LETTER FROM PROCIDA TO DON PEDRO, KING OF ARRAGON.
* * * * * * * "Thou didst tell me in Arragon, that to restore Sicily to
the house of Suabia, was the chimera of a maddened brain; that the strong
arm of the church would be lifted to crush the Ghibellines in their final
struggle; that gold was wanting to bribe the soldier to draw his sword in
behalf of the doomed race, and that the enemies of Charles of Anjou could
not be brought to act together against their common foe. Recall now the
cruel words that drove Procida from thy court, a Mendicant, '_Conquer
these impossibilities, and the fleet of Arragon is ready to substantiate
the claim of the daughter of Manfred to the throne of Sicily_.' Goaded by
the mocking promise, the mendicant wanders in Sicily. Now, companion of
the tax-gatherer, he wrings the last drachme from the hard hand of toil,
and now with the agents of tyranny, he hides the skins of stags or deer in
the huts of the peasant, and then robs the goatherd as a penalty for the
offence. Thus, he listens and observes. Thus, he tugs at the chain that
festers in their shrinking flesh, to show his countrymen their thraldom.
Anon, a _shepherd_ or a _herdsman_, he traverses the valley, or scales the
rock, joins the youthful throng that stealthily sport beneath the mountain
chesnut, or mingles with the vexed vassals who wait their sovereigns'
will, and whispers in the ear of each repining soul, 'The avenger of
Manfred holds the vigils of Freedom in the cave of the forest of Palermo.'
At sunset, a _traveller_, he seeks the rendezvous: the husbandman is
returning to his cottage, his reaping-hook hanging idly from his arm, the
Frenchman has gathered the grain from his fields. The herdsman drives his
lowing flocks across the lea--the kine and the goat have been robbed of
their young, and their fleecy robes been stripped from the bleating
tenants of the fold. The peasant of Hibla returns mourning the swarm which
the wind bore beyond his reclaim, but still more the honied stores which
during his absence the hand of the spoiler ravished from his unprotected
apiary. There comes no voice from the vineyard--the vintagers have trodden
the wine-press, but the ruby current flows in the goblets that enliven the
banquets of their foreign masters. Oh my people, Sicilians! Listen to him
who whispers in the ear of each, 'Carry thy wrongs to the cave of the
forest of Palermo.' They come--barbarians, Arabs, Jews, Normans and
Germans--those who rejoiced in the tolerant reign of the Suabians, those
who have suffered from the tyrant French--Etna groans with the prescience
of coming vengeance, and with her thousand tongues of flame, summons the
guilty oppressor to abide the 'judgment of God' before the altar.
* * * * * * "A vessel sails from Brundusium, the mariners, hardy
Calabrians, spread their sails and bend to their oars with patient
purpose; but there is _one_ among them who never leaves his post, in calm
or in storm--one thought gives strength and vigor to his iron arm; and
though a scorner of puerile beadsmen, he almost prays the God of the wind
to speed him on his course. Should the Greek Emperor refuse his aid--_he_
will tell him that, which will make him tremble for his throne and force
the gold from the reluctant coffers. The crafty Paleologus hesitates, but
he stands aghast, when Procida acquaints him that Venice hath lent her
ships to D'Anjou, and another Dandolo is already embarked to repeat the
_Fifth Crusade_! The Greek exclaims in despair, 'I know not what to do.'
'Give me money,' replies the _mariner_, 'and I will find you a defender,
who has no money, but who has arms.' Michael Paleologus opens his
treasures and satisfies even a Jew's thirst for gold. Most of all,
Paleologus desires a complete reconciliation with the pope; most of all
Procida desires an interview with the sovereign pontiff.
