Jerusalemshould take place at Tyre, and, accordingly, as soon as thearrangement of the question had been fully and finally agreed upon, all parties proceeded to Tyre, and there commenced at once thepreparations for a magnificent coronation. All the principalchieftains and dignitaries of the army that could be spared from theother posts along the coast went to Tyre to be present at thecoronation, the whole army, with the exception of a few malcontents, being filled with joy and satisfaction that the question which had solong distracted their councils and paralyzed their efforts was now atlength finally disposed of. 

These bright prospects were all, however, suddenly blighted anddestroyed by an unexpected event, which struck every one withconsternation, and put all things back into a worse condition thanbefore. As Conrad was passing along the streets of Tyre one day, twomen rushed upon him, and with small daggers, which they plunged intohis side, slew him. They were so sudden in their movement that all wasover before any one could come to Conrad's rescue, but the men whocommitted the deed were seized and put to the torture. They belongedto a tribe of Arabs called Hassassins. [F] This appellation was takenfrom the Arabic name of the dagger, which was the only armor that theywore. Of course, with such a weapon as this, they could do nothingeffectual in a regular battle with their enemies. Nor was this theirplan. They never came out and met their enemies in battle. They livedamong the mountains in a place by themselves, under the command of afamous chieftain, whom they called the _Ancient_, and sometimes the_Lord of the Mountains_. The Christians called him the _Old Man of theMountains_, and under this name he and his band of followers acquiredgreat fame. 

[Footnote F: The English word _assassins_ comes from the name of thesemen. ]

They were, in fact, not much more than a regularly-organized band ofrobbers and murderers. The men were extremely wily and adroit; theycould adopt any disguise, and penetrate without suspicion whereverthey chose to go. They were trained, too, to obey, in the mostunhesitating and implicit manner, any orders whatever that thechieftain gave them. Sometimes they were sent out to rob; sometimes tomurder an individual enemy, who had, in some way or other, excited theanger of the chief. Thus, if any leader of an armed force attempted toattack them, or if any officer of government adopted any measures tobring them to justice, they would not openly resist, but would fly totheir dens and fastnesses, and conceal themselves there, and thensoon afterward the chieftain would send out his emissaries, dressed ina suitable disguise, and with their little _hassassins_ under theirrobes, to watch an opportunity and kill the offender. It is true theywere usually, in such cases, at once seized, and were often put todeath with horrible tortures; but so great was their enthusiasm in thecause of their chief, and so high the exaltation of spirit to whichthe point of honor carried them, that they feared nothing, and werenever known to shrink from the discharge of what they deemed theirduty. 

The stabs which the two Hassassins gave to Conrad were so effectualthat he fell dead upon the spot. The people that were near rushed tohis assistance, and while some gathered round the bleeding body, andendeavored to stanch the wounds, others seized the murderers and borethem off to the castle. They would have pulled them to pieces by theway if they had not desired to reserve them for the torture. 

The torture is, of course, in every respect, a wretched way ofeliciting evidence. So far as it is efficacious at all in elicitingdeclarations, it tends to lead the sufferer, in thinking what he shallsay, to consider, not what is the truth, but what is most likely tosatisfy his tormentors and make them release him. Accordingly, menunder torture say any thing which they suppose their questioners wishto hear. At one moment it is one thing, and the next it is another, and the men who conduct the examination can usually report from it anyresult they please. 

A story gained great credit in the army, and especially among theFrench portion of it, immediately after the examination of these men, that they said that they had been hired by Richard himself to killConrad, and this story produced every where the greatest excitementand indignation. On the other hand, the friends of Richard declaredthat the Hassassins had stated that they were sent by their chieftain, the Old Man of the Mountain, and that the cause was a quarrel that hadlong been standing between Conrad and him. It is true that there hadbeen such a quarrel, and, consequently, that the Old Man would be, doubtless, very willing that Conrad should be killed. Indeed, it isprobable that, if Richard was really the original instigator of themurder, he would have made the arrangement for it with the Old Man, and not directly with the subordinates. It was, in fact, a part of theregular and settled business of this tribe to commit murders for pay. The chieftain might have the more readily undertaken this case fromhaving already a quarrel of his own with Conrad on hand. It was neverfully ascertained what the true state of the case was. The Arabhistorians maintain that it was Richard's work. The English writers, on the contrary, throw the blame on the Old Man. The English writersmaintain, moreover, that the deed was one which such a man as Richardwas very little likely to perform. He was, it is true, they say, avery rude and violent man--daring, reckless, and often unjust, andeven cruel--but he was not treacherous. What he did, he did in theopen day; and he was wholly incapable of such a deed as pretendingdeceitfully that he would accede to Conrad's claims with a view ofthrowing him off his guard, and then putting him to death by means ofhired murderers. 

This reasoning will seem satisfactory to us or otherwise, according tothe views we like to entertain in respect to the genuineness of thesense of generosity and honor which is so much boasted of as acharacteristic of the spirit of chivalry. Some persons place greatreliance upon it, and think that so gallant and courageous a knightas Richard must have been incapable of any such deed as a secretassassination. Others place very little reliance upon it. They thinkthat the generosity and nobleness of mind to which this class of menmake such great pretension is chiefly a matter of outside show andparade, and that, when it serves their purpose, they are generallyready to resort to any covert and dishonest means which will help themto accomplish their ends, however truly dishonorable such means maybe, provided they can conceal their agency in them. For my part, I amstrongly inclined to the latter opinion, and to believe that there isnothing in the human heart that we can really rely upon in respect tohuman conduct and character but sound and consistent moral principle. 

At any rate, it is unfortunate for Richard's cause that among thosewho were around him at the time, and who knew his character best, theprevailing opinion was against him. It was generally believed in thearmy that he was really the secret author of Conrad's death. The eventproduced a prodigious excitement throughout the camp. When the newsreached Europe, it awakened a very general indignation there, especially among those who were inclined to be hostile to Richard. Philip, the King of France, professed to be alarmed for his ownsafety. "He has employed murderers to kill Conrad, my friend andally, " said he, "and the next thing will be that he will send some ofthe Old Man of the Mountain's emissaries to thrust their daggers intome. "

So he organized an extra guard to watch at the gates of his palace, and to attend him whenever he went out, and gave them specialinstructions to watch against the approach of any suspiciousstrangers. The Emperor of Germany too, and the Archduke of Austria, whom Richard had before made his enemies, were filled with rage andresentment against him, the effects of which he subsequently felt veryseverely. 

In the mean time, the excitement in the camp immediately on the deathof Conrad became very strong, and it led to serious disturbances. TheFrench troops rose in arms and attempted to seize Tyre. Isabella, Conrad's wife, in whose name Conrad had held the title to the crown ofJerusalem, fled to the citadel, and fortified herself there with suchtroops as adhered to her. The camp was in confusion, and there wasimminent danger that the two parties into which the army was dividedwould come to open war. At this juncture, a certain nephew ofRichard's, Count Henry of Champagne, made his appearance. He persuadedthe people of Tyre to put him in command of the town; and supported ashe was by Richard's influence, and by the acquiescence of Isabella, hesucceeded in restoring something like order. Immediately afterward heproposed to Isabella that she should marry him. She accepted hisproposal, and so he became King of Jerusalem in her name. 

