The Captivity Of Richard Coeur De Lion
In the month of October, in the year of our Lord 1192, a pirate vessel
touched land on the coast of Sclavonia, at the port of Yara. Those were
days in which it was not easy to distinguish between pirates and true
mariners, either in aspect or avocation, neither being afflicted with
much inconvenient honesty, both being hungry for spoil. From this vessel
were landed a number of passengers,--knights, chaplains, and
serva
for their overland journey, of a safe-conduct from the lord of the
province.
He who seemed chief among the travellers sent a messenger to the ruler
of Yara, to ask for this safe-conduct, and bearing a valuable ruby ring
which he was commissioned to offer him as a present. The lord of Yara
received this ring, which he gazed upon with eyes of doubt and
curiosity. It was too valuable an offer for a small service, and he had
surely heard of this particular ruby before.
"Who are they that have sent thee to ask a free passage of me?" he asked
the messenger.
"Some pilgrims returning from Jerusalem," was the answer.
"And by what names call you these pilgrims?"
"One is called Baldwin de Bethune," rejoined the messenger. "The other,
he who sends you this ring, is named Hugh the merchant."
The ruler fixed his eyes again upon the ring, which he examined with
close attention. He at length replied,--
"You had better have told me the truth, for your ring reveals it. This
man's name is not Hugh, but Richard, king of England. His gift is a
royal one, and, since he wished to honor me with it without knowing me,
I return it to him, and leave him free to depart. Should I do as duty
bids, I would hold him prisoner."
It was indeed Richard Coeur de Lion, on his way home from the Crusade
which he had headed, and in which his arbitrary and imperious temper had
made enemies of the rulers of France and Austria, who accompanied him.
He had concluded with Saladin a truce of three years, three months,
three days, and three hours, and then, disregarding his oath that he
would not leave the Holy Land while he had a horse left to feed on, he
set sail in haste for home. He had need to, for his brother John was
intriguing to seize the throne.
On his way home, finding that he must land and proceed part of the way
overland, he dismissed all his suite but a few attendants, fearing to be
recognized and detained. The single vessel which he now possessed was
attacked by pirates, but the fight, singularly enough, ended in a truce,
and was followed by so close a friendship between Richard and the
pirate captain that he left his vessel for theirs, and was borne by them
to Yara.
The ruler of Yara was a relative of the marquis of Montferrat, whose
death in Palestine had without warrant been imputed to Richard's
influence. The king had, therefore, unwittingly revealed himself to an
enemy and was in imminent danger of arrest. On receiving the message
sent him he set out at once, not caring to linger in so doubtful a
neighborhood. No attempt was made to stop him. The lord of Yara was in
so far faithful to his word. But he had not promised to keep the king's
secret, and at once sent a message to his brother, lord of a neighboring
town, that King Richard of England was in the country, and would
probably pass through his town.
There was a chance that he might pass undiscovered; pilgrims from
Palestine were numerous; Richard reached the town, where no one knew
him, and obtained lodging with one of its householders as Hugh, a
merchant from the East.
As it happened, the lord of the town had in his service a Norman named
Roger, formerly from Argenton. To him he sent, and asked him if he knew
the king of England.
"No; I never saw him," said Roger.
"But you know his language--the Norman French, there may be some token
by which you can recognize him; go seek him in the inns where pilgrims
lodge, or elsewhere. He is a prize well worth taking. If you put him in
my hands I will give you the government of half my domain."
Roger set out upon his quest, and continued it for several days, first
visiting the inns, and then going from house to house of the town,
keenly inspecting every stranger. The king was really there, and at last
was discovered by the eager searcher. Though in disguise, Roger
suspected him. That mighty bulk, those muscular limbs, that imperious
face, could belong to none but him who had swept through the Saracen
hosts with a battle-axe which no other of the Crusaders could wield.
Roger questioned him so closely that the king, after seeking to conceal
his identity, was at length forced to reveal who he really was.
"I am not your foe, but your friend," cried Roger, bursting into tears.
"You are in imminent danger here, my liege, and must fly at once. My
best horse is at your service. Make your escape, without delay, out of
German territory."