"More swiftly returns the galley; and the ambassador of the Greek stands
upon the prow, wrapped in courtly vestments; but not the less anxiously
does he watch the winds and waves that return him to Rome. The feeble
Nicholas trembles at thought of the vast undertaking, but Procida has
fathomed the old man's ambition for his house. He reminds him of the reply
of D'Anjou, when the pope proposed a marriage between his neice and
Charles' son, 'Does Nicholas fancy because he wears red stockings that the
blood of Orsini can mingle with the blood of France?' The stinging
remembrance of the taunt determines the pontiff, and the treaty with
Paleologus is delivered into the hands of the ambassador. Behold now, King
of Arragon, '_The impossibilities are conquered_,' and thou art bound by
the very vow of thine unbelief to '_substantiate the claim of the daughter
of Manfred to the throne of Sicily_.'"
Before the letter of Procida reached Don Pedro, Pope Nicholas died, and
Charles had sufficient interest with the college of cardinals to procure
the election of one of his own creatures to the Holy See.
These events darkened the horizon above the Sicilians: but the dauntless
spirit of Procida rose superior to this alarming turn of affairs. Though
aware that Charles had been made acquainted with his designs, he remained
upon the island, stealthily riveting the links of the conspiracy, and
binding the discordant interests of the various ranks in an indissoluble
confederacy, for the overthrow of foreign oppression. The cave of the
forest of Palermo was piled with bundles of faggots, in which were
concealed the weapons that the inhabitants had forged in secresy and in
darkness, for by the prohibition of the French no Sicilian was permitted
to wear arms. The grand conspirator knew well the Sicilian character,
ardent, gay, voluptuous,--he chose his time with his wonted sagacity, when
the beautiful island rejoicing in the fullness of bloom, invites her
children to banquet upon her charms; when the long abstinence of Lent
being over, the senses, reanimated by flesh and wine, start from languor
to revel in the enjoyment of luxury and the exhilaration of passion.
Easter-Monday, March 30th, 1282, dawns upon Sicily with fair promise for
the festal day. The citizens of Palermo look one upon another with furtive
glances of restrained impatience, and prepared for the annual _fete_ with
busy alacrity, while the foreigners, made apprehensive by the gathering
multitudes, come armed to assist in garlanding the very church of God.
At sunset a bride and bridegroom go forth, attended by all the inhabitants
of the city, both men and women, up the beautiful hill Monreale, to
present their vows at the altar of the blessed Virgin:--a traitor whispers
the warning, "The Sicilians have arms beneath their robes." The leader of
the French hurries forward and seizes the weapon of the bridegroom--he
lays his licentious hand upon the bride. Procida draws his sword, and with
a cry of "Death to the French!" buries it in the heart of the brutal
enemy. At the moment the sound of the Vesper bell floats from the temple
of our lady, on the mount of Monreale. It is the appointed signal for
vengeance, and "Death to the French!" echoes from lip to lip, through all
the ranks of the Sicilians. Everywhere the tyrants are cut down--the
houses of the foreigners bear each a fatal mark, and the Destroying Angel
spares not even women and children, and the night spreads her solemn pall
over the bodies of slaughtered thousands.
Intelligence of the accomplishment of Procida's purpose soon reached
Eleanora; but the horrors of the massacre were suppressed, nor did Agnes
ever know the cruel part her father had played in the grand tragedy of the
_Sicilian Vespers_. She learned, indeed, that the Queen of Arragon had
rescued the only son of D'Anjou from his pursuers, and conveyed him away
in safety from the island; but the insurrection had not reached its final
triumph, when she left the court of England as the Duchess of Saxony; and
it was from that time the care of her husband that her gentle spirit
should not be pained by a knowledge of the sanguinary scenes that resulted
in the death of D'Anjou, and in the re-establishment of the house of
Suabia upon the throne of Sicily.
It would have been natural for Edward, in this struggle, to throw the
weight of his influence on the side of his uncle D'Anjou; but the
circumstance of his daughter's betrothment to Alphonso of Arragon, held
him neutral. He, however, negotiated a peace between the pope and
Alphonso, by which D'Anjou's son, Charles the Lame, was released from his
captivity in Arragon, and permitted to assume his authority in Naples.
