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This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copy order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. A UTHOR : HOLBACH, MAUDE M. TITLE: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF RICHARD COEUR DE LION PLACE: BOSTON DA TE : 1912 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT Master Negative # BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET Restrictions on Use: Original Material as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record m r*m-i .." *' ' I i H69 -.esc r7_i2^_ _ REDUCTION RATIO:__//y IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA C^> IB IIB DATE FILMED:__3r_?5.r5_?_ INITIALS_^^^g^ HLMEDBY: RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS. INC WOODBRIDGE. CT c Association for information and image iManagement 1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1100 Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 301/587-8202 Centimeter Mil IllllllllllllHlllllllllill 2 3 4 iliiiilii 5 6 liiiiliiiili 7 8 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiliiiilii 9 10 iiiiliiiiliiiiliii n 12 13 14 JimlmjJmilMM^ 15 mm m TTT Inches irr I I 1 I 1.0 1^ 2.8 Li V' ■M lllll£Siikf «£ 14.0 l£ li ^ 1.4 2J 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 I.I 1.25 TTT MONUFRCTURED TO flllM STRNDfiRDS BY APPLIED IMRGE. INC. I. "Iff « • 1 w ii: i t'J tt m t ■ • • < -^V^i. i M. J l-fiEBTU LsIj < t -I :• ■*•:* ».'.,"■.*'/; .'it ♦'# •-•-• •'■• •,>-• • • 5*1 » 'k* L Ctrl lIlII,*.iSJ L THE LIBRARIES IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF RICHARD GOEUR DE LION « Noblest of all thy blood, whose Lion name Still lingers, mighty on men's lips and ears : Not all unmindful of thy hazardings, Yet un forgetting of the pride and shame, Across the strange bright blazon of the years I hail thee, Richard, royal among kings." Sonnet to Richard Plantagenet. from the Newdigate Prize Poem won by William Chase Greene, of Balliol College, Oxford (Rhodes Scholar from the State of Massachusetts), 1912. ;/^/;-////^/^v'.v// ./' y^o/i Jt/'fti t'f/yf' t/ tt/ < /. ^rf/.^/ 'it^i^" IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF RICHARD COEUR DE LION I ■ I BY MAUDE M. HOLBACH author of "dalmatia: the land where east meets west" "bosnia and herzegovina" with photogravure frontispiece and 33 other illustrations in half-tone mostly from original photographs by otto holbach BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1912 PREFACE Printed in Great Britain It- \1%V^ In no more fitting spot could I have penned the firat lines of a book which follows the fortunes of Richard Coeur de Lion than in the ancient university town which gave him birth. It was my good fortune when I commenced this work to look across from an Oxford window, hard by the Martyrs' Memorial, to the grey old tower of St. Mary Magdalene rising from its ancient churchyard, and to look upon it with interest kindled by having learnt from Mr. Falconer Madan of the Bodleian Library and Oxford Historical Society that this church still commemor- ates, by the design of the Crescent and the Star upon Its parish seal, the birth of its greatest parishioner and Oxford's greatest citizen. It was my privilege to be shown that portion of the building where the stonework of the twelfth century is still visible (that may have witnessed Richard's baptism) by the present vicar and enthusi- astic archaeologist. Canon Clayton, to whom I am indebted for much interesting information con- cerning Beaumont Palace, where Queen Eleanor gave birth, on 8th September 1157, to the prince, who, in spite of detractors of many nations, still, after a lapse of seven centuries, Uves in men's vi PREFACE minds as the embodiment of valour summed up in his nickname of lion Heart. All who know their Oxford know that Beaumont Street takes its name from the vanished royal palace. Canon Clayton affirms that the house he occupies about the centre of the street must stand upon the actual site of the building, of which the ruined walls were still standing when Queen Victoria came to the throne. As an illustration of the strange incongruities of the Oxford of that time, he relates, that when his father was an undergraduate in the thirties he saw Wombwell's menagerie en- camped in the waste ground beneath the palace walls— from which hung a skeleton in chains ! All that now remains of the palace is a fragment of masonry in the back garden of one of the Beau- mont Street houses. From Oxford I went, in the footsteps of my hero, to the Holy Land, which was the scene of his most famous exploits. I, too, sailed as he sailed, from Marseilles, but under very different conditions. Instead of a smaU sailing ship, that stately liner, the Dunottar Castle, bore me to my goal; good fortune having so smiled upon me that the tune I desired to visit Palestine not only coincided with that arranged by Sir Henry Lunn for his Palestine tour, but the voyage actuaUy followed Richard's route via Sicily, even the island of Rhodes being visited. My only misgiving was that the luxury on board should dispel the spirit of pilgrimage PREFACE VII I felt to be proper to the occasion. I need have had no such misgiving, nor had I when I learnt to know my feUow-voyagers ; for most were pilgrims in spirit visiting the Holy Land with real reverence for it^ sacred associations, and not a few were well-known representatives of learning and religious thought, whose society was most stimulating. And now that my journeyings are ended it is my hope to teU the tale of Richard's life more truly for having seen the actual scenes connected with the Third Crusade. I hold that some magic influence clings to all haunts of men where famous deeds have been done, that makes it easy there to conjure up the past— a'past, m this case, of high aims ending in apparent earthly failure— of noble aims, yet oft, it must be admitted, of Ignoble deeds that hid themselves under the robe' of Christianity. Cyprus— where King Richard wedded his queen— Berengaria of Navarre-has long been f amihar ground to me, as also the little isle of Lacroma on the Dahnatian coast where he suffered shipwreck on his homeward way, and Zara, where the hunted King assumed the palmer's dress to escape his enemies. I have looked, long ere now, on the proud towers of Durrenstein where, according to tradition, the captive King was discovered by his faithful minstrel Blonde], and it was while wandering in these lands. Unked with Richard's memory, that the thought came to me to pen these pictures of their past and what they are to-day. M, m m PREFACE No character in history has had more historians than Coeur de Lion. We have accounts of his vivid personaUty and warlike prowess from EngUsh, Norman, French, German, and Arabic sources, and some of their writers have painted hun very black indeed ; but this is hardly to be wondered at con- sidering that his fame aroused in his Hfetime the envy of nearly all the princes of Europe. To follow the fortunes of this much-travelled medieval King is to visit— whether in person or in imagination— some of the most interesting places in the world, and to have them increased in interest by association with one of the most picturesque and romantic figures in history. MAUDE M. HOLBACH. Oxford, March 1912. CONTENTS PART I CHAP. I. The Peesonality of Richard and that of his Parents • • • . . n. Early Years — The Oxford of the Twelfth Century m. Richard m Aquitaine— Family Quarrels . IV. Richard and his Mother— The Coronation and Preparations for the Crusade V. The Start for the Holy Land— Richard reaches Sicily VI. Richard rights his Sister's Wrongs and is reconciled to Tancred— Berengarla. arrives at Messina VII. Departure from Messina and Landing in Cyprus . Vin. Richard's Conquest of Cyprus— Departure for Palestine— The Taking of Acre . [ IX. Quarrels between Richard and Philip— The March South from Acre . • • • • X. Hardships of the March— The Battle of Arsuf XI. The Camp at Jaffa— Negotiations for Marriage OF Queen Joan with Al Adil— A Fruitless Attempt to reach Jerusalem— Richard rebuilds the Walls of Ascalon • • • Xn. Henry of Champagne elected King of Jerusalem- Siege OF Darum— III News from England Richard within Sight of Jerusalem Xm. The Raid on the Great Caravan— Dissensions in the Camp— Retreat from Beit Nuba— The Relief of Jaffa 6 ... PAOB 15 22 32 43 56 68 82 104 117 128 145 I 157 '*Jt'"' 'I™.. CONTENTS VAQM CHAP. HAP cf XIV Negotiations for Peaci— Sabacen Attack— Sapha- Dm's Gnrr to Richard— Sabacbns' Admiration FOR Richard— Pilgrims visit Jerusalem- Last Days of Saladin ^"^ XV. Richard in Dalmatia-Trbachbry op the Lord of GoRZ— Arrested ry thb Duke op Austria— His Tbial and Queen Eleanor's Appeal to the Pope —Richard in Germany . . • .188 XVI. Richard returns to England— Demonstrations in London— Richard goes to France- Wins back his Southern Dominions— Philip defeated— Revival op Military Tournaments— Death of THE Duke of Austria . . • .209 XVn Wars with Philip— Richard's Diplomacy— Building OP Chateau Gaillard— Meeting with Philip— Treasure-trove at Chaluz— The Siege— Death OF the King— BuRLiL at Fontevbaud . . 227 PART II Introduction ...••• I. Peom N0BMA>n.Y TO AQuiTAi^. To-Dat . . II. The Sbacoast of Palestine— Acre to Gaza To-Day m. Cyprus IV. From the Adriatic to the Rhine Index ...••• 253 256 303 326 339 353 FACIKO PAGE 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Richard Coeur de Lion, prom the Print in Montpaucon's Antiquities, after Monument at Fontevraud, Original AT S. Kensington (no other Original Portrait op the Kino known) FrarUispiece Richard's Mother, Eleanor of Aquitainb . Arms of the Town op Dartmouth, which Commemorate the Sailing op the Crusading Fleet op Richard I from this Port, 1190 Parish Seal op St. Mary Magdalene, Oxford, which Com- memorates BY the Crescent and the Star the Memory OP THE Birth op its Greatest Parishioner, Richard I. Ruins op Beaumont Palace, Oxford, in the Last Century, FROM A Drawing made in 1774 .... Statue op Richard I. in old Palace Yard, Westminster Coronation Procession of Richard I., from an Illuminated MS. IN the British Museum • • • Dartmouth Castle, at the Entrance to the Port whence THE Crusading Fleet sailed • • • Richard's Queen, Berengarli of Navarre . Crusaders' Church at Rhodes, now converted into a Mosque ....... Second Seal op Richard I., a.d. 1198 (made after First Seal was lost off Cyprus). Obverse . Second Seal of Richard I., a.d. 1198. Reverse. Shield BEARS Three Lions passant ouardant in Pale ; the Earliest Appearance op the Royal Arms of England . Abbey of Bella Pais, Cyprus ' • • • « Acre on the Land Side, from an Old Drawing by David Roberts, R.A. 18 18 28 38 48 58 68 78 88 98 108 118 XI xu ILLUSTRATIONS »i FACraa PAQB . 128 Thi Old Walls of Acbb, " A Fobtbess in the Ska The Street of the Knights at Rhodes Ruins of Ascalon, feom a Drawing by David Roberts, R.A Summit of Nebi Samwil, whebb Richabd stood looking TOWARDS Jerusalem . . • • • Lacboma (Scene of Richabd I/s Shipwbeck), fbom the Coast Road to Ragusa ..•••• Chateau Gaillabd, " whebe the Seine bends suddenly at Gaillon in a gbeat Semicibcle to the Nobth," afteb Tubneb's Dbawing ...••• The Castle of Chinon, fbom an Old Dbawing FONTEVBAUD AbBEY, THB BuBIAL-PLACE OF THE PlANTAGBNET Kings. ..••••* Effigy of Richabd I. at Fontevbaud Abbey Effigy of Richabd I. at Rouen Cathedbal, discovebed 1838 Rouen Cathedbal (whebe Richabd*s Hbabt was bubied), afteb Tubneb's Dbawing. . . . • ChIteau Gaillabd fbom the Seine, afteb Tubneb^s Dbawing coubtyabd of the mosque at acbe .... The Crusading Chubch of the Knights of St. John at Acbe Jaffa fbom the Land Side, fbom an Old Dbawing by David Roberts, R.A. ...••• Ragusa, Dalmatia, fbom the Coast Road . Cloistebs of Monasteby on the Island of Lacboma, Dal- MATL^, TBADITIONALLY FOUNDED BY RiCHABD COEUB DE Lion ...••••' Ruins of Durrenstein, on the Danube Engush Possessions in France of Richabd I. Palestine at the Time of the Thibd Cbusade 138 148 158 168 178 188 108 208 218 228 238 248 258 268 278 288 298 316 334 IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF RICHARD GOEUR DE LION PART I CHAPTER I THE PERSONALITY OF MOHARD AJSD THAT OF HIS PARi;2iTS "He was lofty in stutiire, of a shapely build, with hair half-way between red and yellow. His limbs were straight and flexible, his arms aomewhat long and, for this very reason, better fitted than those of most folk to draw or wield the sword. Moreover, he had long legs, matching the character of his whole frame. His features showed the ruler, while his manners and his bearing added not a lit Me to his general presence. Not only could he claim the loftiest position and praise in virtue of his noble birth, but also by reason of his virtues. He far surpassed other men in the courtesy of his manners and the vastness of his strength ; memorable was he for his warUke deeds and power, while his splendid achievements would throw a shade over the greatest praise we could give them. . . . The Lord of the ages had given him such generosity of soul and endued 2 RICHARD COEUR DE LION him with such virtues that he seemed rather to belong to earUer times than these. ... His was the valour of Hector, the magnanimity of Achilles ; he was no whit inferior to Alexander, or less than Roland in manhood." , , , i This is the picture of Richard i. sketched for us by the hand of a contemporary writer, that Richa,rd of the Holy Trinity to whom the best authorities have ascribed the Itinerarium Ricardi, the chief European account of the Third Crusade, and a rarely picturesque one, written from notes made on the spot and during the journey, and m the camp if not on the battlefield. This writer, who surely had better opportumties of judging the King's character than those that come later, is kinder to his namesake than the majority of h^torians have been ; there are plenty who deny Coeur de Lion any virtue save courage, and point to his rebelUon against his father, his merciless taxa- tion of his subjects to carry on the Crusade, and his ruthlessness in war, in proof of their theory that he was without natural affection and possessed of no higher motive in his hfelong warfare than lust of conquest and personal ambition. ^ Dr. Stubbs in his preface to the Chrmmles and Mm O < X H Pi < X u NX PH o 1-4 X < H fa O < en _ X *^ I— I "^ Pi < 0^ O u X u Pi w X H Q < Pi O H I— ( fa O o u X u X X H "^ o H Pi < Q fa O o H X H fa O PS u o o ir> fa o o O OS < Q X H H < P < m H < ^ 2 . *^ H H O > o Pi Q < u Pi o K Pi < C/3 o < Pi < <5 o u u a: w f-H *^ 5^ w H Q < o en H I— 1 b o o u a: u X s o >^ H Pi < Q O Z o H X H hi O ifi 'dm < Q U ir> O ON H Pi O Ah O o z W X H H a: p y. - — I- I- 'J^ A o -: y. r. y. FAMILY QUARRELS 31 " With kingly dignity Richard granted him his kingly pardon at once, and on the morrow they stood side by side while Henry Fitz-Empress was laid in his grave before the high altar by Archbishop Bartholomew of Tours/' i 'U CHAPTER IV I RICHARD AND HIS MOTHER— THE CORONATION AND PREPARATIONS FOR THE CRUSADE One of the finest features of Richard's character was his devotion to his mother. His first thought as King was to release her from the virtual im- prisonment at Winchester, in which his father had placed her, and to vindicate her position by appoint- ing her Queen Regent in his absence in France. Very graciously and wisely he selected for this mission the man he had magnanimously forgiven, William the Marshal, once his enemy, now his most faithful servant. Queen Eleanor rose to the occasion and proved hersulf worthy of her son's love and trust by the noble use she made of her authority and her faithfuhiess to him, which was in striking contrast to her conduct in that period of her life when she had been suspected and treated with harshness both by her first husband, the King of France, and her second husband, the King of England. Thus she proved the golden rule that to beheve in any one is to call out the best that is in them. Eleanor made a royal progress through England, setting free all prisoners who had been confined under the harsh game laws, which had been cruelly enforced in her husband's reign, and directing the prisoners she released to 0% RICHARD AND HIS MOTHER 33 pray for his soul. Those also she released who " had been seized by the King's arbitrary commands and were not accused by their hundred or county." Like her son, she freely forgave all those who had plotted against her, and laid a foundation of loyalty to him before he reached his native shores^ by going personally from city to city to see that justice was done " even to the lowest," while she ordained that " every freeman of the whole kingdom should swear that he would bear faith to his lord Richard." Meanwhile, Coeur de Lion, having been absolved from the excommunication laid upon him by the Church, for taking up arms against a brother crusader, had been installed as Duke of Normandy in Rouen Cathedral, and received the homage of the Barons. His brother John, with whom he had become fully reconciled, he confirmed in his estates in England and as governor of Mortain, a county of Normandy. His half-brother Geoffrey the Chancellor he appointed, as his father would have wished. Archbishop of York, and thus " throughout the Angevin dominions not a voice was raised to challenge the succession of Richard." With the death of King Henry, Coeur de Lion's alUance with PhiHp came to an end. He was now King of England, and to thwart the Kings of England had always been French policy. It may be also that remorse for his share in his father's death had come to him, and that he recognised that Phihp had sown the seeds of dissension between them. Both monarchs, however, having taken the Cross, were pledged to fight side by side in the Holy Land, whatever they might do at home ; and at a meeting at Gisors the time of thek departure was fixed for RICHARD COEUR DE LION THE CORONATION 35 the spring foflowing Richard's coronation, which took place in August 1189. This ceremony has a special interest for us, who have so recently taken part in the celebrations attend- ing the Coronation of King Greorge, because, while following closely the original rites of the old Saxon Bongs, it served as a precedent for the coronations of all the Kings of England who followed. Royal and priestly robes, such as those worn by the Bong, the four officiating Archbishops of Canterbury, Rouen, Dublin, and Treves on this occasion, had never before been seen in England ; they were the introduction of Coeur de Lion's beauty-loving sumptuous mother, who had copied the magnificence of the East, with which her early crusading experi- ences had made her famihar, and the King also delighted in the outward forms and ceremonies of royalty and all that made for splendid pageantry. " He himself, with his tall figure, massive yet finely chiselled features, and soldierly bearing, must have been by far the most regal-looking sovereign who had b^n crowned since the Norman Conqueror; and when Archbishop Baldwin set the crown upon his golden hair. Englishmen might for a moment dream that, stranger though he had been for nearly thirty years to the land of his birth, Richard was yet to be in reality what he was in outward aspect — a true English king." ^ Coeur de Lion was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Sunday, 3rd September 1189, a day, one historian points out, held by the superstition of the time to be one of the Dies Aegyptiaci, or days of ill-omen of the old Egyptian astrologers, 1 The Angevin Empire, by Sir J. H. Ramsay, p. 266. on which no business should be undertaken. Who knows but what the bondage of this fear of ill- fortune blasted Richard's reign and brought about the very ills foretold ! Among those present on this occasion was Alois, the sister of the King of France, to whom Richard had been betrothed from childhood, but whom, for reasons some of which reflect gravely on his father, but are given differently by different historians, he was so loth to marry that the engagement was never consummated. The old chroniclers give a full description of the Coronation procession from the King's chamber to the Abbey in which the " Duke of Normandy " and uncrowned King of England walked beneath a canopy of silk supported on lances borne by four Barons of the Cinque Ports — especially of the " hallowing.'' ^ A modem writer on the subject 2 says, " The head received a special anointing with chrism, holy oil mingled with balsam, an unguent appointed to be used only at baptism, confirmation, and ordination. Its use, therefore, at the hallowing of a King shows that the rite was reckoned an ordination." Mass followed the ceremony, and the crowned, anointed King communicated, and then, " wearing his crown and carrying sceptre and rod, was taken back in procession to his apartments." At the banquet which followed none but prelates sat at the King's table, another proof of the sanctity with which the kingly office was regarded. Alas for all this fair outward show, the King who 1 Benediot* ii. 82; Hoveden, iii. 10. * The Angemn Empire, by Sir J. H. Ramsay. I! I! ■ I ji ■''ill 36 RICHARD COEUR DE LION had just sworn by God's help to " put down all injustice, to enforce the observance of righteousness and mercy," failed to sufficiently protect the Jews in the terrible riot which occurred in the night following the Coronation. There is no doubt that it had its rise in a mis- understanding. Richard, who had very strict views about Christian observances, had given orders that no Jew should be admitted, but in ignorance of this, some rich Hebrews came to offer him gifts and were driven away and roughly handled, first by the courtiers and then by the people ; some one eager for plunder took the occasion of spreading the report that the King had given the Jewish quarter up to pillage ; the mob fell to, and the homes of many of these unfortunate people were burnt to the ground and their synagogues desecrated. Some few persons were punished for breaking the peace, but only the perverted view of the time, which regarded the Jews like the Turks as outside the pale of Christian charity, can explain the laxity of the law on this occasion, and to modern ideas it accords strangely with Richard's often deep religious feeUng and sense of justice, that he did not punish the offenders severely who first broke the peace of his reign. Moreover, his leniency had the unfortunate result, that massacres of the Jews soon followed all over England, and at York five hundred of these unfor- tunate people perished, many by their own hands, to escape their Gentile murderers. It seems almost prophetic of a King, whom we associate less with the sceptre than the sword, that the commencement of his reign was thus baptized with blood. Richard's heart was aheady in the Holy Land PREPARATIONS FOR THE CRUSADE 37 when the crown of England was placed upon his head. He had been the first of all European princes to take the Cross, when the news came that King Guy of Jerusalem had been defeated at the great battle of Tiberias and the relic of the Holy Cross taken by the infidels. Three months later, when still graver news reached Europe of the fall of Jerusalem, he had made preparations for an im- mediate start for Palestine, and was only stopped by a rising of the turbulent barons of his Dukedom of Aquitaine. As King he had now according to his lights (which placed the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre immeasurably before the duties nearer home) nothing to detain him, and if he had any scruples about leaving his island realm so soon, and for so long a time, they were quieted by the proof he had had of his mother's abihty to govern in his stead and her devotion to his interests. His brother John he provided employment for in his absence, to keep him out of mischief, by making over to him, with their revenues, all crown rights over Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, besides the shires of Derby and Gloucester which he had in right of his wife. John was already the first Baron of Normandy, so that his elder brother must have reasonably argued that even his ambition must be satisfied by the honours and lands showered upon him. To Richard's crusading ardour any means seemed justifiable to obtain supphes for the Holy War! When in 1187 the Kings of England and France had taken the Cross, King Henry had immediately ' „ '1 ''l"l IP"*" p*!' ill 38 RICHARD COEUR DE LION issued an ordinance known as the Saladin tithe, by which every one of his subjects was bound to pay a tithe (tenth ?) of his personal property towards the expenses of the crusade. But Richard was not content with this ; he wanted wealth at his command to raise such an army as should astonish Christendom, strike terror to the hearts of the infidels, and carry all before it. For this purpose he sold indiscriminately to the highest bidder crown rights, crown property, and royal favours— a striking instance of the ills that have been done all through the ages in the sacred name of reUgion and given the unbeUevers occasion to blaspheme. It was commonly reported that the King said he would sell London if he could find a purchaser, and it is on record that he accepted £3000 from his half-brother Geoffrey as the price of the Archbishopric of York and renounced the homage due from the King of Scotland for 1000 marks. Pope Clement in. having given the King leave to excuse from the crusade men who had abeady taken the Cross, but were required for the govern- ment of the country, Richard obtained large sums from those who were desirous of being bought off and at the same time installed in a rich royal manor or sheriffdom. Many had taken the Cross in a fervour of reUgious emotion, who somewhat repented of their vow in cool blood, and, moreover, the interest of the Western world in the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre was not what it had been a hundred years earlier, when 30,000 men fastened the Cross upon their shoulder at Clermont, and the cry " God wills it " spread from thence over Europe. Nations, like men, are apt to turn to God only in STATUE OF RICHARD I. IN OLD PALACE YARD, WESTMINSTER. See p. 22. From an original photo by Otto Holhack, I, PREPARATIONS FOR THE CRUSADE 41 extremity and become unmindful of Him when all is well. The first crusade had its rise in the universal belief in the coming of the end of the world at the close of the first thousand years of our era. Fearful calamities confirmed the superstitions in this behef . " A dreadful pestilence made Aquitaine a desert. From the East to Greece, Italy, France, and England famine prevailed. Many were driven by hunger to feed on their fellow-creatures. The strong way- laid the weak, tore them to pieces, and ate them. In this hopeless condition men's thoughts turned towards Heaven ... a state of feeling arose full of the bitterest hatred against this earthly world." Many thousands went on pilgrimage, and especially to the land where Christ hved His earthly Kfe and to the rock Christendom has honoured as His grave. The bitterest f eeUng of resentment awoke against the unbeHevers who were desecrating this holy place. The Western world was lit with a fire of fervent desire to wipe out the disgrace of the Moslem posses- sion of Jerusalem — or die in the attempt, and thus win Heaven — the new Jerusalem. Hence the first crusade ! Crusading ardour, however, had never quite reached the heights in England which it did among the more excitable Latin peoples, and under Henry n.'s government social conditions had been placed on a basis of greater security, so that men had more to lose in leaving their homes for a foreign war. All this con- duced to make it easier for King Eichard to obtain money than men in his island realm, for the crusade which was now the object of his hfe ; he did not remain long enough in England to kindle in the hearts of his subjects the lofty idea which inspired 3 42 RICHARD COEUR DE LION Ms own. Few characters in history present more puzzUng contradictions than Eichard does, for, while himseK inspired by a really noble purpose, he has been said to have " treated England as a mme from which to draw the resources of a private scheme. CHAPTER V THE START FOR THE HOLY LAND — RICHARD REACHES SICILY In June 1190 Coeur de Lion crossed to Calais and proceeded from there to Tours, where he received the pilgrim's staff and wallet from the hands of the Archbishop, and thus formally entered on the crusade from which it seemed at least problematic, taking into consideration his health, which was broken before he left England, and the desperate courage (which would cause him always to seek the point of danger and fight to the death), he would ever return. It is related that when Richard leant upon the staff it broke— this incident could not have been considered otherwise than an ill-omen in that super- stitious age, and doubtless it made this impression on the King. During the ceremony of presenting the pilgrim with the wallet, in token of having commenced his journey, the King lay prostrate on the ground, just as the Russian pilgrims in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem do to- day, and then, " rising in tears,'' took down from over the reHcs two banners blazoned with crosses wrought in gold to "carry with him in his wars against the enemies of Christ." 48 42 RICHARD COEUR DE LION his own. Few characters in history present more puzzUng contradictions than Kichard does, for, while himself inspired by a really noble purpose, he has been said to have " treated England as a mine from which to draw the resources of a private scheme. CHAPTEE V THE START FOR THE HOLY LAND — RICHARD REACHES SICILY In June 1190 Coeur de Lion crossed to Calais and proceeded from there to Tours, where he received the pilgrim's staff and wallet from the hands of the Archbishop, and thus formally entered on the crusade from which it seemed at least problematic, taking into consideration his health, which was broken before he left England, and the desperate courage (which would cause him always to seek the point of danger and fight to the death), he would ever return. It is related that when Richard leant upon the staff it broke — this incident could not have been considered otherwise than an ill-omen in that super- stitious age, and doubtless it made this impression on the King. During the ceremony of presenting the pilgrim with the wallet, in token of having commenced his journey, the King lay prostrate on the ground, just as the Russian pilgrims in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem do to- day, and then, " rising in tears,'' took down from over the reUcs two banners blazoned with crosses wrought in gold to " carry with him in his wars against the enemies of Christ.'' 48 •:i 111 u\ 44 RICHARD COEUR DE LION The inhabitants of Tours were amazed at the size of the Crusading army. The old chroniclers L it " impressed a feeling of dread on spectato^ who had never conceived it possible to bring such multitudes of men together." We are told that " the city and suburbs were so crowded with pilgrmis that the multitude became immovable by its own density in the narrow streets and roads, and the Sabitants of the land were terrified." Troops o^ infantry and slingers, past numbermg with their heavy Lartial tread, while the yet unsulhed armour ehttered in the sun and their healthful frames were untouched by weariness and hunger, seemed in- vincible ; and in proportion to the ^eatness of the armament, was the tempest of lamentations and the torrent of blessings and farewells that murmured around from wives and mothers and lovers and acquaintances. No one could say whether the scene were more glad or joyous." From Tours the army moved to Vezelai (a place of pilgrunage famous m the Middle Ages as the shrine of St. Mary Magdalene) to meet the King of France, and here the two monarchs made a compact to share equally their conquests in the Holy War. The umted arnnes then moved on by stages to Lyons, and a spnnted picture is drawn for us by contemporary writers of the vast camp which covered the hills far and wide, with tents and paviUons from which floated proudly the banners of " each nation, each company, and even each chieftain." At Lyons a disaster happened which caused great consternation. The bndge across the Bhone gave way owing to the stram put upon it bv the unusual traffic, and more than a hundred pUgrims who were crossing at the time were m THE START FOR THE HOLY LAND 45 danger of drowning, but miraculously only two lost their lives. " Yet do their souls five in Christ ; for it was while engaged in His service that they were cut off," says Kicbard of the Temple— an idea that still survives in the Eussian pilgrims before alluded to, who traverse the Holy Land on foot and count themselves supremely fortunate if they die on their pilgrimage. At Lyons the armies divided to take ship for the East at different ports, some going to Venice, others to Genoa and Brindisi, while Richard went to Marseilles to meet the fleet, but, after waiting a week for it, proceeded in hired vessels to Messina to rejoin King Philip. Taking warning by the fate of the Crusading armies which had crossed Europe, Richard decided to send the main portion of his army to Palestine by sea, and the fleet soon after Easter sailed from Dartmouth where doubtless Richard saw it off. Some months later he himself crossed to Calais on his way to start his pilgrimage from Tours. Old chroniclers tell us, that when the fleet left England it was commanded by the Archbishop of Auch and the Bishop of Bayonne, and was formed of vessels which started from the different harbours of England, Brittany, Normandy, and Poitou. The first thirty-three vessels were furnished by the Cinque Ports, six from Shoreham and Southampton, and a few were the gift of private individuals. It is interesting to note that the ships gathered in Dartmouth Harbour and passed Start Point, which even in those days seems to have been known to mariners. For the conduct of the army a very strict code or charter, known as the ordinances of Chinon, had been drawn up, which reads as follows : — " Richard, by the grace of God, King of England, 46 RICHARD COEUR DE LION Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to all his men who are about to journey to Jerusalem by sea— Health. Know that with the common counsel of approved men we have had the following regulations drawn up. Whoever on board ship shall slay another is himself to be cast into the sea lashed to the dead man ; if he have slain him ashore he is to be buried in the same way. If any one be proved by worthy witnesses to have drawn a knife for the purpose of striking another, or to have wounded another so as to draw blood, let him lose his fist ; but if he strike another with his hand and draw no blood, let him be dipped three times in the sea. If any one cast any reproach or bad word against another, or invoke God's malison on him, let him for every offence pay an ounce of silver. Let a convicted thief be shorn Uke a prize-fighter ; after which let boiling pitch be poured on his head and a feather pillow be shaken over it so as to make him a laughing-stock. Then let him be put ashore at the first land where the ships touch. Witness myself at Chinon." The punishments strike modern ears as being altogether out of proportion to the offence, but it was essential that a Crusading army should be protected as far as possible against internal dis- sensions, and made to keep at least an outward appearance of righteousness, and in that age of barbarism strong measures were essential to make men obey the law. There is a legend that when the fleet was off the coast of Spain a great tempest arose, and in answer to the prayers of the sailors St. Thomas of Canterbury appeared unta some of them in a vision, and after THE START FOR THE HOLY LAND 47 teUing them to have no fear, said that he had been appointed by God the guardian of the fleet, and, said he, " If the men of this fleet keep themselves from evil deeds and do penance for their past offences the Lord will grant them a prosperous voyage and direct their steps in His paths." King Richard's whole fleet, including the ships which accompanied him to Messina, was about a hundred vessels, and provided for the transport of eight thousand troops. Richard coasted down the Mediterranean in leisurely yachting fashion, putting in to harbour at night and occasionally landing to travel on shore ; the diary kept by Roger of Hoveden, who accompanied him, gives us a quaintly interesting account of the voyage. He tells us that on 7th of August " the King of England embarked at Marseilles in the galley Pumhon, and passed by the isle of St. Stephen, then northward by Mount Noir, the isle of St. Honorat, the city of Nice, and that of VentimigUa " (a good many of these places cannot be identified). In six days he reached Genoa and had an interview with King PhiUp, who had been detained there by ilhiess, and the next day landed again at Porto Fino to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of St. Mary, and for some incomprehensible reason (considering how he had chafed at the delay at Marseilles), instead of leaving again immediately after the rehgious ceremony, remained five days enjoying the lovely scenery of this gem of the Italian Riviera, whose natural beauties remain to-day unspoilt by the spirit of commerciaUsm and modernity. At Pisa the King also called, to meet the Arch- bishop of Rheims and heard that the Bishop of York lay sick there. 48 RICHARD COEUR DE LION Sixteen days after leaving Marseilles the royal skip entered the mouth of the Tiber, and Kichard received an invitation from the Pope to visit Rome, which, however, he did not accept.* The Cardinal Bishop of Ostea met him here, and some altercations took place about the sums of money demanded by Rome from Richard's subjects, the Bishop of Caen and William of Ely, for the high Church offices they had purchased. The description of Richard's ride through "a certain forest called Selvedene, where there is a road paved with marble to the length of twenty- four miles through the forest," castles with " gates cased with copper," and others that were the resort of thieves and pirates, reads like a page from a fairy tale— rather than the sober account of an historian who could vouch for it all with the witness of his own eyes. Probably the writer was gifted with a vivid imagination fed by the legends and myths of medieval romance, but the gist must be true, though little details sometimes betray inaccuracy and show that the diary was occasionally (as is, alas, too often the case with journals) suffered to get into arrears and then brought up to date from memory. In describing how they sighted the island of Stromboli, Roger of Hoveden says it is perpetually smoking, and quaintly adds, " It is reported that this island was set on fire from another island, called Vulcano, the fire rushing and burning up the sea and fishes as it came." Three weeks out from Marseilles Richard came » A modem historian's comments on this is, "The light in which Richard regarded Rome was seemingly that of a rival taxing power, which fleeced ecclesiastics of moneys that otherwise might have gone into the King's own pockek" '^:.f::m*. !f 48 RICHARD COEUR DE LION Sixteen days after leaving Marseilles the royal ship entered the mouth of the Tiber, and Richard received an invitation from the Pope to visit Rome, which, however, he did not accept.^ The Cardinal Bishop of Ostea met him here, and some altercations took place about the sums of money demanded by Rome from Richard's subjects, the Bishop of Caen and William of Ely, for the high Church offices they had purchased. The description of Richard's ride through "a certain forest called Selvedene, where there is a road paved with marble to the length of twenty- four miles through the forest,'' castles with " gates cased with copper," and others that were the resort of thieves and pirates, reads like a page from a fairy tale — ^rather than the sober account of an historian who could vouch for it all with the witness of his own eyes. Probably the writer was gifted with a vivid imagination fed by the legends and myths of medieval romance, but the gist must be true, though little details sometimes betray inaccuracy and show that the diary was occasionally (as is, alas, too often the case with journals) suffered to get into arrears and then brought up to date from memory. In describing how they sighted the island of Stromboli, Roger of Hoveden says it is perpetually smoking, and quaintly adds, " It is reported that this island was set on fire from another island, called Vulcano, the fire rushing and burning up the sea and fishes as it came." Three weeks out from Marseilles Richard came * A modem historian's comments on this is, " The light in which Richard regarded Rome was seemingly that of a rival taxing power, which fleeced ecclesiastics of moneys that otherwise might have gone into the King's own pocket." y. r Z Z r. :£. I- y. "* r. X if. c o o ■if ' |! . . THE START FOR THE HOLY LAND 51 to the beautiful Bay of Naples and went ashore to visit the Abbey of St. January, where, with his usual punctiliousness about attendance at rehgious observances,^he stayed to celebrate the Feast of the Nativity. His slow progress was not acceptable to some of the leaders of his army, who were anxious to push on and reach the Holy Land before the equinoctial gales of autumn made voyaging unsafe, so Archbishop Baldwin, Hubert Walter, Bishop of Sahsbury, and Ranulf Glanville here left him and proceeded direct to Acre. Richard, however, had matters of moment to settle on the way with the new King Tancred of Sicily, who, on the death of William the Good, the husband of Richard's sister Johanna, had usurped the throne and imprisoned the widow of the late King, because she favoured the lawful heir. It is not improbable he had delayed his coming there the better to consider how to enforce his just claim, and at the same time profit by the opportunity it presented to enlarge his treasury. On leaving Naples Richard rode in one day to Salerno, at that time a place of great importance both as a university town and the capital of the province ; here news came to him that his main fleet was approaching the Straits of Messina, on which he eagerly pushed on to La Bagnara, the point at which he was to cross from the mainland to Sicily. Here that curious devil-may-care mischievous schoolboy strain in the King, which caused him to follow his will at the moment, reckless of conse- quences, nearly brought about serious results. Richard had a passion for everything pertaining to the chase and, riding from Meleto to Bagnara, I it 52 RICHARD COEUR DE LION with only one man in attendance, he passed a poor man's house where he saw a fine hawk and im- mediately desired it for his own. With him to want was to have — the question of the moraUty and justice of his act no more occurred to him than it does to the schoolboy who robs an orchard, and it is highly probable that, never wanting in generosity, he would if let alone have sent the owner a present much greater than the value of the bird ; but not unnaturally the peasants, who saw the high- handed theft, and did not dream of the rank of the culprit, came after him with sticks and stones, and one man with a knife, which Richard broke in two in the scuffle that ensued with the flat of his sword. The freebooting King of this story, embroiled in a hand-to-hand fight with a band of peasants, is a curious contrast to the proud monarch who made his state entry into Messina the following day — the very ideal of a warrior king and cynosure of all eyes as, clad in glittering armour, he stood on the deck of his flagship at the head of the long line of noble galleys which swept into the harbour. Richard had much to learn of what had befallen his fleet since it left the shores of England. Ad- ventures were never wanting in the voyages of those days, and after the great storm during which the sailors had seen the vision of St. Thomas of Canterbury, the ships put into various ports for rest and repairs and nine vessels sailed up the river Tagus to Lisbon. Now the Portuguese, like all the rest of twelfth-century Christendom, were at war with Islam, and the war here was very near home, lor the Moors were actually besieging the castle of Torres Novas near St. Erena, about two days' li THE START FOR THE HOLY LAND 63 march from the capital, when the little body of Crusaders reached Lisbon. King Sancho of Portugal sent messengers pray- ing the knights " to turn their consecrated swords against the enemies of the faith," * and five hundred picked men volunteered for this service and marched to the reHef of the Portuguese, whom they found in sore need of their help. The Moslems had taken the castle of Torres Novas and were on the point of capturing a stronghold of the Templars also, when a rumour reached them that the Crusaders were coming, and they fled, terror- struck, in confusion. Unfortunately the lustre that would have been shed on the EngHsh arms by the gallantry of these volunteers was marred by the bad behaviour of some of their companions who remained in Lisbon and had nothing better to do than to quarrel with the townsfolk and disgrace their order by resorting to pillage and robbery. The King of Portugal, having been helped to rout the Moslem army, had now actually to take strong measures against the brothers in arms of the men who had saved his Uttle army from annihilation, and was forced to shut up hundreds in prison till they promised to depart peaceably. Such were the incongruities of medieval warfare. Other adventures were met with by the sailors of the ship London at the city of Silvia (the present Silves) in southern Portugal, which at that time was the furthest outpost of Christianity in those parts, the people of the city having embraced the Christian faith only a year previous. The Bishop of » The Third Crusade : Richard /., by Rev. W. H. Rule, p. 181. III I IP I 54 RICHARD COEUR DE LION Silvia came to meet the ship's company, whose coming must have seemed to him a providential inter- position in his favour, for Silvia, hke the rest of Portugal, was fighting for its hfe against the Moors. The London was broken up in order that her timbers might furnish a stockade, on the promise of the Bishop that the King of Portugal would furnish the Crusaders with another ship to proceed on their journey when the fight was over. The Enghshmen stood by their brother Christians till imimediate danger was passed, then received their new ship and sailed on with the rest of the fleet, creeping round the coast of Spain to " the Straits of Africa/' as the Straits of Gibraltar were then called. Says the old chronicler,* " Here begins the Mediterranean Sea, which is so called because it has only one entrance and one exit, of which the one is called the Straits of Africa, the other the Straits of St. George near Constantinople. And it is a noteworthy thing that from the Straits of Africa as far as Ascalon (on the coast of Palestine) as you sail, all the land on your right belongs to the Pagams." They reached Marseilles on the 22nd of August 1190. " And it is to be noted that from Marseilles to Acre it is only a sail of fifteen days and nights if the wind is favourable.'' The Admiral of the fleet was the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had left the King to join the ships at Marseilles and was supported by the Bishop of SaHsbury. The Bishop of Norwich had proved less courageous and, by visiting Rome on his outward journey, obtained from the Pope ab- solvement from his vow on payment of 1000 marks to the military orders of Knights Templars and ' Hoveden, iii. ^. RICHARD REACHES SICILY 55 Hospitallers. Upon which he promptly turned back and went home. This is the account given by Roger of Hoveden of the arrival of King Richard al Messina : " On Sept. 23rd (1190) came Richard King of England to Messina with many busses and other great ships and galleys ; in such pomp he came with the sound of trumpets and horns that terror fell upon those who were in the city. But the King of France and all the great men of the city of Messina, and the clergy and people, stood on the shore marvelling because of all they saw and what they had heard concerning the King of England and his power. When the King of England had come ashore he at once had an interview with Phihp King of France. And after that interview the King of France at once went on board his own vessels as though he were desirous of setting out for the land of Jerusalem ; but directly he left the harbour the wind shifted and blew against him, upon which he returned unwillingly and sadly to Messina. But the King of England entered the house of Keginald de Muhoc in the vineyards out- side the city, where a lodging was being prepared for him." CHAPTER VI RICfHARD RIGHTS HIS SISTER's WRONGS AND IS RE- CONCILED TO TANCRED — BERENGARIA ARRIVES AT MESSINA It was at Messina that Richard first earned his nickname of " the Lion " ; it was given him by the Sicilians, who at the same time named the French King "the Lamb'* by contrast. Neither name originally referred to prowess in the battlefield (though Richard well sustained his there), but to the different attitudes taken up by the two kings towards the disturbers of the peace in the camp, whether soldiers of the Crusading armies or inhabitants of the land. King Richard struck terror into the hearts of the latter, by causing gallows to be erected before his house for the summary punishment of malefactors (no matter of what nationahty), and this on the day after his arrival ; the French King, though of higher rank, had never dared to take such high-handed measures as did his proud vassal. Richard's first step on arrival in Sicily was to demand the release of his sister from the captivity into which King Tancred had thrown her, and the restoration of her dowry, as well as the legacies left by King WiUiam of Sicily to his father, King Henry \ RICHARD RIGHTS HIS SISTER'S WRONGS 57 of England. The dowry of a Sicihan queen of that period is very quaint reading. We are told it included " a golden table twelve feet long, a silk tent, a hundred fine galleys fitted out for two years, sixty thousand mules' burden of corn and the same each of barky and wine, twenty-four golden cups, and twenty-four golden plates.'