Waiting until he saw the king safely horsed, Roger returned to his
master, and told him that the report was a false one. The only Crusader
he had found in the town was Baldwin de Bethune, a Norman knight, on his
way home from Palestine. The lord, furious at his disappointment, at
once had Baldwin arrested and imprisoned. But Richard had escaped.
The flying king hurried onward through the German lands, his only
companions now being William de l'Etang, his intimate friend, and a
valet who could speak the language of the country, and who served as
their interpreter. For three days and three nights the travellers
pursued their course, without food or shelter, not daring to stop or
accost any of the inhabitants. At length they arrived at Vienna,
completely worn out with hunger and fatigue.
The fugitive king could have sought no more dangerous place of shelter.
Vienna was the capital of Duke Leopold of Austria, whom Richard had
mortally offended in Palestine, by tearing down his banner and planting
the standard of England in its place. Yet all might have gone well but
for the servant, who, while not a traitor, was as dangerous a thing, a
fool. He was sent out from the inn to exchange the gold byzantines of
the travellers for Austrian coin, and took occasion to make such a
display of his money, and assume so dignified and courtier-like an air,
that the citizens grew suspicious of him and took him before a
magistrate to learn who he was. He declared that he was the servant of a
rich merchant who was on his way to Vienna, and would be there in three
days. This reply quieted the suspicions of the people, and, the foolish
fellow was released.
In great affright he hastened to the king, told him what had happened,
and begged him to leave the town at once. The advice was good, but a
three-days' journey without food or shelter called for some repose, and
Richard decided to remain some days longer in the town, confident that,
if they kept quiet, no further suspicion would arise.
Meanwhile, the news of the incident at Yara had spread through the
country and reached Vienna. Duke Leopold heard it with a double
sentiment of enmity and avarice. Richard had insulted him; here was a
chance for revenge; and the ransom of such a prisoner would enrich his
treasury, then, presumably, none too full. Spies and men-at-arms were
sent out in search of travellers who might answer to the description of
the burly English monarch. For days they traversed the country, but no
trace of him could be found. Leopold did not dream that his mortal foe
was in his own city, comfortably lodged within a mile of his palace.
Richard's servant, who had imperilled him before, now succeeded in
finishing his work of folly. One day he appeared in the market to
purchase provisions, foolishly bearing in his girdle a pair of richly
embroidered gloves, such as only great lords wore when in court attire.
The fellow was arrested again, and this time, suspicion being increased,
was put to the torture. Very little of this sharp discipline sufficed
him. He confessed whom he served, and told the magistrate at what inn
King Richard might be found.
Within an hour afterwards the inn was surrounded by soldiers of the
duke, and Richard, taken by surprise, was forced to surrender. He was
brought before the duke, who recognized him at a glance, accosted him
with great show of courtesy, and with every display of respect ordered
him to be taken to prison, where picked soldiers with drawn swords
guarded him day and night.
The news that King Richard was a prisoner in an Austrian fortress spread
through Europe, and everywhere gave joy to the rulers of the various
realms. Brave soldier as he was, he of the lion heart had succeeded in
offending all his kingly comrades in the Crusade, and they rejoiced over
his captivity as one might over the caging of a captured lion. The
emperor called upon his vassal, Duke Leopold, to deliver the prisoner to
him, saying that none but an emperor had the right to imprison a king.
The duke assented, and the emperor, filled with glee, sent word of his
good fortune to the king of France, who returned answer that the news
was more agreeable to him than a present of gold or topaz. As for John,
the brother of the imprisoned king, he made overtures for an alliance
with Philip of France, redoubled his intrigues in England and Normandy,
and secretly instigated the emperor to hold on firmly to his royal
prize. All Europe seemed to be leagued against the unlucky king, who lay
in bondage within the stern walls of a German prison.
And now we feel tempted to leave awhile the domain of sober history, and
enter that of romance, which tells one of its prettiest stories about
King Richard's captivity. The story goes that the people of England knew
not what had become of their king. That he was held in durance vile
somewhere in Germany they had been told, but Germany was a broad land
and had many prisons, and none knew which held the lion-hearted king.
Before he could be rescued he must be found, and how should this be
done?