Eleanora's love for her husband, not less than her delicate appreciation
of excellence, had led her to weigh with wise discrimination the effect of
political events upon his character; and the truth was reluctantly forced
upon her, that ambition, nurtured by the uniform success of his
enterprises, was gradually absorbing the nobler qualities of his nature,
and steeling his heart against the claims of justice and humanity.
King Alexander III. of Scotland, the last direct heir in the male line
from Maude, died 1285, and this circumstance was the precursor of that
period, fatal to Edward's honor, and to the long-established amity between
the two kingdoms.
To avert the consequences which she foresaw would follow Alexander's
demise, she had influenced Edward to propose a matrimonial alliance
between the Prince of Wales and the Maid of Norway, heiress of the
Scottish crown. The states of Scotland readily assented to the proposition
of the English, and even consented that their young sovereign should be
educated at the court of her royal father-in-law. But, while Eleanora was
anticipating the pleasant task of rearing the future Queen of England, she
was overwhelmed with sorrow by the intelligence, that the tender frame of
the priceless child, unable to sustain the rigors of the voyage, had
fallen a victim to death at the Orkneys, on her way to England. Her loss
was the greatest calamity that ever befell the Scottish nation, fully
justifying the touching couplet,
"The North wind sobs where Margaret sleeps,
And still in tears of blood her memory Scotland steeps."
The succession of the Scottish crown became at once a matter of dispute,
and all the evils which Eleanora had foreseen began to darken the
political horizon.
The line of Alexander being extinct, the crown devolved on the issue of
David, Earl of Huntington, who figures as Sir Kenneth, in the "Talisman".
The earl had three daughters, from one of whom descended John Baliol, from
another Robert Bruce; and the rival claims of these two competitors having
for some time agitated the kingdom, it was agreed to submit the
arbitration of the affair to Edward, in the same manner as Henry III. had
made Louis IX. umpire of his difficulties upon the continent. But the
noble virtues of the saintly monarch were poorly represented in the
English king. Edward at once claimed the crown for himself as lord
paramount of the country, appointed Baliol as his deputy, and sent six
regents to take possession of Scotland. The brave men of the north
resisted this aggression with a spirit that fully proved their
Scandinavian origin, and Edward hastened to the Scottish border to enforce
his claims.
Queen Eleanora was absent in Ambresbury, to witness the profession of her
daughter Mary, who there, with the Welsh Princess Guendoline, was veiled a
nun under the care of her royal mother-in-law, Eleanora of Provence. But
no sooner was the ceremony concluded, than she complied with her husband's
earnest request, that she should follow him to Scotland.
Regardless of fatigue, she hurried forward, though sensible that an
incipient fever preyed upon her strength. As the dangerous symptoms
increased, she redoubled her speed, hoping at least to reach Alnwick
castle, and die in her husband's arms. But at Grantham, in Lincolnshire,
her strength utterly failed, and in the residence of a private gentleman,
who had belonged to their household in Palestine, she awaited the coming
of the King of Terrors. A courier was immediately despatched to Edward,
with news of her alarming illness. At the gentle call of conjugal love,
all other considerations gave way in the heart of Edward. He turned
southward instantly, and by forced stages, hurried towards Grantham. The
dying Eleanora watched for his coming with an anxiety born of an intense
devotion to the welfare of her husband and his subjects. She longed to
repeat with her last breath the tender counsels that had ever influenced
him to clemency and mercy, and which she had enforced by the strongest of
all arguments, the daily example of a holy life. But the last sad duty to
the cold remains of his beloved consort, was the only consolation left to
the bereaved monarch, when he arrived at Lincolnshire. With a sorrow that
found relief in every outward testimonial of woe, he followed her corpse
in person during thirteen days in progress of the funeral to Westminster.
In every town where the royal bier rested the ecclesiastics assembled, and
in solemn procession conducted it to the high altar of the principal
church, and at each resting-place, Edward set up a crucifix in memory of
"_La chere reine_," as he passionately called his lost Eleanora. Charing
Cross, erected upon the site now occupied by the statue of Charles I., was
the London monument of this saintly queen.