^ Above and beyond this Richard not unnaturally demanded sub- stantial monetary compensation, for the indignity his sister had suffered because she had espoused the cause of the rightful heiress Constance— the aunt of King Tancred— who was married to Henry King of Germany, the eldest son of the Emperor Barbarossa. Tancred released his prisoner at Richard's demand, and sent Queen Joan with an escort from Palermo to Messina, so promptly that she arrived there five days after her brother made bis state entry into the city. Tancred, however, at first demurred about giving up her dowry, whereupon Richard deemed himself justified in seizing the fortress of La Bagnara and installing the widowed Queen there in a state befitting her rank. This he followed up (as a threat of what might follow if his demands were not comphed with) by taking a " monastery of the Griffons " (the name given by the Crusaders to the Greeks) for his storehouse, which caused a rumour that it was his intention sooner or later to possess himself of the whole of Sicily. The patriotism of the Sicilians was aroused to fury by the idea of conquest by a foreign king, and they disliked and mis- trusted Richard accordingly. The fire was smoulder- ing and ready to leap into flame when a squabble in the market-place between a Crusader and a native vendor of bread set it ahght. The citizens took 11 \ 68 RICHARD COEUR DE LION the part of the bread-seller and handled the English soldier so roughly that he was left almost dead after being beaten and trampled under foot. His fellow- pilgrims would have retaUated had not Richard used his personal influence to restrain them. Never- theless, discord did not cease — the very next day fighting was renewed, and, Richard's blood being up, he possessed himself of Messina ** in one attack, quicker than any priest could say matins." The riches of the city became the lawful prey of the Crusaders, and the galleys in the harbour were burnt to prevent them carrying news of the fall of Messina to other parts of the country. KichMd pknL hi standard Tbove the walls to the great chagrin of the King of France, who, although he had rendered no help to his brother- sovereign-in-arms, wanted to share in the honour and glory. A compromise was arrived at by King Richard taking down his own flag and making over the city to the original military orders of the Hospitallers and Templars, to keep till King Tancred settled his claim for damages and made proper provision for the widowed Queen. Finally Tancred sent to the English King 20,000 ounces of gold (or about £15,000) for the Queen's dowry, and another 20,000 ounces of gold ^ " in quittance of all the other claims set up in regard to the bequest of the dead King WiUiam." Peace was made and sealed by a betrothal between Arthur of Brittany, the son of Richard's half-brother Geoffrey, and King Tancred's daughter. Upon which Richard gave orders that all valuables carried off by soldiers ^ In the Hpe^Rolls the ounoe of gold is given as equivalent to iftoQn in ailvor. 58 RICHARD COEUR DE LION the part of the bread-seller and handled the English soldier so roughly that he was left almost dead after being beaten and trampled under foot. His fellow- pilgrims would have retaHated had not Kichard used his personal influence to restrain them. Never- theless, discord did not cease — the very next day fighting was renewed, and, Kichard's blood being up, he possessed himself of Messina ** in one attack, quicker than any priest could say matins." The riches of the city became the lawful prey of the Crusaders, and the galleys in the harbour were burnt to prevent them carrying news of the fall of Messina to other parts of the country. Richard planted his standard above the walls to the great chagrin of the King of France, who, although he had rendered no help to his brother- sovereign-in-arms, wanted to share in the honour and glory. A compromise was arrived at by King Richard taking down his own flag and making over the city to the original mihtary orders of the Hospitallers and Templars, to keep till King Tancred settled his claim for damages and made proper provision for the widowed Queen. Finally Tancred sent to the Enghsh King 20,000 ounces of gold (or about £15,000) for the Queen's dowry, and another 20,000 ounces of gold ^ " in quittance of all the other claims set up in regard to the bequest of the dead King William/' Peace was made and sealed by a betrothal between Arthur of Brittany, the son of Richard's half-brother Geoffrey, and King Tancred's daughter. Upon which Richard gave orders that all valuables carried ofi by soldiers 1 In the Pipe^ Rolls the ounce of gold is given as equivalent to fifteen in silver. »i ■v. •rc- ^ 1 lit RICHARD RIGHTS HIS SISTER'S WRONGS 61 In^^^ ^^'^«*ding armies during the sack of Messina should be returned to their lawful owners Two days later the Kings of England and Prance met in royal state, and swore on the sacred reUcs to keep peace between themselves and between then: armies while on pilgrimage ; they also made S.^^^^f'f-'"*"*''?^^ ^^^ P"°P^^*3^ «f Crusaders who might die on the way to the Holy liand. or in bat le there. Such were to be at liberty to dispose of then: horses and personal equipment as they would, but of their other property half was Z be spent for the aid of the Holy Land in such manner as the Archbishop of Eouen, the masters f\ TJ^T^ ^""^^^^ ^'>^P^^l and other leaders of tie L-rusadmg army were to determine." Strmgent regulations were also made to prohibit gambhng among the common soldiers, and check it among the knights and clerks " who, if they lost more than twenty solidi, or about £1, in one day lay themselves open to a fine of the like amount to be paid to the Archbishop of Eouen "for the aid of the Holy Land." The Kings alone couM play for any stakes they pleased. Common soldiers and sailors and servants fomid gambhng (except naked through the army for three days," but the seamen were to be ducked in the sea ever^ morning Other statutes regulated the price of provisioS nJrK^""'^' ^f^ prevented waste and private profits being made by middlemen. arJ}^ f^^^T' ''l*^' '"* ^^^ li"Je known and greatly feared m Richard's time, to continue the IZT-.^ ^f""'"^' '^^S ^^^ equinoctiSgaS and with wmter storms fast approaching, waa con- 62 RICHARD COEUR DE LION sidered impossible, so the monarchs of England and France went into winter quarters. Richard made his in a temporary wooden fortress, which he afterwards took with him to Palestine and set up before the walls of Acre, and to which his men gave the name of Mate Griffon, or *' Kill Greek,'' which certainly was not Ukely to enhance the popularity of the English among the Greek popula- tion of Sicily. On Christmas Day Richard enter- tained the King of France at Mate Griffon, or '' Matte- griffun,'* as some writers spell the name of his wooden palace. A contemporary writer says of the great feast : " I was eating in the hall, but never did I see there a dirty cloth, nor a cup or spoon of wood ... nor ever did I aoe o o I think- any one give such rich gifts as King Richard gave on this occasion. For he left to the King of France and his folk vessels of gold and ailver.'' As so often happened in the Middle Ages while the kings and nobles were feasting inside, a riot broke out among their followers outride. The Pisans and Genoese sailors attacked the English mariners, and blood was flowing freely when the King and his guests and nobles rushed to the scene of the afiEray and tried to part the combatants ; it was not, how- ever, till dark had fallen and the foes could no longer see each other's faces that peace was restored, and even then the fight began again next day in church by a Pisan drawing his knife and wounding an English sailor during the celebration of the Mass* Once more a melee ensued, and once more the Kings of England and France had personally to come to the rescue and stay their turbulent followers from furilMtr bloodshed — an incident which shcdi RICHARD IS RECONCILED TO TANCRED 63 a strong Ught on the disharmony within the allied armies. ^^^j^ It was not till King Richard had been five months in Sicily that he had a meeting with Tancred. For this purpose he journeyed to Catania on the eastern shore of the island. Catania was at that time a famous place of pilgrimage "where rests the most holy body of the blessed Agatha, virgin and martyr,'' says a contemporary writer.^ Tancred went in state to meet the King of England, with the utmost respect, outside the city gates,' and the two reconciled monarcha went together to the church of the martyr, being met and escorted thither by a proces&ion of clci^ singing hymns. The Kings knelt side by side in prayer before the saint's tomb, and thus their reconciliation was made complete, after which liichard entered Tancred 's palace and accepted his hospitality for three days. " On ihe. fourth day the King of Sicily sent many and great pre^ntd, gold, silver, i^teeda, and silken cloths to the King of England, who, however, would accept none of them save one Mtth ring as a token of mutual love." On the other hand, the King of England gave Tancred " that best of swords which the Britons call CaUburne, formerly the sword of Arthur, once the noble Kmg of England." " Calibume," of course, answers to the Excalibur of Tennyson's " Idylls of the King." It would be interesting to know how a sword having such a tradition came into the poflMssion of King Richard, and it seems unhkely that if he really beUeved in its magic properties he would have parted with a weapon of such inestimable worth in his coming ' Rofir of HoT«usaders coming from the West. This con- stant supply of new blood in the Holy Wars is a feature of the Crusades we are sometimes in danger of forgetting when we label the Crusades, first, second, and third, and so on ; the truth being that little bands of warlike pilgrims were ceaselessly coming to seek death or glory on Terra Sancta all through the two hundred odd years in which Cross and Crescent contended for the Holy Sepulchre. But for the misfortune that had overtaken the German army under the Emperor, Frederick Bar- barossa^ when their imperial leader was drowned in crossing the river Calycadnus in Cilicia, Acre would certainly have surrendered to the Crusaders the pevious year, but this event, which caused the entire dismemberment of the Teutonic army, gave a new lease of life to the Moslem garrison inside Acre, who 1 The Crusaders in the East, by W. B. Stevenson, p. 260. .liii^K had always managed to maintain communication with Saladin by carrier pigeons and swimmers, as well as by vessels which occasionally ran the blockade and took fresh supplies of food (and in winter, during the cessation of hostiUties, fresh recruits) to the garrison. One such merchantman was sunk by Richard on his way to Acre, and the manner of taking of it makes a very good story, which is given in detail by the old chroniclers. Richard was already in sight of the Holy Land he had so long and ardently desired to see. Sailing near to the coast, as was the custom of those days, for greater safety, he saw one by one the strong- holds of the Crusaders rise like sentinels upon the shore— first the castle of Margot (half-way between Laodicia and Tortosa) built on a lofty hill and used by the knights of St. John to keep a watch over the movements of those strange people known as the Assassins (who owned the absolute authority over life and death of their leader, " The Old Man of the Mountains ''), then Tripoli, the capital of the great Christian state of TripoU, then Nephyn and Botron, the stronghold, where arose the deadly feud between Raymond ii. of TripoU and Gerard de Riderfort, which resulted in the disastrous battle of Hittim and faU of Jerusalem, and, nearest to Beyrout, Gibeleth, once the seat of the worship of Adonis. Dreaming of all those castles stood for, of des- perate valour, and the voluntary exile of " knights of God," Richard's sharp eye was caught by a great ship flying the French flag. Astonished that his aUy should have so large a ship of which he did not know, and half-suspecting it sailed under false colours, the King promptly ordered Peter des Barres, one of r I 8e RICHARD COEUR DE LION his trusted captains, to look into the matter, who hailed the dromond (the name given in the Mediter- ranean at that period to the largest merchantmen rowed with two sets of oars), and being told it belonged to the King of France, brought the message back to the King, whose own galley had now ap- proached so near to the strange vessel that voices on board could be heard and it was noted the language spoken was not French. The dromond was of great size and most con- spicuous in appearance, "for it was set ofiE with three masts of great height, and its smoothly wrought sides were decked here and there with green or yellow hides. . . ." * One of the English sailors on King Eichard's galley now remembered to have seen this vessel taking on a cargo of arms at Beyrout, as well as large supplies of food, and to have heard that a company of eight hundred Turks, commanded by seven Saracen Emirs, were to sail in her. Rumour, he added, had stated that she was bound for Acre, and had, in addition to her ordinary armament, " two hundred deadly serpents to be let loose in the Christian camp, with intent that the plagues of serpents that befell the Hebrews should be repeated." Why news of such import was not related by the man at the time does not appear, but Richard, now certain he had before him one of the enemy's ships, sent other messengers to question her captain closely, and received un- satisfactory repUes, whereupon he decided on a pursuit. '' Let us,'* he said, " now that they are skurrying away, send a second galley after them without giving them a single word of greeting; * Itm^ ii„ Archer's translation, p. 72. r DEPARTURE FOR PALESTINE 87 in this way we shall know what their intention is, and what faith they hold ! " These tactics brought a shower of darts and arrows from the stranger, and this in turn was the signal for all the fleet to gather round and return the compli- ment; but the dromond's great height above the water' gave her archers the advantage of pouring a shower of arrows on to their pursuers below, who were for giving up the attack when Richard him- self rowed along the lines, shouting encouragement and the shame of cowardacy. " Well do you know, all of you, that you will deserve to be hung on a gallows and put to death if you sufier these enemies to escape ! " This had its effect. Some brave galley men actually jumped into the sea, and succeeded, by diving under the enemy's ship, to tie a rope to the hehn and so hinder the vessel's progress ; others per- formed prodigies of valour in trying to board the enemy, and many had their hands or heads cut off in the effort, and fell back into the sea. The few who gained the deck fought desperately, but were finally overwhehned and driven back by the picked Turkish soldiers, on their way to regarrison Acre, who, doubtless, were congratulating theiiiselves on their victory as the English galleys retired. But it was but the action of a cat playing with a mouse, who lets it run a little way only with a final spring to catch it again! At a signal from the King, who had now given up hope of capturing the prize, and resolved to sink her, the galleys once more swept forward, the rowers straining muscles of steel to give force to the attack, and from all sides " each heavy prow armed with iron came like a .£mmm a mm i "■" 88 RICHARD COEUR DE LION battering ram into her side/' Again and again the murderous attack made the timbers of the doomed vessel shiver and split, till the water rushed in, and like a great wounded whale, reddening the water with the blood spilt upon her decks, she sank beneath the waves, while on their surface a terrible tragedy ensued. Those of the ship's company who had not gone down with the ship struggled for life in the eddying waters, and some, including the Emirs and '' those skilled in the making of war- like engines,'' were dragged into the English boats by the King's orders, and others remorselessly pushed back to drown. How, in that dreadful scene of indescribable confusion, the sailors distinguished between those King Richard would have saved and those that he wished left to their unhappy fate, the chronicler does not relate, but he expressed the opinion that " had that ship got safe into Acre the Christians would never have taken the city," and like the Pharisee who thanked God that he was " not as other men are," he piously pats him- self on the back and gives vent to his satisfaction at the special favour shown by Deity to his patron. " Thus did God bring disaster upon the infidels, while to the Christians, who trusted in Him, He gave help at the hands of King Richard, whose warlike endeavours prospered without intermission." ^ What would he have thought could he have read the comment on this disaster made by the Saracen writer " Bohadin," who says, ** The Sultan accepted this also with the hand of resignation for the sake of God, who will not suffer the reward of them that love righteousness to perish " ? ' Cf. lUn., ii SECOND SEAL OF RICHARD I., A.D. 1 198 (MADE AFTER FIRST SEAL WAS LOST OFF CYPRUS). OBVERSE.— 5^^ /• 74- Original at British Museum photographed hy Otto Holbach. 88 RICHARD COEUR DE LION battering ram into her side." Again and again the murderous attack made the timbers of the doomed vessel shiver and spHt, till the water rushed in, and hke a great wounded whale, reddening the water with the blood spilt upon her decks, she sank beneath the waves, while on their surface a terrible tragedy ensued. Those of the ship's company who had not gone down with the ship struggled for life in the eddying waters, and some, including the Emirs and *' those skilled in the making of war- like engines,'' were dragged into the Enghsh boats by the King's orders, and others remorselessly pushed back to drown. How, in that dreadful scene of indescribable confusion, the sailors distinguished between those King Richard would have saved and those that he wished left to their unhappy fate, the chronicler does not relate, but he expressed the opinion that " had that ship got safe into Acre the Christians would never have taken the city," and like the Pharisee who thanked God that he was "not as other men are," he piously pats him- seK on the back and gives vent to his satisfaction at the special favour shown by Deity to his patron. " Thus did God bring disaster upon the infidels, while to the Christians, who trusted in Him, He gave help at the hands of King Richard, whose warlike endeavours prospered without intermission." i What would he have thought could he have read the comment on tliis disaster made by the Saracen writer ** Bohadin," who says, '' The Sultan accepted this also with the hand of resignation for the sake of God, who will not suffer the reward of them that love righteousness to perish " ? ' Cf. Uin., ii. L I SECOND SEAL OF RICHARD I., A.D. 1 198 (MADE AFTER FIRST SEAI, WAS LOST OFF CYPRUS). OBVERSE.— 5^^* /. 74- Or/tr/nai at Hritish Museum photo.^aphcd hy Otto Holbach. DEPARTURE FOR PALESTINE 91 It is related by some writers that after the great sea-fight Richard put into Tyre, but, instead of receiving there the welcome from fellow-Christians he naturally expected, the gates were shut against him by the orders of the governor of the city, Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat; he had to have his own tent erected outside the city walls in which to sleep for the first time in the Holy Land of his dreams. Next morning he put to sea again, and soon sighted first ScandaUon, some five miles from Acre, and soon after the lofty tower of that walled city, which, since the fall of Jerusalem, had been counted the capital of Palestine. " Acre was then girt round on every side by an infinite number of people from every Christian nation imder heaven— the chosen warriors of all Christian lands, men well fitted to undergo the perils of a war.'' In reaUty the Christians were besieged outside the walls as well as the Moslems within, for beyond the besiegers' camp on the land side lay " an innumerable army of Turks swarming on the mountains and valleys, the hills and the plains, and having their tents bright with coloured devices of all kinds, pitched everywhere." Even Richard had never beheld so imposing and vast an array of miUtary power as that presented by the camps of the Crusading armies and the great hosts of their Moslem foes. The whole plain of Acre was one vast Christian camp, while the encamped hills were occupied by myriads of Saracens also in tents, surrounding a pavihon of Oriental luxury, in which Saladin had his headquarters, and beside it rose the scarcely less luxurious pavilion of his brother Saphadin. 92 RICHARD COEUR DE LION On the eve of WHtsunday Richard landed, and this day was one of the proudest in his life, for his fame had gone before him, and he was hailed not alone as a King, but as a saviour and an in- vincible warrior, whose coming meant victory to the Christian hosts and annihilation to the infidels. The war-worn pilgrims rent the air with shouts ; and as that part of his own armament which had arrived emptied itself upon the shore, and as every man — Enghsh, French, Itahan, German — heavy in full armour, pressed forwards, "eager to feast his eyes upon the Prince in whom he trusted for dehverance and victory, the ground trembled." ^ We are told that the clang of trumpets and roar of human voices thundering congratulations sounded " as if all Christendom had rolled an awful summons to the defilers of the Holy Land to surrender their usurped dominion ; and as if heaven itself were bidding the man of Lion Heart to come and see and conquer/' The sound must have carried dismay to the ears of the Saracens who, with the coming of Richard's fleet, saw their communication with Acre entirely cut off and aU hope of reheving the garrison at an end. The Saracen historians relate that Saladin had received the news of the sinking of the great merchantman, with its picked company of soldiers and all its stores, earlier in the day. The sunset glory, which is a daily pageant in the East, lent its magnificence to Richard's landing, and his cup of gladness was filled to the brim when PhiHp of Prance, with whom he had parted coldly, came first to meet him, and, burying the past to 1 The Third Crusade, by Rev. W. H. Rule. p. 209. THE TAKING OF ACRE 93 all outward seeming, went beyond what courtesy demanded in receiving the new-made Queen, who had supplanted his sister, not alone with honour, but with great kindliness ; taking her in his arms and Kfting her on shore himself from the boat, that she might not wet her dainty feet by treading on the wet beach. There was feasting and drinking in the alUed Christian camp that night, and bonfires lit, and songs sung, and Richard's men told of his exploits by the way to those who now saw their famous champion for the first time. Such tales were told of him that he seemed to many in that host more god than man. Rank was forgotten in that great rejoicing, "the mean mingled with the mighty," national jealousies were forgotten — all the Crusaders were brothers united to carry to victory the Standard of the Cross — could they but have continued in this spirit they would have swept their Moslem foes triumphantly before them and planted the Cross again in Jerusalem. Richard's prowess by sea as well as by land could not fail to win the heart of seamen, and, therefore, both the Pisans and Genoese were eager to do him homage, which he accepted from the former, but not from the latter, as they had espoused the cause of Conrad of Montferrat against the reahnless King of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan. Punctilious to fulfil his agreement with the French King, one of Richard's first acts was to divide with PhiUp the prisoners taken on the Saracen ship ; but, with the strange contrariness that was a marked feature of his complex character, he at the same time gave offence to his ally by outbidding him §4 RICHARD COEUR DE LION the; taking of acre 95 in the matter of the soldiers' pay, offering four gold pieces (called aurei, and each of about the size and weight of a napoleon) to each of his knights, whereas King Phihp, whose treasury was not so well filled, had never given more than three. These hberal terms had the effect of increasing his popularity, and many French soldiers deserted to his standard. He accepted their services, instead of pointing out that their vow bound them to fight for the cause, not for a person, and that, in the great matter to which they had set their hand, the cause of England and France was, or ought to have been, the same. Phihp had attempted one assault on Acre before the coming of Richard, but that most deadly agent in medieval warfare, Greek fire,i of which the Saracens had learnt the use from the Byzantine Greeks, had been used so effectively by the besieged that his engines were destroyed before they had done much execution. With Richard's coming new engines and towers to overtop the walls of Acre had to be prepared for the great and final assault that should dehver the city into Christian hands ; but while these were in course of construction Coeur de Lion fell ill of a mysterious malady, which partook of the nature of blood-poisoning, and to which his brother monarch in arms also succumbed a httle later. The physicians of that day called it Arnoldia, and it seems to have been a wasting fever, which often, as in King Phihp's ^The manufacture of Greek fire is thus described in the Dt Mirahihbua Mundi, attributed to AJbertus Magnus : " You make Greek fire thus : Take quick sulphur, dregs of wine, Persian gum, baked salt, pitch, petroleum, and common oil. Boil these together Then, whatever is placed therein and lighted, whether wood or iron' cannot be extmguished except with vinegar or sand " case, caused the patient to lose not alone his hair, but the nails of both hands and feet. After having come so far to rescue the Holy Sepulchre Richard lay in his tent powerless to strike the first blow on the soil of the Holy Land, chafing at his enforced inactivity ; Ustening to the sound of anvils and hammers which proclaimed the preparation of engines of war, as well as for the shouts which should announce that the last vessels of his fleet (which still tarried behind) were in sight, with further troops and ammunition for the war. The French King meanwhile, either because he really feared to delay operations, or because (as some historians have averred) he desired the honour and glory of being the sole leader of the assault, declined to wait till Richard should be restored to health, ordered the heralds to proclaim the attack, and the immense and invincible-looking army, clad in glittering armour, which glanced in the Eastern sun, moved forward to the walls of Acre. From crossbows and machines the besiegers poured a hail of darts, arrows, and stones into the besieged city, till the Saracens inside the walls made preconcerted signs of distress to Saladin on the surrounding hilb, by violent beating of kettles and drums. The Christians, however, were prepared for an attack from the rear, and it was Guy de Lusignan's part to guard the trenches, which he did so effectually that, the story goes, he killed ten men with his own axe. Yet the attack failed. The murderous Greek fire poured over the walls had slain a countless number of the dauntless men who attempted to scale 96 RICHARD COEUR DE LION them; thousands of the Christians lay dead or dying. Once more the Turk triumphed, and it was a triumph indeed, foUowing in the wake of the con- sternation caused by Richard's arrival and the awe- mspiring welcome extended to him by the allied armies as an invuhierable and invincible conqueror Utterly disheartened, PhiUp, too, took to his bed, and the shadow of a great fear feU upon the alhed armies that both Kings should die and they be found without a leader. The royal Uves were spared, yet death visited the headquarters of the French army, but his summons was not for Philip, but for one of his greatest followers, the Count of Flanders. The gloom thrown over the Crusading host light- ened a httle on the arrival of several missing vessels of the Enghsh fleet with the Bishop of Evreux and many knights and nobles ; preparations for another attack went on, while every day there was skirmish- mg between the Crusaders and the Turks, and the engmes of war, known as " shng stones,^' hammered the walls. To one of these the soldiers had given the mappropriate name of " the Bad Neighbour " ; mside the walls it had its match in another, worked by the Turks, and named by them " the Bad Kinsman." Yet, though more than once nearly destroyed after careful repairs, the Bad Neighbour succeeded in shattering one of the great towers of Acre— that known as " the Accursed Tower " (from the legend that it had been built with the pieces of silver given by the priests to Judas)— and also wrought much damage to the chief wall of the city. Another death-deaUng appUance, made by King Richard's orders, was known as " the Belfry," from THE TAKING OF ACRE 97 its height and the steps leading up to it ; intended to be placed close outside the walls, it was covered with untanned hides as a protection against Greek fire. When a single stone brought from Messina and shot from Richard's great engine of war slew twelve men within the walls of Acre, the Turks became superstitious, and attributed to it supernatural powers ; it was brought to Saladin and preserved as something miraculous. As strength gradually returned to Richard, he caused himself to be carried daily to a spot where, under cover of a contrivance of hurdles covered with raw hides, he could sit in comparative safety and watch the havoc wrought by his engines of war. Occasionally he himself discharged an arrow from his crossbow if any Turk appeared upon the walls within range, and at times he was carried on his litter, propped up on silken cushions, through the host to encourage the soldiers by the magnetism of his wonderful personality and indomitable spirit.^ An incident of the frequent fights mentioned in the Itinerarium is typical of the unconquerable spirit that prevailed on both sides. It writ the name of a subject of King Philip, Alberic Clements, described by a French historian as " Marshal of the King of France,'' large on the roll of fame. This heroic man declared on the morning of the attack of 3rd July, "To-day I will either die or, with God's will, enter Acre " ; and, so saying, he scaled the city wall by a ladder, anticipating that some choice spirits would follow him, but, alas for human calculations, the ladder broke, making it impossible for any one to go to his aid, or for him to retreat." ^ Hoyeden. 98 RICHARD COEUR DE LION Left alone upon the wall, he fought with desperate courage and at last fell, pierced with many wounds. Not all of his countrymen, however, were made of such mettle, for one day early in July, when a breach had been made in the walls by undermining and the gradual detaching of single stones (which had been effected at no small expense of human lives by King Richard's offer of two, and later on three and four gold pieces for each stone extracted), an assault led by the Earl of Leicester and the Bishop of SaUsbury failed, because the French would not take part in it till they had finished breakfasting, though the English, helped by their staunch allies the Pisans, were fighting for dear life, and prodigies of valour were being performed by friends and foes alike, so that admiration for the enemy is wrung even from the EngUsh chronicler, who says, " Never has there been such a people as these Turks for prowess in war/' He also adds feehngly, and with good reason, " And yet, for all the enemies' valour, the city would on that day have been taken, and the whole siege finished if the entire army had displayed an equal valour/* After this fight the combatants seem to have entertained a feeling of mutual respect for each other, which grew and " tended to impart a character of chivahry to this Crusade that may be taken as its single redeeming feature/' This spirit had its outcome in the exchange of courtesies between Richard and Saladin that makes such a picturesque story in an eastern chronicle.* "The King of England sent a messenger to Saladin, to say that there could be no harm if they » See T^ Third Crusade, by W. H. Rule. SECOND SEAL OF RICHARD I., A.D. 1 1 98. REVERSE. SHIELD BEARS THREE LIONS PASSANT GUARDANT IN PALE ; THE EARLIESTJ APPEARANCE OF THE ROYAL ARMS OF ENGLAND.— 5"^^ /. 74. Original at British Museum pJictographed by Otto Holbach. 98 RICHARD COEUR DE LION it Left alone upon the wall, he fought with desperate courage and at last fell, pierced with many wounds. Not all of his countrymen, however, were made of such mettle, for one day early in July, when a breach had been made in the walls by undermining and the gradual detaching of single stones (which had been effected at no small expense of human Uves by King Richard's offer of two, and later on three and four gold pieces for each stone extracted), an assault led by the Earl of Leicester and the Bishop of SaUsbury failed, because the French would not take part in it till they had finished breakfasting, though the EngUsh, helped by their staunch allies the Pisans, were fighting for dear life, and prodigies of valour were being performed by friends and foes alike, so that admiration for the enemy is wrung even from the English chronicler, who says, " Never has there been such a people as these Turks for prowess in war." He also adds feelingly, and with good reason, " And yet, for all the enemies' valour, the city would on that day have been taken, and the whole siege finished if the entire army had displayed an equal valour." After this fight the combatants seem to have entertained a feehng of mutual respect for each other, which grew and " tended to impart a character of chivalry to this Crusade that may be taken as its single redeeming feature." This spirit had its outcome in the exchange of courtesies between Richard and Saladin that makes such a picturesque story in an eastern chronicle.^ " The King of England sent a messenger to Saladin, to say that there could be no harm if they I See The Third Crusade, by W. H. Rule. SECOND SEAL OF RICHARD I., A.D. II98. REVERSE. SHIELD BEARS THREE LIONS /VLSW/LVT^ CrUARDANT IN PALE ; THE EARLIESTJ APPEARANCE OF THE ROYAL ARMS OF ENGLAND.— ^^-^ /. 74. Orii^inal at British Museum phctographed hy Otto IlolbacJu THE TAKING OF ACRE 101 two met together somewhere apart, and conversed on the matter that lay between them ; but on the contrary much advantage might accrue to both. But Saladin repKed that there was a great deal to be settled first ; but that, when peace was made, they might have a meeting; for after eating and drinking familiarly together (as Arabs do on such occasions), " it would be very unsuitable to fight." In those days the Englishman lay very sick, and the Franks carried on the war slowly on account of his sickness. When he began to recover, he sent another messenger to Saladin, saying : " I pray thee not to take it amiss that my correspondence with thee has been interrupted ; for I have been prevented by sickness. Now that I am better I have sent to thee that if thou wilt I may send thee gifts ; for it does not become kings to sbght each other's gifts, messages, and tokens of love, although war does rage between them ; for thus the laws of our fathers, the first kings, teach us.'* Saladin answered : " Well, if you will accept gifts from us in exchange, we will receive gifts from you.'" The messenger replied : " We possess hawks, eagles, and other learned birds ; but they are sick. We pray you to give us some young pigeons to feed them on, that they may gain strength, and then we will bring them to you.'* Malic Adel, brother of Saladin, a jocose man, said to the messenger : " It is the King of Ergland himself sick that longs for doves, and wants an excuse to send us hawks." Saladin, however, caused the messenger to be clothed in splendid robes, and sent back with him many fowls and young pigeons and turtle-doves. 6 102 RICHARD COEUR DE LION Again the messengers from the Franks came to Saladin, asked him for apples and snow, got them, and went back again ; but it is related that the object of the King of England was, m sending repeated messages, "not to make those trifling requests, but rather that he might know the strength of Saladin and of the Kings that were with him."* ,1.11 * On the 8th of July (according to the bulk ot evidence, though contemporary writers differ as to exact dates, some making it the 12th), or about a month after Kichard landed at Acre, Sala(hn, having sent envoys to cheer the six thousand be- leaguered citizens and soldiers of Acre, who were on the point of surrender, with the promise of commg help from Babylon (Cairo), made a desperate attempt to raise the siege by an attack on the rear, while Acre gave the remnant of its strength to one last effort to hold the breach. The hosts of Saladin were driven back with great loss, and hearing that things were in such a desperate pUght with the garrison that Moslems had actually deserted to the Crusaders' camp, letting themselves down the walls at night and professing their wiUing- ness to become Christians, he despaired of rendermg them aid and permitted the besieged to capitulate. So the town surrendered with all its remammg stores after a three years' siege. The Crusaders had bought their victory with about thirty thousand Uves. The banners of the Christian kings and princes floated proudly over the walls their engines had so long battered and over the ruined homes of Acre's heroic defenders, who were > AMfaragi Chron., Syr., p. 415, ed. Kinoh. THE TAKING OF ACRE 103 to be exchanged for two thousand Christian captives and a ransom of 200,000 pieces of gold. It is related that letters were sent out of Acre during the siege by a devout Christian, whose identity remained unknown, even after the city was taken, but who gave valuable information to the Crusading armies of the Moslem plans. A contemporary writer » relates that these messages were written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and each confessed that the writer was a Christian, and began, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen." All of the garrison, excepting the Turks of the highest rank, who remained as hostages, were by the terms of surrender allowed to leave Acre. Their proud and dignified bearing and splendid apparel (which was all they carried away with them, as their goods and arms were forfeited) made a great im- pression on their victorious foes. "They were wonderstruck at the cheerful features of men who were leaving their city ahnost penniless, and whom only the very sternest necessity had driven to beg for mercy—men whose loss did not deject, and whose visage betrayed no timidity, but even wore the look of victory." ' HoTeden. !i' CHAPTEE IX QUARRELS BETWEEN RICHARD AND PHILIP — THE MARCH SOUTH FROM ACRE On entering Acre the King of France took posses- sion of the palace of the Templars, while the royal palace was apportioned to King Richard and Queen Berengaria, with Queen Joan and the ladies of their suites, including the Cyprian princess, the daughter of Isaac Comnenus. These royal ladies remained at Acre under the guardianship of Bertrand de Verdun and Stephen de Munchenis during the whole campaign, and so were spared the sufferings encountered by the army on the march to Jaffa. The spoils and captives having been divided between Philip and Richard, they turned their attention to the question of repairing the walls on the land side, that they might hold what had taken them so long to win. In the meanwhile the Cardinal Legate and great ecclesiastics were busy reconsecrating the churches of Acre, which had been converted into Mohammedan mosques, little thinking the day would come when they would revert to the infidel and remam Moslem throughout the centuries. It was a stirring time in Acre, the first few weeks after the siege, and the hearts of the most devout Crusaders were full of joy that, as they thought, QUARRELS BETWEEN RICHARD AND PHILIP 105 they would now march victoriously straight to Jerusalem and wrest the Holy Sepulchre from the Turk. But the King of France was not among the enthusiasts — far from it ; a whisper went abroad that he wished to desert his ally and return home. It is conceivable that, owing to the return of his former illness — a French historian tells of the fever that wasted his frame and of the suspicion that he had been poisoned — he felt himself physically unable to take the leadership of the French army any longer, recovery in the tropical heat of a Syrian summer being almost impossible. The accounts of French and English historians differ very widely, each making good the case of their own King — one French writer ^ asserts that during Phihp's illness Richard visited him and gave him false informa- tion of the death of his son, with the malicious in- tention of bringing about worse conditions, if not PhiUp's death, by the ill news. This writer states that the intention was frustrated by the gallant spirit PhiUp showed in his reply : " Needs must I now take heart all the more, seeing that, if I die in this country, the realm of France will be without an heir.