Those were the days of the troubadours, who sang their lively lays not
only in Provence but in other lands. Richard himself composed lays and
sang them to the harp, and Blondel, a troubadour of renown, was his
favorite minstrel, accompanying him wherever he went. This faithful
singer mourned bitterly the captivity of his king, and at length, bent
on finding him, went wandering through foreign lands, singing under the
walls of fortresses and prisons a lay which Richard well knew. Many
weary days he wandered without response, almost without hope; yet still
faithful Blondel roamed on, heedless of the palaces of the land, seeking
only its prisons and strongholds.
At length arrived a day in which, from a fortress window above his head,
came an echo of the strain he had just sung. He listened in ecstasy.
Those were Norman words; that was a well-known voice; it could be but
the captive king.
"O Richard! O my king!" sang the minstrel again, in a song of his own
devising.
From above came again the sound of familiar song. Filled with joy, the
faithful minstrel sought England's shores, told the nobles where the
king could be found, and made strenuous exertions to obtain his ransom,
efforts which were at length crowned with success.
Through the alluring avenues of romance the voice of Blondel still comes
to us, singing his signal lay of "O Richard! O my king!" but history has
made no record of the pretty tale, and back to history we must turn.
The imprisoned king was placed on trial before the German Diet at Worms,
charged with--no one knows what. Whatever the charge, the sentence was
that he should pay a ransom of one hundred thousand pounds of silver,
and acknowledge himself a vassal of the emperor. The latter, a mere
formality, was gone through with as much pomp and ceremony as though it
was likely to have any binding force upon English kings. The former, the
raising of the money, was more difficult. Two years passed, and still it
was not all paid. The royal prisoner, weary of his long captivity,
complained bitterly of the neglect of his people and friends, singing
his woes in a song composed in the polished dialect of Provence, the
land of the troubadours.
"There is no man, however base, whom for want of money I would let lie
in a prison cell," he sang. "I do not say it as a reproach, but I am
still a prisoner."
A part of the ransom at length reached Germany, whose emperor sent a
third of it to the duke of Austria as his share of the prize, and
consented to the liberation of his captive in the third week after
Christmas if he would leave hostages to guarantee the remaining
payment.
Richard agreed to everything, glad to escape from prison on any terms.
But the news of this agreement spread until it reached the ears of
Philip of France and his ally, John. Dread filled their hearts at the
tidings. Their plans for seizing on England and Normandy were not yet
complete. In great haste Philip sent messengers to the emperor, offering
him seventy thousand marks of silver if he would hold his prisoner for
one year longer, or, if he preferred, a thousand pounds of silver for
each month of captivity. If he would give the prisoner into the custody
of Philip and his ally, they would pay a hundred and fifty thousand
marks for the prize.
The offer was a tempting one. It dazzled the mind of the emperor, whose
ideas of honor were not very deeply planted. But the members of the Diet
would not suffer him to break his faith. Their power was great, even
over the emperor's will, and the royal prisoner, after his many weary
months of captivity, was set free.
Word of the failure of his plans came quickly to Philip's knavish ears,
and he wrote in haste to his confederate, "the devil is loose; take care
of yourself," an admonition which John was quite likely to obey. His
hope of seizing the crown vanished. There remained to meet his placable
brother with a show of fraternal loyalty.
But Richard was delayed in his purpose of reaching England, and danger
again threatened him. He had been set free near the end of January,
1194. He dared not enter France, and Normandy, then invaded by the
French, was not safe for him. His best course was to take ship at a
German port and sail for England. But it was the season of storms; he
lay a month at Anvers imprecating the weather; meanwhile, avarice
overcame both fear and honor in the emperor's heart, the large sum
offered him outweighed the opposition of the lords of the Diet, and he
resolved to seize the prisoner again and profit by the French king's
golden bribe.
Fortunately for Richard, the perfidious emperor allowed the secret of
his design to get adrift; one of the hostages left in his hands heard of
it and found means to warn the king. Richard, at this tidings, stayed
not for storm, but at once took passage in the galliot of a Norman
trader named Alain Franchemer, narrowly escaping the men-at-arms sent to
take him prisoner. Not many days afterwards he landed at the English
port of Sandwich, once more a free man and a king.