The French party, and those who had taken the side of Conrad in theformer quarrel, were greatly exasperated, but as the case now stoodthey were helpless. They had always maintained that Isabella was thetrue sovereign, and it was through her right to the succession, afterSibylla's death, that they had claimed the crown for Conrad; and now, since Conrad was dead, and Isabella had married Count Henry, theycould not, with any consistency, deny that the new husband was fullyentitled to succeed the old. They might resent the murder of Conrad asmuch as they pleased, but it was evident that nothing would bring himback to life, and nothing could prevent Count Henry being nowuniversally regarded as the King of Jerusalem. 

So, after venting for a time a great many loud but fruitlesscomplaints, the aggrieved parties allowed their resentment to subside, and all acquiesced in acknowledging Henry as King of Jerusalem. 

Besides these difficulties, a great deal of uneasiness and discontentarose from rumors that Richard was intending to abandon Palestine, andreturn to Normandy and England, thus leaving the army without anyresponsible head. The troops knew very well that whatever semblance ofauthority and subordination then existed was due to the presence ofRichard, whose high rank and personal qualities as a warrior gave himgreat power over his followers, notwithstanding their many causes ofcomplaint against him. They knew, too, that his departure would be thesignal of universal disorder, and would lead to the total dissolutionof the army. The complaints and the clamor which arose from this causebecame so great in all the different towns and fortresses along thecoast, that, to appease them, Richard issued a proclamation statingthat he had no intention of leaving the army, but that it was hisfixed purpose to remain in Palestine at least another year. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE BATTLE OF JAFFA. 

1192

The battle of Jaffa. --Richard gives the armyemployment. --Uncomfortable news from England. --Richard'sresolution. --Account of the country through which the armymarched. --The approach to Jerusalem. --Hebron. --The prize insight. --Saladin strongly established in Jerusalem. --Richard'sself-reproaches. --A new expedient. --The proposed march uponCairo. --The hopeless condition of the army. --Saladin atJaffa. --Richard's measures to succor Jaffa. --His fleet arrivesthere. --Landing. --The onset upon the Saracens. --Jaffaretaken. --Both sides awaiting assistance. --The Saracensdefeated. --The story of Saladin's present of horses to hisenemy. --The romantic story of the treacherous gift. 

When, at last, the state of Richard's affairs had been reduced, by thecauses mentioned in the last chapter, to a very low ebb, he suddenlysucceeded in greatly improving them by a battle. This battle is knownin history as the battle of Jaffa. It was fought in the early part ofthe summer of 1192. 

As soon as he had issued his proclamation declaring to his soldiersthat he would positively remain in Palestine for a year, he began tomake preparations for another campaign. The best way, he thought, toprevent the army from wasting away its energies in internal conflictsbetween the different divisions of it was to give those energiesemployment against the common enemy; so he put every thing in motionfor a new march into the interior. He left garrisons in the cities ofthe coast, sufficient, as he judged, to protect them from any forcewhich the Saracens were likely to send against them in his absence, and forming the remainder in order of march, he set out from hishead-quarters at Jaffa, and began to advance once more towardJerusalem. 

Of course, this movement revived, in some degree, the spirit of hisarmy, and awakened in them new hopes. Still, Richard himself wasextremely uneasy, and his mind was filled with solicitude and anxiety. Messengers were continually coming from Europe with intelligence whichwas growing more and more alarming at every arrival. His brother John, they said, in England, was forming schemes to take possession of thekingdom in his own name. In France, Philip was invading his Normanprovinces, and was evidently preparing for still greater aggression. He must return soon, his mother wrote him, or he would lose all. Ofcourse, he was in a great rage at what he called the treachery ofPhilip and John, and burned to get back and make them feel hisvengeance. But he was so tied up with the embarrassments anddifficulties that he was surrounded with in the Holy Land, that hethought it absolutely necessary to make a desperate effort to strikeat least one decisive blow before he could possibly leave his army, and it was in this desperate state of mind that he set out upon hismarch. It was near the end of May. 

The army advanced for several days. They met with not much directopposition from the Saracens, for Saladin had withdrawn to Jerusalem, and was employed in strengthening the fortifications there, and makingevery thing ready for Richard's approach. But the difficulties whichthey encountered from other causes, and the sufferings of the army inconsequence of them, were terrible. The country was dry and barren, and the weather hot and unhealthy. The soldiers fell sick in greatnumbers, and those that were well suffered extremely from thirst andother privations incident to a march of many days through such acountry in such a season. There were no trees or shelter of any kindto protect them from the scorching rays of the sun, and scarcely anywater to be found to quench their thirst. The streams were very few, and all the wells that could be found were soon drunk dry. Then therewas great difficulty in respect to provisions. A sufficient supply forso many thousands could not be brought up from the coast, and all thatthe country itself had produced--which was, in fact, very little--wascarried away by the Saracens as Richard advanced. Thus the army founditself environed with great difficulties, and before many days it wasreduced to a condition of actual distress. 

The expedition succeeded, however, in advancing to the immediatevicinity of Jerusalem. Early in June they encamped at Hebron, which isabout six miles from Jerusalem, toward the south. Here they halted;and Richard remained here some days, weighed down with perplexity anddistress, and extremely harassed in mind, being wholly unable todecide what was best to be done. 

From a hill in the neighborhood of Hebron Jerusalem was in sight. There lay the prize which he had so long been striving to obtain, allbefore him, and yet he was utterly powerless to take it. For this hehad been manoeuvring and planning for years. For this he hadexhausted all the resources of his empire, and had put to imminenthazard all the rights and interests of the crown. For this he had lefthis native land, and had brought on, by a voyage of three thousandmiles, all the fleets and armies of his kingdom; and now, with theprize before him, and all Europe looking on to see him grasp it, hishand had become powerless, and he must turn back, and go away as hecame. 

Richard saw at once that it must be so; for while, on the one hand, his army was well-nigh exhausted, and was reduced to a state of suchprivation and distress as to make it nearly helpless, Saladin wasestablished in Jerusalem almost impregnably. While the divisions ofRichard's army had been quarreling with each other on the sea-coast, he had been strengthening the walls and other defenses of the city, until they were now more formidable than ever. Richard receivedinformation, too, that all the wells and cisterns of water around thecity had been destroyed by the Saracens, so that, if they were toadvance to the walls and commence a siege, they would soon be obligedto raise it, or perish there with thirst. So great was Richard'sdistress of mind under these circumstances, that it is said, when hewas conducted to the hill from which Jerusalem was to be seen, hecould not bear to look at it. He held his shield up before his eyes toshut out the sight of it, and said that he was not worthy to look uponthe city, since he had shown himself unable to redeem it. 