^' This story, however, is wholly inconsistent with all that is known of Richard's character. Malice was not in his line, nor deliberate plotting to injure any one, even an enemy, though he could be brutally cruel in a moment of anger. The conduct and motive here attributed to him was more worthy of his brother John. He may have tactlessly blurted out the news of Philip's son's illness in France, and * Eracles ,179. n 106 RICHARD COEUR DE LION in that remarkable . way in which plain facts can be embroidered in repetition, the story must have grown to its proportions in the chronicler's version. The fact of its narration shows the atmosphere of mutual suspicion and distrust that surrounded the t^'o Kings and made them attribute the worst motives to each other. Philip's jealousy of the man who " owed him homage for half his dominions/' and yet *' outshone him in courage, munificence, and all that could concihate popularity," was very natural; so was Richard's distrust of Philip and dissatisfaction at his resolve to return home, for had not the King of France taken the Cross and accompanied him to the Holy Land, Richard would have hesitated to leave his French dominions for fear of Philip's influence being used to stir up dis- satisfaction in his absence, and make this the excuse for aggrandisement. With Philip in France it was difl&cult for Richard to remain in Palestine and preserve an easy mind. However, he let his half-hearted ally go without an open rupture, and even presented him with two of his best galleys to increase his fleet, only exacting an oath that Philip " would not wittingly or wilfully do any harm against his men and lands so long as King Richard continued in his pilgrimage " — an oath that PhiUp honoured in the breach rather than the observance. Phihp sailed for home on 1st August, leaving the bulk of his army under the leadership of the Duke of Burgimdy, with Richard nominally Commander-in-chief, but practically with only authority over a part of the army, which was spUt up into the adherents of Conrad de Montferrat and Guy de Lusignan, for long the rival claimants to the QUARRELS BETWEEN RICHARD AND PHILIP 107 throne of Jerusalem (that empty title which, for all that it sounded so much and meant so httle, was a powerful factor in the game that PhiUp and Richard were playing, with Conrad and Guy for their respect- ive partners). The King of France, relates a French historian, Will le Briton, "before starting, told, out of his own means, pay to support 500 knights for three years. To these he added 1000 foot soldiers, whose business it was watchfully and faithfully to fight in his stead for the Holy Sepulchre." After Philip's departure the time drew near for the fulfil- ment of the Saracen's engagement to dehver up the Christian captives and " discharge the first payment of the ransom agreed upon, as well as to restore the Holy Cross." Saladin delayed, and asked for more time, re- peating this manoeuvre more than once, sending presents meanwhile, perhaps because he could not collect sufficient money to meet his engagement, nor find the prisoners who were scattered over the country. Richard, after waiting three weeks, lost patience, and in a fit of anger and fanaticism, in which, doubtless, he managed to persuade himself that his bloodthirstiness was righteous zeal " to confound the law of Mohammed utterly and vindicate that of Christ," gave the order for the slaughter of the 2500 Turkish hostages. This barbarous deed not only blackened his otherwise illustrious name for all time, but, like all ill-deeds, brought its Nemesis not alone in the shedding of more innocent blood— for Saladin after this systematically executed all the prisoners he took— but in increasing the bitter hatred between Christian and Mohammedan, which put an end to all hope of negotiations which 108 might have led to a finn and lasting peace. The Saracen account of the matter makes Richard ffuilty of a breach of good faith as well as of savage Sy, as their historians say that the Uvea of the garrison and of the soldiers were guaranteed in consideration of the surrender of the town, and a modem writer has remarked very justly that " even if their lives were not expressly Le^arded the circumstances of their surrender gave them a certain claim to be spared." On the other hand, Hoveden asserts that Saladin had. two days previously, beheaded aU his Christian prisoners, which, if true, according to the standards of the time, would be a complete justification of Richard's action, but, whatever the motives that led him to this slaughter, it cannot be doubted that remorse afterwards in his better moments dogged his footsteps and shadowed his Ufe. The accounts of this matter differ so widely that the exact truth can never be known, yet even the Saracens admit that Saladin did not fulfil the conditions, but, when the time came to meet them, demanded hostages in his turn, of which no mention seems to have been made previously. The prisoners were massacred in full sight of the Sultan's army, and it appears that when the slaughter was ahnost over their advance guards rushed against the Christians to rescue the prisoners, and a hand-to- hand fight took place in which many were killed and wounded. Those slain were of course regarded as martyrs by their Moslem brethren. After this Richard left the city and pitched his camp in the plain outside — ^this may have been for sanitary reasons, for the fearful carnage that had H Z O X H O o H 12: < H o P2 H O X H in ai u < <: en O > n < en Q < til H Z < > tii tii X H 1 •v. I 108 RICHARD COEUR DE LION might have led to a firm and lasting peace. The Saracen account of the matter makes Richard guilty of a breach of good faith as well as of savage cruelty, as their historians say that the Kves of the garrison and of the soldiers were guaranteed in consideration of the surrender of the town, and a modern writer has remarked very justly that " even if their lives were not expressly safeguarded the circumstances of their surrender gave them a certain claim to be spared/' On the other hand, Hoveden asserts that Saladin had, two days previously, beheaded all his Christian prisoners, which, if true, according to the standards of the time, would be a complete justification of Richard's action, but, whatever the motives that led him to this slaughter, it cannot be doubted that remorse afterwards in his better moments dogged his footsteps and shadowed his life. The accounts of this matter differ so widely that the exact truth can never be known, yet even the Saracens admit that Saladin did not fulfil the conditions, but, when the time came to meet them, demanded hostages in his turn, of which no mention seems to have been made previously. The prisoners were massacred in full sight of the Sultan's army, and it appears that when the slaughter was almost over their advance guards rushed against the Christians to rescue the prisoners, and a hand-to- hand fight took place in which many were killed and wounded. Those slain were of course regarded as martyrs by their Moslem brethren. After this Richard left the city and pitched his camp in the plain outside — this may have been for sanitary reasons, for the fearful carnage that had z o X H o o H 'Z ^ P ^ < O < > in Cm > u (/) < Oh < .J O > 02 < Illllllllll THE MARCH SOUTH FROM ACRE 111 taken place in and immediately around Acre could not fail to have tainted the air in the great heat of a Sjrrian August. His own men he compelled to accompany him to the healthiest camping ground, and some of the French he persuaded, but most were unwilling to leave the greater security of a walled city and all the comforts to be enjoyed there. The dissolute Ufe led by a portion of the French army in Acre, who indulged freely in the luxury of ''wine, women, and song,'' unfitted them for the stress and strain of the coming march to Jaffa and Ascalon, and put their more high- minded fellow-soldiers to shame. To stop the evil to some extent, Kichard gave orders that no women should be permitted to accompany the army on its march "except the washerwomen, who would go on foot and could not be a burden." The Tommies of those days had not learnt to do their own washing. The eighty miles of coast that He between Acre and Jaffa is almost a straight line, and was covered by the soldiers of the first Crusade in less than ten days. The first stage to Haifa lies along the shore, traversing sands firm as a biUiard- table near the water's edge, but if the marching line were of great width the soldiers on the landward side would have had to struggle through shrub and brushwood. It seems curiously out of character with the reli- gious aspect of the Crusades and the prominent part played as leaders by great ecclesiastics, that a Sunday ("the morrow of St. Bartholomew, 25th August") should have been selected for the strenuous work of the first day's march, instead of the men being 112 RICHARD COEUR DE LION permitted a day of rest in which to fortify them- selves by religious rites and meditation for the sacred undertaking to which they were vowed. It may be that the old proverb of " The better the day the better the deed '' expressed the senti- ments of the leaders, and that they thought the Sabbath could not be better spent than in the first stage of the march to Jerusalem to rescue the Holy Sepulchre. The army, we are told, was ranged in battalions, King Eichard leading the van (which was to consist on alternate days of the Templars and Hospitallers) and the Duke of Burgundy bringing up the rear, while the Royal Standard of England and Normandy floated proudly in the midst, surrounded by a chosen company of Norman knights, each of whom was ready to lay down his life for the flag. There is a very interesting explanation given by the old chroniclers of the origin of the word Standard : " It consists of a very tall pole, as it were, the mast of a ship, made up of most soUd timber- work well jointed, cunningly carved, and covered with iron so as not to fall a prey to sword or axe or fire ... if by any chance it is cast down the army is thrown into confusion and flight. Wherefore, because it stands so strongly fitted together as a sign for the people, it is, from its thus standing, called the Standard. It is set on wheels with no small advantage, in that, according as the fortune of the battle varies, it can be brought forward if the enemy give way, or drawn back if they press on." To the neighbourhood of the Standard the sick and wounded were carried for safety, and the bodies of famous men fallen in the fight, to save them ill THE MARCH SOUTH FROM ACRE 113 from mutilation and dishonour at the enemy's hands. The way from Acre to Haifa is still the " rough unfrequented country along the shore afford- ing no road "" that is spoken of by the twelfth- century chroniclers. Still the river a little to the south of Acre has to be forded at a point near which the light-armoured Saracen horsemen swept down from the hills at the very moment when " a black and dangerous cloud swelled up and the air grewtroubled," or, in modem language, the hot breath of the sand- laden sirocco, with its peculiarly enervating nervous effect on strangers to the Eastern climate, rendered the army least fitted for resistance. Stragglers were cut off, baggage plundered, confusion ensued, and the Crusaders driven to the edge of the sea by their cunning foes ; these fought Uterally, as it must have seemed to them, " between the devil and the deep sea," for dear life — so forgetful of personal suffering in their desperate strait that it is related that when the hand of one of the Bishop of Salisbury's men was cut off, " without chang- ing countenance he seized his sword with the left hand, and, closing with the Turks, stoutly defended himself against them all, brandishing his weapon." It was as usual Richard who brought dehverance, who, on news reaching him of the attack on his rear- guard, hastened to its aid, slaying the enemy right and left on his way, helped by his gallant knight, WiUiam des Barres, from whom he had been estranged and who was reconciled to him that day. The Saracens beaten off, the Crusaders pitched their camp for the night by the brook Kishon, 114 RICHARD COEUR DE LION ■Pl» where Kichard doubtless mused on the slaughter of the prophets of Baal that had taken place at that very spot, and perhaps sought justification in it for his own slaughter of the " enemies of the Lord/' As night fell and the heralds went through the camp, crying, " Help ! help ! help ! for the Holy Sepulchre ! '' to inspire the drooping spirits of the men by the recollection of their sacred mission, and the whole army fell upon the ground in prayer, another host came to harass the weary Christians, who would fain have slept off the fatigue of the march and the fight — ^the mosquitoes, those pests of tropic lands, arrived in skirmishing order, and executed much the same manoeuvres as the human army which had preceded them, running away when pursued and returning to the attack as soon as the strangers who had invaded their land turned back from following them. Only those who have spent the hot months in an Eastern land, where the pitiless sun — not the bene- ficent orb of sunamer known to the West, but a fiery ball in a brazen sky, making Ufe intolerable at the midday hours for man or beast exposed to its full strength — ^pours down remorselessly from its rising to its setting, can picture the sufferings of those Northmen clad in heavy armour, which, we are told, became so heated as to bum their flesh, parched with thirst, stung by poisonous insects, and consumed by fever, as they struggled onwards day by day, many among them wounded by the poisoned arrows poured into their ranks by Saracen archers who hJg on the line of march, others fainting from fatigue, and not a few dropping dead by the way. If suffering has power to wipe out sin, whatever ' I THE MARCH SOUTH FROM ACRE 115 grossness of life and unworthiness may be laid to the charge of the Crusaders was surely expiated in the hell on earth of the march towards Jerusalem. The galleys laden with provisions had been ordered to keep in line with the army, which it was thought would thus be able to secure supplies without being hampered by a heavy baggage train ; but those responsible for the provisioning of the army had not reckoned with the sudden storms that frequently make landing impossible on this coast, so it happened not infrequently that food was unobtainable, and the starving men eagerly cut up the horses as fast as the Saracen arrows killed them, and added fuel to the flame of their sickness by this insanitary food. Imagination runs riot in comparing the victualKng of an army of to-day, with its provision of tinned vegetables and wholesome food, with the conditions prevailing in the twelfth century, and is staggered by the courage of the men who crossed Europe and penetrated into Asia to face not alone an indomit- able foe and overwhelming odds— but the lack of everything that, humanly speaking, makes life worth living — ^in pursuit of an ideal ! The spirit of the Crusades is not dead ; it exists to-day in an army which lands year by year on the shores of Palestine — an army of men and women who count the world well lost for Christ, and welcome suffering and deprivation of all earthly comfort as their share in His Cup and His Baptism, whose dearest ambition it is to die in the land where their Lord lived His human Ufe, and be buried in holy soil. This great army of unarmed soldiers of the Cross comes from the steppes and plains of Russia, ? 116 RICHARD COEUR DE LION from the far lands of Siberia ; it is made up of men and women — (many of whom are old and infirm) — who traverse Palestine on foot, leaning upon their pilgrim's staff, supported by the pilgrim's hope of heaven. It teaches a lesson of humble, fervent devotion — of triumph of spirit over matter — to every thinker who sees it, and compels the admiration alike of those members of other churches who differ widely from the Russian pilgrims in dogma, and of the most hardened sceptic and mibeUever. CHAPTER X HARDSHIPS OP THE MARCH — THE BATTLE OF ARSUF Saladin,' with the wisdom and forethought which distinguished him as much as his bravery, and sometimes gave him an advantage over his more reckless hon-hearted adversary, had destroyed the walls of Cayphas (the modern Haifa), as well as those of Caesarea, as soon as he saw that Acre must capitulate and the towns would be used as bases on the road to Jerusalem, if left fortified. Near Haifa, however, the main Crusading army pitched its tents and waited for the stragglers to come up, it being of the utmost importance for protection against the foes that the forces should move in a compact body. To this end it was decided to throw away some baggage to enable the foot soldiers, who were too much encumbered, to move more rapidly. Two days later the advance began again, but on account of the thick undergrowth, through which the infantry had to struggle, progress was very slow, and only the eight and a half miles to Athht were covered that day (assuming AthUt to be the '' Casal of the Narrow Ways " of the Itiner- arium). Tarantulas infested the camp at night, and 117 ;t i 1 118 RICHARD COEUR DE LION their stings, even more poisonous than those of the mosquitoes, caused severe swelling and agonising pain to the victims. Some one having discovered that these creatures were put to flight by noise, it became customary every evening for the soldiers to clash together "shields, helms, saddle gear, poles, jars, flagons, basins, pans, etc/' History does not relate how long this secured immunity for the weary men after the noise ceased, nor if they managed to sleep by turns, in spite of the din, while the rest made discord. At AthUt the ships laden with food were able to land some stores, and took on board men who had fallen on the road from exhaustion — thence the army pushed to Caesarea and camped by the river to await the fleet with reinforcements from Acre, for Richard had sent, urging the " slothiul folk tarrying there '* to join him and help their exhausted brethren, who had endured the hardships of the march while they luxuriated. On Sunday, 1st September, they set out from CfiDsarea, fighting as they went, for the Saracens harassed them perpetually; in the skirmishing, an Emir of note as a warrior, of gigantic strength and great valour, was unhorsed, and his head cut off as a trophy by the Christians, who seem to have borrowed this barbarous custom from the Turks, (the old chroniclers tell us that some of the knights rode into Antioch with the heads of their slaughtered foes hanging from their saddle-bows). On the third day out from Acre, progress along the level ground skirting the shore became im- possible by reason of the long grass and rank vegetation, and the order was given to turn inland }i 118 RICHARD COEUR DE LION their stings, even more poisonous than those of the mosquitoes, caused severe swelling and agonising pain to the victims. Some one having discovered that these creatures were put to flight by noise, it became customary every evening for the soldiers to clash together " shields, helms, saddle gear, poles, jars, flagons, basins, pans, etc/' History does not relate how long this secured immunity for the weary men after the noise ceased, nor if they managed to sleep by turns, in spite of the din, while the rest made discord. At Athlit the ships laden with food were able to land some stores, and took on board men who had fallen on the road from exhaustion — thence the army pushed to Csesarea and camped by the river to await the fleet with reinforcements from Acre, for Richard had sent, urging the *' slothidl folk tarrying there " to join him and help their exhausted brethren, who had endured the hardships of the march while they luxuriated. On Sunday, 1st September, they set out from Ca3sarea, fighting as they went, for the Saracens harassed them perpetually; in the skirmishing, an Emir of note as a warrior, of gigantic strength and great valour, was unhorsed, and his head cut off as a trophy by the Christians, who seem to have borrowed this barbarous custom from the Turks, (the old chroniclers tell us that some of the knights rode into Antioch with the heads of their slaughtered foes hanging from their saddle-bows). On the third day out from Acre, progress along the level ground skirting the shore became im- possible by reason of the long grass and rank vegetation, and the order was given to turn inland H O c a o < o a; Q 1- o w OS THE BATTLE OF ARSUF 121 and follow the line of coast along the hills; this movement brought the Christians into closer con^ tact with Saladin's army, and so incessant was the shower of arrows pom-ed upon them that the Templars lost nearly all their horses, the poor creatures being without the protection of mail worn by their masters. As the army approached the wooded country near Arsuf, it was rumoured that the enemy lay in ambush in the forest ; but, if this were so, they did not attack, but permitted the Crusaders to pass through, probably because open country suited better for the kind of warfare in which they excelled —swooping down upon the enemy and then retreat- ing on their swift horses with ahnost incredible quickness. Scouts who were sent out brought back word that Saladin's army numbered 300,000, or three times the strength of the alhed EngKsh and French forces. There was Uttle sleep in the Crusaders' camp that night, for they knew an attack to be imminent. It did not come, however, till they were on the march next morning, arranged in five battaUons under picked leaders, "men of great skill in warfare, warriors whose betters were not found on earth." The Templars led, followed by the Bretons and the men of Anjou, these again followed by those of Poitou; the Standard came next, guarded by the Normans and English, and then the Hospitallers, marching so close together " that an apple could not be thrown to the ground without touching the men on their horses." Bow- men and crossbowmen brought up the rear. The 7 4 t 122 RICHARD COEUR DE UON King and Duke of Burgundy were everywhere, keepinc a watchful eye on the enemy, and encour- agiig their own men. The provision and baggage waggons were placed for security between the army and the sea. So the compact mass slowly moved forward, with banners flying, armour glitter- ing in the sun, and aU the pomp and circum- BtLce of Western warfare. Ite ve^ appearance would have been terrifying to a less indomitable foe. but Saladin had fight'ing for him. not alone his brave Saracens, but men of distant countries and strange tribes, who shared his eagerness to wipe the Christians ofi the face of the earth. From the farthest comers of his Empire he had summoned them, and they had come to fight against the enemies of their faith. At a signal from Saladin, about nine o'clock in the morning a flank attack began with the onslaught of about ten thousand Turks, hurling darts and arrows, and uttering fierce battle-cries. These were foUowed by Soudanese, whose coal-black grimiing faces carried dismay to the Crusaders' hearts, for they held them " a race of daemons " — ^nor did they think very differently of the Bedouins, " a people light of foot and most eager for battle," who, to the sound of barbaric music, "on steeds swifter than eagles, thundered down upon us till the whirling dust caused by their rapid flight blackened the very air." Military music was unknown in the West at that time, and doubtless many of the Crusaders looked upon the bands accompanying the Moslem army as a species of incantation, and believed that the powers of evil were helping their enemies. So immenae were the hosts of Saladin, that they were i THE BATTLE OF ARSUF 123 sufficient to completely hem in the Christians with an encircUng hue two miles long, yet still the order was not given to attack, and the Crusaders slowly advanced, though at a mere crawl, the van pushing the enemy before it, and the rear-guard marching backward with face to the enemy. Richard of the Temple described the position very quaintly and graphically: "Like a flock of sheep within the very jaws of the wolves, our men, cooped up as they were, could see nothing around them excepting the sky and their pestilent enemies (swarming up) on every side. ... The Turks, too, whose special pride it is to excel with the bow, kept up the shower of arrows and darts till the air resounded and the brightness of the sun itself grew dark, as with a wintry fall of hail or snow, by reason of the number of their missiles. Our horses were trans- fixed with arrows and darts, which covered the surface of the ground so thickly everywhere that a man could have gathered twenty with a single sweep of his hand."' The intense heat added to the horrors of the day, for the men could hardly breathe in their armour and long padded coats (which were worn by the foot soldiers) ; the latter, nevertheless, had their uses, for the Saracen chronicler ^ relates that he saw Christians marching with many arrows sticking in them, while the Turks could not with- stand the crossbow bolts (against which their bodies had no protection). The Hospitallers, in the rear, bore the brunt of the battle, and at length their endurance could hold out no longer, and they sent to King Richard begging permission to charge the* 1 \^.. 124 RICHARD COEUR DE LION i 'i enemy, which he refused, saying that it was necessary for the successful issue of his plan of attack to endure and keep the ranks a little longer. This plan, the chronicler tells us, had been that six trumpets should sound in different parts of the host — two in the front, two in the centre, and two in the rear of the army. By this the Christian trumpets would have been distinguishable from those of the Saracens, and each portion of the army enabled to judge its distance from the rest. Richard hoped by such a systematic attack to sweep the Turks before him and utterly rout them, but the signals were never given, and the attack was precipitated by two of the Hospitallers breaking away from the main body, crying on their patron. Saint George, and plunging headlong into the enemy's ranks. This was, of course, a signal for first their brethren and then the rest of the army to follow, and desperate though not concerted fighting followed. Richard was speedily in the thick of it, not alone as leader, but fighting like a private knight seeking death or glory, his sword mowing down the Turks and clearing a wide pathway before and on either side of him as he went. Saladin's men defended themselves as bravely as they had attacked, and, when maimed and mutilated, met death glori- ously with unchanged faces and philosophic calm. Saladin on the heights saw the whole Saracen line from right to left flying before the foe, and knew the day was lost — one entire wing of his army had been driven to the edge of the sea and exter- minated. Yet as soon as the Crusaders gave up the pursuit the Moslems rallied, and, 20,000 strong, fell upon the rear, while Saladin's nephew Takedin, THE BATTLE OF ARSUF 125 ■I I with 700 picked followers, arranged in squadrons each with a yellow banner to be easily distinguishable, made an attempt to capture the Standard; well know- ing that if they could succeed in this the Christian army would become demorahsed and fall an easy prey.. Not all the valour of the Enghsh and Norman knights who surrounded it would have saved it if help had not come in the person of Wilham des Barres, who galloped headlong into their line with such energy and intrepidity, that after he had slain several, the rest, probably believing he was not alone, took to flight. Richard meanwhile had returned from the pursuit in the hills, and com- pleted the rout by attacking [^Takedin's force in the rear. Once more the ranks formed up, with many missing who had been with them that morning, but now lay dead on the battlefield. Victorious, but chastened and greatly saddened by the loss of one of their best leaders, the Fleming, James of Avesnes, a brave warrior and a personal friend of King Richard (who had been seen to kill fifteen Turks before he himself received his death-blow), the Christians entered Arsuf on the Eve of the Festival of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (7th September), and the next day rested there and sought for the body of James of Avesnes, which, being found, was given Christian burial in the presence of King Richard, who gave rich offerings at the Mass celebrated for the repose of his soul. The EngUsh chronicler asserts that the Saracen losses, in the battle of Arsuf, were 7000 men who fell in action, beside numbers who died of their wounds later, but as both sides were prone i; 'I f X 126 RICHARD COEUR DE UON THE BATTLE OF ARSUF 127 to exaggerate the enemy's losses and minimise their own, these figures cannot be accepted as absolute fact, the more so as later historians have cast doubt on the account of the battle of Arsuf given in the Itinerarium. Nevertheless, there must have been fearful slaughter — the Saracen account says that " a vast multitude of foot soldiers had perished"' — and it is easy to understand that Saladin's grief was so great he refused food and remained alone, refusing to be comforted. It is a pleasing touch, showing this great warrior's real kindUness of heart, that it is related he went himself among the wounded, shedding tears of pity and directing how they should be treated. While he sympathised with the rank and file, he, in his bitter disappointment, reproached their leaders, the Emirs, rather unjustly, and these in defending themselves bore striking witness to Richard's extraordinary valour and prowess in war. These were the strong words used by these seasoned warriors to describe their adversary : " He (Richard) himself confounds and routs our people. Never have we seen his Uke or met with his peer. He is ever foremost of the enemy at each onset ; he is first as befits the pick and flower of knighthood. It is he who maims our folk. No one can resist him or rescue a captive from his hands. . . . Rightly ought such a King to have dominion over the earth, for a man endowed with such valour is strong to subdue all lands. What can we do against so mighty and invincible a foe ? " That Saladin came later on to see the tniUi of theae words, and was himself one of Richard's enthosi- n astic admirers, is shown by his reply to the envoys during the peace negotiations of the following year, when he generously said he would rather lose his land to such a man, if lose it he must, than to any prince he had ever seen. Ml m mi |i|ii|ii •i CHAPTER XI THE CAMP AT JAFFA — NEGOTIATIONS FOR MARRIAGE OP QUEEN JOAN WITH AL ADIL — A FRUITLESS ATTEMPT TO REACH JERUSALEM — RICHARD RE- BUILDS THE WALLS OF ASCALON Despaimkg of defeating the Christian army in open battle, Saladin turned to strategy and decided to level the walls of Ascalon, Gaza, and all the towns and fortified castles on the road from the coast to Jerusalem. He foresaw that, though Jaffa was nearer to Jerusalem than the more southerly seaport, Richard would try to seize Ascalon to break the line of communication with Egypt, by which his enemies could obtain reinforcemSs and food supphes, and that by dismantling this fortified town he would save the inevitable losses of a siege, and avert all fear of it falling into the Crusaders' hands and being used as a base. Jaffa he had already dismantled, and looked forward by these tactics to cutting the invaders off from getting food supphes from their ships and so starving them out. A rumour of what was going on at Ascalon was not long in reaching the Crusaders' camp, and Richard, who had crossed the river above Axsuf , meeting but sUght resistance from the disheartened enemy, camped in the olive groves outside Jaffa, and at once sent a swift galley 118 N i! '"^s»/' :> a CHAPTER XI THE CAMP AT JAFFA — NEGOTIATIONS FOR MARRIAGE OF QUEEN JOAN WITH AL ADIL — A FRUITLESS ATTEMPT TO REACH JERUSALEM — RICHARD RE- BUILDS THE WALLS OF ASCALON Despairing of defeating the Christian army in open battle, Saladin turned to strategy and decided to level the walls of Ascalon, Gaza, and all the towns and fortified castles on the road from the coast to Jerusalem. He foresaw that, though Jaffa was nearer to Jerusalem than the more southerly seaport, Richard would try to seize Ascalon to break the line of communication with Egypt, by which his enemies could obtain reinforcements and food supplies, and that by dismantling this fortified town he would save the inevitable losses of a siege, and avert all fear of it faUing into the Crusaders' hands and being used as a base. Jaffa he had already dismantled, and looked forward by these tactics to cutting the invaders off from getting food supplies from their ships and so starving them out. A rumour of what was going on at Ascalon was not long in reaching the Crusaders' camp, and Richard, who had crossed the river above Arsuf , meeting but slight resistance from the disheartened enemy, camped in the olive groves outside Jaffa, and at once sent a swift galley 128 * ■ I X in O a u < o o w X H •V. •& THE CAMP AT JAFFA 131 to Ascalon to find out if the report were true. On receiving confirmation of it he immediately called a council of war, and proposed to the Dukes of Burgundy and Austria to hasten to the rescue of this important fortress, and stop the work of demolition before it was too late; but they, less energetic and enthusiastic than Richard, were weary of fighting, and preferred to follow the Hne of least resistance by pursuing the easier plan of rebuilding the walls of Jaffa and marching thence to the Holy City. The majority carried the day, and Richard's wise counsel— which might have given all Palestine into his hands and ended the campaign triumphantly for the Christian arms — ^was neglected. The army remained at Jaffa, revelling in its gardens and orchards with their plentiful supply of grapes, figs, pomegranates, and other luscious fruit, while the city walls were gradually repaired. Richard chafed at the delay, but tried to forget his disappointment in the pleasure of the chase, which was not without danger, for his enemies were lying in wait wherever he went, in the hope of capturing so great a prize as the warrior King " Melek.'' On one of these occasions, wearied by his exertion in the noonday heat, Richard fell asleep, and the Turks, seeing this from afar, rushed forward exultantly to capture him ; but the noise of their approach wakened the King and his followers just in time for the former to jump upon his famous horse and his knights to follow him. But it was to the devotion of one of their number, WiUiam de Preaux, he owed his hf e, for the Saracens pursued their usual tactics of leading the little band into an ambush by feigning flight and drawing the King and his followers to a 132 RICHARD COEUR DE LION spot where a krger body set on them. Knowing that the aim of the Turks was solely to catch Richard, William de Preaux called out in the Saracen language that he was the King, and thus concentrated the enemy on himself while the real King had time to escape before the ruse was discovered. Ease as before worked havoc with that portion of the army which were pilgrims in name only; drunkenness and vice of all sorts appeared in the camp as soon as fighting ceased, and not a few faint-hearted soldiers deserted and sailed back to Acre, where Guy de Lusignan was sent to reason with them and bring them to a better state of mind. As^the results of his embassy were only partially successful, early in October Richard went himself and pleaded in the name of religion with those who had taken the Cross and were now, after " having put theur hand to the plough,'* turning their backs on " the kingdom of heaven." His eloquence moved many to repentance, who, as well as the two Queens, Berengaria and Joan, accompanied him on his return to JafEa ; by the end of October the army there was made up to its original strength. Negotiations for peace had been going W before the Bang set out on his northward journey, and were at once renewed on his return. Richard had information that there were deserters from Saladin's camp as well as from his own, many of the tribes from afar desiring to return to their own land, having taken French leave to do so, and he judged the moment favourable to overtures, as both sides were suffering from the action of defaulters and had temporarily had enough of fighting. An arrangement favourable to the Christian 1* MARRIAGE NEGOTIATIONS 133 cause might have been arrived at, had not Saladin been apprised of the disunion among the leaders of the Crusade by receiving overtures from the Marquis of Montferrat at the same time. Conrad, who hated Richard for having espoused the cause of his rival. King Guy, and must have acted through- out from no higher motives than ambition and self- interest, offered to ally himself with the Moslems against Richard if Beyrout and Sidon were given him in addition to Tyre, of which he was already Governor. Saladin, with true Oriental diplomacy, was prepared to treat with the ambassadors of both parties and play off one against the other— negotia- tions suited his plans as they delayed action till the winter storms and rains should render the road to Jerusalem impassable. Richard's frank nature did not see through the Eastern cunning. A brave man himself, his heart went out to his foe, whom he had found worthy of his steel. He was as ready to bury the hatchet as to draw the sword, and more than willing to meet him half-way in overtures of peace. Recognising, in advance of his time, that nobility of character f^as not confined to those who professed the Christian faith, he even went so far as to propose a marriage between the widowed Queen Joan and Al Adil, Saladin's ambassador (for whom in the frequent meetings to discuss the question of a treaty he seems to have formed a cordial liking). It was proposed that both Saladin and Richard should yield their conquests to these joint representatives of East and West, but certain villages should be handed over to the military orders of the Hospitallers and the Templars, and the Christians' priests allowed in the monasteries and III Hi 134 RICHARD COEUR DE UON : l|. < I— • < O O < u < O 5 at f. 148 RICHARD COEUR DE LION been sacrificed to the remorseless extermination of the Turks. When the Crusaders mounted their banners on the walls, the remnant of the garrison, about three hundred men, besides women and children, surrendered unconditionally - yet even Richard of the Temple, always anxious to exonerate his Kjng, admits that these unhappy prisoners were treated with great cruelty, having their hands " so tightly bound with leathern thongs behind their backs that they roared with pain." They were marched out to lifelong slavery on the day after the fall of Darum. On the eve of Whitsunday the Duke of Bur- gundy arrived with his forces, although he had held aloof while there was work to be done. Richard received him cordially, and "in the presence of many chiefs gave him this fortress and all belonging to it, as a first-fruits of the kingdom/^ Then thanks were offered up at the Whitsun festival on the following day for the victory of the Christians. The thought of the lives uselessly sacrificed, and the prisoners carried into exile, seems to have troubled this strangely inconsequent King Richard not at all. The army did not return direct to Ascalon after the conquest of Darum, but made a detour to the East, to clear the country of the enemy, passing by Ras el Ain (which has been identified as the Antipatris of the Bible, mentioned in Acts xxiii.) and Beit Jibrin with its castle built by Richard's great ancestor, Fulk of Anjou. At Furbia, in the vicinity of Gaza, they were met by envoys newly arrived from England with letters from Queen Eleanor and others, telling of ^ X O X X a o X c o If) f. y. ILL NEWS FROM ENGLAND 151 John's treasonable intrigues with the King of France, and urging Richard to return home if he would save his kingdom. The contents of these letters were not at once made known, but rumour soon whispered that on account of the troubles in England Richard might have to leave Palestine without delay. In desperate fear that the Crusade would be abandoned, the leaders of all nations and parties there represented called a hasty meeting, at which "French, Normans, EngHsh,Poitevins, and Angevins'* took an oath to advance on Jerusalem whether the King were with them or not. This, becoming known to the army, caused universal rejoicing, and all that night the soldiers gave vent to their satisfaction by singing and dancing, while bonfires blazed and torches Ut up the festal scene. All rejoiced but the saddened and perplexed King, who lay awake far into the night, pondering as to whether his immediate duty was to the Cross or the Crown. Not that night did he find an answer, but though he marched next day towards Hebron on the road to Jerusalem, his heart was far away in his northern realm ; yet he knew the effect his departure would have on the army, in spite of the brave resolution they had taken in council, and sorrow for the multitude who had patiently borne, and were still bearing, all manner of affictions (at this time the sufferings of the men from the stings of a poisonous firefly, which caused such swelUng " that men who had been stung looked as if they were lepers,'" was intense) in the hope of reaching Jerusalem, forbade him to desert them before the goal was reached. A story is told of how Richard's final decision to remain in Palestine till the following spring was 12 J 152 RICHARD COEUR DE LION the result of an eloquent appeal made to him by a certain Poitevin chaplain,^ who, seeing the King sitting alone with his eyes on the ground in an attitude of deep dejection, wished to approach, but did not dare to speak to him, so stood without the tent, weeping. Richard at length, rousing himself, called to the Churchman, " Lord chaplain ! I adjure thee by thy oath of fealty to tell me the cause why you are thus weeping/' But the Church- man stiU feared to speak out till the King had promised him impunity. Thus reassured, he spoke at length, reminding Richard of the memorable deeds that by God's help he had accomplished on the way to the Holy Land as well as in his youthful days in France. '* Remember,'' said he, " how God en- riched thee at the conquest of Cyprus — an enter- prise which before thee no one ever dared to under- take ; how thou didst subdue it in fifteen days, and with God's assistance did take the Emperor prisoner . . . remember how thou didst reach Acre just in time to receive its surrender ; and thy recovery from the Amaldie of which so many other chiefs died. Remember how God has intrusted this land to thy care ; how its safety rests on thee alone now that the King of France has gone off so meanly. . . . Remember how, from the moment of leaving the Western World, thou hast stood forth as a conqueror — already does the Sultan dread thee . . . already does the valour of the Turks fear thy approach. What more ? All men say commonly that thou art the father of all — the patron and champion of Christen- dom, which, if deserted by you, will he exposed to the plunder of her enemies." ^ Itinerarium, v. c. i2. ILL NEWS FROM ENGLAND 153 Richard returned no answer, and on the morrow he gave orders that the army should turn back to Ascalon, so that it was generally beUeved he had determined on immediate departure. Probably he was still struggling with his natural desire to hasten to England to save the threatening loss of his king- dom. He may well have argued to himself that he could return to Palestine as soon as peace was restored at home. Yet the chaplain's words rang in his ears and would not be denied, and in the end he came out of this fight, as out of many another, victorious, determined to sacrifice his own inchnation to the conmion weal of the pilgrims and leave the issue to God. So it came about, that on the ith of June the heralds went through the host, proclaiming to the joy of all that King Richard would remain with his army and in no case leave for England before the following Easter. All men were bidden to be in readiness for an immediate march to Jerusalem, and preparations were hastened on by the pilgrims with hght hearts, confident this time of reaching at last the Holy City of their dreams, and planting the banner of the Cross upon its sacred walls. " DeUghted as birds at the dawn of day," and, like the birds, singing as they went, the pilgrims moved out of Ascalon in the magic light of dawn which comes before Eastern sunrise. The camp followers, declaring they were well able to carry their own food, had hung bags of provisions round their necks. Horses and other beasts of burden had been provided for such as were weak and ill, armour had once more been polished bright, and the gay- coloured banners of the leaders, flaunting defiance •r 154 RICHARD COEUR DE LION at any and all who should oppose their march, made up a picture fuU of cheerfulness and hope. The first day they reached Blanche Garde, the "white fort"" (so named from the chalky hill on which it stood) of Richard's ancestor, King Pulk, and encamped for two days in this strong position, hoping the terrible heat would abate. It was an excellent point from which to observe the sur- rounding country and detect any movement of the enemy, for the castle commanded a view which reached almost from Gaza to Jaffa, along the coast and over the whole Plain of Philistia and the hills and woods to the East. At Blanche Garde a knight and his servant were fatally stung by a poisonous serpent, and their fellow-pilgrims, while mourning their loss, counted their deaths meritorious. Another day's march took the army to Castrum Amaldi or Castle Arnouf, in the mountains near Beit Nuba (probably the Khurbet El Burj of to- day, which commands the old road to Jerusalem, and is still crowned by the ruins of an ancient fortress), where the French joined them. The Christians were now within about fifteen miles of Jerusalem, but it was decided to wait at Beit Nuba for Count Henry, whom Richard had sent to Acre to collect the slothful pilgrims who lingered there, living at ease, forgetful of their mission. So long did this embassy take that a month was lost waiting for these stragglers — a sacrifice of precious time which seems more than they were worth, as we may assume these unwilling soldiers would be an element of discontent in the camp when the first pretext for dissatisfaction occurred, and not fight RICHARD WITHIN SIGHT OF JERUSALEM 155 very bravely for a cause about which they were so half-hearted. It was from Beit Nuba that Richard, accompanied only by a few followers, made the daring raid to Emmaus, whence, after slaying twenty Turks, capturing some camels, horses, and mules, and taking Saladin's herald prisoner, he pushed on into the mountains in pursuit of the Saracens, who, terror- stricken, believed his whole force was at his back, and fled towards Jerusalem with the news that the dreaded " Melek '' was at hand. This was the only occasion on which the King, who had risked his crown to save Jerusalem, came within sight of its mystic walls, but tradition says he never looked upon it. The pursuit had taken him to the summit of Nebi Samwil, the height which commands a more extensive view than any other in southern Palestine, where, according to a French chronicler,^ one of his knights cried out, " Sire, sire, come hither and I will show you Jerusalem ! " but Richard, he relates, overcome with emotion, bent his head and covered his face with his shield. " And he wept tears as he called upon our Lord, *Fair Lord God, I pray thee not to let me see Thy Holy City, if so be that I may not deUver it out of the hands of Thy enemies." " It is a story quite in keeping with Richard's often emotional religious feehng, and tradition can never be disregarded by historians, though Richard of the Temple in his account says that after the pursuit " the King looked up and saw afar off the city of Jerusalem." Whether his eyes actually beheld it or not matters Uttle ; it is equally pathetic that it 1 JoinTilk. 