What followed in Richard's life we design not to tell, other than the
story of his life's ending with its romantic incidents. The liberated
king had not been long on his native soil before he succeeded in
securing Normandy against the invading French, building on its borders a
powerful fortress, which he called his "Saucy Castle," and the ruins of
whose sturdy walls still remain. Philip was wrathful when he saw its
ramparts growing.
"I will take it were its walls of iron," he declared.
"I would hold it were the walls of butter," Richard defiantly replied.
It was church land, and the archbishop placed Normandy under an
interdict. Richard laughed at his wrath, and persuaded the pope to
withdraw the curse. A "rain of blood" fell, which scared his courtiers,
but Richard laughed at it as he had at the bishop's wrath.
"Had an angel from heaven bid him abandon his work, he would have
answered with a curse," says one writer.
"How pretty a child is mine, this child of but a year old!" said
Richard, gladly, as he saw the walls proudly rise.
He needed money to finish it. His kingdom had been drained to pay his
ransom. But a rumor reached him that a treasure had been found at
Limousin,--twelve knights of gold seated round a golden table, said the
story. Richard claimed it. The lord of Limoges refused to surrender it.
Richard assailed his castle. It was stubbornly defended. In savage wrath
he swore he would hang every soul within its walls.
There was an old song which said that an arrow would be made in Limoges
by which King Richard would die. The song proved a true prediction. One
night, as the king surveyed the walls, a young soldier, Bertrand de
Gourdon by name, drew an arrow to its head, and saying, "Now I pray God
speed thee well!" let fly.
The shaft struck the king in the left shoulder. The wound might have
been healed, but unskilful treatment made it mortal. The castle was
taken while Richard lay dying, and every soul in it hanged, as the king
had sworn, except Bertrand de Gourdon. He was brought into the king's
tent, heavily chained.
"Knave!" cried Richard, "what have I done to you that you should take my
life?"
"You have killed my father and my two brothers," answered the youth.
"You would have hanged me. Let me die now, by any torture you will. My
comfort is that no torture to me can save you. You, too, must die; and
through me the world is quit of you."
The king looked at him steadily, and with a gleam of clemency in his
eyes.
"Youth," he said, "I forgive you. Go unhurt."
Then turning to his chief captain, he said,--
"Take off his chains, give him a hundred shillings, and let him depart."
He fell back on his couch, and in a few minutes was dead, having
signalized his last moments with an act of clemency which had had few
counterparts in his life. His clemency was not matched by his piety. The
priests who were present at his dying bed exhorted him to repentance and
restitution, but he drove them away with bitter mockery, and died as
hardened a sinner as he had lived. It should, however, be said that this
statement of the character of Richard's death, given by the historian
Green, does not accord with that of Lingard, who says that Richard sent
for his confessor and received the sacraments with sentiments of
compunction.
As for Bertrand, the chronicles say that he failed to profit by the
kindness of the king. A dead monarch's voice has no weight in the land.
The pardoned youth was put to death.
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In the year 1558 a family of wealthy merchants, Stroganof by name, began to barter with the Tartar tribes dwelling east of the Ural Mountains. Ivan IV. had granted to this family the desert districts of the Kama, with great privileges in trade, an... The Crime And Punishment Of King Birger
When the events narrated in the last tale took place, there were three young princes in the kingdom, Birger, Erik and Valdemar, Torkel, the regent, ruling in their name. But when the princes grew up Birger, the oldest, was crowned king, the other tw... The Crimson Eyebrows
With the opening of the Christian era a usurper came to the Chinese throne. In the year 1 B.C. the emperor Gaiti died, and Wang Mang, a powerful official, joined with the mother of the dead emperor to seize the power of the state. The friends and of... The Crowning Of Charlemagne
Charlemagne, the great king, had built himself an empire only surpassed by that of ancient Rome. All France was his; all Italy was his; all Saxony and Hungary were his; all western Europe indeed, from the borders of Slavonia to the Atlantic, with th... The Cruelty Of The Spaniards To The Indians
Never were a people more terribly treated than the natives of America under the Spanish adventurers. The often told story that the Indians of Hispaniola were annihilated in one generation after the settlement of that island is sufficient evidence ... The Crusade Against Beards And Cloaks