There was a council of war held to consider what it was best to do. Itwas a council of perplexity and despair. Nobody could tell what itwas best to do. To go back was disgrace. To go forward wasdestruction; and it was impossible for them to remain where they were. 

In his desperation Richard conceived of a new plan, that of marchingsouthward and seizing Cairo. The Saracens derived almost all thestores of provisions for the use of their armies from Cairo, andHebron was on the road to it. The way was open for Richard's army tomarch in that direction, and, by carrying this plan into execution, they would, at least, get something to eat. Besides, it would be amode of withdrawing from Jerusalem that would not be quite a retreat. Still, these reasons were wholly insufficient to justify such ameasure, and it is not probable that Richard seriously entertained theplan. It is much more likely that he proposed the idea of a march uponCairo as a means of amusing the minds of his knights and soldiers, anddiminishing the extreme disappointment and vexation which they musthave felt in relinquishing the plan of an attack upon Jerusalem, andthat he intended, after proceeding a short distance on the way towardEgypt, to find some pretext for turning down toward the sea-shore, andre-establishing himself in his cities on the coast. 

At any rate, whether it was the original plan or not, such was theresult. As soon as the encampment was broken up, and the armycommenced its march, and the troops learned that the hope ofrecovering the Holy Sepulchre, and all the other lofty aspirations anddesires which had led them so far, and through so many hardships anddangers, were now to be abandoned, they were first enraged, and thenthey sank into a condition of utter recklessness and despair. Alldiscipline was at an end. No one seemed now to care what became of theexpedition or of themselves. The French soldiers, under the Duke ofBurgundy, revolted openly, and declared they would go no farther. Thetroops from Germany joined them. So Richard gave up the plan, orseemed to give it up, and gave orders to march to Acre; and there, atlast, the army arrived in a state of almost utter dissolution. 

In a short time the news came to them that Saladin had followed themdown, and had seized upon Jaffa. He had taken the town, and shut upthe garrison in the citadel, whither they had fled for safety; andtidings came that, unless Richard very soon came to the rescue, thecitadel would be compelled to surrender. 

Richard immediately ordered that all the troops that were in acondition to march should set out immediately, to proceed down thecoast from Acre to Jaffa. He himself, he said, would hasten on by sea, for the wind was fair, and a part of his force, all that he had shipsenough in readiness to convey, could go much quicker by water than byland, besides the advantage of being fresh on their arrival for anattack on the enemy. So he assembled as many ships as could be gotready, and embarked a select body of troops on board of them. Therewere seven of the ships. He took the command of one of them himself. The Duke of Burgundy, with the French troops under his command, refused to go. 

The little fleet set sail immediately and ran down the coast veryrapidly. When they came to Jaffa they found that the town was reallyin possession of the Saracens, and that large bodies of the enemy wereassembled on the shore to prevent the landing of Richard's forces. This array appeared so formidable that all the knights and officers onboard the ships urged Richard not to attempt to attack them, but towait until the body of the army should arrive by land. 

But Richard was desperate and reckless. He declared that he _would_land; and he uttered an awful imprecation against those who shouldhesitate to follow him. He brought the boats up as near the shore aspossible, and then, with his battle-axe in his right hand, and hisshield hung about his neck, so as to have his left hand at liberty, heleaped into the water, calling upon the rest to come on. They allfollowed his example, and, as soon as they gained the shore, they madea dreadful onset upon the Saracens that were gathered on the beach. The Saracens were driven back. Richard made such havoc among them withhis battle-axe, and the men following him were made so resolute andreckless by his example, that the ranks of the enemy were brokenthrough, and they fled in all directions. 

Richard and his men then rushed on to the gates of the town, andalmost before the Saracens who were in possession of them couldrecover from their surprise, the gates were seized, those who had beenstationed at them were slain or driven away, and then Richard and histroops, rushing through, closed them, and the Saracens that werewithin the town were shut in. They were soon all overpowered andslain, and thus the possession of the town was recovered. 

But this was not the end, as Richard and his men knew full well. Though they had possession of the town itself, they were surrounded bya great army of Saracens, that were hovering around them on the plain, and rapidly increasing in numbers; for Saladin had sent orders to theinterior directing all possible assistance to be sent to him. Richardhimself, on the other hand, was hourly expecting the arrival of themain body of his troops by land. 

They arrived the next day, and then came on the great contest. Richard's troops, on their arrival, attacked the Saracens fromwithout, while he himself, issuing from the gates, assaulted them fromthe side next the town. The Crusaders fought with the utmostdesperation. They knew very well that it was the crisis of their fate. To lose that battle was to lose all. The Saracens, on the other hand, were not under any such urgent pressure. If overpowered, they couldretire again to the mountains, and be as secure as before. 

They _were_ overpowered. The battle was fought long and obstinately, but at length Richard was victorious, and the Saracens were driven offthe ground. 

[Illustration: SALADIN'S PRESENT. ]

Various accounts are given by the different writers who havenarrated the history of this crusade, of a present of a horse made bySaladin to Richard in the course of the war, and the incident has beenoften commented upon as an evidence of the high and generoussentiments which animated the combatants in this terrible crusade intheir personal feelings toward each other. One of the stories makesthe case an incident of this battle. The Saracens, flying from thefield, came to Saladin, who was watching the contest, and, inconversation with him, they pointed out Richard, who was standingamong his knights on a small rising ground. 

"Why, he is on foot!" exclaimed Saladin. Richard _was_ on foot. Hisfavorite charger, Favelle, was killed under him that morning, and ashe had come from Acre in haste and by sea, there was no other horse athand to supply his place. 

Saladin immediately said that that was not as it should be. "The Kingof England, " said he, "should not fight on foot like a commonsoldier. " He immediately sent over to Richard, with a flag of truce, two splendid horses. King Richard accepted the present, and during theremainder of the day he fought on one of the horses which his enemyhad thus sent him. 

One account adds a romantic embellishment to this story by saying thatSaladin sent only one horse at first--the one that he supposed mostworthy of being sent as a gift from one sovereign to another; but thatRichard, before mounting him himself, directed one of his knights tomount him and give him trial. The knight found the horse whollyunmanageable. The animal took the bits between his teeth and gallopedfuriously back to the camp of Saladin, carrying his rider with him, ahelpless prisoner. Saladin was exceedingly chagrined at this result;he was afraid Richard might suppose that he sent him an unruly horsefrom a treacherous design to do him some injury. He accordinglyreceived the knight who had been borne so unwillingly to his camp inthe most courteous manner, and providing another horse for him, hedismissed him with presents. He also sent a second horse to Richard, more beautiful than the first, and one which he caused Richard to beassured that he might rely upon as perfectly well trained. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

THE TRUCE. 

1192

Richard and Saladin agree upon a three years' truce. --Richard'sreason for this course. --The treaty. --The coast. --Ascalon to bedismantled. --Pilgrims to Jerusalem protected. --Events consequentupon the truce. --Visiting the Holy City. --Saladin restrainingthe Saracens from revenge. --The visit of the bishop toJerusalem. --Saladin's just opinion of King Richard. --Theinstitution for the entertainment of pilgrims. 