An English writer, in a tribute to her memory, thus enumerates her
virtues, "To our nation she was a loving mother, the column and pillar of
the whole realm; therefore, to her glory, the king her husband caused all
those famous trophies to be erected, wherever her noble corpse did rest;
for he loved her above all earthly creatures. She was a godly, modest and
merciful princess; the English nation in her time was not harassed by
foreigners, nor the country people by the purveyors of the crown. The
sorrow-stricken she consoled, as became her dignity, and she made them
friends that were at discord."
Her sorrowing lord endowed the Abbey of Winchester with rich donations for
the perpetual celebration of dirges and masses for her soul, and waxen
tapers were burned about her tomb, till the light of the Reformation
outshone the lights of superstition; but her imperishable virtues survive
every monumental device, illume the annals of history, and illustrate the
true philosophy of female Heroism.
NOTES.
NOTES.
NOTE A.--PAGE 19.
"_The Lady Matilda._"--Hlafdige, or lady, means the giver of bread. Few of
the Queens of England can claim a more illustrious descent than this
princess. Her father, Baldwin V., was surnamed the gentle Earl of
Flanders: her mother Adelais, was daughter of Robert, King of France, and
sister to Henry, reigning sovereign of that country, and she was nearly
related to the Emperor of Germany, and most of the royal houses in
Europe.--_Queens of England_, p. 24.
NOTE B.--PAGE 19.
"_Woden and Thor._"--Two of the most powerful deities in northern
mythology. The ancient Saxons honored Woden as the God of War, and the
Germans represented Thor as the God of Thunder.
NOTE C.--PAGE 20.
"_The Royal Children._"--The sons of Matilda and William the Conqueror,
were Robert, afterwards Duke of Normandy, Richard, who died young, William
and Henry, afterwards kings of England, Cicely, Agatha, Adela, Constance,
Adeliza and Gundred. No two writers agree as to the order of their ages,
except that Robert was the eldest and Henry the youngest son, Cicely the
eldest and Gundred the youngest daughter.--Vide _Queens of England_, p.
33-82.
NOTE D.--PAGE 20.
"_The Mora._"--While the fleet destined to invade the Island waited in the
port for a favorable wind, William was agreeably surprised by the arrival
of his duchess at the port, in a splendid vessel of war called the Mora,
which she had caused to be built, unknown to him, and adorned in the most
royal style of magnificence for his acceptance. The effigy of their
youngest son, William, in gilded bronze, most writers say of gold, was
placed at the prow of this vessel, with his face turned towards England,
holding a trumpet to his lips with one hand, and bearing in the other a
bow with the arrow aimed towards England.--_Queens of England_, p. 40.
NOTE E.--PAGE 21.
"_William the Conqueror_" was of low origin on the mother's side. He was
not ashamed of his birth, and drew around him his mother's other sons. At
first he had much difficulty in bringing his barons, who despised him, to
their allegiance. He was a large, bald-headed man, very brave, very
greedy, and very sage, according to the notions of the times, that is very
treacherous.--_Michelet's History of France_, p. 193.
NOTE F.--PAGE 21.
"_Edgar Atheling._"--Edward, the son of Edmund Ironside, being sent to
Hungary to escape the cruelty of Canute, was there married to Agatha,
daughter of the Emperor Henry II. She bore him Edgar Atheling, Margaret,
afterwards Queen of Scotland, and Christina, who afterwards retired to a
convent.--_Hume_, p. 115.
NOTE G.--PAGE 22.