156 RICHARD COEUR DE LION was so near and yet so far — that his feet never trod its streets — that he had risked all and fought, as has been said, with the valour of a Hector or an Achilles for this brief glimpse of far-away white walls gleaming in the morning sun. Had he but known it, at that very moment the gates of Jerusalem stood open on all sides — ^panic had seized its inhabit- ants at the news brought by the fugitives of his approach. Just one such desperate deed of daring as he gloried in, and he might have taken the city with his handful of men and sent word to his army to follow. The whole course of history would in an instant have been changed, and Saladin's power for ever broken. It was the irony of fate that the Lion Heart could not know the Holy City he desired so ardently lay within his grasp for the taking — that while it waited for him he turned back, a broken, disappointed man, hopeless, from now on, of accom- plishing the task he had set himself to fulfil— though willing to die in the attempt. CHAPTER XIII THE RAID ON THE GREAT CARAVAN — DISSENTIONS IN THE CAMP— RETREAT FROM BEIT NUBA — THE RELIEF OF JAFFA Richard's great difficulty during the time the camp remained at Beit Nuba was to keep open the line of communication with Jaffa ; many were the raids made by the Saracens on the convoys bringing food to the army, and many the deeds of valour per- formed in the skirmishing that constantly went on between the Turks and the Christians. In defend- ing the Crusaders' caravan against one of these sorties on St. Botolph's Day, the 17th of June, Baldwin de Carron — who, with Frederick de Viana and Clarembald de Mont Chablon, were guarding the caravan — ^was unhorsed three times, and per- formed prodigies of valour against innumerable foes; being finally hurled by the pressure of the enemy from his third horse, he lay battered, mauled, and bruised underfoot, till he and his friend, Manasses de Insula (who had gone to his rescue and nearly died with him), were rescued by the Earl of Leicester, not, however, before Baldwin^s leg "was clean cut through to the marrow'' by the Turks' toothed iron clubs. The enemy was driven to the mountains by the newcomers, 157 158 RICHARD COEUR DE LION and the caravan, for which Saladin confidently waited,brought triumphantlyinto theChristian camp. By the end of June the army had grown im- patient of the long delay at Beit Nuba, and daily murmuring and discontent grew in the camp. Eichard, formerly the impetuous, ever eager for action, even agait the wLing of his own better judgment, had now grown more cautious, and, having learnt from experience the disadvantage the Christians were placed at by their lack of knowledge of the count^ and cUmate, in fighting a native foe im- mured to the conditions of a Syrian summer and familiar with every mountain- path. counseUed that the advice of the Templars and Hospitallers, « natives who, we may be sure, are eager to get back their old possessions, and who know the country," should be taken in this matter. " If we adopt their advice," said he, " our army will no longer be as it now is. torn apart by such great dissensions." Meanwhile discontent was for a time aUayed and everything else forgotten, in the exciting news brought m by the Saracen spies m King Richard's pay, that a great caravan from Egypt was on its way to Jerusalem, which might be intercepted at a point about forty-five miles distant from Beit Nuba. Swiftly and secretly Richard made his prepara- tions to reach the pomt at which it might be attacked by night marches ; fortunately for his plans, there was a fuU moon, and marching in the comparative cool of the night ensured not alone greater privacy, but covering the ground more quickly than was possible during the heat of the day. The Duke of Burgundy as well as the King s <: i/i "— > (A Q Pi < O H O O o Q O o H Q OS < u I ■s. ^ « I w oi X < •Si oa w O H' s ID- 158 RICHARD COEUR DE LION and the caravan, for which Saladin confidently waited, brought triumphantly into the Christian camp. By the end of June the army had grown im- patient of the long delay at Beit Nuba, and daily murmuring and discontent grew in the camp. Richard, formerly the impetuous, ever eager for action, even against the warning of his own better judgment, had now grown more cautious, and, having learnt from experience the disadvantage the Christians were placed at by their lack of knowledge of the country and cKmate, in fighting a native foe im- mured to the conditions of a Syrian summer and familiar with every mountain - path, counselled that the advice of the Templars and Hospitallers, " natives who, we may be sure, are eager to get back their old possessions, and who know the country," should be taken in this matter. " If we adopt their advice,"" said he, " our army will no longer be as it now is, torn apart by such great dissensions."" Meanwhile discontent was for a time allayed and everything else forgotten, in the exciting news brought in by the Saracen spies in King Richard"s pay, that a great caravan from Egypt was on its way to Jerusalem, which might be intercepted at a point about forty-five miles distant from Beit Nuba. \ Swiftly and secretly Kichard made his prepara- tions to reach the point at which it might be attacked by night marches ; fortunately for his plans, there was a full moon, and marching in the comparative cool of the night ensured not alone greater privacy, but covering the ground more quickly than was possible during the heat of the day. The Duke of Burgundy as well as the King ir-r < If} X 5 O <;f o ^ o ^ <^ X 'J X ^ ^ X. RAID ON THE GREAT CARAVAN 161 accompanied the flying column of five hundredknights and one thousand foot soldiers, which set out from Beit Nuba at nightfall, on the evening of 20th June. Nearly half the distance was covered in that first night's march, and during the following day the column rested, while servants were sent to Ascalon for food supplies. Scouts brought in such accurate reports of the movement of the caravan, that at daybreak, after three night marches, they fell in with it just as the Saracens were taking their animals to the springs to drink, at a spot called the Round Fountain, near the foot of the Hebron Hills, News of the intended raid had reached Saladin, who had sent in consequence a picked force of five hundred men to protect the valuable merchandise —old chroniclers tell us that the beasts of burden were laden not alone with the fabled " gold of Araby " and baser but still valuable silver, but with costly spices, rich silks, the purple robes beloved of Eastern potentates, arms of every kind, embroidered pillows and tents, besides the more useful commodities, " bladders for carrying water, cinnamon, sugar, pepper, barley, wheat, flour, and wax'*— one can imagine what the loss of all these stores meant to the Turkish army ! When Richard came up with the caravan, he found a force of two thousand horsemen besides foot soldiers drawn up on slightly rising ground to oppose him, and very diplomatically divided his force into two, so as to attack simultaneously on both sides. He himself was first to charge the enemy and ride right through them with his im- petuous ardour, cutting men down right and left as he rode, followed by his knights, each vying with 9 162 RICHARD COEUR DE LION DISSENSIONS IN THE CAMP 163 the other who could best follow their leader's example. " Then was the slaughter renewed, the heavens thundered, the air was bright with sparks struck from the swords. The ground reeked with blood, dismembered corpses were everywhere, lopt off arms, hands, feet, heads, and even eyes."" The Earl of Leicester, coming up with his men, helped to complete the rout of the Saracens, and no less than 4700 camels, besides great numbers of horses and mules, fell into the Crusaders' hands. In this expedition Richard showed himself a strategist as well as a valiant soldier, and the speed with which he covered the ground contrasts remark- ably with the long-drawn-out miseries of the march from Acre to Jaffa, proving that on that occasion, as a recent historian * comments, " a multitude of inefficient pilgrims hanging on must have hindered the able-bodied and efficient."' The return to Beit Nuba was accomplished at leisure on account of the vast number of animals that had to be driven in ; the sight of the spoils, which were not kept by those who had taken part in the expedition, but divided between the whole army, so that every one had a share, gave great satisfaction to those who had remained behind, and camels being so plentiful, the young ones, whose flesh was tender, were killed for food. As might have been expected, however, (for inveterate gLnblers will turn even their blessings into occasion for fault-finding), the army now had a new cause of complaint in the price of corn, which was raised owing to the great demand for food for so many animals. ^Sir J. H. Buntay. The question delayed by the affair of the cara- van had now to be decided. Was the army to advance on Jerusalem, or turn back and lay siege to Cairo, Beyrout, or Damascus? Saladin had had time to strengthen the fortifications while the Christians deliberated, and, most fatal of all to their chances of taking the city, he had destroyed all the cisterns and filled up or poisoned all the wells outside the walls of Jerusalem, " so there was not left in all the neighbourhood a single drop of drinking water," nor was it possible, the spies brought word, to sink fresh wells, the city being built upon solid rook. This settled the question of the army's movements, for, though the disappointment was bitter to those poor souls who had come so far, buoyed up with the thought of visiting the Holy Sepulchre, all were forced to admit that to proceed and die of thirst before Jerusalem would be sheer madness. The opportunity of taking the city had been lost, and never came again. The general depression and irritation found vent in constant bickerings between the French and English, which had their climax in the Duke of Burgundy writing and circulating some scurrilous lines about the King ; to which Richard, with his Troubadour gift of verse- making, had no difficulty in replying in words of truth that stung. And while these un-Christian dissensions weakened the Christian army, Saladin was sending messengers throughout his dominions to recall his scattered troops, so that he soon had twenty thousand cavalry, besides a strong force of infantry, prepared for emergencies in case the peace negotiations which had been reopened should fall through. HI 164 RICHARD COEUR DE LION Meanwhile a council, composed of Templars, Hospitallers, French nobles, and Syrian Franks, decided that they might attempt the siege of Cairo, being well provided with animals for transport — a decision which, when it came to Saladin^s ears, was unwelcome news, and caused him some Uttle un- easiness. In the early days of July the final retreat from Beit Nuba began. SaladLa received the news with gladness, convinced that Jerusalem had been preserved to him in answer to his prayers ; for his historians relate that for days previous he had wept and prayed in the mosque of Al Aksa and given large offerings for the poor. At the same time as the army left Beit Nuba, an ambassador from Count Henry, (who carried on the negotiations in virtue of his office as head of the Latin states in Syria), requested an interview with Saladin. He bore the message that King Eichard and Count Henry were willing to accept the terms which had been previously suggested, i.e. that the Christians should have the coast and ad- joining plain, with the right for pilgrims to visit the Holy City and the custody of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, while the Saracens retained the hill country and the city of Jerusalem. But Saladin made a further condition that Ascalon and Turon should be dismantled, both having been rebuilt by Richard since his first offer was made. This was the rock on which the negotiations not unnaturally split. Richard consented to dismantle Turon, but Ascalon was very dear to his heart, since he had rebuilt its walk almost at his own cost and partly with the labour of his own hands. It seemed RETREAT FROM BEIT NUBA 165 too hard to give this up; it represented to him success wrung out of apparent faUure — a triumph of will over ahnost insuperable difficulties, which would be a lasting monument to his courage and endurance. To Saladin it was hardly of less importance, though for more practical reasons, for it was the key to Egypt-a strong Frankish garrison at Ascalon would cut his line of commumcation with Cairo. Neither party would give way on this pomt, and the reorganised Saracen army prepared to take the offensive, and moved from Jerusalem to besiege Jaffa. Richard meanwhile had reached Acre, pre- paratory to leaving for England, whether peace was made or the army he was leaving behmd pro- ceeded to the siege of Cairo. There news was brought him that after three days' siege Saladin had battered in one of the gates of Jaffa and was slpughtering the inhabitants— especiaUy the sick, who lay in their houses unable to move, and powerless therefore to take refuge in the inner citadel of the tower— where the survivors who could reach it had entrenched themselves, hopii^ against hope that help would come. That this remnant was still aUve was only owing to the bravery and diplomacy of the Patriarch, who, trading on the Eastern love of gam, had promised that if help did not come before a stated time, each man should ransom himseU with ten besants of gold, each woman with five, and each child with three. He offered himself with other noblemen as hostages who would forfeit their Uves if these terms were not faithfully observed. • j ^ Richard was on the point of embarkation— indeed, 168 MCHARD COEUR DE LION ieven of hia galleys had already sailed in^advance— when the envoys, *' with clothes rent/' anived from Acre, imploring succour for its perishing defenders. They were shown to the King's presence, and there began to unfold their sad tale, when, hardly waiting to hear more than that help was urgently needed, he sent out his heralds to proclaim a relief expedition. The Templars and Hospitallers, with the pick of the army, volunteered for service, but the French held back as ever, and in this extremity refused to aid him. The relief forces started without them, some going by sea and some by land to see which could reach Acre most expeditiously, as well as to invest it from both sides. Richard, who was of those who sailed in the galleys, hoped to accomplish the voyage in less time than the rest of his army took on the march, but an unkind fate caused an unfavourable wind to delay him at Cayphas (Haifa). On the night before the time fixed for the redemption of the imprisoned garrison his galleys dropped anchor before Jaffa, and with the dawn the Mohammedan banners were seen to be flying on the walls, which caused Richard to believe the citadel was ahready in possession of the enemy. Meanwhile the Turks, having seen the ships, ni«hed down to the sea-beach and even into the water, and thousands of archers began to discharge a shower of arrows at them. Richard took counsel with his trusted leaders. "My fellow-comrades, what are we to do ? Shall we not push on against this cowardly crowd that holds the shore ? Shall we deem our lives of more value than the lives of those who are now perishing because of our absence ! What think you ? " THE RELIEF OF JAFFA 167 But some felt the attempt was vain in case the garrison had already perished, and in face of such an overwhehning force drawn up to prevent them landinst While Richard scanned the shore with anxious eyes a human figure was seen to apparently fall from the tower of the citadel, and a moment later was discerned to be swimming towards the ships. It was one of the besieged, who had risked lua life to carry news that his comrades still lived, " hemmed in and like to perish," and who, when taken on board, so prevaUed upon his hearers, that in spite of the fearful odds against the smaU company of rescuers (for those who traveUed overland never got beyond Caesarea), Richard resolved to land and fight his way to the citadel, and either save the survivors or lay his bones where those of thousands of his people lay whitening m the sun, on a Syrian battlefield. "Then, even though it please God, on whose service and under whose guidance we have come to this land, that we should die here with our brethren, let him perish who will not go forward ! " he cned, and therewith gave the order for the galleys to be run ashore, and himself was the first man to sprmg into the water, though in his haste he had not Mly armed, and his legs and feet were unprotected. Halt in the water he stood, covering the landmg of hw knights, Geoffrey du Bois and Peter des Pr^aux, and dealing death among the Turks around hmi, while more and more of his men landed and drove back the enemy. In an incredibly short time they had thrown up a rough barricade to protect the ships, and left a company of men inside it to guard them, 168 RICHARD COEUR DE LION while the King and his immediate foUowers fought their way towards the town, and entered through a wmding staff in the house of the Templars which gave access on to the walls. Immediately he planted his conquering Lion Banner there, that those of the Christians who stiU lived might see it and take courage. He was only just in time, for nearly fifty persons of those in the citadel had surrendered in the hope of saving their lives, and seven had been slaughtered in cold blood who could not pay the ransom. Those who were left, on seeing the Christian banners seized the arms they had laid down, and wth sudden courage rushed out to meet Richard who, as usual, was dealing death aU round hini m his triumphant progress. Three thousand Turks who were plundering the houses of the citizens, were put to flight by Richard's splendid gallantry and dnven ignominiously far without the walls, though the pursuers had only three horses among them, which they had taken from the Turks, their own not navii^ been landed. Richard crowned his triumph by pitching his tents m the spot occupied by Saladin but a few hours before, and from which for aU his valour he had fled precipitately at the approach of the liion Heart." No tale in the annals of chivahy records more amazmg heroism than the raising of the siege of Jaffa, and the utter rout of the Saracen host by the gaUant Httle band who, with whole-souled enthusiasm, foUowed Richard to death or victory i 168 RICHARD COEUR DE LION while the King and his immediate followers fought their way towards the town, and entered through a wmdmg statt in the house of the Templars which gave access on to the walls. Immediately he planted his conquering Lion Banner there, that those of the Christians who still hved might see it and take courage. He was only just in time, for nearly fifty persons of those in the citadel had surrendered in the hope of saving their lives, and seven had been slaughtered m cold blood who could not pay the ransom. Those who were left, on seeing the Christian banners seized the arms they had laid down, and with sudden courage rushed out to meet Richard who, as usual, was dealing death aU round him m his triumphant progress. Three thousand Turks, who were plundering the houses of the citizens, were put to flight by Richard's splendid gallantry and driven ignominiously far without the walls, though the pursuers had only three horses among them, which they had taken from the Turks, their own not havmg been landed. Richard crowned his triumph by pitching his tents m the spot occupied by Saladin but a few hours before, and from which for aU his valour he had fled precipitately at the approach of the iJion Heart." No tale in the annals of chivahy records more amazmg heroism than the raising of the siege of Jaffa, and the utter rout of the Saracen host by the gaUant little band who, with whole-souled enthusiasm, followed Richard to death or victory J- CHAPTER XIV NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE — SARACEN ATTACK — SAPHA- DIN'S GIFT TO RICHARD — SARACENS* ADMIRATION FOR RICHARD — PILGRIMS VISIT JERUSALEM — LAST DAYS OF SALADIN. Once more Richard and his men set to work at wall-building to repair the fortifications of JafEa; they toiled with feverish energy to repair the breaches, for fear the enemy, on learning the small- ness of their numbers, should decide to attempt the recapture of the town. A small reinforcement meanwhile arrived from Caesarea, but together they could only muster fifty-five men at arms with fifteen horses between them, and two thousand foot- men, and the encampment, according to the Saracen historian,^ consisted of only about a dozen tents, the footmen sleeping in the open. It is reported that some of the mamluks — ^the Sultan's own bodyguard, who were distinguished on the field by the flowing yellow garments they wore over their chain armour — ^yellow being the Imperial colour — came to Richard's camp on an embassy and were courteously received. Richard even chaffed them about their defeat. " This Sultan/' he said, among other things, " is truly a wonderful man. Islam has never had on this earth 1 Boh&din. in 172 RICHARD COEUR DE LION SARACEN ATTACK 173 I a greater or more powerful than he. Now, how is it that my mere arrival has frightened him away ? By God ! I am not come here with my armour on and with the intention of fighting; see, I am wearing only ship shoes instead of proper boots. Why, then, have you run away ? '' To the Sultan's Chamberiain, Abu Bekr, he spoke more seriously : " Salute the Sultan from me, and tell him I beg him in Grod's name to grant me the peace I ask . . . there is trouble in my country beyond the sea ; it needs my presence. For things to continue in their present condition is of no advantage to either of us.'* To this Saladin, after consultation with his leaders, repUed, " You began by demanding peace on certain conditions and then the negotiations hinged on JafEa and Ascalon. Now that Jaffa is in ruins, be content with all that lies between Tyre and Caesarea." This was not acceptable to Bichard, and Saladin was quite willing to hang out the negotiations, for he was meditating a night attack on the Crusaders' camp and the possible capture of his undaunted foe as he lay asleep in his tent, which, if successful, would place him in a position to make his own terms and enforce them. The carrying out of this plan was entrusted to the mamluks and the Kurds — ^the former as the Sultan's own bodyguard, trained to war from child- hood, — felt deeply the disgrace of their defeat by such an insignificant force, and the Kurds were famous warriors who also burned to wipe out the dishonour to their arms. Fortunately for Richard, they quarrelled at the last moment as to which of them should creep stealthily on foot up to the oamp to surprise the King-— a business both disdained as contrary to their usual method of open warfare. Both preferred the task of keeping watch to prevent the news being carried to the other tents, and while they contended the dawn broke, and the neighing of their horses betrayed them. At once the alarm was given, the King and all his company sprang from their beds, snatching what armour they could, and prepared to meet the attack. Richard had but nine horsemen with him besides Coimt Henry, and some of their steeds were in a sorry condition, but he made his dispositions for defence so skilfully and rapidly as to make the most of his Uttle force and secure communication with the town and harbour. In spite of the short time for preparation, perfect order prevailed. The knights were posted nearest the sea, to bear the brunt of the attack, as the enemy was coming up in force on that side. " Their left hands held their shields before them, their right hands grasped a lance whose head was fastened in' the ground, whilst its iron point was presented towards the enemy as he rushed on with deadly vigour," so that they formed a living spiked wall impassable to the foe. To make assurance doubly sure and turn the enemy's front, with wonderful strategy two bowmen were placed — one to draw the bow and the other to keep discharging it— between each two spearmen, whose arrows should discomfit the enemy before they reached the line. Seven companies of about a thousand men each rode up in turn, but none had courage to fling themselves on the brave spearmen who calmly awaited their charge — ^not one came near enoi^h for a spear point to touch his horse ; they wheeled and retreated like a wave of the sea, and m ^<^ r m 174 RICHARD COEUR DE LION as the last retreated the order was given to Richard's men to pursue, and he himself rode foremost, challenging the enemy to single combat, but no man dared to face him.^ Then the King, seeing the Earl of Leicester unhorsed, hurried to his assistance, slaying innumerable Turks right and left as he rode, and no sooner was the Earl of Leicester helped to remount than the King flew in another direction to the help of Ralph de Malo Leone. Then a striking incident occurred which is without precedent in the history of warfare. A Saracen ambassador approached the King in the midst of the battle, and behind him were led two magnificent Arab chargers, which Saphadin, the brother of Saladin, begged his enemy to accept and use in token of his admiration of his valour. " If '' (ran Saphadin's message) " the King should issue from this awful peril in safety, he might bear this service in mind and recompense it as seemed best.'" Richard gladly accepted the gift of his generous foe in the spirit in which it was offered, while the battle raged furiously all around as this interchange of courtesies went on. It may be remarked that a French writer gives a less pleasing version of this story, stating that Richard, mistrusting Saphadin's intentions, made one of his men mount first, on which the animal, refusing to obey the bit, set off for the enemy's camp, and imphes that this was the intention of the donor; but the tale as told by Richard's own chaplain is credible, because more in keeping with the really noble characters of both Saphadin and Richard. While the battle raged towards the sea and the ' Boh&din. SARACENS' ADMIRATION FOR RICHARD 175 Crusaders there prevailed, news came that the Saracens were entering the town at the rear. Richard, with half a dozen followers, rode off like a whirlwind, cleared the streets as he went, his sword as usual sweeping right and left, and hewing down or putting to flight all who opposed him. He roused and cheered the garrison, set a guard at the gates, and thundered down to the shore to bring back some faint-hearted Italian sailors who had fled from the battle, but who, encouraged by his words and courage, returned with him. When he returned to the battlefield his armour and that of his horse were covered thick with arrows as a porcupine with quills. The Turks had lost courage— they felt such a foe was invukerable, and though they charged once more, it was with less spirit — they knew themselves beaten. By midday the battle was over, and Richard had once more covered himself with glory in this, his last fight in Palestine. " Where are those who are bringing me Melek Richard as my prisoner ? Who was the first man to seize him ? Where is he, and why is he not brought before me ? '' queried Saladin, after the battle, of the men who had stolen out the previous night to surprise Richard m his sleep. Disappointed and humiliated, they answered, " King ! this Melek of whom you ask is not as other men. Never has such a warrior been seen before — ^so valiant and so skiKul in warfare. In every battle is he first to attack and last to retreat. Truly we sought to capture him, but in vain ; none can bear the brunt of his sword — ^to meet him in combat is death — he is more God than man." But though Richard had come unscathed through 176 BICHARD COEUR DE UON the fight, even Mb power of endurance had a Emil when the exdtement of battle was past his worn-out frame could not withstand the stench that arose from the dead bodies that lay rotting on the battle- field in the hot Syrian sun. He sickened and lay prostrate in his tent, entirely at Saladin's mercy had< the latter chosen to attack him then, but Saladin's superstition perhaps attributed the utter rout of his army to the meanness of his night attack on Richard's little force. He would have no more of such warfare and was content to make a truce, the terms of which were negotiated by Saphadin, Richard's generous enemy of the battlefield, to whom he sent in a last extremity to procure the best terms he could for a three years' peace, hoping still to return to the Holy Land at the expiration of that time, with his health restored and kingdom set in order, and to strike one more blow for the Holy Sepulchre. It is to the eternal dishonour of the French, that when Richard lay sick almost unto death after his splendid victory, they refused to come to his aid. Nor did the Hospitallers and the Templars, who had always rallied to his banner, acquit themselves well in the King's extremity. His recovery was impossible as long as he remained in the foetid air of Jafia. He appealed to Count Henry of Champagne, whom he had made lord of all the Latin states in Syria, together with the religious orders, to guard Aicdbn and Jaffa while h^ sought recovery of his health at Acre ; but no feeling of what they owed to their undaunted leader seems to have touched their hearts, and they refused— Richard had fought to win back their lands, but they would do nothing for him in return ! They lacked courage to guard SARACENS' ADMIRATION FOR RICHARD 177 what he had won, and added to his sickness of body the bitterness of spirit caused by their ingratitude. Turning from them to Saladin, his wounded spirit must have found balm in the conciliatory manner in which the Moslem leader carried on the negotiations, and his generous testimony to his opponent's character shown in the message he sent in response to Richard's request for a three years' truce, in order to go home and collect money and troops to carry on the war. " My regard for King Richard's valour and noble- ness of character is so great," said Saladin, " if I must lose my land, I would rather lose it to him than to any other prince I have ever seen." Ascalon had to be given up — on that Saladin remained adamant — and Richard, deserted by his own followers and prostrate on a sick-bed, had no choice but to jdeld ; and perhaps the saving clause in the treaty that, though now dismantled, it should after the three years go to the strongest side — ^whoever could take and hold it — ^may have been some slight solace to him. By the other terms of the treaty, the coast towns from Jaffa to Tyre, including both, were to belong to the Christians, who should also have free access to the Holy places — a, clause honourably observed by Saladin-and Uberty to carry their commerce all over the land. As soon as the treaty was signed, Richard had himself carried to Haifa at the foot of Mount Carmel, and remained there for medical treatment in the hope that the purer air from the moimtains would hasten his recovery. The Lion Heart, whose very name had inspired such fear in his enemies that Saracen mothers quieted their children with " Hush ! the King of England is coming I " lay shorn of hia 178 RICHARD COEUR DE LION il El '' IM strength, sadly reviewing the events that had happened since that June day when, fiUed with such high hope, he received the scrip and staff of pilgrim- age from the hand of the Archbishop at Tours. Of the three crowned heads who took the Cross and hastened to the Holy War, not one had reached Jerusalem. The Emperor Frederick of Germany had lost his life in crossing the river Calycadnus in CSlicia. Philip of France had returned ignomini- ouslv to his own land, leaving his work undone. What had been won back torn the Turks had been won by Kichard — he at least had covered himself with glory on many a battlefield — but what a different ending was this to that he had dreamed of when the united armies welcomed him to Acre as the mighty conqueror of Sicily and Cyprus. Twice had he been within a few miles of Jerusalem, only to be turned back by the irresistible force of circumstances over which even his splendid bravery had no control — ^and still the Crescent waved above the Holy Sepulchre, where he had so fondly hoped to plant the banner of the Cross ! It was well he did not know this was indeed the end— that the accomplishment of his life's purpose was to be delayed, not three years, but for ages after his gallant exploits should have become " a tale that is told." And while he thus mused on his sick-bed the first pilgrims were going to Jerusalem— in accordance with Saladin's promise that they should visit unmolested the Holy places for which they had fought so long. A little timorously they went at first — ^half mistrustful of T^ddah good faith— and indeed the first company of pilgrims, under the leadership of 11 11 " 178 RICHARD COEUR DE LION strength, sadly reviewing the events that had happened since that June day when, filled with such high hope, he received the scrip and staff of pilgrim- age from the hand of the Archbishop at Tours. Of the three crowned heads who took the Cross and hastened to the Holy War, not one had reached Jerusalem. The Emperor Frederick of Germany had lost his Ufe in crossing the river Calycadnus in Cilicia. PhiUp of France had returned ignomini- ously to his own land, leaving his work undone. What had been won back from the Turks had been won by Eichard — he at least had covered himself with glory on many a battlefield - but what a different ending was this to that he had dreamed of when the united armies welcomed him to Acre as the mighty conqueror of Sicily and Cyprus. Twice had he been within a few miles of Jerusalem, only to be turned back by the irresistible force of circumstances over which even his splendid bravery had no control — and still the Crescent waved above the Holy Sepulchre, where he had so fondly hoped to plant the banner of the Cross ! It was well he did not know this was indeed the end — that the accomplishment of his life's purpose was to be delayed, not three years, but for ages after his gallant exploits should have become "a tale that is told." And while he thus mused on his sick-bed the first pilgrims were going to Jerusalem — in accordance with Saladin's promise that they should visit unmolested the Holy places for which they had fought so long. A httle timorously they went at first— half mistrustful of Turkish good faith— and indeed the first company of pilgrims, under the leadership of f < 3i q ^ < ID r. X. a J J a H X u 1^ a a a , CO "^ X S ^ P a -^ ^ a a u < X o a C/3 i r I PILGRIMS VISIT JERUSALEM 181 Chavigny, came near to meeting disaster on the way, but for that they alone were to blame. From Ramleh they sent envoys in advance to Saladin to announce their coming and claim his protection in accordance with the treaty, but the messengers stopped to rest in the heat of noonday, and slept so long that the main body of pilgrims passed, beHeving them to be ahead. It was towards sunset when the sleepers awakened, and, terrified lest they should be overtaken by the darkness — for they were unarmed — chastened after the main body, who were equally dismayed at the turn things had taken ; for to arrive unannounced at Jerusalem meant that they had no safe conduct and might all be slaughtered if unable to prove their identity. Once more the envoys were sent on ahead and succeeded in reaching Saladin, who rebuked them sharply for their slothfulness, which had jeopardised the safety of the whole body. While he spoke with them their comrades arrived, not a little frightened by the scowUng faces of the Turks they had passed on the road, who only sought an excuse to murder the intruders if it could be done without violating the treaty. Indeed, they besought Saladin next morning to let them take vengeance on these Christians for the deaths of their people who had perished in the war. But not alone Saladin, but all his greatest chiefs, decided that it would be derogatory to their honour to break the treaty. " For thus would the word of the Turks, which should be kept with nations of every creed, be reckoned worthless — and rightly so.