The result of the battle of Jaffa greatly strengthened and improvedthe condition of the Crusaders, and in the same proportion it weakenedand discouraged Saladin and the Saracens. But, after all, instead ofgiving to either party the predominance, it only placed them morenearly on a footing of equality than before. It began to be prettyplain that neither of the contending parties was strong enough, orwould soon be likely to be strong enough to accomplish its purposes. Richard could not take Jerusalem from Saladin, nor could Saladin driveRichard out of the Holy Land. 

In this state of things, it was finally agreed upon between Richardand Saladin that a truce should be made. The negotiations for thistruce were protracted through several weeks, and the summer was gonebefore it was concluded. It was a truce for a long period, theduration of it being more than three years. Still, it was strictly atruce, not a peace, since a termination was assigned to it. 

Richard preferred to make a truce rather than a peace for the sake ofappearances at home. He did not wish that it should be understoodthat, in leaving the Holy Land and returning home, he abandoned alldesign of recovering the Holy Sepulchre. He allowed three years, onthe supposition that that would be time enough for him to return home, to set every thing in order in his dominions, to organize a newcrusade on a larger scale, and to come back again. In the mean time, he reserved, by a stipulation of the treaty, the right to occupy, bysuch portion of his army as he should leave behind, the portion ofterritory on the coast which he had conquered, and which he then held, with the exception of one of the cities, which one he was to give up. The terms of the treaty, in detail, were as follows:

 STIPULATIONS OF THE TREATY. 

 1. The three great cities of Tyre, Acre, and Jaffa, with all the smaller towns and castles on the coast between them, with the territory adjoining, were to be left in the possession of the Christians, and Saladin bound himself that they should not be attacked or molested in any way there during the continuance of the truce. 

 2. Ascalon, which lay farther to the south, and was not necessary for the uses of Richard's army, was to be given up; but Saladin was to pay, on receiving it, the estimated cost which Richard had incurred in rebuilding the fortifications. Saladin, however, was not to occupy it himself as a fortified town. It was to be so far dismantled as only to be used as a commercial city. 

 3. The Christians bound themselves to remain within their territory in peace, to make no excursions from it for warlike purposes into the interior, nor in any manner to injure or oppress the inhabitants of the surrounding country. 

 4. All persons who might desire to go to Jerusalem in a peaceful way as visitors or pilgrims, whether they were knights or soldiers belonging to the army, or actual pilgrims arriving at Acre from the different Christian countries of Europe, were to be allowed to pass freely to and fro, and Saladin bound himself to protect them from all harm. 

 5. The truce thus agreed upon was to continue in force three years, three months, three weeks, three days, and three hours; and at the end of that time, each party was released from all obligations arising under the treaty, and either was at liberty immediately to resume the war. 

The signing of the treaty was the signal for general rejoicing in alldivisions of the army. One of the first fruits of it was that theknights and soldiers all immediately began to form parties forvisiting Jerusalem. It was obvious that all could not go at once; andRichard told the French soldiers who were under the Duke of Burgundythat he did not think they were entitled to go at all. They had donenothing, he said, to help on the war, but every thing to embarrass andimpede it, and now he thought that they did not deserve to enjoy anyshare of the fruits of it. 

Three large parties were formed and they proceeded, one after theother, to visit the Holy City. There was some difficulty in respect tothe first party, and it required all Saladin's authority to protectthem from insult or injury by the Saracen people. The animosity andanger which they had been so long cherishing against these invaders oftheir country had not had time to subside, and many of them were veryeager to avenge the wrongs which they had suffered. The friends andrelatives of the hostages whom Richard had massacred at Acre wereparticularly excited. They came in a body to Saladin's palace, and, falling on their knees before him, begged and implored him to allowthem to take their revenge on the inhuman murderers, now that they hadthem in their power; but Saladin would not listen to them a moment. Herefused their prayer in the most absolute and positive manner, and hetook very effectual measures for protecting the party of Christiansduring the whole duration of their visit. 

The question being thus settled that the Christian visitors toJerusalem were to be protected, the excitement among the peoplegradually subsided; and, indeed, before long, the current of feelinginclined the other way, so that, when the second party arrived, theywere received with great kindness. Perhaps the first party had takencare to conduct themselves in such a manner during their visit, and ingoing and returning, as to conciliate the good-will of their enemies. At any rate, after their visit there was no difficulty, and many inthe camp, who had been too distrustful of Saracenic faith to venturewith them, now began to join the other parties that were forming, forall had a great curiosity to see the city for the sake of which theyhad encountered so many dangers and toils. 

With the third party a bishop ventured to go. It was far moredangerous for a high dignitary of the Christian Church to join such anexpedition than for a knight or a common soldier, both because such aman was a more obnoxious object of Mohammedan fanaticism, and thusmore likely, perhaps, to be attacked, and also because, in case of anattack, being unarmed and defenseless, he would be unable to protecthimself, and be less able even to act efficiently in making his escapethan a military man, who, as such, was accustomed to all sorts ofsurprises and frays. 

The bishop, however, experienced no difficulty. On the contrary, hewas received with marks of great distinction. Saladin made specialarrangements to do him honor. He invited him to his palace, and theretreated him with great respect, and held a long conversation with him. In the course of the conversation Saladin desired to know what wascommonly said of him in the Christian camp. 

"What is the common opinion in your army, " he asked, "in respect toRichard and to me?"

He wished to know which was regarded as the greatest hero. 

"My king, " replied the bishop, "is regarded the first of all menliving, both in regard to his valorous deeds and to the generosity ofhis character. That I can not deny. But your fame also is very exaltedamong us; and it is the universal opinion in our army that if you wereonly converted to Christianity, there would not be in the world twosuch princes as Richard and you. "

In the course of further conversation Saladin admitted that Richardwas a great hero, and said that he had a great admiration for him. 

"But then, " he added, "he does wrong, and acts very unwisely, inexposing himself so recklessly to personal danger, when there is nosufficient end in view to justify it. To act thus evinces rashness andrecklessness rather than true courage. For myself, I prefer thereputation of wisdom and prudence rather than that of mere blind andthoughtless daring. "

The bishop, in his conversation with Saladin, represented to him thatit was necessary for the comfort of the pilgrims who should from timeto time visit Jerusalem that there should be some public establishmentto receive and entertain them, and he asked the sultan's permissionto found such institutions. Saladin acceded to this request, andmeasures were immediately adopted by the bishop to carry thearrangement into effect. 

Richard himself did not visit Jerusalem. The reason he assigned forthis was that he was sick at the time. Perhaps the real reason wasthat he could not endure the humiliation of paying a visit, by themere permission of an enemy, to the city which he had so long set hisheart upon entering triumphantly as a conqueror. 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE DEPARTURE FROM PALESTINE. 

1192

Richard's reasons for returning home. --Causes of internaldissension in England and Normandy. --Longchamp's disguise. --Hisescape from England. --Philip's oath broken. --Pretext for invadingNormandy. --Proposed marriage of John and Alice. --Richard's returnunannounced. --Sailing from Palestine. --Richard's apostrophe to theHoly Land. 