The return of Peter the Great from his European journey was marked by other events than his cruel revenge upon the rebellious Strelitz. That had affected only a few thousand people; the reforms he sought to introduce affected the nation at large. ... The Crusade Of Frederick Ii
A remarkable career was that of Frederick II. of Germany, grandson of the great Barbarossa, crowned in 1215 under the immediate auspices of the papacy, yet during all the remainder of his life in constant and bitter conflict with the popes. He was... The Curtian Gulf
During three years--363 to 361 B.C.--Rome was ravaged by the plague, which was so violent and fatal as to carry off the citizens by hundreds. In its first year it found a noble victim in Camillus, the conqueror of Veii and the second founder of Rome... The Death Of The Red King
William of Normandy, by the grace of God and his iron mace, had made himself king of England. An iron king he proved, savage, ruthless, the descendant of a few generations of pirate Norsemen, and himself a pirate in blood and temper. England strai... The Death-struggle Of China
Never in its history has China shown such unyielding courage as it did in its resistance to the invasion under Kublai Khan. The city of Sianyang alone held back the tide of Mongol success for full five years. After its fall there were other strongho... The Death-struggle Of Greece
Greece learned too late the art of combining for self-defence. In the war against the vast power of Persia, Athens stood almost alone. What aid she got from the rest of Greece was given grudgingly. Themistocles had to gain the aid of the Grecian f... The Death-struggle Of Poland
The French revolution of 1830 precipitated a similar one in Poland. The rule of Russia in that country had been one of outrage and oppression. In the words of the Poles, "personal liberty, which had been solemnly guaranteed, was violated; the pris... The Decline And Fall Of Christianity In Japan
We have described in the preceding tale the rise of Christianity in Japan, and the remarkable rapidity of its development in that remote land. We have now to describe its equally rapid decline and fall, and the exclusion of Europeans from Japanese s... The Decline Of The Mikados
Our journey through Japanese history now takes us over a wide leap, a period of nearly a thousand years, during which no event is on record of sufficient interest to call for special attention. The annals of Japan are in some respects minute, but on... The Deeds Of Constantine
In the century that followed the reign of Maximin great changes came upon the empire of Rome. The process of decline went steadily on. The city of Rome sank in importance as the centre of the empire. The armies were recruited from former barbarian t... The Deeds Of The Three Chosen Knights
After Galahad left the ship and his father Lancelot, he rode far and had many adventures, righting many wrongs and achieving many marvels. Among these he came to the abbey where was the ancient King Evelake, who had laid blind three hundred years,... The Defence Of Plataea
At the foot of Mount Cithaeron, one of the most beautiful of the mountains of Greece, winds the small river Asopus, and between, on a slope of the mountain, may to-day be seen the ruins of Plataea, one of the most memorable of the cities of ancien... The Destruction Of Pompeii
On the eastern margin of the Bay of Naples, where it serves as a striking background to the city of that name, stands the renowned Vesuvius, the most celebrated volcano in the world. During many centuries before the Christian era it had been a dead ... The Diamond Necklace
Paris, that city of sensations, was shaken to its centre by tidings of a new and startling event. The Cardinal de Rohan, grand almoner of France, at mass-time, and when dressed in his pontifical robes, had been suddenly arrested in the palace of Ver... The Dismemberment Of Denmark
The time once was when, as we have seen, all Scandinavia, and England also, were governed by Danish kings, and Denmark was one of the great powers of Europe. Since that proud time the power of the Danish throne has steadily declined, until now it is... The Doom Of Nero
We have perhaps paid too much attention to the enormities of Caligula and Nero. Yet the mad freakishness of the one and the cowardly dissimulation of the other give to their stories a dramatic interest which seems to render them worth repeating. Ner... The Downfall Of Rome
Theodosius, the great and noble emperor who succeeded Valens, pacified and made quiet subjects of the Goths. He died in 395, and before the year ended the Gothic nation was again in arms. At the first sound of the trumpet the warriors, who had been ... The Dynasty Of The Tarquins
The tale we have now to tell forces us to pass rapidly over years of history. After several kings of Roman and Sabine birth had reigned, a foreigner, of Greek descent, came to the throne of Rome. This was one Lucomo, the son of a native of Corinth, ...