^' The pilgrims, therefore, were well treated, and lO 182 RICHARD COEUR DE LION returned thankfuUy to Acre ^ report on the marvek they had seen. The second body, led by Richard of the Temple, passed their brethren on the way, going to Jerusalem as the others were returmng and of this pUgrimage a particularly full account is given in the Itineranum. We are told how they aU fell upon their knees when they came within sight of Jerusalem, and those who were mounted hastened forward to be first at the Holy Sepulchr^how they grieved at the sight of the Cliistian prisoners in chains, and gave them money out of the offerings they had brought, mstead of placing rich gifts (which would ahnost certainly havebeen stolen by the Turks) on their Lord s Tomb. They kissed the sacred rock of Golgotha, at tne spot where a hole is stiU pointed out as that m which the Cross was fixed, and visited the scene of the Bast Supper in the Upper Chamber. They found the spot from which tradition says the Virgm Mary ascended into heaven, and still shown to traveUers at Jerusalem-and still in the hands of the Turks! They saw the tomb of the Vurgm; then they returned in a compact body-havmg learnt by experience that it was not safe for small parties of twos and threes to go alone-thankful to have seen these sacred sites, but gnevmg that Bome of them were desecrated by the Turks usmg them as stables. , When Hubert Walter, the wise and renowned Bishop of Sahsbury, made his pilgrimage, Saladm treated him with marked distinction, sending an embassy to meet him and offer him a house to lodge in during his stay at Jerusalem. But the Bishop repUed that he was a pilgrim and would PILGRIMS VISIT JERUSALEM 183 share the pilgrims* quarters ; he was, however, received in audience by Saladin, who — after a long conversation, in the course of which the great Moslem leader made many inquiries about the character and habits of his great adversary, the King of England — ^told Hubert Walter he would grant him any favour he liked to ask. The Bishop, anxious to turn so favourable an offer to the best account, begged for time to consider what his request should be, and the next day asked that two Latin priests and two Latin deacons might be permitted to celebrate Divine service with the Syrians at the Lord's Sepulchre, as also in the churches of Bethlehem and Nazareth. This great concession was granted, much to the Bishop's joy, for he had found the Syrian priests lax in the performance of their duties, and before leaving Jerusalem he estab- lished priests and deacons in all these three places, who were to be maintained by the pilgrims' offerings. Meanwhile at Acre preparations were hastened for the King's departure to his own land — there was no question now of fearing the autumn and winter storms, though it was late in September, and at the same season two years previously Richard had decided at Messina to winter there rather than face the perils of the sea. Even his courage shrank before the unknown, but now the sea was the known — he had discovered himself to be sailor as well as soldier, and did not fear its perils. As on the outward voyage, the two Queens sailed before him, taking with them the little Cyprian princess. The faithful Stephen of Turnham had them in his care, and it had been well for Richard had he gone with them, for they reached Sicily in 184 MCHABD COEUR DE UON safety ; but it is natural to conjecture some coolness had arisen between him and Queen Berengaria, seeing how rarely her name appears in any mention of Richard's doings in the two years he spent m Palestine. From Sicily, where Tancred received them with aU honour, the Queens proceeded to Rome and there spent the wmter, so it was not till the f oUowmg year they once more saw Poitou. , , . The King sailed on 9th October, nme days later than Joan and Berengaria, amid the lamentations of the people, who cried, " Jerusalem thou art indeed helpless now thou art bereft of such a cham- pion ! " The chroniclers relate Richard remamed aU Lht on deck in meditation, that as he watched th^ recedmg land of Palestine he prayed audibty, " Holy Land, to God do I entrust thee. May He of His mercy only grant me such space of Ufe that, by His good will, I may bring thee aid. He en- countered the equinoctial gales prevalent at that season, so that his sMp was driven out of its course and it was not till a month after leavmg Acre that he landed at Corfu-Curing the voyage he had once been within three days^ sail of Marseilles, but would not land there on account of the lU-wiU which he weU knew the King of France still bore hun. The fleet was scattered, there being no Admiral in command, and the fortunes of the different vessels in which the pilgrims sailed were very varied. Many died on the homeward way of then: wounds or disease resulting from the hardships of the campaign, and not a few were shipwrecked ; for these navigators were ignorant of the seas they traversed and found their way home as best they might. Had it been possible for Richard to remam LAST DAYS OF SALADIN 185 another half-year in the East, there is little doubt that he could have conquered Palestine after the death of Saladin, when dissensions arose among his heirs and his followers were divided. Not Richard's health alone, but that of his brave foe, had suffered from the strain of the war which both had carried on with so much ardour. After the King sailed for his own land the Sultan's thoughts turned towards a pilgrimage to Mecca, but as Richard had failed to reach the Holy City which Christianity counts the most sacred spot on earth, so Saladin was not permitted to set foot in the sacred city of the Moslem world. His people urged him not to leave the country for fear the Syrian Franks should break faith and attack them in his absence, and it may be some presentiment that his days were already numbered prevented him undertaking the long journey. A very touching account of his last days and death is given by the Saracen chronicler Bohadin, who enjoyed his master's special favour and friend- ship and has given us many graphic pen-pictures of the great Moslem leader that present him as a sincerely reUgious man. The Sultan's last public appearance was on the occasion of the arrival of the great pilgrimage^ from Mecca in the February following the autumn which had seen the three years' peace signed. He appears to have gone to meet it, though physically unfit, and the same evening he was seized with fever, which at once obtained the mastery over his already exhausted and debiUtated frame. It is related that during the last night of his twelve days' illness he woke from an interval of unconsciousness while the 186 RICHARD COEUR DE LION LAST DAYS OF SALADIN 187 III II I Ill aheikh was reciting from the Koran, " He is a God beside whom there is no God; He knows both what is visible and what is invisible/' to murmur, " It is truth ! " At dawn, after spending the night in prayer, the sheikh had just concluded chanting the words, " There is no other God than He, in Him have I set my confidence," when the sick man smiled ; his features lit up and he surrendered his soul to God." " The last of his conquest," comments^ the Eastern chronicler, " was the gain of Paradise." On his death-bed his thoughts were of his people- as he had led them to victory and raised the prestige of his nation for valour and pride of conquest in the eyes of all the world, so in his last hours he sent them a message of humility and the perishableness of all earthly things. " Take this cloak," he said in his last hours, to his servant ; " show it to the Faithful, and tell them that the ruler of the East could take but one garment with him into the grave." His advice to one of his sons a few months before his death, though intended to sketch a poUcy he wished them to continue in the government of his kingdom, unconsciously also reveals the remarkable personality which won the respect of his enemies and the entire devotion of his subjects. " Fear God, for that is the beginning of all prosperity, and do what God commands, for He will be the cause of your success. Abstain from shedding blood much or httle, for blood never sleeps. Keep the affection of your subjects and watch over their affairs, for you are a steward of mine and of God over them. Keep the affections of the Emirs, the ministers, and the nobles, for I have accompUshed what I have by conciliation and tact. ^ j 4.1, " Do not cherish hate towards any one, for death is sure. Guard your relations with men, for God does not pardon except they are propitiated." ^ Saladin represented the Eastern civilisation of the thirteenth century at its best,— a civihsation difficult to reaUse by the casual visitor to the East to-day, who connects Islam very naturaUy with much that is paralysing and debasing. Yet Cairo and Damascus contain monuments that recall the day when their standard of thought and Uving was immeasurably higher than that of contemporary Paris or London. It has been truly said that it was " the greatest tragedy which our historical know- ledge records, when the highly cultivated Eastern world was devastated and destroyed for ever, a few years after Saladin^s triumphs, by an over- whehning flood of barbarians," the Mongohan hordes, who " knew no joy beyond building huge heaps of the skulls of the slain and marching their horses over the ruins of burnt cities." ^ Cruaadera in the East, p. 207. lit i JtlAlrlJJiXi AV RICHARD IN DALMATIA — TREACHERY OF THE LORD OP G5RZ — ARRi:STED BY THE DUKE OF AUSTRIA — Richard's trial and queen Eleanor's appeal TO THE pope — RICHARD IN GERMANY. Seeking safety on land from the perils of the sea, yet warned of equal peril in crossing Europe, from the jealous hatred of his many powerful enemies, Richard landed first on the isle of Corfu, one month after he set sail from Acre. The whole of the German princes were miited in bitter animosity against him ; because his policy in the Holy Land had been in direct opposition to theirs. He had espoused the cause of Guy de Lusignan against their nominee, Conrad of Montferrat, to the throne of Jerusalem ; also they considered his aUiance with Tancred prejudicial to their interests. The Duke of Austria had his own particular private grudge, for a sUght which he con- sidered Richard had put upon him two years before at the siege of Acre. The only possible way to travel in safety through their territory was in disguise. It is difficult to follow Richard's movements accurately after he left Corfu. We hear of him next being conveyed by two pirate galleys to Ragusa — one account says he left his own ship and hired the pirate galleys to escape detection — 188 o < Q O o < o 06 o X o H < 'A H CHAPTEK XV RICHARD IN DALMATIA — TREACHERY OF THE LORD OF G5RZ — ARRESTED BY THE DUKE OF AUSTRIA — Richard's trial and queen Eleanor's appeal TO the pope — RICHARD IN GERMANY. Seeking safety on land from the perils of the sea, yet warned of equal peril in crossing Europe, from the jealous hatred of his many powerful enemies, Richard landed first on the isle of Corfu, one month after he set sail from Acre. The whole of the German princes were united in bitter animosity against him ; because his policy in the Holy Land had been in direct opposition to theirs. He had espoused the cause of Guy de Lusignan against their nominee, Conrad of Montferrat, to the throne of Jerusalem ; also they considered his alliance with Tancred prejudicial to their interests. The Duke of Austria had his own particular private grudge, for a slight which he con- sidered Richard had put upon him two years before at the siege of Acre. The only possible way to travel in safety through their territory was in disguise. It is difiicult to follow Richard's movements accurately after he left Corfu. We hear of him next being conveyed by two pirate galleys to Ragusa — one account says he left his own ship and hired the pirate galleys to escape detection — 18S O 55 o o o '/: X o < X H RICHARD IN DALMATIA 191 another writer asserts that the pirates attacked him, but were defeated in their attempt to take him prisoner, and so much admired his bravery that they ^llingly agreed to his proposal that he should voyage with them. This adventure would be wholly to his liking, and the story is, therefore, likely to be true. We know that he landed at Ragusa, and local tradition asserts that his ship was driven by a storm on the island of Lacroma, about half a mile from the shore, opposite that medieval fortress, and in thankfuhiess for his escape from shipwreck he founded the monastery on Lacroma, and a church which occupied the site of the present cathedral of Ragusa, but was destroyed by earthquake in the seventeenth century. On the other hand, rehable chroniclers ^ assert that Richard was driven by a storm up to the head of the Adriatic and shipwrecked at Aquilda. There is no reason why both versions should not be correct. As mention is made of two pirate vessels after one was dashed to pieces on the rocky isle of Lacroma and the King reached land, he may have taken to the other in which to continue his voyage. It is again asserted that he changed the Templar's dress which he had worn on his way from Jerusalem for that of a palmer at Zara, and from there set out overland, but this does not prove that he was never at Aquileia, which Hes a little to the north of Triest. He may have doubled back on his tracks, hoping thus to elude pursuit, and either on foot or horseback or by boat travelled as far south again as Zara. Even if Richard had not had special reasons for calling at these various ports, or been driven there ^ Sir J. H. Bamsay in The Angevin Empire, j^^jo^auum 192 RICHARD COEUR DE LION H! iij n • i' 1, by stress of weather, he would have but followed the custom of the time in so frequently disembarking ; for the ships of the twelfth century made no pro- vision for carrying food to last any length of time, and in the days when navigation was in its infancy sailors hugged the shore and were glad of any excuse for frequent landings; a custom which made it exceedingly easy for them to be set upon by hostile people and robbed or murdered for the sake of their cargo. King PhiUp, with an eye on the rich Angevin dominions, had employed himself, ever since news of the Marquis of Montf errat's death reached Europe, in diligently circulating the report that Richard had compassed it — a lie so ingeniously devised that it had a semblance of truth, for the Marquis was known to have been the enemy of England and of the King, the latter to have opposed Montferrat's election as King of Jerusalem to within a few days of his death. This made it easy for slander to assert that Richard had permitted the Marquis to take the kingdom because he knew how very short his reign would be. Among those readiest to believe the he — ^which was proved to be such a little later, before the diet of the Empire — ^was Count Meinhard of Goritz or Gorz, a nephew of the murdered Marquis (described by some writers as Governor of Ragusa), through whose territory the fugitives must pass to reach their own land. To this nobleman Richard sent his messengers without disclosing his identity, with the request that he would allow a party of pilgrims returning from Jerusalem to pass through his land. The messengers had been instructed that if asked the names of the chief men in the pilgrimage they TREACHERY OF THE LORD OF GORZ 193 should answer that one was Baldwin and the other a rich merchant named Hugh, who sent the lord from whom he desired favour an offering of a valu- able ring— a ruby set in gold which Richard had purchased from some Pisan merchants. He hoped by this handsome present to conciUate Meinhard, but his rash act created suspicion instead of allaying it. The Lord of Gorz, knowing that Richard's arrival in those partswas imminent,put two and two together and arrived at the conclusion that no one but the King would be capable of such lavish generosity. He spake fair words to the messengers, having a deep-laid plan by which to waylay Richard under a show of friendship and shift the blame on some one else's shoulders. " Looking first attentively at the ring and then at the men who brought it, as if to read their secret, he said, * It is not Hugh the merchant but King Richard to whom this ring belongs ! But although I have sworn to seize all pilgrims coming from those parts, and not to accept any gift from them, yet by reason of the noble gift and the lord who sends it, as a gift of honour to me whom he does not know, I will return him his gift and give him free leave to depart.' " Richard, at once suspecting treachery on receipt of this message, resolved not to leave openly by sea as he was expected to do, but with only two or three followers quitted the town in the night, leaving the rest of his party behind him, with instructions to spend money even more lavishly than before, that it might be believed he was still with them. Ahnost immediately, however, they were arrested and the secret of Richard's flight leaked out. Meinhard of Gorz had in the meantime sent word 1»4 RIC3RARD COEUR DE UON RICHARD'S ARREST 195 I* to his brother Frederick of Betsau— through whose landsRichard must pass— to be on the look out for the royal fugitive and seize him ; with the result that orders were given to watch all the houses frequented by pilgrims. But fortune had not yet deserted the King— the knight to whom the search was entrusted, Roger de Argenton, though a confidential servant of his lord and related to him by marriage, was of Norman birth and had no intention of betraying his liege lord. He sought him diUgently in accordance with U. tatructiol but, u^ o/tJdng word U. tie master who had sent him, besought the pUgrim on whom his suspicions feU to confess to him his real rank, which the King at length did. Roger then provided him with a horse and set him on his way, while he himself returned to his Lord Frederick of Betsau and reported that the rumour of Richard's arrival was false, the strangers being Baldwin de Bethun and his comrades. Chagrined and dis- appointed in his hope of such a profitable prisoner, Frederick of Betsau avenged himself on the rest of the pilgrin» b, throwing fu inU. pri«n. But Roger's faithfulness was but to postpone Richard's capture a Kttle longer. For three days he wandered without food, apparently also without a map or compass, or he s^lV would have bent his steps in any oLr direction than that of " Viemia's fat^l walls/' which girt the capital of his worst enemy, the Duke of Austria. He stm hoped to hide himself, even after he dis- covered his whereabouts, by lodging in a humble dwelling in the outskirts of the city, but with his usual want of caution he sent his servant daily into the town to market, and the foolish lad, full of importance at the trust reposed in him, bursting doubtless with desire to hint to the market folk that he served a person of quaUty, spent money so freely that people began to question who he was and whom he served. One account has it that, as a bit of swagger, he one day stuck his master's gloves in his belt (gloves of those days being richly embroidered and only worn by persons of rank), which led to his being interrogated. Thoroughly frightened, he hastened back to the King and besought him to leave at once, but perhaps he feared to tell that his own actionshadjeopaidisedRichard'ssafety,andthelatter, believing there was no immediate danger, lingered a few days longer. The delay was fatal, for the next time the boy went to the town he was seized by the magistrates and again questioned, this time with threats of torture ; he first tried to atone for his fault by refusing to answer his questioners, but his heroism gave way under torture and the threat to cut out his tongue, and he confessed everything ! Soldiers were at once sent to surround the King's retreat and call upon him to surrender himself to the Duke of Austria's pleasure. To this Richard loftily replied that he would yield to none of them save to their lord alone, but if he came in person he would deliver him his sword. This the Duke did not dare to refuse— Richard gave himself into his custody and was sent for safe keeping to the Castle of Diirren- stein on the Danube, while his captor communicated the welcome news of his prize to the Emperor, who in turn communicated it to the King of France, and great rejoicing filled the hearts of all Richard's enemies. News travelled slowly in those days, and though 196 RICHARD COEUR DE UON Si"-' §^ great anxiety was felt as to the King's safety, as the pilgrims from the Holy Land flocked home— many of them having left there after the King did— and brought no news of him other than that some had seen his ship at Brindisi, it was not till a full month after the event that news of his capture reached England, in the form of a copy of the Emperor's letter to the King of France, in which he stated that the King of England was in his power. This was correct in the sense that in feudal law the Duke of Austria was his hege. The letter, however, carefully concealed the place of Eichard's confinement, and the Austria of those days was a terra incognita to Englishmen. - Queen Eleanor's maternal heart was wrung by the tidings of her favourite son's captivity and uncertain fate ; the ill news was confirmed by a message from Queen Berengaria that she had seen a belt of jewels, worn by Richard on his person when she left him, for sale in Rome. This suggested not imprisonment alone, but robbery and violence. There is Uttle doubt that the King was at one time thrown in a dungeon and loaded with irons, so it was quite in keeping that his jailers were permitted to steal his clothes. Matthew Paris asserts that in spite of the ill-usage he kept up a brave heart, and won the admiration of his armed guards by his cheerfuhiess. Eleanor lost not a moment in appealing to the supreme authority of medieval Europe — the Pope —who alone could command the Emperor to set Richard free. It would have seemed that the dauntless champion of the Cross, who had im- poverished his kingdom and risked his own life and those of his subjects unhesitatingly in the cause of ELEANOR'S APPEAL TO THE POPE 197 religion, had a special claim on Papal protection ; but Pope Celestine was a German and, as such, doubtless inclined to protect the German Emperor, and it needed many letters full of passionate pleading and bitter re- proaches from the Queen-mother before he bestirred himself to threaten the Emperor with excommimica- tion, for laying hands on the sacred person of a Crusader. Eleanor's letters reflect the penitence of her later years for the wrong and folly of her youth ; she appeared to see in her son's misfortunes the in- exorable fulfihnent of the prophecy that the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the children. Though penned by her secretary, the letters are unmistakably the words of her own Ups, expressing the agonised grief of her own heart. " Mother of mercies," she writes, breaking in the midst of her letter into an impassioned appeal to the Virgin Mary, " look upon a wretched mother ! If thy Son, the fount of mercy, avenges the sins of the mother on the son, let Him launch His vengeance on her who has sinned : let Him punish me, the guilty, and not let His wrath diverge on my imofiending son." Her tortured mind and perplexity is shown in the follow- ing passage which represents her longing to go in search of her son, yet fearing to leave her stewardship of his kingdom. " If I leave my son's dominions, invaded as they are on every side with enemies, they will on my departure lose all counsel and solace ; if I remain I shall not behold my son whose face I long to see. There will be none to labour for his redemption, and what I fear the most, he will be goaded by an ex- orbitant ransom ; and unused as his generous youth 198 RICHARD COEUR DE LION is to such terrible calamities, he will not survive all he has to endure/' Little wonder that Eleanor wrote these closing words, remembering the long and dangerous ilhiess from which Kichard had barely recovered when he left the Holy Land and his broken health all through the long campaign. Those who love romance and also reverence tradition will hesitate to cast aside as unauthentic the charming story of Richard's discovery by his favourite minstrel Blondel, who, " wandering through Europe till he reached a castle where there was said to be a prisoner whose name no one could tell — winning the favour of its lord and thus gaining admittance through its walls— peering about it on every side in a vain attempt to catch a glimpse of the mysterious captive, till at last a well-known voice singing * a song which they two had made between them, and which no one knew save they alone,' fell upon his deUghted ear through the narrow prison window through which Richard had seen and reci^nised the face of his friend." ^ In the absence of any better explanation of the discovery of the place of Richard's confinement as weU as for its beauty, we may well accept the story— and, indeed, it is accepted by many foreign historians and is quite consistent with the manners of the time. It seems more probable that the devoted minstrel, singing his songs before each castle door, gossiping with the retainers of its lord, and hearing the news of the countryside in the famiUar converse that would be the privilege of the bard, welcome aUke in hall and cottage, should discover the captive King, 1 K. Noigste, p. 322. faws^'^^as i,;:.M<' «fl-v'*Tois»K«*- FONTEVRAUD ABBEY, THE BURIAL-PLACE OF THE PLANTAGENET KINGS.— 5^^ /. 27 1. 198 RICHARD COEUR DE LION is to such terrible calamities, lie will not survive all he has to endure." Little wonder that Eleanor wrote these closing words, remembering the long and dangerous ilhiess from which Richard had barely recovered when he left the Holy Land and his broken health all through the long campaign. Those who love romance and also reverence tradition will hesitate to cast aside as unauthentic the charming story of Richard's discovery by his favourite minstrel Blondel, who, " wandering through Europe till he reached a castle where there was said to be a prisoner whose name no one could tell— winning the favour of its lord and thus gaining admittance through its walls— peering about it on every side in a vain attempt to catch a gUmpse of the mysterious captive, till at last a well-known voice singing ' a song w^hich they two had made between them, and which no one knew save they alone/ fell upon his delighted ear through the narrow prison window through which Richard had seen and recognised the face of his friend/' ^ In the absence of any better explanation of the discovery of the place of Richard's confinement as well as for its beauty, we may well accept the story— and, indeed, it is accepted by many foreign historians and is quite consistent with the manners of the time. It seems more probable that the devoted minstrel, singing his songs before each castle door, gossiping with the retainers of its lord, and hearing the news of the countryside in the famiUar converse that would be the privilege of the bard, welcome alike in hall and cottage, should discover the captive King, » K. Norgate, p. 322. FOMKVRAUl) AIU^EV, THE HURIAL-PLACE OF THE PLANTAdENET KINGS.— 6*^^ /. 27I. RICHARD IN GERMANY 201 than, that the two abbots, dispatched as ambassadors from England to search for Kichard and discover how his release could be obtained, should have had the extraordinary good luck to fall in with the King by chance on the road, as he was on his way from the custody of the Duke to that of the Emperor at Speyer. It has been suggested that it was Blondel who informed them the way to go to meet the King, though it seems that they had been sent from England expressly to try and discover his whereabouts, and had wandered "all through Germany" in search of him before they came to Bavaria, about the time that the Duke of Austria had come to an agreement with the Emperor to hand Richard over to him and demand a ransom of 100,000 marks for his release. This was to be divided equally between them, and the Duke's portion settled on his son, who should wed Richard's niece, Eleanor of Brittany. We can imagine with what delight Richard hailed the appearance of the messengers from England, and his eagerness for news of his reahn. It was ill news they brought of John's treachery ^ but it did not surprise Richard— he knew his brother's character and had already forgiven him so much that he was able after the first exclamation of bitter- ness to take comfort in the thought that " Brother John was not the man to win land by force if any- body cared to oppose the least force to him ! " The two abbots seem to have travelled in Richard's company for three days without the guards raising any opposition to their intercourse with their prisoner. It is not unUkely they acted on in- structions from the Duke or Emperor, who was 11 I 202 RICHARD COEUR DE UON willing they should carry home tidings of Richard that wodd hasten the payment of the great ransom they hoped to receive for their illustrious captive. The exact news brought to the King by the two abbots was that, hearing of Richard's capture, Kmg PhiUp had entered into an agreement with John, in fulfihnent of which the latter had done homage for all his brother's continental dominions, but the seneschal and barons of Normandy had teiased to accept him as their lord while Richard hved. In London sunilar events had taken place, John having sought to usurp his brother's realm, but the Justiciars refused their homage, so that tor a time a state of civil war prevailed, m x^ch John was supported by a fleet sent by the Kmg of France, which was defeated by the English miUtia summoned by Archbishop Walter. A truce had finaUy been arranged to await events and see if Richard returned aUve. The messengers, havmg conferred with him, hastened back with the news that nothing but the payment of the ransom would avail to set the King at Uberty. Meanwhile Richard was brought as a state prisoner before the Diet on charges which looked very plausible, but not one of which would bear examination. • i i. • The King was formaUy charged with having supported Tancred in his usurpation of Sicily in dero- gation of the Emperor's right, with having unjustly deprived Isaac Comnenus of Cyprus of his kingdom, with having instigated the murder of the Marqms of Montferrat, and finaUy of being in correspondence with Saladin. The insult to the Duke of Austria and Bichard's general behaviour to the Germans RICHARD IN GERMANY 203 in Palestine formed another count in the indict- ment. To these charges Eichard repKed in a speech so eloquent of truth that parts of it are worth recording in full. Pleading as a criminal at the bar, and having prepared his own defence, he said, with simple dignity — " I am born in a rank which recognises no superior but God, to whom alone I am responsible for my actions ; but they are so pure and honourable that I voluntarily and cheerfully render a full account of them to the whole world. The treaties I have concluded with the King of Sicily contain no in- fraction of the law of nations. I do not understand how I can be reproached for the conquest of Cyprus. I avenged my own injuries and those of the human race in punishing a tyrant and dethroning a usurper ; and by bestowing my conquest on a prince worthy of the throne, I have shown that I was not prompted by avarice or ambition; so much so, that the Emperor of Constantinople, who alone has any right to complain, has been wholly silent on the subject. In reference to the Duke of Austria, he ought to have avenged the insult on the spot, or long since to have forgotten it ; moreover, my deten- tion and captivity by his orders should have satisfied his revenge. I need not justify myself against the crime of having caused the assassination of the Marquis of Montferrat ; he himseK exonerated me from that foul charge, and, had I my freedom, who would dare to accuse me of deliberate murder ? My pretended correspondence with Saladin is equally unfounded ; my battles and victories alone disprove the false assertion, and if I did not drive the Saracen 204 RICHARD COEUR DE LION prince from Jerusalem, bkme not me, but blame the King of France, the Duke of Burgundy the Dnke of Austria himseU, aU of whom deserted the cause and left me ahnost single-handed to war ogainst the infidel. , - It is said I was corrupted by presents from the Sultan, and that I joined the Crusade from the love of money ; but did I not give away aU the wealth I seized on capturing the Bagdad caravan, and what have I reserved out of aU my conquests ? Nothing but the ring I wear on my finger. Do you then render justice to me? Have compassion on a monarch who has experienced such unworthy treatment, and put more faith in my actions than m the calumnies of my deadly foes. This speech made such an unpression upon the Emperor that he came forward and embraced Hichard giving him " the kiss of peace. I^ii^on justice the King ought to have then been set at Hberty without a ransom, ajidjeceived an indemnity for the indignities to which he had been unjustly subjected by his mipnsonment but no such idea crossed the Emperor s mmd. He argued that might was right, and was determmed to bleed Richard for all he was worth. ^ Hubert Walter, who had heard on landmg in Sicilv on his way home from the Crusade, of the King's fate, at once made his way to him, and was sent home with letters from Richard to Queen Eleanor, to the Justiciars, and to the Canterbury monks, saying that the Emperor was now treat^g him with honour, and the good understanding that had been estabUshed between them was of g^^^^^ value ; but before he could return to England a RICHARD IN GERMANY 205 ransom of a hundred thousand marks must be raised. Richard also expressed in these letters his desire that the bearer should be raised to the see of Canterbury for his services. The Emperor meanwhile was playing a double game in receiving embassies both from Philip of France and from John, who were ready to pay him large sums to keep Richard in captivity till they had established themselves firmly in his dominions : doubtless he kept in treaty with them to fall back on their offers should Richard's ransom not be forth- coming, for he was both needy and avaricious, and greed of gold was the motive that is apparent in his actions throughout. To make a larger profit for himself he altered more than once the terms of his contract with Duke Leopold — by which he had come into possession of Richard's person— first allotting 70,000 marks for his own share, and leaving only 30,000 for the Duke, instead of dividing the ransom equally as agreed at the treaty of Wurtzburg, and then, as the Duke naturally objected, devismg a plan by which he might keep the same amount and still satisfy his partner. This was to demand besides the 100,000 marks ransom from England another 50,000 as "commutation of military service against Sicily.'* He finally altered the amounts to 130,000 for himself and 20,000 for the Duke, who had captured the King and delivered him into his power. Meanwhile the collection of the ransom went on in England. According to feudal law, the tax should have fallen only upon the knights, but nothing like the sum required could be raised in this manner, so a tax of " a fourth part of the revenue 206 RICHARD COEUR DE LION and of the movable goods of every man, whether layman or clerk/' ^ was imposed, and, strange to say, cheerfully paid. Still, the amount was not enough, for those whose duty it was to collect the taxes helped themselves liberally to what passed through their hands. The Church was then called upon for extra contributions towards the ransom of a King who owed his captivity to his zeal for the Holy War. The Cistercians and Gilbertines, whose wealth was in their flocks, were called upon for a fourth part of the year's wool, and even the gold and silver vessels of the churches were demanded both in England and in Richard's continental dominions. It is said that " prelate crosses, silver hinges from the coffins of saints, silver in all forms was heaped up in London, and yet there was not enough. Four months after Richard had cleaxed himself of the charges against him, at the diet of the Empire, so much money had been collected that it was evi- dent the ransom would eventually be paid, and PhiUp of France, in dismay at the failure of his plots, sent a little prematurely the historic message to John, " Beware ! The devil is loose again I " It was not, however till the following January that the King was actually set at liberty, and up to the last moment the Emperor seems to have been considering whether he should best sjpve his own ends by releasmg Richard on payment |l the ransom, or by selling him to Philip and John. Richard, always extraordinarily forgiving to the brother who never ceased plotting against him, had tried the effect of fair measures by making over- tures of reconciliation to both John and PhiUp as ^ Angevin Kings, p. 326. RICHARD IN GERMANY 207 soon as there seemed to be a reasonable prospect of his being set at liberty and offering both such favourable terms — " John to retain all the possessions that had been given him on both sides the Channel, and Philip his recent conquests in Normandy — that the Norman barons who did not want French rule, refused to sign them. It was not till February that Richard was actually set free. In December the Emperor had agreed to give him liberty on receipt of the greater part of the ransom, with hostages for the rest. The money was sent out of England at Richard's risk to the German frontier, where the Emperor took it over and fixed the 17th of the following January for the Eong's formal Uberation, at the same time arranging that Richard's coronation as King of Burgundy and Aries should take place a week later. These titles the Emperor insisted on his accepting, though it was of course " but a formal grant of territories over which the Emperor had no control, as it would involve, however, the rendering of homage on Richard's part, which was flattering to the Emperor's vanity; possibly it may have been also an excuse for detaining him after he had been set free." ^ It is suspicious that when the day fixed for the diet came round the Emperor adjourned it to the 2nd of February, and altered the place at which the Bang should be released to Mainz, nearer the French territory, which some writers have hinted might have been intended to give PhiUp a chance to recapture the released captive. Queen Eleanor, the Archbishop of Rouen, the Chancellor Longchamp, and the Bishop of Bath, * The Angevin Empire, p. 333. 208 RICHARD COEUR DE LION suspecting treachery, had hastened to Mainz to meet and support Richard. Their suspicions were but too well founded, for, instead of proceeding at once with the business they had met to carry through, the Emperor first began to make excuses and finally admitted that he was ready to close -with the o£Eer of the highest bidder. He put letters from Philip and John into Richard's hands, offering 150,000 marks if he were kept in prison for another year, or delivered into their hands, and asked how much more Richard would pay him to set him at liberty instead. Fortimately for the King, several German noble- men of high rank had bound themselves as sureties for the Emperor's good faith, and to them he appealed. Whereupon they jointly went to the Emperor, " stood round him in a body, reproved him boldly for his breach of faith, and did not leave the place until they had compelled him to break off the nefarious conspiracy and release his royal prisoner," who, how- ever, had to leave behind him hostages of rank to guarantee the balance of the ransom. Thus hardly did the King r^ain his liberty after thirteen months' iniquitous imprisonment by men who had trumped up charges against him merely to satisfy thefar own malice and greed of gold. little wonder that his imprisonment, together with John's treachery, had so embittered him that a shadow from that time seemed to rest upon his soul, and he was never again the gay» light-hearted Troubadour prince of romance. ^■'Q-XJ \ EFFIGY OF^RICHARD I. AT FONTEVRAUD ABBEY.— 5^^ /. 276. 208 RICHARD COEUR DE LION suspecting treachery, had hastened to Mainz to meet and support Richard. Their suspicions were but too well founded, for, instead of proceeding at once with the business they had met to carry through, the Emperor first began to make excuses and finally admitted that he was ready to close -with the offer of the highest bidder. He put letters from Phihp and John into Richard's hands, offering 150,000 marks if he were kept in prison for another year, or deUvered into their hands, and asked how much more Richard would pay him to set him at liberty instead. Fortunately for the King, several German noble- men of high rank had bound themselves as sureties for the Emperor's good faith, and to them he appealed. Whereupon they jointly went to the Emperor, " stood round him in a body, reproved him boldly for his breach of faith, and did not leave the place until they had compelled him to break off the nefarious conspiracy and release his royal prisoner," who, how- ever, had to leave behind him hostages of rank to guarantee the balance of the ransom. Thus hardly did the Ejng regain his hberty after thirteen months' iniquitous imprisonment by men who had trumped up charges against him merely to satisfy their own mahce and greed of gold. Little wonder that his imprisonment, together with John's treachery, had so embittered him that a shadow from that time seemed to rest upon his soul, and he was never again the gay, light-hearted Troubadour prince of romance. • -'/.?^^ ^ m is rrrir.v rvvfkir h\ki» i. at »v.vTF:vRAni xww.x.Sft /^ 27€, { H- CHAPTER XVI RICHARD RETURNS TO ENGLAND — DEMONSTRATIONS IN LONDON — RICHARD GOES TO FRANCE — WINS BACK HIS SOUTHERN DOMINIONS — PHILIP DEFEATED — REVIVAL OF MILITARY TOURNAMENTS — DEATH OP THE DUKE OF AUSTRIA. We may well believe that Richard did not feel himseK safe till he was outside the treacherous Emperor's dominions — ^nevertheless, undue haste would have been undignified, so he stopped at Cologne, where the Archbishop received him with great dignity and a special Mass was celebrated in his honour, at which the words were chanted, " Now I know that the Lord hath sent His angel and dehvered me from the hand of Herod,'' in allusion to the King's deHverance. In memory of his visit Richard gave the merchants of Cologne a charter, releasing them from annual dues to the port of London. At Antwerp he found English vessels waiting to take him and his suite to Sandwich, but over a week elapsed between his saihng and his arrival in England, for he travelled by day only ; his galley threaded its way very slowly among the sandbanks of the Scheldt, while on reaching the port of Schouwen or Swine at the mouth of the river a storm was raging that caused further delay. It had not 211 212 RICHARD COEUR DE LION entirely abated when Eichard sailed, but a rumour had reached him that the Emperor, like Pharaoh of old, had repented of letting him escape, and was giving chase ; so he took the risk of the elements rather than of that of a return to captivity, and none too soon, for, it is said, the Emperor's soldiers reached Schouwen a few hours after the English fleet sailed for home. Four years had passed since Eichard set foot in England. He knew that, though his mother and the Justiciars had loyally held to him, the country was practically in a state of civil war. John, having failed in his plot to keep his brother a captive, and expecting vengeance, had fled to France, but sent a message from thence that his castles should be defended against the King. A few days before Eichard's arrival the messengers had been seized, and, John's treason being proven, a council called together by Hubert Walter had declared his lands forfeit ; troops in the meantime were sent out to enforce the order. Only two castles still held out when the King landed, one of which was Notting- ham. The commander of St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall — one of John's ill-gotten gains, for he had permitted one of his followers to drive out the monks and take it for himself — was so terrified on hearing of the King's landing that he died of fright. Eichard's first act was to give thanks for his deliverance at the shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury. On his meeting with his faithful friend the Arch- bishop, we are told that the King leaped from his horse and knelt upon the ground — that Hubert did the same — and then they fell, weeping tears of joy, into each other's arms. The citizens of London received their long-lost DEMONSTRATIONS IN LONDON 213 King with such show of wealth, in the display of decorations and feasting and such demonstrations of love and loyalty, that the German nobles, who had been sent to see Eichard safely home and expected to find a bankrupt country seething with discontent, were astonished at his evident popularity, and one of them jestingly told him that had they guessed at the real state of affairs in his kingdom they would not have let him go so hghtly. From London Eichard, ever observant of religious duties, proceeded to another famous shrine — ^that of St. Albans — ^where he placed before the altar the banner of Cyprus ; next he marched against Nottingham in person, and, as in Palestine, fought himself as eagerly as a young knight desiring to win his spurs. The garrison at Nottingham must have known resistance was vain ; yet they probably feared Eichard's vengeance as much as a siege, for they held out for three days ; on the fourth, after engines of destruction had been raised outside the walls and gallows erected on which some rebels were hung as an example, the Constable of the Castle yielded himself and his men to the King's mercy. With the fall of Nottingham Eichard was once more in full possession of his island realm. On the 17th of April he went through the ceremony at Win- chester which has been often referred to as a second coronation, but seems to have been rather a great thanksgiving service at which the King, wearing his robe and crown, was led in solemn procession to the Minster, with the swords of state — as at an actual coronation — carried before him. As he stood in his royal robes, sceptre in hand and crown on head, amid the throng of bishops and^ barons in the f 212 RICHARD COEUR DE LION DEMONSTRATIONS IN LONDON 213 entirely abated when Richard sailed, but a rumour had reached him that the Emperor, like Pharaoh of old, had repented of letting him escape, and was giving chase ; so he took the risk of the elements rather than of that of a return to captivity, and none too soon, for, it is said, the Emperor's soldiers reached Schouwen a few hours after the English fleet sailed for home. Four years had passed since Richard set foot in England. He knew that, though his mother and the Justiciars had loyally held to him, the country was practically in a state of civil war. John, having failed in his plot to keep his brother a captive, and expecting vengeance, had fled to France, but sent a message from thence that his castles should be defended against the King. A few days before Richard's arrival the messengers had been seized, and, John's treason being proven, a council called together by Hubert Walter had declared his lands forfeit ; troops in the meantime were sent out to enforce the order. Only two castles still held out when the King landed, one of which was Notting- ham. The commander of St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall — one of John's ill-gotten gains, for he had permitted one of his followers to drive out the monks and take it for himself — was so terrified on hearing of the King's landing that he died of fright. Richard's first act was to give thanks for his deliverance at the shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury. On his meeting with his faithful friend the Arch- bishop, we are told that the King leaped from his horse and knelt upon the ground — that Hubert did the same— and then they fell, weeping tears of joy, into each other's arms. The citizens of London received their long-lost King with such show of wealth, in the display of decorations and feasting and such demonstrations of love and loyalty, that the German nobles, who had been sent to see Richard safely home and expected to find a bankrupt country seething with discontent, were astonished at his evident popularity, and one of them jestingly told him that had they guessed at the real state of a£Eairs in his kingdom they would not have let him go so lightly. From London Richard, ever observant of rehgious duties, proceeded to another famous shrine — ^that of St. Albans — ^where he placed before the altar the banner of Cyprus; next he marched against Nottingham in person, and, as in Palestine, fought himself as eagerly as a young knight desiring to win his spurs. The garrison at Nottingham must have known resistance was vain ; yet they probably feared Richard's vengeance as much as a siege, for they held out for three days ; on the fourth, after engines of destruction had been raised outside the walls and gallows erected on which some rebels were hung as an example, the Constable of the Castle yielded himself and his men to the King's mercy. With the fall of Nottingham Richard was once more in full possession of his island realm. On the 17th of April he went through the ceremony at Win- chester which has been often referred to as a second coronation, but seems to have been rather a great thanksgiving service at which the King, wearing his robe and crown, was led in solemn procession to the Minster, with the swords of state — as at an actual coronation-oarried before him. As he stood in his royal robes, sceptre in hand and crown on head, amid the throng of bishops and' barons in the V i ,■ 214 RICHARD COEUR DE LION "Old Minster" where so many of his English forefathers lay sleeping, past shame was forgotten and " England was ready once more to welcome him as a new King." The chief sword on this occasion was carried by the Ejng of Scots, William the Lion, who had