One of the chief objects which Richard had in view in concluding thetruce with Saladin was to be able to have an honorable pretext forleaving the Holy Land and setting out on his return to England. He hadreceived many letters from his mother urging him to come, and givinghim alarming accounts of the state of things both in England andNormandy. 

In England, the reader will perhaps recollect that Richard, when heset out on the Crusade, had appointed his brother John regent, inconnection with his mother Eleanora, but that he had also, in order toraise money, appointed several noblemen of high standing and influenceto offices of responsibility, which they were to exercise, in a greatmeasure, independent of John. And, not content with appointing asuitable number of these officers, he multiplied them unnecessarily, and in some instances conveyed the same jurisdiction, as it were, todifferent persons, thus virtually selling the same office to twodifferent men. Of course, this was not done openly and avowedly. Thetransactions were more or less covered up and concealed underdifferent disguises. For example, after selling the post of chiefjusticiary, which was an office of great power and emolument, to onenobleman, and receiving as much money for it as the nobleman waswilling to pay, he afterward appointed other noblemen as assistantjusticiaries, exacting, of course, a large sum of money from each ofthem, and granting them, in consideration of it, much the same powersas he had bestowed upon the chief justiciary. Of course, such aproceeding as this could only result in continual contentions andquarrels among the appointees, to break out as soon as Richard shouldbe gone. But the king cared little for that, so long as he could getthe money. 

The quarrels did break out immediately after Richard sailed. Therewere various parties to them. There were Eleanora and John, eachclaiming to be the regent. Then there were two powerful noblemen, bothmaintaining that they had been invested with the supreme power byvirtue of the offices which they held. The name of one of them wasLongchamp. He contrived to place himself, for a time, quite at thehead of affairs, and the whole country was distracted by the warswhich were waged between him and his partisans and the partisans ofJohn. Longchamp was at last defeated, and was obliged to fly from thekingdom in disguise. He was found one day by some fishermen's wives, on the beach near Dover, in the disguise of an old woman, with a rollof cloth under his arm, and a yard-stick in his hand. He was waitingfor a boat which was to take him across the Channel into France. Hedisguised himself in that way that he might not be known, and whenseen from behind the metamorphosis was almost complete. The women, however, observed something suspicious in the appearance of thefigure, and so contrived to come nearer and get a peep under thebonnet, and there they saw the black beard and whiskers of a man. 

Notwithstanding this discovery, Longchamp succeeded in making hisescape. 

As to Normandy, Richard's interests were in still greater danger thanin England. King Philip had taken the most solemn oaths before he leftthe Holy Land, by which he bound himself not to molest any ofRichard's dominions, or to take any steps hostile to him, whilehe--that is, Richard--remained away; and that if he should have anycause of quarrel against him, he would abstain from all attempts toenforce his rights until at least six months after Richard's return. It was only on condition of this agreement that Richard would consentto remain in Palestine in command of the Crusade, and allow Philip toreturn. 

But, notwithstanding this solemn agreement, and all the oaths by whichit was confirmed, no sooner was Philip safe in France than hecommenced operations against Richard's dominions. He began to makearrangements for an invasion of some of Richard's territories inNormandy, under pretext of taking possession again of Alice's dower, which it was agreed, by the treaty made at Messina, should be restoredto him. But it had also been agreed at that treaty that the time forthe restoration of the dowry should be after Richard's return, so thatthe plans of invasion which Philip was now forming involved clearly avery gross breach of faith, committed without any pretense orjustification whatever. This instance, and multitudes of others likeit to be found in the histories of those times, show how little therewas that was genuine and reliable in the lofty sense of honor oftenso highly lauded as one of the characteristics of chivalry. 

In justice, however, to all concerned, it must be stated that Philip'sknights and nobles remonstrated so earnestly against this breach offaith, that Philip was compelled to give up his plan, and to contenthimself in his operations against Richard with secret intriguesinstead of open war. As he knew that John was endeavoring to supplantRichard in his kingdom, he sent to him and proposed to join him inthis plan, and to help him carry it into execution; and he offered himthe hand of Alice, the princess whom Richard had discarded, to sealand secure the alliance. John was quite pleased with this proposal;and information of these intrigues, more or less definite, came toRichard in Palestine about the time of the battle of Jaffa, fromEleanora, who contrived in some way to find out what was going on. Thetidings threw Richard into a fever of anxiety to leave Palestine andreturn home. 

It was about the first of October that Richard set sail from Acre onhis return, with a small squadron containing his immediate attendants. He himself embarked in a war-ship. The queens, taking with them thecaptive princess of Cyprus and the other members of their family, went as they came, in a vessel specially arranged for them, and underthe care of their old protector, Stephen of Turnham. The queensembarked first in their vessel and sailed away. Richard followed soonafterward. His plan was to leave the coast as quietly and in asprivate a manner as possible. If it were to be understood in Franceand England that he was on his return, he did not know what plansmight be formed to intercept him. So he kept his departure as much aspossible a secret, and the more completely to carry out this design, he gave up for the voyage all his royal style and pretensions, anddressed himself as a simple knight. 

The vessels slipped away from the coast, one after another, in theevening, in a manner to attract as little attention as possible. Theymade but little progress during the night. In the morning the shorewas still in view, though fast disappearing. Richard gazed upon it ashe stood on the deck of his galley, and then took leave of it bystretching out his hands and exclaiming, "Most holy land, farewell! I commend thee to God's keeping and care. May He give me life and health to return and rescue thee from thehands of the infidel. "

The effect of this apostrophe on the by-standers, and on those to whomthe by-standers reported it, was excellent, and it was probably forthe sake of this effect that Richard uttered it. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

RICHARD MADE CAPTIVE. 

1192

The returning Crusaders met by a storm. --Richard's sudden changeof course. --His route homeward. --King Richard traveling indisguise of a pilgrim. --Richard's enemies in Germany. --Fanciedsecurity. --Richard solicits a passport. --Maynard's answer. --Thealarm given. --King Richard's flight through Germany. --Richardconcealed near Vienna. --His messenger. --Torturing themessenger. --The king a captive. --The archduke imprisons Richardin Tiernsteign. --The emperor buys the prisoner. 

It was now late in the season, and the autumnal gales had begun toblow. It was but a very short time after the vessels left the portbefore so severe a storm came on that the fleet was dispersed, andmany of the vessels were driven upon the neighboring coasts anddestroyed. The Crusaders that had been left in Acre and Jaffa wererather pleased at this than otherwise. They had been indignant atRichard and the knights who were with him for having left them, toreturn home, and they said now that the storm was a judgment fromHeaven against the men on board the vessels for abandoning their work, and going away from the Holy Land, and leaving the tomb and the crossof Christ unredeemed. Some of the ships, it is said, were thrown onthe coasts of Africa, and the seamen and knights, as fast as theyescaped to the shore, were seized and made slaves. 