"_The one keeping strict lenten fast._"--By a mixture of vigor and lenity,
he had so soothed the mind of the English, that he thought he might safely
revisit his native country, and enjoy the triumph and congratulation of
his ancient subjects. He left the administration in the hands of his
uterine brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and of William Fitz Osberne. That
their authority might be exposed to less danger, he carried over with him
all the most considerable nobility of England, who, while they served to
grace his court by their presence and magnificent retinues, were in
reality hostages for the fidelity of the nation. Among these, were Edgar
Atheling, Stigand the primate, the Earls Edwin and Morcar, Waltheof the
son of the brave Earl Siward, with others eminent for the greatness of
their fortunes and families, or for their ecclesiastical and civil
dignities. He was visited at the Abbey of Fescamp, where he resided during
some time, by Rodulph, uncle to the King of France, and by many powerful
princes and nobles, who having contributed to his enterprise, were
desirous of participating in the joy and advantages of its success. His
English courtiers, willing to ingratiate themselves with their new
sovereign, outvied each other in equipages and entertainments; and made a
display of riches which struck the foreigners with astonishment. William
of Poictiers, a Norman historian, who was present, speaks with admiration
of the beauty of their persons, the size and workmanship of their silver
plate, the costliness of their embroideries, an art in which the English
then excelled, and he expresses himself in such terms as tend much to
exalt our idea of the opulence and cultivation of the people. But though
everything bore the face of joy and festivity, and William himself treated
his new courtiers with great appearance of kindness, it was impossible
altogether to prevent the insolence of the Normans; and the English nobles
derived little satisfaction from those entertainments, where they
considered themselves as led in triumph by their ostentatious
conqueror.--_Hume_, vol. 1, p. 184.
NOTE H.--PAGE 22.
The celebrated Bayeaux tapestry, distinguished by the name of the _Duke of
Normandy's toilette_, is a piece of canvass about nineteen inches in
breadth, but upwards of sixty-seven yards in length, on which is
embroidered the history of the conquest of England by William of Normandy,
commencing with the visit of Harold to the Norman court, and ending with
his death at the battle of Hastings, 1066. The leading transactions of
these eventful years, the death of Edward the Confessor, and the
coronation of Harold in the chamber of the royal dead, are represented in
the clearest and most regular order in this piece of needle-work, which
contains many hundred figures of men, horses, birds, beasts, trees,
houses, castles, and churches, all executed their proper colors, with
names and inscriptions over them to elucidate the story. It appears to
have been designed by Turold, a dwarf artist, who illuminated the canvas
with the proper outlines and colors.--_Queens of England_, vol. 1, p. 54.
NOTE I.--PAGE 23.
"_Cicely, the betrothed of Harold._"--William also complained of the
affront that had been offered to his daughter by the faithless Saxon, who,
regardless of his contract to the little Norman princess, just before King
Edward's death, strengthened his interest with the English nobles by
marrying Algitha, sister to the powerful Earls Morcar and Edwin, and widow
to Griffith, Prince of Wales. This circumstance is mentioned with great
bitterness in all William's proclamations and reproachful messages to
Harold, and appears to have been considered by the incensed duke to the
full as great a villany as the assumption of the crown of
England.--_Queens of England_, vol. 1, p. 35.
NOTE J.--PAGE 24.
"_Condemned her former lover._"--Brithric, the son of Algar, a Saxon
Thane, is stated in Domesday, to have held this manor in the reign of
Edward the Confessor; but having given offence to Maud, the daughter of
Baldwin, Count of Flanders, previous to her marriage with William, Duke of
Normandy, by refusing to marry her himself, his property was seized by
that monarch on the conquest, and bestowed seemingly in revenge upon the
queen.--_Ellis's History of Thornbury Castle._
NOTE K.--PAGE 25.
"_The terrible Vikings._"--Sea kings among the Danes or Normans; leaders
of piratical squadrons who passed their lives in roving the seas in search
of spoil and adventures. The younger sons of the Scandinavian kings and
jarls, having no inheritance but the ocean, naturally collected around
their standards the youth of inferior order, who were equally destitute
with themselves. These were the same who, in England and Scotland, under
the name of Danes, and on the continent under the name of Normans, at
first desolated the maritime coasts, and afterwards penetrated into the
interior of countries, and formed permanent settlements in their
conquests.--_See Encyclopedia._
NOTE L.--PAGE 27.