come from his northern kingdom to welcome Eichard home, and at the same time try to obtain for himself the inclusion of Northumberland and Cumberland in his kingdom. Eleanor, the Queen-mother, was present at this impressive ceremony, doubtless with a full and thankful heart that her efforts for her beloved son's hberation and restoration to his kingdom had been crowned with success — but of Kichard's beautiful young wife, Berengaria, there is no mention ; she, who would have been first to welcome him had the early promise of their marriage been fulfilled, remained abroad apparently indifferent — ^at all events, apart from the husband she had travelled so far to wed but a few years before. History is strangely silent about poor Berengaria, but at least her name has escaped the breath of slander, so probably the estrangement was Eichard's own fault. Like many another man who has gained fame, he missed domestic happiness. Great blame has been attached to the King for having, as is generally stated to have been the case, taken back lands which he had sold to raise money for the Crusade. It is difficult to prove, however, that the sales were absolute ; many of them may have been only a lease for terms of years, though the purchasers undoubtedly hoped that they would be allowed to keep the estates they thus acquired and hand them down to their children. RICHARD GOES TO FRANCE 215 It throws light upon Eichard's character, as a man more liberal minded than most of his time, that during the last six months he spent in England he had thought for that hitherto greatly ill-used section of his people — the Jews — and, remembering the disgraceful scene that happened at his acces- sion to the throne, made ordinances to protect them from violence in the future. Early in May, having set his house in order at home, and left the country in the charge of Hubert Walter, who had all the powers of a Viceroy, Eichard made preparations to cross to Normandy and put an end to the disorders in his continental dominions. Storms were ever his fate whether on sea or on land, and when he reached Portsmouth he found his vessels weatherbound, and impatiently declared that if the galleys could not go out for fear of capsizing in the wind he himself would cross to France with his most faithful followers in a small boat. So he set out, but the wind was so violent that he got no farther than the Isle of Wight, and next day returned to Portsmouth. On the 12th of May another attemptwas made and the King succeeded in reaching Barfleur. After he had spent the first half of his reign in fighting for a lost cause in Palestine, he was now to spend the other half in fighting for a losing cause in Gaul. The reason why it was a losing cause, as well as of the rivalry between Eichard and Philip, is not far to seek. A writer on the Angevins puts it very clearly — " The final result of the long series of conquests and annexations whereby the Angevin Counts, from Fulk the Eed to Henry Fitz Empress, had been enlarging their borders for more than two 216 RICHARD COEUR DE LION WINS BACK SOUTHERN DOMINIONS 217 I hundred years, had been to bring them into direct geographical contact and poKtical antagonism with an enemy more formidable than any whom they had yet encountered. In their earliest days the King of the French had been their patron ; a httle later he had become their tool. Now, he was their sole remaining rival, and ere long he was to be their conqueror."' ^ Yet not while Richard lived were the Angevin dominions to be lost ! Within a few miles of Barfleur, at Bruis, now Brex, the cradle of the house of Bruce, the King was met by his treacherous brother John, now professing re- pentance, and anxious to save his skin in the first place, and his lands, if possible, in the second. Queen Eleanor, though loving best her eldest son, was yet a mother, and pleaded with the elder for the younger, with the result that Richard pardoned his brother and " gave him the kiss of peace,"" though he wisely refused to allow John to retain a single castle or acre of land ; instead, he generously offered him a financial allowance far beyond his deserts. Having settled with John, he hastened to raise the siege of Verneuil and enjoyed a signal victory, for PhiHp, with an evil conscience, fled before him. But there was trouble farther south on the borders of the coimtry that was the cradle of his race, and might more than any other be expected to be faithful to a grandson of Fulk Nera. The castle of Montmirail, on the borders of Perche and Maine, was besieged, report said, by the Angevins, and though Richard hurried to the rescue it was levelled to the ground before his arrival. He seems to have found it * Angevin Kings, by K. Norgate, p. 357. difficult to fix the blame on any one in particular, or perhaps he found it diplomatic not to inquire too deeply ; he marched on Tours, which opened its gates, and, suspecting disaffection in the abbey of St. Martin, which was under the protection of PhiUp, he took the radical measure of turning out the monks. The citizens of Tours meanwhile came out to meet him, and made a demonstration of their loyalty and regret for any encouragement they had given to PhiUp, by a freewill offering of 2000 marks. It seems that Richard's personaKty must have been a powerful spell — wherever he came in person he won men to allegiance, but he was almost a stranger in many parts of his dominions, and he was attempting the well-nigh impossible task of holding together lands which, though they now are welded together under the name of France, were then as far apart in race and sympathy as was Richard's island realm from his dominions in Gaul. To the greater part of his subjects Richard was an absentee landlord, at home nowhere, though he was master everywhere. " His people of Aquitaine, though his chivalrous character appealed to their romantic nature, resented being governed by a Duke of Normandy and Anjou ; on the other hand, Normans and Angevins still saw in him, as they had been taught to see in him for the first twenty-six years of his life, the repre- sentative not of Heolf and William, or of Fulk the Red and Geoffrey Martel, but simply of his mother's Poitevin ancestors. The Bretons saw in him the son of their conqueror, asserting his supremacy over them and their young native prince only by the right of the stronger."" Philip well knew how to play on these discordant 218 RICHARD COEUR DE LION elements and suggest that a solution would be found in the direct rule of the kings of France, who had always been acknowledged in theory as the superiors of the rulers of Aquitaine and Anjou; while Bertrand de Born, ostensibly Eichard's friend, was keeping men's passions inflamed by his war songs, just as he had done in the earher days when he misused his talents and influence to stir up enmity betwixt Henry ii. and his sons. From Tours, Richard marched to the strong castle of Loches, which had been garrisoned byPhiUp,but sur- rendered after a few days' siege. Meanwhile Phihp, though he had avoided an encounter with Richard at Vemeuil, was harassing his rival's dominions in the north while he was engaged in Touraine. Reahsing that the whole country was being devastated by the war, the archbishops of Rheims and Rouen — the former representing the Bang of France and the latter the King of England — used their influence to bring about a truce of a year, by which each party should retain the territory of which he was in possession ; the negotiations failed, however, through PhiHp's ii^istence on a clause that the partisans of both sides should be restricted from settling their private quarrels by the sword. The ancient laws of Poitou and Aquitaine laying great stress on differences between gentlemen being settled by single combat, Richard feared to offend the nobles by laying upon them such a condition. Peace negotiations having failed, Philip assumed the defensive and marched upon Evreux, of which he again obtained possession ; then, grown bolder, he marched south to meet Richard. When within a few miles of each other — ^Richard at Vendome, u%j i ■•»«sJ|fc83iMK»*tnR*B?W^ ®' djlliii EFFIGV OF RICHARD 1. AT ROUEN CATHEDRAL, DISCOVERED 1838. See p. 301. 218 RICHARD COEUR DE LION elements and suggest that a solution would be found in the direct rule of the kings of France, who had always been acknowledged in theory as the superiors of the rulers of Aquitaine and Anjou; while Bertrand de Born, ostensibly Richard's friend, was keeping men's passions inflamed by his war songs, just as he had done in the earlier days when he misused his talents and influence to stir up enmity betwixt Henry ii. and his sons. From Tours, Richard marched to the strong castle of Loches,whichhadbeengarrisoned by Philip, but sur- rendered after a few days' siege. Meanwhile Philip, though he had avoided an encounter with Richard at Verneuil, was harassing his rival's dominions in the north while he was engaged in Touraine. ReaUsing that the whole country was being devastated by the war, the archbishops of Rheims and Rouen — the former representing the King of France and the latter the King of England — used their influence to bring about a truce of a year, by which each party should retain the territory of which he was in possession ; the negotiations failed, however, through Philip's insistence on a clause that the partisans of both sides should be restricted from settling their private quarrels by the sword. The ancient laws of Poitou and Aquitaine laying great stress on differences between gentlemen being settled by single combat, Richard feared to offend the nobles by laying upon them such a condition. Peace negotiations having failed, Philip assumed the defensive and marched upon Evreux, of which he again obtained possession ; then, grown bolder, he marched south to mc^ot Richaixl, When within a few miles of each other — Richard at Venddme, Krn<;v ny KicH.%Ri> i. ^T kovKS l \Tii»:r>R.\u ihscovkkkd 1838. SW fi. 501. PHILIP DEFEATED 221 Philip at Freteral— we are told that " polite invita- tions to an encounter were exchanged." Appar- ently Philip, never remarkable for personal bravery, decided to pursue his old tactics and decamp' though the accounts of English and French historians as to what actually happened are somewhat con- flicting. It is probable that Philip suddenly decided to move for greater safety into the adjoining territory of his ally, the Count of Blois ; and Richard, seeing the move and determined not to let him escape a second time, fell upon his rear-guard. Certain it is that he captured the whole French baggage train with the military chest, church plate out of the French King's private chapel, the Royal seal and national archives, which, according to the strange custom of those days, were taken about with the King— among these papers were others deeply interesting to Richard, and quite as useful as the treasure— the hsts of those barons who had joined the King of France against him. Just as the signal victory at Jaffa, in which Richard displayed such superhuman courage and contempt of overwhehning odds, was followed by the King's iUness, so it was now. It would appear that his strength was rather that of nervous energy than of brute force, and after he had conquered by sheer strength of will the inevitable reaction set in. Failing health, however, did not hinder him from moving southward and winning back "all the castle of the Angoumois and all the lands of Geoffrey," so that from Vemeuil to the Pyrenees not a rebel remained in the field. _ Having pacified his whole southern possessions, Richard turned north again on his way to Normandy, 222 RICHARD COEUR DE LION MILITARY TOURNAMENTS 223 r f{ i I 4 I but visited Anjou and Maine on the way and took measures to secure their safety. On his arrival in the north he found that his representatives, headed by the chancellor, had con- cluded a truce for a year on terms obviously more favourable to PhiUp than to himself, and which he felt were derogatory to his dignity. This proceeding on the part of his chancellor was the ostensible reason given for the making of a new seal, which furnished a plausible reason for repudiating all charters not signed with it. The terms of the truce stated that — 1. " The King of England may fortify, if he pleases, Neubourg, Driencourt, Conches, and Breteuil ; the other fortresses dismantled or partly destroyed by the King of France shall remain in their actual state until a definite peace is signed. 2. " The King of France shall remain in possession of Val-de-Rueil, Louviers, Aquigny, Loire, and the adjoining territory up to Haye-Malherbe and Pont de TArche. 3. " The King of France, during the truce, may fortify, dismantle, or burn all the fortresses in his possession up to the day of signing the truce, and do what he pleases with aU the lands he may have acquired antecedently to such signature. 4. "The King of England shaU have the same right over the fortresses now in his hand, but he shaU not be at Hberty to fortify any of those which the King of France may have dismantled, except the four above mentioned." It was further agreed that " Richard King of England shall remain in possession of what he holds on this side of the Loire in the direction of Normandy, and as to what concerns lands or castles beyond the Loire, they shall continue in the state in which they may be on the day that the truce is signed.'' This gave Phihp all his conquests of the two preceding years which he had unjustly attained during the English King's captivity. The winter following the signing of this treaty was employed by Richard in raising funds to try and win back at the termination of the truce the territories of which the French King had possessed himseK. To keep aUve the martial spirit of his people during the period of peace, and at the same time enrich the treasury, he resorted to the expedient of reviving the miUtary tournaments which had fallen into disuse owing to the condemnation of the church, on account of the licence they had given to the younger nobles. There is a warrant still existing, dated 22nd August 1194,1 which was sent by Richard to Hubert Walter, authorising these mihtary exhibitions and drawing up rules for their conduct. The tourna- ments were to be held at five places in England, i.e. between Salisbury and Wilton, between Warwick and Kenilworth, between Stamford and Warnford, between Brackley and Wyburg, and between Bhe andTickhiU. The price for entering the lists was settled accord- ing to the rank of those competing ; an Earl paid 20 marks, a baron 10 marks, and a " knight that hath lands '' 4 marks, and the Justiciary was instructed to send to each tournament " two of your clergy and two knights, to take oath of each Earl and 1 From Harleian MSS. 293, mentioned in The Third Crusade, bv W.H.Rule. ^ t 224 RICHARD COEUR DE LION DEATH OF DUKE OF AUSTRIA 225 If I iii I > Baron for satisfying us of the said money before each Tournament begin." Richard has been criticised severely for this method of replenishing his war chest, but it was not so unjustifiable as some historians would have us believe. He well knew that he would have need of all the military ardour he could stir up as well as a well-filled Treasury to hold together his continental dominions against the King of France, and he had the prestige of England, damaged by her King's captivity, and not improved by the humiUating con- ditions of the treaty, as well as his own, to restore. The nobles who entered for these tourneys were men who had Uttle interest in Ufe, apart from battle or the chase, and were very possibly kept from worse mischief by the opportunity the tourneys gave for feats of arms— moreover, the tournaments were con- ducted under the strictest rules of chivahy. To an impartial student of Richard's Ufe it seems that at this crisis the revival of the tournament was an exceedingly wise and diplomatic step, and as the nobles crowded to the appointed places from all parts of the kingdom there is little doubt the money thus raised was no inconsiderable sum. The financial situation was also improved, in the following Decem- ber, by the remission of the ransom money due to the Duke of Austria, who died an agonising death from the effect of a fall from his horse, and in his last hours admitted that his sufferings were a just recompense for his treachery and cruelty to Richard. It is probable that the ban of excommunication pronounced against the Duke by the Pope for assault- ing a fellow-Crusader, and for which he cared little while in health, weighed upon him heavily in the face of death, and the priest urged him to make what amends he could. Leopold's story is certainly a remarkable commentary on the precept that as " a man soweth so shall he reap." Not for a moment did he enjoy the fruits of his treachery after he had satisfied his revenge, for the Emperor claimed his prisoner from him, and proved faithless in the pay- ment of the share of the ransom he had promised, so that Leopold received in all but 4000 marks in- stead of 50,000, and the manner of the Duke's death was a slow agony which amply avenged Richard's incarceration in the dungeons of Diirrenstein. Con- temporary chroniclers dwell on the details, evidently rehshing what they regarded as Divine retribution. Roger of Wendover relates that, the bone of the Duke's leg being fractured, amputation was performed in the dreadful manner of the time — driving the iron through flesh and bone by strokes of a blacksmith's hammer. Little wonder that the unhappy patient did not long survive this terrible operation. Though the dead man had remitted the ransom, his sons seem to have hesitated to release the hostages after the breath had left their father's body, and this brought about the scandal of the corpse remaining uninterred till in the last stages of putrefaction, for the Bishops refused it burial till the hostages were set free to return to their own land. Perhaps the dreadful fate of his old enemy may have had a softening effect upon Richard, for at this time he had one of the Angevin fits of penitence which manifested itself not only in the outward observance of reHgion and took him to early Mass daily, but had the salutary effect of causing him to redeem his promise to restore the church plate given 226 RICHARD COEUR DE LION for his ransom, by having new chalices of gold and silver made for the difierent churches and rehgious houses from which they had been taken. Also he distributed alms daily, not only at his court, but by providing for poor pensioners throughout the country, of which there were many ; for the insecurity of Ufe and property, owing to the war, had interfered with agricultural operations and brought about a great dearth. It was inevitable that if his desire to atone for past wrongs was sincere, Richard must be reconciled to Berengaria to whom he had been unfaithful, and with whom he had not lived since they parted in the Holy Land, but who readily forgave and returned to him. 4 f a. CHAPTER XVII WARS WITH PHILIP — RICHARD'S DIPLOMACY — BUILDING OF CHATEAU GAILLARD — MEETING WITH PHILIP — TREASURE-TROVE AT CHALUZ — THE SIEGE — DEATH OF THE KING — BURIAL AT FONTEVRAUD. The truce that had been made between the Kings of France and England for a year lasted but six months ; historians differ somewhat in their accounts of how it was broken. The probability is that it came to Philip's knowledge that the Emperor of Germany, having made himself master of Sicily, was indulging in the " old dream by which the German Emperor never ceased to be haunted,'* of supremacy over Gaul, and to this end had sent his former prisoner, with whom he had established an alliance before he set him free, " a golden crown and a message charging him, on his plighted faith to the Emperor, and on the very lives of his hostages, to invade the French kingdom at once, and promising him the support and co-operation of the Imperial forces." ^ Whether the already proved perfidious Emperor would have redeemed his promise is open to doubt ; very likely he aimed at making Richard the cat's paw to pull the chestnuts out of the fire, while he himself looked on at a discreet distance, to see if his ^ Angevin Kings, vol. ii. p. 372. 227 \^ 228 RICHARD COEUR DE LION I' h M tool got burnt, and come in for the spoil if he suc- ceeded ; but Richard profited by his overtures to obtain a remission of seventeen thousand marks of the ransom which was still unpaid, so that, together with the remission of the money due to the Duke of Austria, the burden of debt upon his subjects was a little Ughtened. PhiUp was the first to break the peace, and several border skirmishes ensued, followed by another confer- ence at Vaudreuil. While it was going on, part of the city wall collapsed, which brought to light the fact that it had been quietly undermined by Philip in prepara- tion for retirement, and that he had pursued similar tactics with all the castles he feared he might have to surrender. Richard in anger broke off the negotiations and forthwith drove Philip across the Seine, though according to the terms of the treaty the French King had the right to " fortify, dismantle, or bum " all the fortresses in his possession. Fight- ing, however, did not last long, owing to lack of supplies on both sides, and a fresh truce was made, till the following November, when another meeting was arranged at Vaudreuil, but broken off before the Bangs came together. Richard then laid siege to Arques and, for the first time in his war with Philip, sustained a reverse, but paid it back by an attack on the rear-guard of Philip's army on the return march. The whole of this period of the war is a tiresome repetition of small engagements, unreheved by any deeds of special gallantry as was the Palestine campaign. In January 1196 the Kings met and signed another treaty, which, like the first one, dis- tinctly favoured Philip at Kichard'8 expense, and it 8tiange that the latter signed it , and especially C/5 "a: H H Q r-l C/} < ft Q < X u u X iP 'A c X I JM \ V 228 RICHARD COEUR DE LION tool got burnt, and come in for the spoil if he suc- ceeded ; but Richard profited by his overtures to obtain a remission of seventeen thousand marks of the ransom which was still unpaid, so that, together with the remission of the money due to the Duke of Austria, the burden of debt upon his subjects was a little hghtened. Philip was the first to break the peace, and several border skirmishes ensued, followed by another confer- ence at Vaudreuil. While it was going on, part of the city wall collapsed, which brought to light the fact that it had been quietly undermined by Philip in prepara- tion for retirement, and that he had pursued similar tactics with all the castles he feared he might have to surrender. Richard in anger broke off the negotiations and forthwith drove PhiUp across the Seine, though according to the terms of the treaty the French King had the right to " fortify, dismantle, or burn " all the fortresses in his possession. Fight- ing, however, did not last long, owing to lack of supplies on both sides, and a fresh truce was made, till the following November, when another meeting was arranged at Vaudreuil, but broken off before the Kings came together. Richard then laid siege to Arques and, for the first time in his war with Phihp, sustained a reverse, but paid it back by an attack on the rear-guard of PhiHp's army on the return march. The whole of this period of the war is a tiresome repetition of small engagements, unreHeved by any deeds of special gallantry as was the Palestine campaign. In January 1196 the Kings met and signed another treaty, which, like the first one, dis- tinctly favoured Phihp at Richard's expense, and it seems strange that the latter signed it, and especially 5 H Of. CO o < ^ X < u •A < 'A P O 0£, WARS WITH PHILIP 231 i > il i| 1- It |ii| 15 1 I . i t. that he accepted " cessions in Berri at the expense of the vital Norman frontier," unless, as a modern historian has suggested, he was " more of a Poitevin than a Norman,'' and cared more for the hot-headed people of Aquitaine, who were perpetually in revolt, than for his loyal subjects in the north. The most remarkable and important feature of this treaty relates to the rights of the Archbishop of Rouen over Les Andelys, on which Richard was perhaps already seeing in prophetic vision the "saucy castle'' — Chateau Gaillard — which was to be his most enduring monument. Whether this were so or no, both Eangs fully recognised the strategic value of Les Andelys, and so, '' each hoping to outwit the other, they agreed to clauses subjecting the power of the Archbishop of Rouen of uttering any excommunication or inter- dict in respect of Les Andeleys to the supervision of a committee to be named by themselves ; while at the same time they themselves renounced any rights of property, or claim to fortify any site at Les Andelys." ^ The Archbishop naturally objected to such in- terference with Church rites, and laid all Normandy under an interdict until compensation was promised. Meanwhile Richard, in defiance aUke of his treaty and the displeasure of Pope and clergy, had quietly taken possession of Les Andelys and actually com- menced building two fortresses there — one on an island in the river, and another on a rock that over- hung it. The scandahsed Archbishop threatened new pains and penalties, but at the moment an event of European importance occurred in the death of the German Emperor, which gave Richard far ' See The Angevin Empire, p. 349. ,f' 232 RICHARD COEUR DE LION R m ^ i i more weight in the councils of Europe and enabled him to maintain his position of arrogant defiance. Henry vi. died on Michaelmas Eve 1197, and the princes of Germany sent an embassy summoning King Kichard, " as chief among the lay members of the Empire by virtue of his investiture with the kingdom of Aries," ^ to take part with them in the election of a new Emperor at Cologne. Richard, unable to leave Gaul, proposed his nephew, Duke Henry of Saxony, eldest son and suc- cessor of Henry the Lion, as a candidate for the Im- perial throne ; but the other electors rejected him on account of his absence in the Holy Land. Richard's representative then named Henry's brother Otto, who was accepted and crowned " King of the Romans," an event which must have given Richard no small satisfaction. It was a strange reversal of the position of a few years before -when he, a prisoner, pleaded before the Emperor at the Bar — that his nephew, the grandson of Henry Fitz Em- press and, as such, the representative of the Angevin house should sit upon the Imperial throne, owing his dignity to his Lion-Hearted uncle. When the Arch- bishop of Rouen went to Rome in the following November, to personally lay a complaint against the King of England for his high-handed action at Les Andelys, Richard's embassy, sent after him, had little difficulty in persuading the Pope to take a lenient view of the ofEence and accept a monetary compensation — ^for the King, whose influence had placed the Emperor upon his throne, was a person to be propitiated even by the Pope. Richard's diplomacy came ever more and more * Angevin Kings, p. 372. 1 1 WARS WITH PHILIP 283 to the front in the later years of his life. His favourite sister Johanna had formed an attachment to the son of the hereditary enemy of the Angevin house — that of Toulouse — ^whom she had met in the Holy Land. On the old Count's death he was suc- ceeded by his son Raymond v., who had acted as escort to the two Queens on their way back from Palestine. Richard encouraged his sister's attach- ment, which she must have feared would be con- sidered ill-placed, and so buried the hatchet between his family and that of Toulouse, and secured an ally to protect the eastern border of Aquitaine, which from this time on became one of the most peaceable of his possessions, perhaps because Bertrand de Born was ending his strange life (as so many a mihtant spirit did, to atone for violent deeds in those days) within the quiet walls of a monastery, where his minstrelsy was hushed or may have found vent in chants instead of war songs. Philip, looking round for an ally in place of John, whom he had effectually lost, as soon as the latter discovered he could now serve his own interests best by supporting his brother, found troubled waters in Brittany in which to fish, and succeeded in landing in his own net httle Arthur of Brittany, the son of Richard's brother Geoffrey and Constance, whom the English King at one time intended to make his heir. In accordance with the cruel Norman law of the time (which left heiresses and widows entirely in the hands of the King, to be sold to the highest bidder if he so pleased, or forced into any alUance that seemed to him politic), a marriage was arranged for Constance with a certain " Earl Ralf of Chester " before her first husband had been dead a year, because the il i; I I" |l! ■ i I 'If '.'! |i!|. I 234 RICHARD COEUR DE LION Earls of Chester were at the same time hereditary rulers of the border between Normandy and Brittany — ^a wild country then known as the Arranch — and by this marriage Henry hoped to get a firmer hold on Brittany, which nominally owed allegiance to the Duke of Normandy, but virtually was independent. In this case, however, the plan did not work, for Constance, though she was obliged to submit to the marriage, had sufficient force of character to assert herself after marriage, and was supported by the Breton people, who rallied round her and her little son, so that she seems to have set both her husband and her royal relatives — ^first her uncle and then her cousin — at defiance, and ruled as an independent sovereign. As long as she remained within her own borders she was safe, but when summoned by Richard to meet him in Normandy, she — ^perhaps influenced by the fame of his martial prowess and fearing invasion of her little realm if she refused — compUed. But to reach the place of meeting she had to pass through her husband's territory, and he seized the opportunity to seize and shut her up in prison. This left her httle son alone in Brittany. Richard appKed for his guardianship, but the Bretons, ever jealous of the power of their Norman neighbours, hid him away ; Philip at once came forward to offer Arthur his guardianship, which was accepted. Meanwhile the fortress on the rock was slowly growing into the greatest marvel of mihtary archi- tecture that men had ever seen. Richard was rearing not alone a castle worthy of the greatest son of the castle-building Counts of Anjou, but unwittingly his own memorial which should tell his BUILDING OF CHATEAU GAILLARD 235 story throughout the ages — ^for while one stone of Castle Gaillard remains upon another Coeur de Lion will never be forgotten. It was something after his own heart, the building of this " saucy castle " in defiance of the Pope and the Kmg of France, and it was and is the personified thought of its maker, the epitome of what is audacious and fearless, seeming to bid defiance to all comers as it proudly rears its towers against the sky, " where the Seine bends suddenly at Gaillon in a great semicircle to the north, and where the valley of Les Andelys breaks the line of the chalk cliffs along its banks."" No more charming description of the view from his lofty rock is possible than that given in Green's History of the English People : " Blue masses of woodland crown the distant hills ; within the river curve Hes a dull reach of flat meadow, round which the Seine, broken with green islets and dappled with the grey and blue of the sky, flashes like a silver bow on its way to Rouen." There is a legend dwelt on by French historians that, during the war with PhiUp, the English King had thrown three French prisoners from the rock of Les Andelys into the abyss below in vengeance for the slaughter of his Welsh troops. If it be true, the rock was indeed baptized with blood, and it seems but just retribution that the fortress, built as a bulwark against the French King's encroach- ments, should have fallen into his hands but a few years after Richard's death. How he planned the fortifications which were to check a French invasion by interposing an in- surmountable barrier between Philip's dominions i ml .V .1 t 234 RICHARD COEUR DE LION Earls of Chester were at the same time hereditary rulers of the border between Normandy and Brittany — a wild country then known as the Arranch — and by this marriage Henry hoped to get a firmer hold on Brittany, which nominally owed allegiance to the Duke of Normandy, but virtually was independent. In this case, however, the plan did not work, for Constance, though she was obliged to submit to the marriage, had sufficient force of character to assert herself after marriage, and was supported by the Breton people, who rallied round her and her little son, so that she seems to have set both her husband and her royal relatives — ^first her uncle and then her cousin — at defiance, and ruled as an independent sovereign. As long as she remained within her own borders she was safe, but when summoned by Richard to meet him in Normandy, she — ^perhaps influenced by the fame of his martial prowess and fearing invasion of her little realm if she refused — comphed. But to reach the place of meeting she had to pass through her husband's territory, and he seized the opportunity to seize and shut her up in prison. This left her little son alone in Brittany. Richard applied for his guardianship, but the Bretons, ever jealous of the power of their Norman neighbours, hid him away ; Philip at once came forward to offer Arthur his guardianship, which was accepted. Meanwhile the fortress on the rock was slowly growing into the greatest marvel of mihtary archi- tecture that men had ever seen. Richard was rearing not alone a castle worthy of the greatest son of the castle-building Counts of Anjou, but unwittingly his own memorial which should tell his ~ I . " i BUILDING OF CHATEAU GAILLARD 235 story throughout the ages — ^for while one stone of Castle Gaillard remains upon another Coeur de Lion will never be forgotten. It was something after his own heart, the building of this " saucy castle " in defiance of the Pope and the King of France, and it was and is the personified thought of its maker, the epitome of what is audacious and fearless, seeming to bid defiance to all comers as it proudly rears its towers against the sky, " where the Seine bends suddenly at Gaillon in a great semicircle to the north, and where the valley of Les Andelys breaks the line of the chalk cliffs along its banks."*' No more charming description of the view from his lofty rock is possible than that given in Green's History of the English People : " Blue masses of woodland crown the distant hills ; within the river curve hes a dull reach of flat meadow, round which the Seine, broken with green islets and dappled with the grey and blue of the sky, flashes like a silver bow on its way to Rouen." There is a legend dwelt on by French historians that, during the war with Philip, the English King had thrown three French prisoners from the rock of Les Andelys into the abyss below in vengeance for the slaughter of his Welsh troops. If it be true, the rock was indeed baptized with blood, and it seems but just retribution that the fortress, built as a bulwark against the French King's encroach- ments, should have fallen into his hands but a few years after Richard's death. How he planned the fortifications which were to check a French invasion by interposing an in- surmountable barrier between Philip's dominions I t 1 M I t, '' I'* : r^''"': 236 RICHARD COEUR DE LION i",„t| inl- and Ms northern capital of Rouen is so graphically and minutely described in a history of the Angevins that I quote it in full— " His first act was to seize the isle of Andely. Here he built a lofty octagonal tower, encircled by a ditch and rampart, and threw a bridge over the river from each side of the island, hnking it thus to either shore. On the right, below the eastern bridge, he traced out the walls of a new town, which took the name of the New or the Lesser Andely, a secure stronghold whose artificial defences of ramparts and towers were surrounded by the further protection of the lake on the eastern side, the Seine on the west, and the two lesser rivers to north and south, a bridge spanning each of these two little streams forming the sole means of access from the mainland. The southern bridge, that over the Gambon, linked this New Andely with the foot of the rock that was to be crowned with the mightiest work of all. Richard began by digging out to a yet greater depth the ravines which parted this rock from the surrounding heights, so as to make it wholly inaccessible save by the one con- necting isthmus at its south-eastern extremity. On its summit, which formed a plateau some six hundred feet in length and two hundred in breadth at the widest part, he reared a triple fortress. The outer ward consisted of a triangular enclosure ; its apex, facing the isthmus already mentioned, was crowned by a large round tower with walls ten feet in thickness ; the extremities of its base were strengthened by similar towers, and two smaller ones broke the line of the connecting curtain wall. This was surrounded by a ditch cut in the BUILDING OF CHATEAU GAILLARD 237 rock to a depth of more than forty feet, and having a perpendicular counterscarp. Fronting the base of this outer fortress, across the ditch on its north-western side, was a rampart surrounded by a wall ninety feet long and eight feet thick, also flanked by two round towers ; from these a similar wall ran all round the edges of the plateau, where the steep sides of the rock itseM took the place of rampart and ditch. The wall on the south-west side — ^the river front — ^was broken by another tower, cyHndrical without, octagonal within ; and its northern extremity was protected by two mighty rectangular bastions. Close against one of these stood a round tower, which served as a base of a third enclosure, the heart and citadel of the whole fortress. Two-thirds of its elHptical outline, on the east and south, were formed by a succession of semicircular bastions, or segments of towers, seventeen in number, each parted from its neighbour by scarcely more than two feet of curtain wall — ^an arrangement apparently imitated from the fortress of Cherbourg, which was accounted the greatest marvel of mihtary architecture in Normandy, until its fame was ecUpsed by that of Richard's work. This portion of the enclosure was built upon a rampart formed by the excava- tion of a ditch about fifteen to twenty feet in width; the counterscarp, like that of the outer ditches, was perpendicular ; and a series of case- mates cut in the rock ran along on this side for a distance of about eighty feet. On the western side of the citadel stood the keep, a mighty circular tower, with walls of the thickness of twelve feet, terminating at an angle of twenty feet in depth J; 238 RICHARD COEUR DE LION where it projected into the enclosure ; it had two or perhaps three stages, and was hghted by two great arched windows, whence the eye could range at will over the wooded hills and dales of the Vexin, or the winding course of the river broadening on- ward to Rouen. Behind the keep was placed the principal dweUing-house, and under this a staircase cut out of the rock gave access to an underground passage leading to some outworks and a tower near the foot of the hill, whence a wall was carried down to the river-bank, just beyond the northern extremity of a long narrow island known as * the isle of the Three Kings,' doubtless from some one of the many meetings held in this district by Louis vn. or PhiUp Augustus and the two Henrys. The river itseM was barred by a double stockade, crossing its bed from shore to shore.'' One can imagine how the building of this mighty fortress must have been the talk of the whole countryside — ^how Richard's followers deified him more and more, and how his enemies lost courage and began to regard him as invincible. He had the gift of turning the most apparently untoward circum- stances to advantage, of snatching success out of defeat, as is shown by his brilhant victory with a handful of men against overwhelming odds at Acre, and the use he made of his imprisonment in Germany to form an alUance with the perfidious Emperor, which was of great value to him later. So now the attacks of PhiUp on his domains had brought about that which was to crown his renown, showing him not alone as an intrepid soldier and beau-ideal of chivalry, foremost in every fight, but as a far- seeing military genius who had made use of the CHATEAU GAILLARD FROM THE SEINE, AFTER TURNER'S DRAWING.— 5^^ /. 298. 238 RICHARD COEUR DE LION where it projected into the enclosure ; it had two or perhaps three stages, and was hghted by two great arched windows, whence the eye could range at will over the wooded hills and dales of the Vexin, or the winding course of the river broadening on- ward to Rouen. Behind the keep was placed the principal dweUing-house, and under this a staircase cut out of the rock gave access to an underground passage leading to some outworks and a tower near the foot of the hill, whence a wall was carried down to the river-bank, just beyond the northern extremity of a long narrow island known as * the isle of the Three Kings,' doubtless from some one of the many meetings held in this district by Louis vii. or PhiHp Augustus and the two Henrys. The river itself was barred by a double stockade, crossing its bed from shore to shore." One can imagine how the building of this mighty fortress must have been the talk of the whole countryside — how Richard's followers deified him more and more, and how his enemies lost courage and began to regard him as invincible. He had the gift of turning the most apparently untoward circum- stances to advantage, of snatching success out of defeat, as is shown by his brilhant victory with a handful of men against overwhelming odds at Acre, and the use he made of his imprisonment in Germany to form an alliance with the perfidious Emperor, which was of great value to him later. So now the attacks of Philip on his domains had brought about that which was to crown his renown, showing him not alone as an intrepid soldier and beau-ideal of chivalry, foremost in every fight, but as a far- seeing military genius who had made use of the \^ . t» chAtp:.\u gailt.ari) from the seine, after turner's drawinc..