RICHARD I.—1189 to 1199.
How Richard the First went to fight in foreign countries, and
the evil things that happened in his absence; how the Jews were
ill-treated; how King Richard was taken prisoner; how he was
discovered and set at liberty, and how he was killed in battle.
You remember that Henry the Second’s eldest son, Henry, died before
his father; his second son, Richard, therefore, became king of
England. He was called Richard of the Lion’s Heart, because he was
very brave.
Now, in the time when King Richard lived, people thought a great deal
more of kings who fought and conquered large kingdoms, than of those
who tried to make their own people happy at home in a small kingdom.
And so it was in England. People really began to forget all the
good their late wise king, Henry Plantagenet, had done, and to like
Richard Plantagenet better, because he told them he would go to war,
and do great feats of arms at a great distance, and that he would not
only make his own name famous, but that their dear England should
be heard of all over the world; and that, when he, and the English
gentlemen and soldiers who would go with him, came back, they would
bring great riches, as well as a great deal of fame. By fame, I mean
that sort of praise which is given to men for bravery, or wisdom, or
learning, or goodness, when they are a great deal braver, or wiser,
or more learned, or better than other people.
Now, of all these qualities, bravery is the least useful for kings;
yet I believe that their people as well as themselves often like it
the best—at least it was so with Richard. He had no sooner invited
the English to go to the wars with him, than the nobles who had
the large feuds, or fiefs, that I told you of in the chapter about
William the Conqueror, and the gentlemen who had the small fiefs
under the nobles, and all their servants, made ready to go.
And they went to the same wars that William the Conqueror’s son,
Robert, went to; for those wars, which were called Crusades, lasted
a long time, but I cannot give you an account of them now. So I will
tell you what happened in England when Richard and the best noblemen
and soldiers were gone.
First of all, many of the wise rules of King Henry were broken, as
soon as the people found there was no king in England to watch over
them. Then, as the barons had taken away not only all their own
money, but also that of the farmers and townspeople, from whom they
could borrow any, everybody was poor, and some people were really
starved. Many of those who could not find any employment turned
robbers, and plundered the people; and the judges were not able to
punish them, because the king had taken all the good soldiers with
him, and there was nobody to catch the robbers and bring them before
the judges.
There was a very famous robber in those times, called Robin Hood. He
had his hiding-place in the great forest of Sherwood, in the very
middle of England. He only robbed rich lords or bishops, and was kind
to the common people, who liked him, and made merry songs about him,
and his three friends, Friar Tuck, Little John, and Allan-a-Dale.
Then there was another bad thing owing to Richard’s being in the
wars so far off. He was often wanting money to pay his soldiers,
and the English, who were proud of their brave king, in spite of
all they suffered from his being so far away, used to sell anything
they had for the sake of sending the king what he wanted. This was
very right, while they only sent their own money. But there happened
at that time to be a great many Jews in England: these unfortunate
people, who have no country of their own, lived at least in peace
while wise Henry was king. They were very industrious, and taught
the English many useful things. They were the best physicians and
the best merchants in the country. But the people were jealous of
them for their riches, and they did not like their strange dress, nor
their strange language. So now, when there was no king in England
to protect these poor Jews, they fell upon them, and robbed them of
their money and goods, which they pretended they meant to send to
Richard. But most of the money was kept by Prince John and some of
the worst of the barons, who had stayed at home; and they encouraged
the people to treat the Jews very cruelly, besides robbing them, and
they killed a great many. I am sure that, when you are old enough to
read of the bad treatment of the Jews at York, you will be ashamed to
think such cruel things could have been done in England.
There was one person less to blame for the bad things done at this
time than anybody else; I mean Queen Eleanor.
She behaved as well to her son Richard as she had behaved ill to her
husband, and while he was at the wars she tried hard to persuade her
youngest son, John, not to rebel against Richard, as he was striving
to do. All the foolish and all the wicked barons, both Norman and
English, followed Prince John; but there were enough good barons to
defend Richard, though he was so far off; and a good many bishops
joined them, and prevented John from making himself king.
When Richard of the Lion’s heart, as he was called on account of his
great courage, heard how much the people of England were suffering,
he resolved to come home; but as he was coming the shortest way, one
of his enemies contrived to take him prisoner, and to shut him up in
a castle, so that it was a long time before anybody knew what had
become of the King of England.
That enemy was Leopold, Duke of Austria, with whom Richard had
quarrelled when they were at the Crusade. Now Richard, who was really
good-natured, although he quarrelled now and then, had forgotten all
about it; but Leopold was of a revengeful temper, and as soon as he
had an opportunity he took him, as I have told you, to a castle in
his country; but he had soon to give him up to his lord, the Emperor,
who imprisoned him in a strong tower.
[Illustration: King Richard I. made prisoner by the Duke of Austria.]
In old times a beautiful story was told about the way the English
found out where Richard was. It was this. Richard had a servant
called Blondel, who loved his master much. When Richard did not come
home, Blondel became very anxious, and went in search of him. He
travelled from one castle to another for some time, without finding
his master. At last one evening, when he was very tired, he sat down
near the castle of Trifels to rest, and while he was there he heard
somebody singing, and fancied the voice was like the king’s. After
listening a little longer, he felt sure it was, and then he began to
sing himself, to let the king know he was there; and the song he sang
was one the king loved. Some say the king made it. Then Richard was
glad, for he found he could send to England, and let his people know
where he was.
This is the old story. But it was in another way that the people in
England heard of the captivity of their king. The moment they did so,
they determined to do everything they could to get him home. They
sent to the Emperor to beg him to set Richard at liberty; but he
said that the English should not have their king until they gave him
a great deal of money; and when they heard that, they all gave what
they could; the ladies even gave their gold necklaces, and ornaments
of all kinds, to send to the Emperor that he might set Richard free.
At length the king came home; but he found that while he was away,
Philip, King of France, had been making war on his subjects in
Normandy; and, besides that, helping his brother John to disturb the
peace in England; so he went to Normandy to punish Philip very soon
afterwards, and was killed by an arrow shot from a castle called
Chaluz, when he had only been king ten years.
Many people praise and admire Richard of the Lion’s heart, because
he was so brave and hardy in war. For my part, I should have liked
him better if he had thought a little more about taking care of his
country; and if he had stayed in it and done justice to his people,
and encouraged them to be good and industrious, as his wise father
did.