Richard's ship, and also the one in which the queens were embarked, being stronger and better manned than the others, weathered the gale. After it was over, the queens' vessel steered for Sicily, where, indue time, they arrived in safety. 

Richard did not intend to trust himself to go to any place where hewas known. Accordingly, as soon as he found himself fairly separatedfrom all the other vessels, he suddenly changed his course, and turnednorthward toward the mouth of the Adriatic Sea. He landed at theisland of Corfu. [G] Here he dismissed his ship, and took three smallgalleys instead, to go up to the head of the Adriatic Sea, and thenceto make his way homeward by land through the heart of Germany. 

[Footnote G: For the situation of this island, see the map on page164. ]

He probably thought that this was the safest and best course that hecould take. He did not dare to go through France for fear of Philip. To go all the way by sea, which would require him to sail out throughthe Straits of Gibraltar into the Atlantic, would require altogethertoo long and dangerous a voyage for so late a season of the year. Theonly alternative left was to attempt to pass through Germany; and, asthe German powers were hostile to him, it was not safe for him toundertake this unless he went in disguise. 

So he sailed in the three galleys which he procured in Corfu to thehead of the Adriatic Sea, and landed at a place called Zara. Here heput on the dress of a pilgrim. He had suffered his hair and beard togrow long, and this, with the flowing robes of his pilgrim's dress, and the crosier which he bore in his hand, completed his disguise. 

But, though he might make himself _look_ like a pilgrim, he could notact like one. He was well provided with money, and his mode ofspending it, though it might have been, perhaps, very sparing for aking, was very lavish for a pilgrim; and the people, as he passedalong, wondered who the party of strangers could be. Partly to accountfor the comparative ease and comfort with which he traveled, Richardpretended that he was a merchant, and, though making his pilgrimage onfoot, was by no means poor. 

Richard knew very well that he was incurring a great risk inattempting to pass through Germany in this way, for the country wasfull of his foes. The Emperor of Germany was his special enemy, onaccount of his having supported Tancred's cause in Sicily, theemperor himself, as the husband of the Lady Constance, having beendesignated by the former King of Sicily as his successor. Richard'sroute led, too, through the dominions of the Archduke of Austria, whomhe had quarreled with and incensed so bitterly in the Holy Land. Besides this, there were various chieftains in that part of thecountry, relatives of Conrad of Montferrat, whom every body believedthat Richard had caused to be murdered. 

Richard was thus passing through a country full of enemies, and hemight naturally be supposed to feel some anxiety about the result;but, instead of proceeding cautiously, and watching against thedangers that beset him, he went on quite at his ease, believing thathis good fortune would carry him safely through. 

He went on for some days, traveling by lonely roads through themountains, until at length he approached a large town. The governor ofthe town was a man named Maynard, a near relative of Conrad, and itseems that in some way or other he had learned that Richard wasreturning to England, and had reason to suppose that he might endeavorto pass that way. Richard did not think it prudent to attempt to gothrough the town without a passport, so he sent forward a page whom hehad in his party to get one. He gave the page a very valuable rubyring to present to the governor, directing him to say that it was apresent from a pilgrim merchant, who, with a priest and a few otherattendants, was traveling through the country, and wished forpermission to go through his town. 

The governor took the ring, and after examining it attentively andobserving its value, he said to the page, "This is not the present of a pilgrim, but of a prince. Tell yourmaster that I know who he is. He is Richard, King of England. Nevertheless, he may come and go in peace. "

Richard was very much alarmed when the page brought back the message. That very night he procured horses for himself and one or two others, and drove on as fast as he could go, leaving the rest of the partybehind. The next day those that were left were all taken prisoners, and the news was noised abroad over the country that King Richard waspassing through in disguise, and a large reward was offered by thegovernment for his apprehension. Of course, now every body was on thewatch for him. 

The king, however, succeeded in avoiding observation and going on somedistance farther, until at length, at a certain town where he stopped, he was seen by a knight who had known him in Normandy. The knight atonce recognized him, but would not betray him. On the contrary, heconcealed him for the night, and provided for him a fresh horse thenext day. This horse was a fleet one, so that Richard could gallopaway upon him and make his escape, in case of any sudden surprise. Here Richard dismissed all his remaining attendants except his page, and they two set out together. 

They traveled three days and three nights, pursuing the most retiredroads that they could find, and not entering any house during all thattime. The only rest that they got was by halting at lonely places bythe road side, in the forests, or among the mountains. In these placesRichard would remain concealed, while the boy went to a village, ifthere was any village near, to buy food. He generally got very little, and sometimes none at all. The horse ate whatever he could find. Thus, at the end of the three days, they were all nearly starved. 

Besides this, they had lost their way, and were now drawing near tothe great city of Vienna, the most dangerous place for Richard toapproach in all the land. He was, however, exhausted with hunger andfatigue, and from these and other causes he fell sick, so that hecould proceed no farther. So he went into a small village near thetown, and sent the boy in to the market to buy something to eat, andalso to procure some other comforts which he greatly needed. Thepeople in the town observed the peculiar dress of the boy, and hisforeign air, and their attention was still more excited by noticinghow plentifully he was supplied with money. They asked him who he was. He said he was the servant of a foreign merchant who was travelingthrough the country, and who had been taken sick near by. 

The people seemed satisfied with this explanation, and so they let theboy go. 

Richard was so exhausted and so sick that he could not travel againimmediately, and so he had occasion, in a day or two, to send the boyinto town again. This continued for some days, and the curiosity ofthe people became more and more awakened. At last they observed aboutthe page some articles of dress such as were only worn by attendantsupon kings. It is surprising that Richard should have been sothoughtless as to have allowed him to wear them. But such was hischaracter. The people finally seized the boy, and the authoritiesordered him to be whipped to make him tell who he was. The boy borethe pain very heroically, but at length they threatened to put him tothe torture, and, among other things, to cut out his tongue, if he didnot tell. He was so terrified by this that at last he confessed thetruth and told them where they might find the king. 

A band of soldiers was immediately sent to seize him. The story isthat Richard, at the time when the soldiers arrived, was in thekitchen turning the spit to roast the dinner. After surrounding thehouse to prevent the possibility of an escape, the soldiers demandedat the door if King Richard was there. The man answered, "No, notunless the Templar was he who was turning the spit in the kitchen. " Sothe soldiers went in to see. The leader exclaimed, "Yes, that is he:take him!" But Richard seized his sword, and, rushing to a positionwhere he could defend himself, declared to the soldiers that he wouldnot surrender to any but their chief. So the soldiers, deeming itdesirable to take him alive, paused until they could send for thearchduke. The archduke had left the Holy Land and returned home sometime before. Richard, however, did not probably know that he waspassing through his dominions. 

When the archduke came, Richard, knowing that resistance would be ofno avail, delivered up his sword and became a prisoner. 