- 5| 111, i Baldwin's predecessor in haste to secure Flanders, which was now his own ally. Baldwin, Count of Flanders, now took the field against the King of France, having his own accounts to settle with him for the loss of Artois and Peronne some years before. Determined to regain this terri- tory, he besieged and took Douai and then laid siege to Arras. PhiUp rushed to the rescue, and Baldwin retreated. The retreat, however, was merely a strategical move to draw Phihp on and then break the bridges behind so as to cut off supplies. The tactics obliged the French King to come to terms, and Baldwin made it a condition that Philip should also treat for peace with the King of England, which led to a meeting between Philip and Richard and the verbal arrangement of another truce on 13th January 1199. The meeting was held on the banks of the Seine between Andelys and the fortress of Vernon. Richard, who had come by boat from Chateau Gaillard, it is said, refused to land ; as to whether this was simply a piece of arrogance on his part, or whether he had any reason to doubt Philip's good faith, the historians of the day do not tell us — they merely relate the facts that the two Kings talked together, one on horseback and the other in a boat, and that the treaty was not formally sealed and hostages exchanged, the reason given by some chroniclers being that PhiUp objected to Baldwin of Flanders being included in the peace. It may be the Kings only met at all at the instance of others — the Pope's legate had just arrived upon the scene with instructions from Innocent iii. to mediate between the Kings of England and France, and thus put an TREASURE-TROVE AT CHALUZ 243 end to the devastating war— and both were glad to go through the form of a meeting without binding themselves to anything. Philip almost immediately broke his word by seizing an island in the Seine and begmnmg to fortify it, and had not the Legate threatened the penalties of the Church if he did not desist, war would have broken out afresh, but priestly authority prevailed on PhiUp, not alone to demohsh his work, but to make a most favourable offer to Richard, which settled the question of the ownership of Gisors, the rock on which other treaties had spht. This problem should be solved, Philip proposed as many another had been, by a marriage— Richard to give the hand of his niece, Blanche of CastiUe, to Philip's son Louis, and Gisors to be her marriage dowry. Subject to Richard's consent to this arrange- ment, Philip would restore all his other conquests in Normandy to the Enghsh Crown. Richard virtually assented, but news of the finding of treasure-trove near Chaluz arrived at that moment, and, seeing a chance of replenishing his empty coffers by exercising his sovereign rights without delay, he dashed off to the Limousin, leaving the unsigned treaty to await his return. He went to his death, and the treaty was never signed ! The story which had taken Richard post-haste to Chaluz was that a vassal of Adamar of Limoges by name Achard, lord of Chaluz, had in his possession a golden group of figures representing an Emperor, his wife, his sons and daughters seated at a table,' and round the table an inscription declaring the names^ of the parties and the times in which they lived." It was said to have been discovered by a III t'l' t' 244 RICHARD COEUR DE LION SIEGE OF CHALUZ 245 peasant in ploughing the land, and, if the story were true, it has been suggested that it may have been a real relic of some of the old Gothic kings of Aquitania, though Achard never admitted he had found any- thing more valuable than a vessel full of coins. The pursuit of gold in all ages has brought out men's worst passions, whether they delved for it in the ground or schemed to wrest it from others in the marts of the world, and certainly this tale of treasure- trove seems to have affected Kichard with a tem- porary madness. He had done savage deeds, it is true, in the Holy Land, but then it was at least an ideal that inspired him, even though it caused fanaticism to run riot. He fought in the Holy War, not for himself alone, but for Christendom; in the siege of Chaluz his most favourable critics must admit greed of gold was his sole motive, and its demoraUsing effect is shown in all his actions. Though offered a share in the treasure by Adamar, who in his turn had wrung it from Achard, Richard declared he would have all or nothing. In his mad fury he squandered money in laying waste the Limousin with fire and sword (and that in the holy season of Lent, in which the Church of the Middle Ages enjoined peace) for a problematic gain of a little wealth, which might not be worth more than he spent in fighting for it. Achard and Adamar, who had together fortified the castle of Chaluz and prepared to defend it, decided on Richard's approach to offer to submit the dispute to the French King's court " as superior alike over the Duke of Aquitaine and over his vassals.'' Richard refused to Usten ; they asked in vain for a truce " till the holy season of Lent should be past." Richard went on remorselessly battering the walls till they were almost destroyed and the keep partially undermined — ^then the defenders begged leave to surrender with all the honours of war : but the traditional devil spirit of his race had taken possession of Richard, and the generosity to a fallen foe, which was the pride of chivalry, was merged in ruthless lust of war and cruelty. He swore he would hang all the garrison, as once before he had returned a similar answer to a similar plea for mercy. Achard, with but six knights and nine serving men, retired to the keep, prepared to die a soldier's death rather than a felon's. Short even of ammuni- tion, the defenders threw down beams of wood and fragments of the battlements at the heads of the men who were undermining the tower, the while defending themselves as best they might against the crossbow bolts that whistled round them. One among them there was whose heart burned more fiercely against the King than any other, who had been rendered fatherless and brotherless by Richard's own hand; thirsting for vengeance, he had eyes for the King alone. " Oh, for an arrow ! " he must have sighed, as he saw Richard— unarmed save for his iron head- piece—pass within bow-shot— but his arrows were all spent! His only weapon was a frying-pan which he had pressed into service as a shield, and, holding it aloft as proudly as a more honourable weapon, he waited for the end. Just then an arrow aimed at the defenders— some say by Richard's own hand — lodged in the wall within reach. In a moment this man had dislodged it, fitted it to his own crossbow, and it was speeding back on its death- 246 RICHARD COEUR DE LION i dealing way towards the King, who still stood calmly surveying his work. It struck him on his left shoulder just below the joint of the neck and penetrated under the shoulder- blade, yet Eichard, making light of the wound in the face of his followers and of the foe who had struck him and watched the scene with eager eyes, rode back to the camp as if unhurt, giving strict orders to his lieutenant, Mercadier, who had fought by his side in all his wars— first in his boyhood in Gaul, then in Palestine, and then in Gaul again — to press the assault yet more vigorously. Con- temporary writers differ, as to whether the fatal results were due to the King's rashness in trying to pull out the arrow himself— an action quite in keeping with the impetuosity of his character and his contempt of suffering— or whether the end was due to the bungling surgery, which is the view taken by the English writers, Rog. Howden and R. Cogges- hall, who blame the French doctor. In any case, the wooden shaft of the arrow was broken off in the attempt to extricate it, and the barb remained buried in the flesh, causing an agonising operation to cut it out, which suffering the dying King under- went in vain, for mortification set in and proclaimed the end was near. Stern justice had speedily avenged Richard's unworthy action in refusing mercy to the defenders of Chaluz, and there is little doubt he realised this and with real repentance bowed to the Divine decree. Face to face with death, he sent for his mother from Fontevrault where he was so soon to rest, and Eleanor, broken hearted, hastened to the bedside of the son she loved so well. There are those who say Ml i DEATH OF THE KING 247 that Berengaria never left him after their reconcilia- tion in 1195, and unquestionably was with him when he died,i an(j other historians who assert that the Queen was neither present at his death-bed nor his funeral, though she was deeply affected by the news of his demise ; ^ it is difficult to reconcile such con- flicting statements, but the probabilities are that the woman who loved Richard so devotedly, in spite of long neglect, hastened to his sick-bed as soon as the news reached her, though she may have shunned the public ordeal of being present at the funeral. In spite of the agonising pain he was suffering, Richard's mind was clear, and, with disregard of self and anxiety for the affairs of his kingdom, he called together the barons, making them swear fealty to his brother John, who had so often betrayed him, but whom he had acknowledged as his heir. When he gave commands that three-quarters of his treasures and jewels should be given to his nephew. King Otto, and the other quarter divided among his servants and the poor, he must have thought bitterly of that other treasure he had lost his life to gain. As the King was sinking, news came that Chaluz was taken and all the garrison hung, according to his oathbefore hewasfatally wounded, except themanwho had slain him and who was reserved for a worse fate. Richard sent for his slayer, who came defiantly, expecting death and ready to meet it bravely in any horrible form that his captors might devise. Face to face once more— the slayer and the slain —the dying King asked quietly, " What have I done to thee that thou shouldest slay me ? " As cahnly the prisoner answered, in words that justified 1 Strickland, p. 326. * Ramsay, p. 366. mi!' ft r i»i 248 RICHARD COEUR DE LION his deed in Richard's eyes, "Thou hast slain my father and two of my brothers with thine own hand, and thou wouldest fain have killed me too. Avenge thyself upon me as thou wilt ; I will gladly endure the greatest torments that thou canst devise, since I have seen thee on thy death-bed." All Richard's real generosity of soul rose up in those last moments of his earthly hfe, and the astonished captive heard, with ahnost unbelieving ears, three words, " I forgive thee," fall from the dying King's hps, adding to the guards a command to let their prisoner go with a gift of money. Thus Richard took his last vengeance and made his peace with God. Not his fault was it that Mer- cadier failed to carry out his orders and flayed ahve the man the King had freely forgiven. It is generally beheved that Richard's slayer was Bertrand de Gourdon, a nobleman of the Quercy, whose ancestral home, the castle of Gourdon, was taken by the King in his Aquitainian wars, and his father and brothers slain. After eleven days of cruel suffering, on 6th April, " the Tuesday in Passion Week," Richard, having set his worldly affairs in order, and feehng his hours were numbered, sent for Abbot Milo to hear his con- fession and administer the Holy Sacrament. He then gave directions that his body was to be laid, '* in token of penitence, at his father's feet in the Abbey Church of Fontevraud," and his heart to be taken to Rouen, " where it had ever found a loyal response"; towards evening he received extreme unction, and so ended his stormy hfe, sinking to rest as the sun sank to its setting— a penitent sinner at peace at last. ft v*^ J O CO < I < ^ I 'A O < D O .s 4 ■* I!:. RICHARD COEUR DE LION his deed in Eichard's eyes, " Thou hast slain my father and two of my brothers with thine own hand, and thou wouldest fain have killed me too. Avenge thyself upon me as thou wilt ; I will gladly endure the greatest torments that thou canst devise, since I have seen thee on thy death-bed/' All Richard's real generosity of soul rose up in those last moments of his earthly hfe, and the astonished captive heard, with almost unbelieving ears, three words, '' I forgive thee," fall from the dymg King's Ups, adding to the guards a command to let their prisoner go with a gift of money. Thus Richard took his last vengeance and made his peace with God. Not his fault was it that Mer- cadier failed to carry out his orders and flayed ahve the man the King had freely forgiven. It is generally beheved that Richard's slayer was Bertrand de Gourdon, a nobleman of the Quercy, whose ancestral home, the castle of Gourdon, was taken by the King in his Aquitainian wars, and his father and brothers slain. After eleven days of cruel suffering, on 6th April, " the Tuesday in Passion Week," Richard, having set his worldly affairs in order, and feehng his hours were numbered, sent for Abbot Milo to hear his con- fession and administer the Holy Sacrament. He then gave directions that his body was to be laid, " in token of penitence, at his father's feet in the Abbey Church of Fontevraud," and his heart to be taken to Rouen, *' where it had ever found a loyal response " ; towards evening he received extreme unction, and so ended his stormy life, sinking to rest as the sun sank to its setting— a penitent sinner at peace at last. o u < y 3: o X Pi < H '^ O •s. 5 s Ittt 11 I BURIAL AT FONTEVRAUD 251 The holy St. Hugh of Lincohi, who had been estranged from the King because duty had called him to withstand Richard's demands for money from his EngUsh reahn, to carry on his wars abroad, was on his way to see the King on matters of pohcy when he received the news of his death, and hastened to show his forgiveness by performing the last rites of the Church over his earthly remains. So another Angevin King was " shrouded among the shrouded women,'' his own mother, doubtless, in their midst. He was laid to sleep in the robes which he had worn on his last crowning day in England, five years before. His heart was enclosed in a gold and silver casket, carried to Rouen, and solemnly deposited by the clergy among the holy relics in their cathedral church, and men saw in its unusual size a fit token of the mighty spirit of him whom Normandy never ceased to venerate as " Richard Coeur de Lion." Soul stirring and infinitely touch- ing must have been the scene when, one summer day of 1838, a few who loved and venerated the memory of the warrior King, who passed away six centuries before, found after long search a leaden box contained in a cavity in the wall and, opening it, read on the silver lining — Cor RiCHARDi Regis Anglic NORMANNI-ffi: Ducis Cor Leonis Dicti Obht Aniso MCXCIX by which they knew the poor shrivelled thing that lay within was once the heart that beat so bravely in the breast of England's " lion-hearted " King. PART II INTRODUCTION iii. f w Mm I 'S'll I To follow in the footsteps of one of your lifelong heroes, through near lands linked with our island story and far lands linked with the story of the dayspring of Christianity, is a privilege to which but few can attain in the body. There is another sort of travelHng very much in vogue to-day which lies open to all, even though their purse be not a full one-the wandering in spirit through vineyards and ohve groves, by hoary castles and venerable cathe- dral fanes, across vast oceans and burning deserts where, amid waving groups of palm trees, priests of Islam chant the call to prayer from slender sky- piercing minarets, and devout pilgrims, staff in hand and singing as they go, still traverse the well-worn way that leads to Jerusalem. It has been said, " Happy is the country that has no history." I would like to add, " Happy is the traveller who knows his history" (and for this reason I have knit in one volurae a sketch of the Ufe-story of my hero, with other sketches of the scenes of his Me). Happy is he in what- soever land his feet may tread — ^who can rest at noon in the shade of some old castle, or stand upon its battlements and look out across the country 163 ,,.( ,, H s ; 254 RICHARD COEUR DE LION INTRODUCTION 255 l! its defenders must have scanned with eager eye many a time in bygone ages to discern the coming foe — and dream of all its stirring past — hearing with spirit ear the*^ trumpet-call and clang of arms — the moan of the dying and the shout of the victor — or in some now ruined abbey the roll of the organ and sweet voices of the singers, and the clear bell which betokens the elevation of the host and the adoration of the dark-robed monks. That power of recalling the past is a fairy gift, which those who are endowed with it may hand on to fellow-mortals whose ears are less open to spirit whisperings ; helping them to inner vision just as the painter does who sees and portrays the sunlight playing on the wall, for those who live in darkened rooms, or the curve of the breaking billows on the shore for those who Hve far inland, and holds both fast for ever to be a heritage of joy to future genera- tions. With the end and aim of helping those whose feet may wander through that fair part of France that was once the heritage of the Enghsh Crown and the scene in which the greater part of the stirring drama of Coeur de Lion's hfe was played, I want to guide my readers to these old-world towns to-day as well as through the other scenes inseparably connected with the memory of Richard and the Third Crusade — Sicily, and Cyprus, the Holy Land, and the shores of the Adriatic and banks of the Danube where the King wandered, a hunted man, and was held captive in the dungeons of Diirrenstein, and the old German cities which were the scenes of his most unjust trial. Few, perhaps, have such a whole-hearted interest in Richard as to prompt them to actually follow in his footsteps far across the world — as I have done — ^in the course of one journey ; though such a tour combines much of what is best seeing in Europe with the land that must ever be paramount in interest to Bible students. But many, I hope, will find added interest in Normandy or Touraine, in the Troubadour land of Provence or the castled banks of the Danube, from recalling Richard's history, and some, finding them- selves in Palestine, may care to traverse the long line of sea-coast from Acre to Ascalon, where every hill and valley and stretch of sand is full of memories, at once glorious and disastrous, of the Third Crusade. Yet those who visit these lands in the happy dreamland called imagination, helped, I hope, by my little book, are after all perhaps the most to be envied, for they pick the flowers of travel without the thorns — and can come and go at will from their own fireside to " lands of art and holy writ,'' without counting the cost or encountering the weariness that comes sometimes to even the most enthusiastic of travellers. y fi I i "" CHAPTEE I PROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY The tide of commerce has retreated from Barfleur, leaving the chief Norman port of the Middle Ages high and dry on the sands of time to dwindle to Uttle more than a fishing village— too unimportant in the present scheme of things to be adjudged worthy of a railway, and linked only with the outside world by a pubhc vehicle which phes twice daily between sleepy Barfleur and busy, but modern and unin- teresting, Cherbourg (which, by the way, is French for Scarboro, both meaning Caesar's Castle). Yet Barfleur is a place of many memories, but most of all is it haunted by the tragic story of the White Ship in which Prince William, the only son of Henry i., went down with one hundred and forty of his boon companions — ^gay, roystering young gallants who had feasted on the eve of their de- parture, " not wisely, but too well/' Outside the harbour are cruel reefs all the way to St. Vaast, on one of which the ship struck that fatal day; as we recall the scene we remember that sad story of the bringing of the news to the broken-hearted father, of whom it is recorded that " he never smiled again.*' But it is to follow the fortunes of a later King 2^ W FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 257 we have come to Normandy. To Barfleur in 1194 came Richard Coeur de Lion after his long captivity in Germany. Here he received the news that the Emperor was planning his recapture — from here he sailed for Sandwich, and all through the years of war with Philip, messengers were coming and going from the English court to Normandy, the port of arrival or departure being Barfleur, and troops were landed here and arms for the French wars. The coast hereabouts, like that of our own Cornwall, is rugged and indented, and there is need of the lighthouse of Gatleville close by to flash a message of danger to mariners across the water. It is only for its memories I have taken you to Barfleur— it lives in the past, belonging to an age when stout castle walls availed to keep out the foe. We are going to travel, as Richard travelled to Tours, by way of Verneuil, when after his recrowning at Winchester he crossed to Gaul to punish John's perfidy and win back his dominions ; but it is worth while to make a detour to see Lisieux — ^the Chester of France, but a glorified Chester— with the spirit of the Middle Ages still brooding over it, full of ancient houses, many dating from the thirteenth century, that recall its palmy days, and with the earliest Gothic cathedral in France immortahsed by Ruskin in the Seven Lamps of Architecture. Lisieux, though connected with no prominent event in Richard's life, links on to his story, for it was in this cathedral his royal parents, Henry ii. of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, pUghted their wedded troth in 1154, and the building then un- finished was continued in his reign—" the|western towers, nave, and all eastward as far as the apse " 258 RICHARD COEUR DE LION being built between 1143 and 1182 and a fine example of church architecture of the period. From a beautiful pubMc garden near by (once the gardens of the episcopal palace) is a glorious view over the surrounding well-watered, smiHng country, every mile of which is full of memories of the Angevins. Somewhere along the road to Verneuil the craven John, fearing his brother's vengeance, met him with protestations of penitence after the slaughter of the garrison of Evreux, of which place Phihp had made him governor. There is a ghastly story about Evreux which I have not mentioned in my historical sketch of Eichard's wars, because it cannot be authenticated, but travellers must Imow the gossip of the countryside, so here it is ! John, according to the story, thinking to curry favour with the brother he had betrayed, by betraying in turn his allies, the French, as Commandant of the garrison, invited all the French officers to a banquet, to which they came unsuspectingly and fell into a trap, for their host had arranged for Norman troops to massacre them. No deed was too black for John to be capable of, but it is hard to believe that Richard would have approved such treachery had he known of his brother's act, and Uke many another story it is likely enough to be the invention of a fertile brain enlarging on the fact of the surprise and slaughter of the garrison of Evreux. Part of the old fortifications of Verneuil which exist to-day, including the lofty donjon,may have been the walls built by Henry i. and rebuilt by Richard after Phihp's siege, and several of the churches are partially of his date or earher, of which the church of the Madelaine is most notable, so that they must vO o Pi U < < O fa O H K O X H fa O X u :d u o 1— < < (A :d u a X i4 .8 258 RICHARD COEUR DE LION being built between 1143 and 1182 and a fine example of church architecture of the period. From a beautiful pubHc garden near by (once the gardens of the episcopal palace) is a glorious view over the surrounding well-watered, smihng country, every mile of which is full of memories of the Angevins. Somewhere along the road to Verneuil the craven John, fearing his brother's vengeance, met him with protestations of penitence after the slaughter of the garrison of Evreux, of which place Phihp had made him governor. There is a ghastly story about Evreux which I have not mentioned in my historical sketch of Richard's wars, because it cannot be authenticated, but travellers must know the gossip of the countryside, so here it is ! John, according to the story, thinking to curry favour with the brother he had betrayed, by betraying in turn his alhes, the French, as Commandant of the garrison, invited all the French officers to a banquet, to which they came unsuspectingly and fell into a trap, for their host had arranged for Norman troops to massacre them. No deed was too black for John to be capable of, but it is hard to beheve that Richard would have approved such treachery had he known of his brother's act, and Mke many another story it is Ukely enough to be the invention of a fertile brain enlarging on the fact of the surprise and slaughter of the garrison of Evreux. Part of the old fortifications of Verneuil which exist to-day, including the lofty donjon, may have been the walls built by Henry i. and rebuilt by Richard after Phihp's siege, and several of the churches are partially of his date or earUer, of which the church of the Madelaine is most notable, so that they must o o o ^ H c/j O r-i X z u X u J/ § u f. X .?« FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 261 have survived the siege. Present-day Verneuil has been called " one of the most interesting towns in Eure '' by an authority on this part of France. Leaving Evreux, Gisor, and Vernon, all in this district, for the return journey to Rouen, we will push on, as Richard did, to Tours— that most charm- ing of towns, " the very heart of Touraine,'' in the beautiful, historical, romantic valley of the Loire, described in Old Touraine in a pen-picture which has a special interest for us who come here following in Coeur de Lion's footsteps. " The Plantagenets have hved and died here, the Black Prince has fought up and down the river,' Sir Walter Raleigh served his first campaign here with the Protestants— even King Arthur has been heard of at Amboise. Here are scenes that Turner has painted, where Landor and Wordsworth have watched the setting sun ; here in the heart of France, in the most French of all her provinces, there seems a special interest for the Englishman, a special beauty m this royal river flowing past Pontevraud to the sea, in this broad, smiling landscape clad with vines.'' " Flowing past Fontevraud to the sea "—those words set us dreaming of that St. Denys of the Plantagenets we are soon to visit— but not yet! Tours is too charming to be hurried through- it combines in the happiest way the charms of past and present. Balzac has thrown the glamour of his immortal genius round it— if you have time it is good to read or re-read his romances on the spot. Modern Tours is one of the most cheerful of provincial towns— the French spoken here is the purest in France, not excepting Paris, which accounts 262 RICHARD COEUR DE LION for the many bright-faced English girls you meet in your walks. They are here to learn the silvery tongue of " la belle France " in a healthier atmosphere than that of the French capital, and in a centre of culture and literary Kfe. The library of Tours and its Archaeological Society are famous far beyond the borders of Touraine ; moreover, to come down to more mundane things, the cookery of Tours, its plums, white wines, and its pleasant leisured social life are all known throughout France, and the enjoyment of such good things is apt to put most of us in the humour to enjoy Tours' old- world buildings and associations, as well as the surrounding country, the more. Paramount in interest to us is the Norman work of the cathedral and the lower part of the two towers, which must have witnessed that never-to- be-forgotten scene of the vast multitudes that acclaimed Coeur de Lion as he came out of the sacred shrine invested with all the stately ritea of " Holy Church " with his pilgrim's staff and wallet, and took his way to the royal castle built by his father, Henry ii., a few years previously. Of this only the round tower, called the Tour de Guise (because it was the prison of the Due de Joinville, son of Henry, Due de Guise, after his father's murder), is now to be seen. Two towers are all that remain of the once stately basiUca of St. Martin, and in the Middle Ages one of the most frequented places of pilgrimage in France. The abbey attached to it was that from which Kichard dismissed the monks (suspecting the monastery to be a hotbed of treason in Touraine) on the occasion when Tours repented of her disloyalty to her Duke during his FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 263 captivity, and opened her gates and came to meet him with a peace-offering. A new St. Martin's has arisen in place of the old, which was pillaged by the Huguenots, desecrated by the anarchists, and then suffered to fall into ruins. Not the least stirring of the memories of this fair city are those connected with the great Huguenot rising to avenge the awful slaughter of Ambois, in which venerated shrines were thrown down and the churches and abbeys of Tours were sacked by the Reformers. There are those who say the name Huguenot was first appUed here to the followers of Hugon, who preached in these streets of Tours at night, but this is beside our story, and Tours has so many memories I must not yield to the temptation to linger here and call up ghosts from the past which have no bearing on the life-story of Coeur de Lion. There is one commanding ancient tower, though, I would have you notice, both for its own interest and because it marks the site of the town of Chateau- neuf , in the twelfth century the Fauburg St. Germaine of Tours (where, historians tell us, Richard stayed at the time he received the subjection and peace- offering of the city). It is the tower of Chariemagne and a memorial of the death of his queen when he was visiting this city more than eleven hundred years ago. And so good-bye to this city of the storied past. *' Tours stands, will always stand, with its feet in the Loire, Uke a pretty maid that bathes in the water and plays with it. . . . For this town is laughing, jolly, amorous, fresh, flowering, fragrant, more than any other town in the world, not one of which is worthy to comb the tresses of 264 RICHARD COEUR DE LION her hair, or knot her girdle." So wrote Balzac, but he was her lover— and lovers are apt to be a little prejudiced ! , , m.- We are now in the neighbourhood of thmon; you may take it before going on to Saumur and Fontevraud if you are not bound to the railway. The favourite home of Henry ii., where Richard must have passed much of his boyhood, overlooks the quiet waters of the Vienne. It has been well said by one who knows this land intimately, and has drawn many a loving pen-picture of its beauties, " The interest and the beauty of the valley converge at Chinon, the most unspoilt of the towns of Touraine, the most fuU of character. . . . Better than at Loches, better far than at Tours, you can here read story written in stone." ^ The castle of the Plantagenets, which is three fortresses in one, stretching from east to west and crowning the hill above the Uttle town which nestles under its stout walls for protection, is best seen from the bridge. It is a very wilderness of towers and battlements, giving an impression of greater antiquity than ahnost any other ruin m France, as well as of gigantic strength— but it is the strength of a giant whose mighty Umbs are composed for ever in eternal repose, and the spuit of the men who raised it, one has well said, passed on to another castle, nearer home, that of our own royal Windsor. I believe that for sheer picturesqueness Chinon bears the pahn over all the other towns of France ; whether you take it bit by bit— its whitewashed vine- clad cottages, or the more stately dwellings of the burghers with carved wooden doorways and old 1 Touraine and its Story, by A. Maodonald. FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 265 wrought-ironwork — orstand upon its castle height and look down to the grey little town by the shining river, — which glides onwards towards the bridge through greenest of meadows suggestive of the Norfolk Broad- land, — or gaze upward from afar at its stately pile of antique walls and frowning donjon which seem a part of the mighty rock on which it is reared — it is altogether beautiful ! Its memories of poor, dying, broken-hearted Henry ii., turning his face to the wall when he heard that the name of his best-loved son headed the list of traitors— and of Jeanne d'Arc who came thither on her sacred mission and had audience with her King in the very room where, centuries before, Henry ii. breathed his last, lend to Chinon a peculiar pathos that stirs the blood ages after those who played their part in its dramas have been dust. On the bridge on which we stand to take a last farewell, Richard met the funeral train of his dead parent on its way to the Abbey Church of Fontev- raud, dimly visible on the horizon, fifteen miles away in the forest, and flung himself in a paroxysm of bitter repentance upon the ground before that poor, pathetic corpse so strangely crowned with " a bit of gold fringe from a woman's dress " in place of the royal crown the guardians of the treasury had refused to place upon his brow for the last time. It was very emblematic of the worthlessness of earthly dignities — that bit of gold fringe ! Local tradition says, that the son who came too late to speak his repentance to hving ears, himself lay when he was dead at Chinon before they carried him to rest at his father's feet at Fontevraud— nay, they 266 RICHARD COEUR DE LION FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 267 even show you the house in the Rue de Grand Carroi in which they say he died ; but that does not accord with history — if Richard came at all to Chinon on his last journey from Chains it must have been dead, not Uving ! We will follow him then to his last resting-place, and if you would learn more of Touraine I would have you go by road, or by river, but not by rail, which is so out of tune with the spirit of pilgrimage — ^following the banks of the Vienne to its junction with the Loire. The road runs part of the way between wOlows, through rich pastureland, by villages embosomed in plum and walnut trees, to Candes, where the Vienne empties its waters into the Loire. " A little hoary place is Candes, consisting of one street, a great church, and the remains of a castle,'' ^ and the great church and its story are so remarkable, and the village by the riverside so lovely, that it is worth while to linger a little here, if you can spare the time, and chmb the hill to look down upon the Loire with its tree-fringed banks and islands. The landscape can have changed hardly at all since Henry ii.'s funeral train passed this way. Many and many a time must the silence of the valley have echoed to the martial tread of armoured men and sound of trumpet-calls when Richard resided in the castle of Chinon, and it is more than hkely that, though the present building cannot have been com- pleted in his time, he came sometimes to pray at the shrine of St. Martin, in whose honour a church was reared over the cell where as a hermit the Saint had lived and died in the fourth century. The legend ^ T. says that when St. Martin was dying, so great was his reputation for sanctity that both the monks of Poitiers and those of Tours hastened to Candes to be ready to claim his body — ^the former on the ground that he had grown to manhood among them as a pupil of St. Hilary. The men of Tours had not so good a claim, but they had sharper wits. The night after the saint's death, while their brothers slept, they took the body of the holy man out of his cell and carried it to a boat. They then rowed it all the way to Tours, singing hymns of triumph as they bent at their oars ; and so St. Martin was laid to rest in the church that has ever since borne his name ; but over the cell at Candes a Httle church was reared, which after eight centuries fell into disrepair and was replaced by the present glorious fane, that bursts upon the astonished traveller, and startles him with wonder at the dis- proportion of its size to the Kttle village at its feet. From Candes the historic road to Fontevraud goes by the Chateau of Montressor, with its memories of the robbers who took toll of all who passed along the Loire, and here turns to the south and ascends gently through orchards till another Httle grey village comes in sight, and the towers of the Abbey Church of Fontevraud— an abbey no longer — how are the mighty fallen ! — but turned by the practical French government, that has no sympathy with the sacredness of royal and religious associa- tions — into a convict prison ! The effigies of the Plantagenet kings rest in the prison chapel. Yet we must be thankful they escaped the havoc of the Revolution and were found in 1816 by an Englishman whose search for them was 266 RICHARD COEUR DE LION even show you the house in the Rue de Grand Carroi in which they say he died ; but that does not accord with history — if Richard came at all to Chinon on his last journey from Chains it must have been dead, not living ! We will follow him then to his last resting-place, and if you would learn more of Touraine I would have you go by road, or by river, but not by rail, which is so out of tune with the spirit of pilgrimage — ^following the banks of the Vienne to its junction with the Loire. The road runs part of the way between willows, through rich pastureland, by villages embosomed in plum and walnut trees, to Candes, where the Vienne empties its waters into the Loire. " A Uttle hoary place is Candes, consisting of one street, a great church, and the remains of a castle," ^ and the great church and its story are so remarkable, and the village by the riverside so lovely, that it is worth while to linger a Kttle here, if you can spare the time, and cUmb the hill to look down upon the Loire with its tree-fringed banks and islands. The landscape can have changed hardly at all since Henry ii.'s funeral train passed this way. Many and many a time must the silence of the valley have echoed to the martial tread of armoured men and sound of trumpet-calls when Richard resided in the castle of Chinon, and it is more than Ukely that, though the present building cannot have been com- pleted in his time, he came sometimes to pray at the shrine of St. Martin, in whose honour a church was reared over the cell where as a hermit the Saint had lived and died in the fourth century. The legend ^ Touraine and Us Story. ^^ FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 267 says that when St. Martin was dying, so great was his reputation for sanctity that both the monks of Poitiers and those of Tours hastened to Candes to be ready to claim his body — the former on the ground that he had grown to manhood among them as a pupil of St. Hilary. The men of Tours had not so good a claim, but they had sharper wits. The night after the saint's death, while their brothers slept, they took the body of the holy man out of his cell and carried it to a boat. They then rowed it all the way to Tours, singing hymns of triumph as they bent at their oars ; and so St. Martin was laid to rest in the church that has ever since borne his name ; but over the cell at Candes a little church was reared, which after eight centuries fell into disrepair and was replaced by the present glorious fane, that bursts upon the astonished traveller, and startles him with wonder at the dis- proportion of its size to the little village at its feet. From Candes the historic road to Pontevraud goes by the Chateau of Montressor, with its memories of the robbers who took toll of all who passed along the Loire, and here turns to the south and ascends gently through orchards till another httle grey village comes in sight, and the towers of the Abbey Church of Pontevraud — an abbey no longer — how are the mighty fallen ! — ^but turned by the practical Prench government, that has no s)rmpathy with the sacredness of royal and religious associa- tions — into a convict prison ! The effigies of the Plantagenet kings rest in the prison chapel. Yet we must be thankful they escaped the havoc of the Revolution and were found in 1816 by an Englishman whose search for them was 268 RICHARD COEUR DE LION I doubly a labour of love, both on account of his nationality and his " unrivalled skill in this particular branch of archaeology "—the late Charles Alfred Stothard— who, being at work on his Mmummtal Effigies of Great Britain, determined to search for the lost Plantagenet tombs in the hope of including them in the sketches for his book. How he discovered them is told by his wife in her Letters Written During a Tour in Normandy and Brittany, and dated the following year. She says : " He found the Abbey converted into a prison, and discovered in a cellar belonging to it the effigies of Henry the Second and his Queen, Eleanor of Guienne, Richard the First, and Isabella of Angouleme, the Queen of John. The chapel where the figures were placed before the Revolution had been entirely de- stroyed ; and these valuable effigies, then removed to the cellar, were subject to continual mutilation by the prisoners, who came twice in every day to draw water from a well. ... It appeared they had sustained some recent injury, as Mr. S found several broken fragments scattered around. He made drawings of the figures, and upon his return to England represented to our Government the propriety of securing such interesting memorials from further destruction. It was deemed advisable, if such a plan could be accompUshed, to gain possession of them, that they might be placed with the rest of our royal effigies in Westminster Abbey. The EngUsh Government failed in this, from the affair having passed through too poHtical a channel." Nevertheless, attention had been drawn to these neglected memorials of two of our greatest Kings, and the result was that three years later they were J- i' T 4. vi-» CO < H M O > < Q > o O o < o Q Ed X H O < 268 RICHARD COEUR DE LION doubly a labour of love, both on account of his nationality and his " unrivalled skill in this particular branch of archaeology "—the late Charles Alfred Stothard — who, being at work on his Monumental Effigies of Great Britain, determined to search for the lost Plantagenet tombs in the hope of including them in the sketches for his book. How he discovered them is told by his wife in her Letters Written During a Tour in Normandy and Brittany, and dated the following year. She says : ** He found the Abbey converted into a prison, and discovered in a cellar belonging to it the effigies of Henry the Second and his Queen, Eleanor of Guienne, Richard the First, and Isabella of Angouleme, the Queen of John. The chapel where the figures were placed before the Revolution had been entirely de- stroyed ; and these valuable effigies, then removed to the cellar, were subject to continual mutilation by the prisoners, who came twice in every day to draw water from a well. ... It appeared they had sustained some recent injury, as Mr. S found several broken fragments scattered around. He made drawings of the figures, and upon his return to England represented to our Government the propriety of securing such interesting memorials from further destruction. It was deemed advisable, if such a plan could be accomphshed, to gain possession of them, that they might be placed with the rest of our royal effigies in Westminster Abbey. The Enghsh Government failed in this, from the affair having passed through too pohtical a channel." Nevertheless, attention had been drawn to these neglected memorials of two of our greatest Kings, and the result was that three years later they were I i < Pi c > A o 2< o FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 271 moved into the Kttle chapel of the Abbey Church where they now rest. From time to time efforts have been made to carry out Mr. Stothard's suggestion to move them to Westminster, and the Emperor Napoleon the Third once actually offered them to Queen Victoria. But he had promised more than he could perform, for French archaeologists, backed by the gentry of Anjou, were now alive to the^- value, and "when the order (for their removal) came down from the French Secretary of State, the official whose duty it was to deliver them up refused to do so," and Napoleon was placed in the embarrassing position of having to ask to be released from his promise— a request which, of course, Queen Victoria readily granted-and the effigies of the Angevins remained in the place they had themselves selected for their sepulchre. Why they chose Fontevraud is difficult to imagine till you know something of the story of these prison walls that were once a stately abbey, " one of the noblest and wealthiest of the reUgious houses of the West," and its con- nection with the house of Anjou. Mrs. Stothard has told its history in detail, and as her book is now a rare one, I will quote what she says of it in full — " The celebrated Abbey of Fontevraud has always been considered one of the finest religious edifices in France, and is so extensive that, viewed at a distance, it appears like a Httle town of Gothic construction, embosomed in the midst of fine woods. The order that was first founded at Fontevraud existed there from the eleventh century till the year 1793, when it was subverted by the Revolutionists, who drove the inhabitants from their sanctuary and both 272 RICHARD COEUR DE LION pillaged and dilapidated the convent. During that period several of the beautiful Gothic edifices were entirely demolished and others left in a ruined condition. " As Fontevraud was chosen for the burial-place of a few of our early kings, till they lost the pro- vinces of Anjou and Maine in the time of King John, some mention of the first foundation of the monastery, which will account for the vast extent of the building, must be interesting to you here. This celebrated abbey, where all the supreme power was invested in the person of a female, towards the end of the eleventh century, by Robert d'Arbrissel, a Breton priest, and so famous a preacher in his time, that Pope Urban the Second commanded him, wherever he went, to harangue the people in favour of the First Crusade. So successful proved the eloquence of Robert, that many persons, from simply hearing his orations, left their famihes and hastened into Palestine, where they fought under the holy banners of Godfrey de Bouillon ; others, who either wanted opportunity or resolution to venture the personal hazard of fighting with the infidels, inspired with zeal by the eloquence of the priest, contributed a large portion of their substance in support of the sacred war. ** Robert likewise wandered about the country, preaching, wherever he came, a contempt of this world, and the merit of abandoning all earthly things, in order to devote both body and soul to the temporal and eternal service of God. So forcibly did his arguments and vehement orations convince the multitudes who listened to him that many hundreds became his followers and disciples : wives FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 273 abandoned their husbands, and husbands their wives ; children left their parents, and parents quitted their homes, as the devoted converts of the holy wanderer. Men and women, both of bad as well as good repute, composed his retinue, which became at length so numerous that it was unmanage- able. Robert, therefore, determined to choose some spot where he might form his multitude into a regular order. The wild forest of Fontevraud, watered by a pure fountain that issued from a rock, was selected as a convenient retreat for these in- fatuated people. The little colony at first built themselves huts with the branches of trees and heaps of turf, as a shelter from the weather, or during the night. Their exertions to render the forest habit- able were soon assisted by the people of the neigh- bouring country, who eagerly afforded both susten- ance and aid to the holy man and his train. A lady named Aramburge gave them the valley in which the great church was afterwards erected ; the lords of Montreuil and Radegonde, the lands of Born and the forest of Fontevraud. Kings, princes, and nobles poured in their wealth to assist in the pious act of building these monasteries. After a con- siderable time necessarily occupied in such numerous erections, the multitude were formed into some degree of order. Three hundred nuns, selected from the most reputable and best-educated females, were placed in the convent near the great church, which in size and splendour resembled a cathedral. The others were divided into companies ; each included one hundred women. Those who had formerly led abandoned lives were placed in the convent dedi- cated to St. Madeleine, and called femmes repentees. 