"You are very fortunate, " said Leopold. "In becoming my prisoner, youought to consider yourself as having fallen into the hands of adeliverer rather than an enemy. If you had been taken by any ofConrad's friends, who are hunting for you every where, you would havebeen instantly torn to pieces, they are so indignant against you. "

When the archduke had thus secured Richard, he sent him, for safekeeping, to a castle in the country belonging to one of his barons, and gave notice to the emperor of what had occurred. The name of thecastle in which Richard was confined was Tiernsteign. 

As soon as the emperor heard that Richard was taken he was overjoyed. He immediately sent to Leopold, the archduke, and claimed the prisoneras his. 

[Illustration: CASTLE AND TOWN OF TIERNSTEIGN. ]

"_You_ can not rightfully hold him, " said he. "A duke can notpresume to imprison a king; that duty belongs to an emperor. "

But the archduke was not willing to give Richard up. A negotiationwas, however, opened, and finally he consented to sell his prisonerfor a large sum of money. The emperor took him away, and what he didwith him for a long time nobody knew. 

In the mean while, during the period occupied by the voyage of Richardup the Adriatic, by his long and slow journey by land, and by the timeof his imprisonment in Tiernsteign, the winter had passed away, and itwas now the spring of 1193. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE RETURN TO ENGLAND. 

1193-1199

Conjectures of Richard's friends. --Queen Berengaria inRome. --Richard in prison. --He is discovered byBlondel. --Berengaria's distress at the loss of her husband. --Thepeople of England sympathize with Richard. --King Richard arraignedbefore the German Diet. --The six charges against theking. --Richard's ransom to be divided between the emperor and thearchduke. --Richard finally reaches England. --Flight of John. --Theexpedition to Normandy. --Ill treatment of Berengaria. --Richard'sreckless immoralities. --A warning. --Sudden illness. --Recovery. --Thepeasant's discovery of hidden treasures. --Videmar denies thestory. --Richard shot by Bertrand's arrow. --King Richard'sreign. --The character of the "lion-hearted. "

During all this time the people of England were patiently waiting forRichard's return, and wondering what had become of him. They knew thathe had sailed from Palestine in October, and various were theconjectures as to his fate. Some thought that he had been shipwrecked;others, that he had fallen into the hands of the Moors; but all wasuncertainty, for no tidings had been heard of him since he sailed fromAcre. Berengaria had arrived safely at Messina, and after remainingthere a little time she proceeded on her journey, under the care ofStephen, as far as Rome, very anxious all the time about her husband. Here she stopped, not daring to go any farther. She felt safe in Rome, under the protection of the Pope. 

The emperor attempted to keep Richard's imprisonment a secret. Onremoving him from Tiernsteign, he shut him up in one of his owncastles on the Danube named Durenstein. Here the king was closelyimprisoned. He did not, however, yield to any depression of spirits inview of his hard fate, but spent his time in composing and singingsongs, and in drinking and carousing with the people of the castle. Here he remained during the spring and summer of 1193, and all theworld were wondering what had become of him. 

At length rumors began gradually to circulate in respect to him amongthe neighboring countries, and the conduct of the emperor, in seizingand imprisoning him, was very generally condemned. How theintelligence first reached England is not precisely known. One storyis, that a celebrated Troubadour, named Blondel, who had known Richardin Palestine, was traveling through Germany, and in his journey hepassed along the road in front of the castle where Richard wasconfined. As he went he was singing one of his songs. Richard knew thesong, and so, when the Troubadour had finished a stanza, he sang thenext one through the bars of his prison window. Blondel recognized thevoice, and instantly understood that Richard had been made a prisoner. He, however, said nothing, but went on, and immediately took measuresto make known in England what he had learned. 

Another account is, that the emperor himself wrote to Philip, King ofFrance, informing him of the King of England's imprisonment in one ofhis castles, and that some person betrayed a copy of this letter toRichard's friends in England. 

It is said that Berengaria received the first intimation in respect toRichard's fate by seeing a belt of jewels offered for sale in Romewhich she knew he had had about his person when he left Acre. She madeall the inquiry that she could in respect to the belt, but she couldonly learn that Richard must be somewhere in Germany. It was a reliefto her mind to find that he was alive, but she was greatly distressedto think that he was probably a prisoner, and she implored the Pope tointerpose his aid and procure his release. The Pope did interpose. Heimmediately excommunicated Leopold for having seized Richard andimprisoned him, and he threatened to excommunicate the emperor himselfif he did not release him. 

In the mean time, the tidings in respect to Richard's situationproduced a great excitement throughout England. John was glad to hearit, and he hoped most devoutly that his brother would never bereleased. He immediately began to take measures, in concert withPhilip, to secure the crown to himself. The people, on the other hand, were very indignant against the Emperor of Germany, and every one waseager to take some efficient measures to secure the king's release. Agreat meeting was called of the barons, the bishops, and all the greatofficers of the realm, at Oxford, where, when they had assembled, theyrenewed their oaths of allegiance to their sovereign, and thenappointed a delegation, consisting of two abbots, to go and visit theking, and confer with him in respect to what was best to be done. Theychose two ecclesiastics for their messengers, thinking that they wouldbe more likely to be allowed to go and come without molestation, thanknights or barons, or any other military men. 

The abbots proceeded to Germany, and there the first interview whichthey had with Richard was on the road, as the emperor was taking himto the capital in order to bring him before a great assembly of theempire, called the Diet, for the purpose of trial. 

Richard was overjoyed to see his friends. He was, however, very muchvexed when he heard from them of the plans which John and Philip wereengaged in for dispossessing him of his kingdom. He said, however, that he had very little fear of any thing that they could do. 

"My brother John, " said he, "has not courage enough to accomplish anything. He never will get a kingdom by his valor. "

When he arrived at the town where the Diet was to be held, Richard hadan interview with the emperor. The emperor had two objects in view indetaining Richard a prisoner. One was to prevent his having it in hispower to help Tancred in keeping him, the emperor, out of possessionof the kingdom of Sicily, and the other was to obtain, when he shouldset him at liberty at last, a large sum of money for a ransom. When hetold Richard what sum of money he would take, Richard refused theoffer, saying that he would die rather than degrade his crown bysubmitting to such terms, and impoverishing his kingdom in raising themoney. 

The emperor then, in order to bring a heavier pressure to bear uponhim, arraigned him before a Diet as a criminal. The following were thecharges which he brought against him:

 1. That he had formed an alliance with Tancred, the usurper of Sicily, and thus made himself a partaker in Tancred's crimes. 

 2. That he had invaded the dominions of Isaac, the Christian king of Cyprus, deposed the king, laid waste his dominions, and plundered his treasures; and, finally, had sent the unhappy king to pine away and die in a Syrian dungeon. 

 3. That, while in the Holy Land, he had offered repeated and unpardonable insults to the Archduke of Austria, and, through him, to the whole German nation. 

 4. That he had been the cause of the failure of the Crusade, in consequence of the quarrels which he had excited between himself and the French king by his domineering and violent behavior. 

 5. That he had employed assassins to murder Conrad of Montferrat. 

 6. That, finally, he had betrayed the Christian cause by concluding a base truce with Saladin, and leaving Jerusalem in his hands. 