272 RICHARD COEUR DE LION pillaged and dilapidated the convent. During that period several of the beautiful Gothic edifices were entirely demolished and others left in a ruined condition. " As Fontevraud was chosen for the burial-place of a few of our eariy kings, till they lost the pro- vinces of Anjou and Maine in the time of King John, some mention of the first foundation of the monastery, which will account for the vast extent of the building, must be interesting to you here. This celebrated abbey, where all the supreme power was invested in the person of a female, towards the end of the eleventh century, by Robert d'Arbrissel, a Breton priest, and so famous a preacher in his time, that Pope Urban the Second commanded him, wherever he went, to harangue the people in favour of the First Crusade. So successful proved the eloquence of Robert, that many persons, from simply hearing his orations, left their famihes and hastened into Palestine, where they fought under the holy banners of Godfrey de Bouillon ; others, who either wanted opportunity or resolution to venture the personal hazard of fighting with the infidels, inspired with zeal by the eloquence of the priest, contributed a large portion of their substance in support of the sacred war. '* Robert likewise wandered about the country, preaching, wherever he came, a contempt of this world, and the merit of abandoning all earthly things, in order to devote both body and soul to the temporal and eternal service of God. So forcibly did his arguments and vehement orations convince the multitudes who listened to him that many hundreds became his followers and disciples : wives ' i FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 273 abandoned their husbands, and husbands their wives ; children left their parents, and parents quitted their homes, as the devoted converts of the holy wanderer. Men and women, both of bad as well as good repute, composed his retinue, which became at length so numerous that it was unmanage- able. Robert, therefore, determined to choose some spot where he might form his multitude into a regular order. The wild forest of Fontevraud, watered by a pure fountain that issued from a rock, was selected as a convenient retreat for these in- fatuated people. The little colony at first built themselves huts with the branches of trees and heaps of turf, as a shelter from the weather, or during the night. Their exertions to render the forest habit- able were soon assisted by the people of the neigh- bouring country, who eagerly afforded both susten- ance and aid to the holy man and his train. A lady named Aramburge gave them the valley in which the great church was afterwards erected ; the lords of Montreuil and Radegonde, the lands of Born and the forest of Fontevraud. Kings, princes, and nobles poured in their wealth to assist in the pious act of building these monasteries. After a con- siderable time necessarily occupied in such numerous erections, the multitude were formed into some degree of order. Three hundred nuns, selected from the most reputable and best-educated females, were placed in the convent near the great church, which in size and splendour resembled a cathedral. The others were divided into companies ; each included one hundred women. Those who had formerly led abandoned lives were placed in the convent dedi- cated to St. Madeleine, and called femmes repentees. 274 RICHARD COEUR DE LION The sick and leprous were lodged in the hospital of St. Lazare. The order of monks who were devoted to St. John inhabited a monastery dedicated to their saint. But of this building the ruins of the church now alone remain. The erection of the nave of the great church is attributed to " Foulques, fifth Count of Anjou/' about the year 1125, and many other parts of the abbey were built at that period. "Robert, the founder of this numerous order, Uved to see it extended throughout the greater part of France. Towards the end of his career he gave up the authority as superior, and invested it in the person of a beautiful lady named Petronille de Chemille, electing her Abbess of Fontevraud, and submitted both himself and all the convents to her supremacy. He died 1117 a.d., and was interred near the altar of the great church. His effigy of white marble was afterwards removed beneath a monument dedicated to his memory by Louis de Bourbon, Abbess of Fontevraud, in the year 1623. The modern tomb yet remains, but whether the Revolutionists destroyed the effigy or not when they pillaged the monastery is uncertain; it no longer exists. "It is remarkable that the costume of these monks and nuns never altered from the time of their first establishment in the eleventh century to that of their aboUtion in 1793. They were clothed by order of Robert d'Arbrissel according to the pre- vailing dress of the time : the men wore black, covered by a long mantle, to which a cowl was attached, and at the bottom of the garment, both in front and behind, appeared a small square piece of cloth, which bore the name of the Robert ; the FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 275 nuns were attired in a white petticoat of fine linen, with lawn sleeves nicely plaited ; a black stomacher and belt completed the gown ; the head was covered with a light black veil, and the feet by white stock- ings and shoes ; the extreme neatness of this costume received considerable embellishment from the full folds of the long and elegant black mantle that they wore during Divine service. After the decease of Robert, the superiors of the order were generally chosen from women of the first rank; fourteen princesses are numbered amongst the abbesses of Fontevraud ; many of these ladies richly endowed the monastery with lands, money, pictures, jewels, statues, treasures, and additional buildings. Gab- rielle de Rochechouart Mortemar, celebrated for her profound knowledge of the Latin and Greek tongues, and for her extraordinary endowinents both natural and acquired, was also a distinguished abbess and patron of Fontevraud. It is much to be regretted that the revolution has spared little else than the walls of this once magnificent retreat.'' It was at Fontevraud Richard's favourite sister Joan received her education — to Fontevraud that Richard went to ask the intercession of the nuns be- fore his Crusade, and to Fontevraud he came, bringing sacred relics from the Holy Land, to give thanks after his release from captivity. In the choir of the Abbey Church, too, took place, if contemporary chroniclers are to be believed, that terrible scene when Richard saw, or thought he saw, blood oozing from the nostrils of the corpse, proclaiming him his father's murderer — ^to us it seems that to John rather than to Richard that odium applies, and that the excited imagination of the lookers on and Richard's %ii 276 RICHARD COEUR DE LION own conscience-stricken heart must have coniured up the blood. All this recurs to us, as we gaze through the gnll into the apse of a small chapel opening from the south transept, where four strikingly lifehke figures lie at rest. At present the choir and transepts alone are used as a chapel for the prisoners, and the beautiful nave has been turned to secular use.^ A writer who visited Fontevraud before the nuddle of the last century ^ has given us a pen pic- ture of Richard's effigy, which will help you to see in It more than our own eyes might at once discern— "It is impossible that any poet's description could better convey to the mind the impression of the actual appearance of Coeur de Lion in life than tms glorious effigy. " As you gaze upon it an involuntary awe creeps over you, and the frowning brows seem to contract still more, as if reproving the freedom which permits so near an approach to a monarch so powerful and so commanding. His forehead is the grandest I ever beheld— broad, open, and majestic— with straight brows knit firmly together, sternly and somewhat fiercely; the upper part of the nose IS finely formed, but, alas! the rest is defaced yet, strange to say, the countenance is not disfigured' The eyes are closed and appear well cut, though not very large, the mouth is firm and handsome, the chm cloven and very finely rounded, the jaw powerful, the short, curled beard and hair flowing .,. VT''® ^^^^ ChuKh is now being restored, and it is intended tl,»t * MiBs Costello in The Boeages and the Vines. FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 277 and thick and the moustache fine, the shape of the head good, rather broad in front, the throat re- markably thick and strong, and the breadth of the chest prodigious. One hand remains, which is large and powerful and admirably sculptured." This graphic description of Kichard's effigy, written over seventy years ago, is just as true to-day, except that another hand, the right one, clasping the sceptre, has been added in a restoration of the last century. It is interesting to compare Miss Costello's glowing words with the comments on the effigy of a recent historian of the Angevins, who, though a severe critic of Eichard in his writings, admits that in this effigy, which is generally accepted as a genuine likeness, the features are " beautifully refined/* From what different points of view two people can see the same thing — of the forehead, de- scribed by Miss Costello, " broad, open, and majestic, with straight brows knit firmly together,'' Sir James Eamsey found " smooth and rather weak '' ! If there be any in whom my narrative has stirred sufficient interest in the complex character of this long-dead King to wish to judge for themselves, and yet who cannot journey to Touraine, let them study the reproduction of the original in the Crystal Palace that is so excellently done and so strangely httle known. I do not think you will want to linger at Fontev- raud, the atmosphere of a prison is more than a little depressing, but before you turn your back on the royal effigies look at that of the mother who was so great an influence in Richard's Ufe — ^some authorities hold this effigy far the best, though the features are mutilated — ^nevertheless the noble head gives an impression of strength and dignity 278 RICHARD COEUR DE LION such as one would expect in this wonderful woman, who, brought up in a dissolute court and surrounded by flatterers, made a stepping-stone of the follies of her youth to rise o'er her "dead self to higher things," and was her son's right hand and counsellor through all the strange vicissitudes of his stormy life. We hope that after life's fitful fever "she sleeps well," for assuredly her long and faithful stewardship and her many sorrows have deserved it. Queen Berengaria's efiigy is not here— in death as for so long in hf e she was parted from the husband she loved so well and yet most pathetically often failed to please ! How human they become to us, these long dead-and-gone royalties, as we stand beside their sculptured forms and muse on their great destinies — which is only another name for great responsibilities — ^and pitiable, often culpable, weaknesses. Almost we seem to see them as Tennyson so beautifully wrote the dead see us, " who look with other eyes than ours to make allowances for us all." The tombs of our Angevin kings have set me dreaming aloud ! I have lingered too long and yet not told you that their bodies lie here no longer, or, if they do, mingle with the dust maybe of the prison yard. Not alone the Revolution, not even Huguenots who ravaged Anjou in the sixteenth century, are responsible for this, but the strange vicissitudes of time and the alterations in the church. Whatever remained of them vanished in the wild work of that day in 1793 when the mob, armed with cudgels, axes, and whatever weapons of destruction they could lay their hands on, wreaked their vengeance against royalty and nobihty in an attack on the most aristocratic abbey in France, , 6 Q < O Pi H < O U X h o Pi < < p < m D O < 278 RICHARD COEUR DE LION such as one would expect in this wonderful woman, who, brought up in a dissolute court and surrounded by flatterers, made a stepping-stone of the follies of her youth to rise o'er her " dead self to higher things,'' and was her son's right hand and counsellor through all the strange vicissitudes of his stormy life. We hope that after Ufe's fitful fever "she sleeps well," for assuredly her long and faithful stewardship and her many sorrows have deserved it. Queen Berengaria's effigy is not here — in death as for so long in life she was parted from the husband she loved so well and yet most pathetically often failed to please ! How human they become to us, these long dead-and-gone royalties, as we stand beside their sculptured forms and muse on their great destinies — which is only another name for great responsibilities — and pitiable, often culpable, weaknesses. Almost we seem to see them as Tennyson so beautifully wrote the dead see us, *' who look with other eyes than ours to make allowances for us all." The tombs of our Angevin kings have set me dreaming aloud ! I have lingered too long and yet not told you that their bodies lie here no longer, or, if they do, mingle with the dust maybe of the prison yard. Not alone the Revolution, not even Huguenots who ravaged Anjou in the sixteenth century, are responsible for this, but the strange vicissitudes of time and the alterations in the church. Whatever remained of them vanished in the wild work of that day in 1793 when the mob, armed with cudgels, axes, and whatever weapons of destruction they could lay their hands on, wreaked their vengeance against royalty and nobility in an aUack on the most aristocratic abbey in Prance, o -r <)5 1? FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 281 and broke in pieces the effigies of Richard's sister Joan— first Queen, then Countess, and last nun and her husband, Raymond of Toulouse. Possibly the other effigies escaped by the tombs containing the actual bodies being the first object of attack, though a mason who assisted in forcing open Richard's tomb asserted that not a bone was found there. Notice the cloistered quadrangle as you pass out, and the so-called Abbey kitchen, a stone-built cone,' very similar to those at Glastonbury and Stanton Harcourt, which cooked the good monks' pies and rounds of beef or boar's head in the days when that supposedly delectable dish was not limited to the Christmas ceremony of All Souls' College, Oxford. Every one who has heard anything of Touraine knows of the strange cave dweUings in the hillside on the road to Saumur. To us everything is of pecuKar interest that has remained unaltered in the landscape since the close of the twelfth century, and unquestionably the dwellers in the rock are the successors of those who have dwelt there from most primitive times. The cKff in places overhangs the road, and the openings in it at all heights and dis- tances often have the entrance festooned with grape vines or climbing plants and flowers— steps cut in the rock lead up to them. Their occupants are not hermits as you might imagine— the only other cHff honeycombed Hke this that I have seen was in the Holy Land, on the way to the Wilderness of the Teniptation, and there the caves had been the habitations of hermits since Bible times— but whole famiUes, whose animals, I fancy, often share the primitive dwelHngs with the humans. Of the eleven miles that divide Fontevraud from Saumur eight ^5 282 RICHARD COEUR DE LION lie along the course of the Loire — a steam-tram, alas ! now goes this way — alas ! that is from the point of view of romance, though you may find it has its uses ! Saumur stands on the Angevin border, and from the summit of the castle on a clear day you can see the towers of Angers — ^the cradle of the Angevin race. Saumur's castle (built by Geoffrey Martel in the eleventh century, and not completed till nearly a hundred years after Richard's death) is its central point of interest; like most medieval strongholds, it gradually grew under successive architects to its present stature. Battles were waged around it in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and many an unhappy prisoner has languished in the dungeons, where, if you look closely, you may read the name to-day he scratched upon the wall. Besides the castle, Saumur has a fine old "Hotel de Ville."' Richard must have passed through the narrow streets of the ancient town a hundred times, but it is not connected with any of the great events of his life. You can go by rail or road, as you prefer, from Saumur to Angers, that scene of ancient story, on the banks of the Mayenne, into which the Loire and Sarte pour their united waters; but, however you get there, you will do well to take your first walk down to the waterside and look up-stream from the lowest of the three bridges towards the grim castle, which recalls the "black Angers" of the Middle Ages — a term which, though meant to designate the dark slate found in the neighbourhood and used in its buildings, is very suggestive of the dark deeds done there in bygone days. The cradle of the house of Anjou cannot fail to have an interest for every thinking Englishman FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 283 who remembers that from here came the parent stock of our longest dynasty, and the history of this warlike race can be traced far, far back into the myths of antiquity, when the " Andevace " built a city on the Maine in Roman times. Even the Saxons, who overran Anjou in the sixth century, left little or no trace of their passing upon the pure Angevin stock. Their rulers were ever a dauntless race — both men and women — witness the splendid courage of Margaret of Anjou, who " fought with the strength of two for the in- heritance of her husband, meek, scholarly Henry of Windsor, for whom the shield of faith had more significance than tne shield of the warrior. "" One there is, however, among the Angevin Counts who cultivated the arts of peace instead of those of war. Anjou is full of stories of the Golden Age of the second Count Fulk — of his love for the Church of St. Martin at Tours, to which he frequently retired, Uving with the monks as an honorary canon and refusing to be known by his title. There is a legend that the ruler of an adjoining territory, coming one day with his courtiers to pay his devotions at the shrine, found, to his great amusement, the Count of Anjou in his canon's stall chanting the Psalms, and commented aloud that " the Count of Anjou has turned clerk.'' Fulk turned the tables by remarking very neatly to the King, " Know, my lord, that an unlettered king is a crowned ass ! '' — a saying which passed into a proverb. But Fulk was not only a Churchman — he had the brains of his race, and devoted the energies that in his kinsmen ran to war, to the improvement of his kingdom and rebuilding of towns and churches that had been laid 284 RICHARD COEUR DE LION waste by the northern pirates who sailed up the Loire to attack the rich lands of Aquitaine, so that the fame of his good government spread far beyond the borders of his little marchland. It was to guard the whole Loire valley against the Northmen that the castle on the rock was reared on the site of the Roman citadel. The present castle, commenced at the end of the twelfth century and finished by St. Louis of France in 1230, is flanked by seventeen mighty towers, which have a somewhat stunted appearance, having been cut down from their original height of a hundred feet by order of Henry iii. Doubtless they have played their part in many a tragedy, but none more tragic than the death of young Arthur of Brittany, who here fell a victim to his inhuman uncle John, who, according to the legend, hurled him from the battlements into the dark waters of the moat — now dark no longer, for a garden occupies the place and sends the scent of flowers and fragrant herbs up through the loop- hole windows hke fragrant incense used to sweeten the dank, mouldy air of some ancient church. There is one portion of the castle which Richard must have known, for it dates from the time of Fulk Nerra and is to a student of the Angevins " the most precious relic in all Angers.'' You may stand there as Fulk the Black Falcon and as Geoffrey Grey-gown did of old, and look out across the quiet waters of the Mayenne and realise why this border castle was known as " the key to Touraine.'' Angers is a city of churches, which, by the way, have a style of their own, so that Freeman has called it " the headquarters of the Angevin style of archi- tecture/' which differs from that both of France FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 285 and Normandy. Before the Revolution, we are told, it had no less than twenty-seven monasteries and convents, of which very few remain to-day. The towers of the cathedral of St. Maurice crown the hill which the city cUmbs, and rise above the castle walls — ^both Richard and his father must have watched it building, and it cannot have been far from completion at the former's death. Angers can boast of one of the earliest hospitals known, which owed its existence to the munificence (or repentance after Becket's murder) of Henry ii. In this hospital of St. Jean the sick were cared for, as in the Middle Ages, all together in one great hall containing nearly three hundred beds (no matter what ailed them) until the middle of the last century, when a modern hospital was built. A visitor to Angers in the 'sixties still saw it filled with the three hundred beds, and was told that, up to within twenty years previous, lunatics had been also lodged among " the lame, the halt, and the blind." The old hospice is now the Museum of Antiquities and the Great Hall is alone worth going far to see ; " the brilliance of the Plantagenets seems to illumine the whole scene, and to hover around this mighty monument " ; and in imagination we see the princely donor pacing this regal hall, on one of his visits, and looking round upon the poor sufferers, who were being cared for at his cost. Men did things greatly in the days of old — one hundred and sixty feet is this haU in length, and sixty-three in width, and its roof is supported by twenty-four graceful, pointed arches — ^instead of a hospital it might have been the throne-room of a king! This ancient foundation is reminiscent of those t', 284 RICHARD COEUR DE LION waste by the northern pirates who sailed up the Loire to attack the rich lands of Aquitaine, so that the fame of his good government spread far beyond the borders of his Uttle marchland. It was to guard the whole Loire valley against the Northmen that the castle on the rock was reared on the site of the Roman citadel. The present castle, commenced at the end of the twelfth century and finished by St. Louis of France in 1230, is flanked by seventeen mighty towers, which have a somewhat stimted appearance, having been cut down from their original height of a hundred feet by order of Henry iii. Doubtless they have played their part in many a tragedy, but none more tragic than the death of young Arthur of Brittany, who here fell a victim to his inhuman uncle John, who, according to the legend, hurled him from the battlements into the dark waters of the moat — now dark no longer, for a garden occupies the place and sends the scent of flowers and fragrant herbs up through the loop- hole windows Hke fragrant incense used to sweeten the dank, mouldy air of some ancient church. There is one portion of the castle which Richard must have known, for it dates from the time of Fulk Nerra and is to a student of the Angevins " the most precious relic in all Angers." You may stand there aa Fulk the Black Falcon and as Geofcey Grey-gown did of old, and look out across the quiet waters of the Mayenne and realise why this border castle was known as " the key to Touraine.'* Angers is a city of churches, which, by the way, have a style of their own, so that Freeman has called it " the headquarters of the Angevin style of archi- tecture/' which difiers from that both of France FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 285 and Normandy. Before the Revolution, we are told, it had no less than twenty-seven monasteries and convents, of which very few remain to-day. The towers of the cathedral of St. Maurice crown the hill which the city chmbs, and rise above the castle walls — both Richard and his father must have watched it building, and it cannot have been far from completion at the former's death. Angers can boast of one of the earliest hospitals known, which owed its existence to the munificence (or repentance after Becket's murder) of Henry ii. In this hospital of St. Jean the sick were cared for, as in the Middle Ages, all together in one great hall containing nearly three hundred beds (no matter what ailed them) until the middle of the last century, when a modern hospital was built. A visitor to Angers in the 'sixties still saw it filled with the three hundred beds, and was told that, up to within twenty years previous, lunatics had been also lodged among " the lame, the halt, and the bUnd." The old hospice is now the Museum of Antiquities and the Great Hall is alone worth going far to see ; " the brilhance of the Plantagenets seems to illumine the whole scene, and to hover around this mighty monument " ; and in imagination we see the princely donor pacing this regal hall, on one of his visits, and looking round upon the poor sufferers, who were being cared for at his cost. Men did things greatly in the days of old — one hundred and sixty feet is this haU in length, and sixty-three in width, and its roof is supported by twenty-four graceful, pointed arches — ^instead of a hospital it might have been the throne-room of a king! This ancient foundation is reminiscent of those If 286 RICHARD COEUR DE LION I years of Henry's reign when the Angevin Empire was at the height of its prosperity and its ruler found time to build ** palaces, hospitals, bridges, and em- bankments " — the great dyke along the Loire above its meeting with the Mayenne was Henry's work, and so is the bridge across the Vienne, which the legend ascribes to Fulk Nerra. The spirit of modernity has been long alive at Angers, converting its narrow streets and old, quaint houses into those better suited for modern life ; but many are the hnks with the past still left, especially in the neighbourhood of the cathedral and the bishops' palace, and nothing that is precious is now likely to be lost by neglect or unfitting restoration, for in Anjou — ^that " most aristocratic, most simple, and most old-fashioned" province of France, which preserves so much of the old spirit of reverence that " wayside crosses are still decked with flowers and country people still believe in saints and holy wells " — ^there is a real Renaissance going on which has prompted the nobles, who still own the old chateaux, to restore them to as much as possible what they were before the Revolution. The great ladies of to-day have revived the tapestry work of their great-great-grandmothers, and are finishing as a labour of love the work left incomplete by fair fingers of the time of Louis xvi., and with this spirit abroad, the Angevins of to-day also have come to a better appreciation than their forefathers of their heritage from the Middle Ages. Poitiers, like Angers, has played its part in our island story — ^not alone do I refer to its world-famed battle in which the Black Prince overcame the great French army and took the King of France FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 287 himself prisoner— and this, by the way, took place not at Poitiers, but in the neighbourhood, and if you arrive at Poitiers by train from Tours you will pass the site of this famous fight at Moussair la Bataille — ^but to earlier days when Eleanor of Aquitaine brought Poitou as part of her dowry to the EngUsh crown. Especially I am thinking of one summer day in 1172, when a ruddy-haired, long-limbed boy of fifteen was enthroned with stately ceremony in the Abbot's chair in the church of St. Hilary, and proclaimed " Duke of Aquitaine." Of how he governed his southern kingdom by the sword I have told elsewhere. The whole of Poitou, with all the country between the Loire and the Pyrenees, belonged to the EngUsh crown as late as 1360, when Normandy had been French for a hundred and fifty years. A glance at the situation of the town on a height above the river, which here forms a bend, and defended on the open side by another little stream, the Boivre, shows you that the castle occupied a strong position before the age of gunpowder, but it is for its churches more than its feudal fortress it is known to-day. One of these is absolutely unique and worth visiting Poitiers alone to see — ^the Baptistry of St. Jean, the oldest Christian building in France, erected between 320 and 330 a.d. An interesting feature of this little church is that it is possible to trace the position of the rooms where the early Christian converts disrobed for baptism and " whence they were conducted to the central basin, fed by a continual stream of water, where stood the Bishop, the typical representative of the first Baptist. 288 RICHARD COEUR DE LION Freeman says of Saint Jean, " It is the one monument of the earliest Christian times which has hved on, so to speak, in its own person, and is not simply represented by a later building on the same site/' It must have been reckoned quite an ancient church when Kichard was crowned in the cathedral of St. Pierre, which had been built not long before at the cost of his parents, Henry ii. and Queen Eleanor-this is a Romanesque building, but has suffered somewhat in the restoration of the exterior. Then there is the collegiate church of St. Rade- gonde, the patron saint of Poitiers, another very old foundation dating from the sixth century, but the present building dates from the eleventh. St. Hilaire stands on the site of a Roman temple which was rebuilt for Christian use in the eleventh and tweKth centuries. I have said enough to show you that ecclesiastical Poitiers had the same features in Richard's day, the same towers and spires as dehght us now after the lapse of centuries. Every mile of the country around here has re- sounded to the tramp of armies and been watered with blood in the fights of the Middle Ages. It was from the court at Poitiers on Candlemas Day that the young Count Richard sent the triumphant message to his father that after some nine months of fighting he had subdued the whole surrounding country. Imagine the boyish exultation with which he sent this message ! Our road still Hes southwards by Angouleme to Chaluz, and there are evidences that we are going farther and farther into the land of sunshine and wine and song ; the landscape loses in neatness and ]■ J CLOISTERS OF MONASTERY ON THE ISLAND OF LACROMA, DALMATIA, TRADITIONALLY FOUNDED BY RICHARD COEUR DE LION. See p. 342. 288 RICHARD COEUR DE LION Freeman says of Saint Jean, " It is the one monument of the earHest Christian times which has Uved on, so to speak, in its own person, and is not simply represented by a later building on the same site/^ It must have been reckoned quite an ancient church when Kichard was crowned in the cathedral of St. Pierre, which had been built not long before at the cost of his parents, Henry ii. and Queen Eleanor — this is a Romanesque building, but has suflered somewhat in the restoration of the exterior. Then there is the collegiate church of St. Rade- gonde, the patron saint of Poitiers, another very old foundation dating from the sixth century, but the present building dates from the eleventh. St. Hilaire stands on the site of a Roman temple which was rebuilt for Christian use in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. I have said enough to show you that ecclesiastical Poitiers had the same features in Richard's day, the same towers and spires as dehght us now after the lapse of centuries. Every mile of the country around here has re- sounded to the tramp of armies and been watered with blood in the fights of the Middle Ages. It was from the court at Poitiers on Candlemas Day that the young Count Richard sent the triumphant message to his father that after some nine months of fighting he had subdued the whole surrounding country. Imagine the boyish exultation with which he sent this message ! Our road still Hes southwards by Angouleme to Chaluz, and there are evidences that we are going farther and farther into the land of sunshine and wine and song ; the landscape loses in neatness and 1- CLOISTERS OF MONASTKRV ON THE ISLAND OF LACROMA, DALMATIA, TRAl>rriONALLY FOUNDED P.V RICHARD COEUR DE LION. See p. 342. a FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 291 gains in picturesqueness — oxen draw the country carts — ^vines twine round the porches and windows of the houses — ^green hedges have replaced the dark slate fences of Anjou. This is Troubadour land and in the heart of it is Angouleme, the scene of Richard's great victory over the leaders of the rebelho . which was stirred by the singing of Bertrand de Born and headed by the lord of Angouleme ! Where the boulevards are to-day the walls and ramparts once stood that the boy-duke battered down in a six days' siege, undertaken single-handed, as light- heartedly as if his elder brother had not basely deserted him and returned to France, leaving him to fight alone. The cathedral of St. Pierre, one of the most interesting Eomanesque Byzantine buildings in France, is of Richard's time, though restored. And now we are getting very near to the spot that saw the closing scenes of Richard's life — Chaluz. It lies quite ojffi the highway of travel, and to reach it ^y train from Angouleme you must journey past La Rochefoucaulds (a little town with a magnificent castle, the earliest part of which is of the twelfth century and so was surely one of those Richard subdued) and Roche- chouart (with another feudal pile). The next station is Chaluz, but if you walk, or drive, or cycle— or fly through the countryside, without having time to see its beauties, in a motor car — ^you can reach it from Angouleme in half the distance by road, and if you choose a leisurely mode of travel you will have time to recall the history of the land you are passing through, which was wholly apart from that of Normandy or of Touraine or of any other part of France in that Z«7 Z RICHARD COEUR DE LION classic time of the Troubadours, contemporary with the golden days of the nobles of the south ; most of the Troubadours, indeed, were nobles, beginning with that Count of Poitou, of whom a Provencal historian quaintly writes, "He knew well how to sing and to make verse, and for a long time he roamed through all the land to deceive the ladies/' " The men of the south lived in a world where the most delicate poetry and the fiercest savagery, the wildest morals and political disorder, and the most refined intellectual culture mingled together in a confusion as picturesque as it was dangerous. The southern warrior was but half a knight if the sword was his only weapon — ^if he could not sing his battles as well as fight them . . . love and war all mingled together in the Troubadours' Ufe in an inextricable coil/' ^ Kemember this when next you see a hoary castle in Provence and would know what manner of men dwelt there ! " There is little to see at Chaluz ! " perhaps you will tell me now that I have brought you so far- only two villages known as Chaluz and Chabrol, each crowned by a medieval tower. The lower one, tradition says, is that which Kichard took— and paid for with his Ufe. You may find nothing in it and wish to take the next train for Perigueux, or you may sit down upon the grass among the wild flowers within sight of the ruined keep and find food enough for thought in recalUng the tragic story of long ago, which closed the career of the " Lion Heart," amid the very scenes in which it took place. Chaluz is on a branch line which connects 1 Angevin Kings, vol. n. p. 204. FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 293 with that to Perigueux at Natron. It is worth while to go as far south as Perigueux, not alone because of the part it played in Richard's wars — here in 1182 the Count of Limoje surrendered to the youthful duke — but because the river-girt city is itself so charming that we welcome an excuse to visit it before we retrace our footsteps northwards. You may have noticed that all the cities through which we have journeyed, like Tours, have " their feet in the water " ; doubtless the reason of it was strictly utilitarian in the beginning, but anyway it makes for picturesqueness, and Perigueux, climbing the hill from the water's edge and sheltered caress- ingly all round by wooded hills, with the domed tower of its cathedral — the most ancient tower in France — rising from the midst, is eminently picturesque. Its story goes far back beyond the time when Richard was Duke of Poitou — the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre tell their own tale, though only a few arches are left, and here is history on history, for we know " the Counts of Perigueux made this amphitheatre their chateau in the twelfth century and inhabited it till the sixteenth century." There is much more that is Roman at Perigueux, for the Tour de Vesons is part of a pagan temple dedicated to the goddess of the city and the medieval Barriere chateau has Roman foundations — again history on history ! There is many another ancient castle, many another ancient town, I would Uke to show you in the sunny south, but both in Anjou and Normandy there are places that played a greater part in our hero's story, so thither we must go to Le Mans — ^the birthplace of Richard's father and burial-place of his wife. 294 RICHARD COEUR DE LION And this recalk to me another scene that happened at Le Mans — a, scene that suddenly brings before us those far-ofi days, because there is in it the element of human emotion that " makes the whole world kin '' and hnks the centuries. A young man's body arrayed in spotless linen robes is being borne on the shoulders of his comrades in arms through Anjou, and from every castle and town and village people throng out to meet the funeral procession, while tears roll down women's cheeks and many kneel in prayer — the procession enters Le Mans and the corpse is placed reverently in the cathedral to be watched over by the clergy throughout the night. It is Kichard's elder brother, the young King Henry, who is being carried to his last resting-place at Rouen. But the people of Le Mans have to be reckoned with — ^they will not let their young King go — and at break of day they take possession of the corpse and bury the young King in their own cathedral beside his grandfather. Another figure moves in memory through the streets of Le Mans — ^it is Berengaria, who dwelt here in the years of her estrangement from Richard and after his death till she left the world that had given her but little joy for the convent of Epau. They will show you her house at Le Mans, but the f ajade is not more ancient than the fifteenth century, so it may have been then altered or rebuilt. " La bonne reine Berengke,'' they called her here, or " la Reina Blanche," because she dressed in white, which was the mourning of royal widows of her day. There are old records that tell of an historic cavalcade in 1204 when Berengaria came in state to be installed by the King of France, FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 295 Philip Augustus, as his royal vassal and ruler of Mains. Her effigy represents her, with her head resting on a pillow and wearing her royal crown, while her long hair flows down far below her shoulders- like that of her royal husband, you may see a copy of it in the Byzantine Court at the Crystal Palace if you cannot go to Le Mans. Berengaria is enshrined in the memory of the people of that city as a saint, and stories of the good deeds she did in her thirty-one years of widowhood are legion. One story there is that has its humorous side, and shows that she was quick-witted as well as saintly, and not blind to the httle weaknesses of human nature even in a monk. The story is that near to the abbey she founded stood a mill, not in the ecclesiastical property, but in her own private ground. The good monks were disturbed in their devotions by the sounds of its whirring wheel, so Berengaria gave them the mill with the ground it stood on. Do you suppose they pulled it down or stopped it working ? Not a bit of it— but the noise disturbed them no more ! I have told you so many tales of old Le Mans that I have left but little time to speak of Le Mans to-day. It is a clean Uttle town of cheerful aspect, hving in the shelter of the great church upon the hill, which slowly grew into its present beauty between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries. The church is altogether beautiful, but the transept and choir are its crowning glory ; " the choir as a specimen of pointed Gothic is equal to any in France, the stained glass rivals Chartres, and the rose window in the transept may be compared with the finest in Rouen/' !»l i! '■{ H 296 RICHARD COEUR DE LION Here rests near the high altar Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, the first of the Plantagenets, who has handed that historic name down to a long Une of English kings from his custom of wearing a sprig of broom, flanta gmistae, in his cap, and in the Museum you may see his full-length portrait enamelled on copper and reckoned its greatest treasure. Hardly less interesting than Angers to a student of the Angevins is this city of Le Mans, which, though the past is only represented now in its cathedral and bits of Roman wall, has played a stirring part both in medieval and in modern hii>tory and witnessed the defeat of the gre^t army of the Loire by the Prussians in 1870, when its cathedral fulfilled the sacred mission of giving shelter to the wounded and comfort to the dying.- Of all the fortresses in NormAndy none played a more important part in Richard's wa« and in his treaties with the King of France, than that of Gisora, which William Rufus raised to guard the border. Gisors was part of the dowry of Margaret on her marriage with the young King Henry, and on her husband's death leaving her childk^, her brother Philip, after the custom of those days, demanded its return. Henry n. knew fuU well its value and refused to give it up, and it was left in his hands in return for a monetary compensation as part o! the dower of the unfortunate Alois, who was to have married Richard, but never did — a circumstance which gave Philip a pretext for seudng Gisors during Richard 8 captivity in Germany, On his release he won it back, but was forced to oede it to Philip at the treaty of Louvicrs, for which he took hi3 revenge ia building his famous lurtresa FROM NORMANDY TO AQUITAINE TO-DAY 297 Chateau Gaillard, which you soon will see. Only the castle keep of Gisors is that built by William Rufus — it was enlarged by Henry n., and strengthened by Philip after the treaty of Louviers. If you climb the staircase in the keep you can look down upon the outer walls and the old town beyond, which is worth exploring, for it has some delightful timber-framed houses and a thirteenth-century church with curious carvings of which you get peeps between the houses. The historic elm tree growing on the border, beneath whose shade the kings of England and France often met and talked^ vanished centuries ago. On the way from Gisors to Lc^ iVndeljrs is a very interesting reminder that we are on the border wheix> war alarms were ever looked for, in an okJ fortified farmhouse with towers. The countryside has an English look, as if some influence of it* former rulers lingered, and the white chalk soil reminds you of Kent. Seventeen miles from Gisors are the two Andeljrs nestling at the foot of the rock which is crowned by Chateau Gaillard. Le Grand Andelvs is in the valley ; Le Petit Andel}^ on the river-bank at the very foot of the castle. The former is the older town, for its history goes back t>o the sixth century when Qneen Clotilda built a nunnery here to which the Anglo-Saxon nobles sent their daughters to learn all the good nuns could teach. It must have been during Richard's lifetime that this convent was replaced by the present fine collegiate church with its three towers and beautiful sixte