It is possible that the motive which led the emperor to make thesecharges against Richard was not any wish or design to have himconvicted and punished, but only to impress him more strongly with asense of the danger of his situation, with a view of bringing him toconsent to the payment of a ransom. At any rate, the trial resultedin nothing but a negotiation in respect to the amount of ransom-moneyto be paid. 

Finally, a sum was agreed upon. Richard was sent back to his prison, and the abbots returned to England to see what could be done inrespect to raising the money. 

The people of England undertook the task not only with willingness, but with alacrity. The amount required was nearly a million ofdollars, which, in those days, was a very large sum even for a kingdomto pay. The amount was to be paid in silver. Two thirds of it was togo to the emperor, and the other third to the archduke, who, when hesold his prisoner to the emperor, had reserved a right to a portion ofthe ransom-money whenever it should be paid. 

As soon as two thirds of the whole amount was paid, Richard was to bereleased on condition of his giving hostages as security for theremainder. 

It took a long time to raise all this money, and variousembarrassments were created in the course of the transaction by theemperor's bad faith, for he changed his terms from time to time, demanding more and more as he found that the interest which thepeople of England took in the case would bear. At last, however, inFebruary, 1194, about two years after Richard was first imprisoned, asufficient sum arrived to make up the first payment, and Richard wasset free. 

After meeting with various adventures on his journey home, he arrivedon the English coast about the middle of March. 

The people of the country were filled with joy at hearing of hisreturn, and they gave him a magnificent reception. One of the Germanbarons who came home with him said, when he saw the enthusiasm of thepeople, that if the emperor had known how much interested in his fatethe people of England were, he would not have let him off with sosmall a ransom. 

John was, of course, in great terror when he heard that Richard wascoming home. He abandoned every thing and fled to Normandy. Richardissued a decree that if he did not come back and give himself upwithin forty days, his estates should all be confiscated. John wasthrown into a state of great perplexity by this, and did not know whatto do. 

As soon as Richard had arranged his affairs a little in England, hedetermined to be crowned again anew, as if his two years of captivityhad broken the continuity of his reign. Accordingly, a new coronationwas arranged, and it was celebrated, as the first one had been, withthe greatest pomp and splendor. 

After this Richard determined to proceed to Normandy, with a view ofthere making war upon Philip and punishing him for his treachery. Onhis landing in Normandy, John came to him in a most abject andsubmissive manner, and, throwing himself at his feet, begged hisforgiveness. Eleanora joined him in the petition. Richard said that, out of regard to his mother's wishes, he would pardon him. 

"And I hope, " said he, "that I shall as easily forget the injuries hehas done me as he will forget my forbearance in pardoning him. "

Poor Berengaria was very illy rewarded for the devotion which she hadmanifested to her husband's interests, and for the efforts she hadmade to secure his release. She had come home from Rome a short timebefore her husband arrived, but he, when he came, manifested nointerest in rejoining her. Instead of that, he connected himself witha number of wicked associates, both male and female, whom he had knownbefore he went to the Holy Land, and lived a life of open profligacywith them, leaving Berengaria to pine in neglect, alone and forsaken. She was almost heart-broken to be thus abandoned, and several of theprincipal ecclesiastics of the kingdom remonstrated very strongly withRichard for this wicked conduct. But these remonstrances were of noavail. Richard abandoned himself more and more to drunkenness andprofligacy, until at length his character became truly infamous. 

One day in 1195, when he was hunting in the forest of Normandy, he wasmet by a hermit, who boldly expostulated with him on account of thewickedness of his life. The hermit told him that, by the course he waspursuing, he was grievously offending God, and that, unless he stoppedshort in his course and repented of his sins, he was doomed to bebrought very soon to a miserable end by a special judgment fromheaven. 

The king pretended not to pay much attention to this prophecy, but notlong afterward he was suddenly seized with a severe illness, and thenhe became exceedingly alarmed. He sent for all the monks and priestswithin ten miles around to come to him, and began to confess his sinswith apparently very deep compunction for them, and begged them topray for God's forgiveness. He promised them solemnly that, if Godwould spare his life, he would return to Berengaria, and thenceforthbe a true and faithful husband to her as long as he lived. 

He recovered from his sickness, and he so far kept the vows which hehad made as to seek a reconciliation with Berengaria, and to live withher afterward, ostensibly at least, on good terms. 

For three years after this Richard was engaged in wars with Philipchiefly on the frontiers between France and Normandy. At last, in themidst of this contest, he suddenly came to his death undercircumstances of a remarkable character. He had heard that a peasantin the territory of one of his barons, named Videmar, in plowing inthe field, had come upon a trap-door in the ground which covered andconcealed the entrance to a cave, and that, on going down into thecave, he had found a number of golden statues, with vases full ofdiamonds, and other treasures, and that the whole had been taken outand carried to the Castle Chaluz, belonging to Videmar. Richardimmediately proceeded to Videmar, and demanded that the treasuresshould be given up to him as the sovereign. Videmar replied that therumor which had been spread was false; that nothing had been foundbut a pot of old Roman coins, which Richard was welcome to have, if hedesired them. Richard replied that he did not believe that story; andthat, unless Videmar delivered up the statues and jewels, he wouldstorm the castle. Videmar repeated that he had no statues and jewels, and so Richard brought up his troops and opened the siege. 

During the siege, a knight named Bertrand de Gordon, standing on thewall, and seeing Richard on the ground below in a position where hethought he could reach him with an arrow, drew his bow and took aim. As he shot it he prayed to God to speed it well. The arrow struckRichard in the shoulder. In trying to draw it out they broke theshaft, thus leaving the barb in the wound. Richard was borne to histent, and a surgeon was sent for to cut out the barb. This made thewound greater, and in a short time inflammation set in, mortificationensued, and death drew nigh. When he found that all was over with him, and that his end had come, he was overwhelmed with remorse, and hedied at length in anguish and despair. 

His death took place in the spring of 1199. He had reigned overEngland ten years, though not one of these years had he spent in thatkingdom. 

Berengaria lived afterward for thirty years. 

King Richard the First is known in history as the lion-hearted, andwell did he deserve the name. It is characteristic of the lion to befierce, reckless, and cruel, intent only in pursuing the aims whichhis own lordly and impetuous appetites and passions demand, withoutthe least regard to any rights of others that he may trample underfoot, or to the sufferings that he may inflict on the innocent andhelpless. This was Richard's character precisely, and he was proud ofit. His glory consisted in his reckless and brutal ferocity. Hepretended to be the champion and defender of the cause of Christ, butit is hardly possible to conceive of a character more completelyantagonistic than his to the just, gentle, and forgiving spirit whichthe precepts of Jesus are calculated to form. 

 THE END. 

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters errors, and toensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this etext; otherwise, every effort has been made to remain true to the original book. 

2. The chapter summaries in this text were originally published asbanners in the page headers, and have been moved to beginning of thechapter for the reader's convenience. 

3. Footnote G has been changed to refer the reader to page 164, tocorrect a typesetter's error.