"_The Danes confided much in the Fylga or Guardian Spirit._"--They have
certain Priestesses named Morthwyrtha, or worshippers of the dead.
NOTE M.--PAGE 29.
Edgar Atheling, dreading the insidious caresses of William, escaped into
Scotland, and carried thither his two sisters, Margaret and Christina.
They were well received by Malcolm, who soon after espoused Margaret, the
elder.--_Hume's History of England_, vol. 1.
NOTE N.--PAGE 29.
"_The laying waste of Hampshire._"--There was one pleasure to which
William, as well as all the Normans and ancient Saxons, were extremely
addicted, and that was hunting; but this pleasure he indulged more at the
expense of his unhappy subjects, whose interests he always disregarded,
than to the loss or diminution of his own revenue. Not content with those
large forests which former kings possessed in all parts of England, he
resolved to make a new forest near Winchester, the usual place of his
residence; and for that purpose he laid waste the country in Hampshire for
an extent of thirty miles, expelled the inhabitants from their houses,
seized their property even, demolished churches and convents, and made
the sufferers no compensation for the injury. At the same time he enacted
new laws, by which he prohibited all his subjects from hunting in any of
his forests, and rendered the penalties more severe than ever had been
inflicted for such offences. The killing of a deer or bear, or even a
hare, was punished with the loss of a delinquent's eyes; and that, at a
time, when the killing of a man could be atoned for by paying a moderate
fine.--_History of England_, vol. 1, p. 214.
NOTE O.--PAGE 29.
"_Odious Danegelt, and still more odious Couvrefeu._"--William, to prevent
the people of the land from confederating together in nocturnal
assemblies, for the purpose of discussing their grievances, and
stimulating each other to revolt, compelled them to couvrefeu, or
extinguish the lights and fires in their dwellings at eight o'clock every
evening, at the tolling of a bell, called from that circumstance, the
curfew or couvrefeu.--_Queens of England_, vol. 1, p. 57.
NOTE P.--PAGE 30.
"_Lanfranc will absolve thee from thy oath._"--Lanfranc exchanged his
priory for the Abbey of St. Stephen, at Caen, in Normandy, and when
William, the sovereign of that duchy, acquired the English throne by
conquest, the interest of that prince procured his election, in 1070, to
the Archbishopric of Canterbury, then become vacant by the deposition of
Stigand.--_See Encyclopedia._
NOTE Q.--PAGE 41.
"_Adela stood again in the old Abbey of Fescamp._"--In the year 1075,
William and Matilda, with their family, kept the festival of Easter with
great pomp at Fescamp, and attended in person the profession of their
eldest daughter Cicely, who was there veiled a nun, by the Archbishop
John.--_Queens of England_, vol. 1, p. 63.
NOTE R.--PAGE 36.
"_A maiden's needle wounds less deeply than a warrior's sword._"--It was
on the field of Archembraye, where Robert, unconscious who the doughty
champion was, against whom he tilted, ran his father through the arm with
his lance, and unhorsed him.--_Queens of England_, vol. 1, p. 71.
NOTE S.--PAGE 37.
"_Accolade._"--The more distinguished the rank of the aspirant, the more
distinguished were those who put themselves forward to arm him. The
romances often state that the shield was given to a knight by the King of
Spain, the sword by a King of England, the helmet from a French sovereign.
The word dub is of pure Saxon origin. The French word adouber is similar
to the Latin adoptare, for knights were not made by adapting the
habiliments of chivalry to them, but by receiving them, or being adopted
into the order. Many writers have imagined that the accolade was the last
blow which the soldier might receive with impunity.--_Mill's History of
Chivalry_, p. 28.
NOTE T.--PAGE 48.
"_The Saxon Secretary Ingulphus._"--In the year 1051, William, Duke of
Normandy, then a visitor at the court of Edward the Confessor, made
Ingulphus, then of the age of twenty-one, his secretary. He accompanied
the duke to Normandy--went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and upon his
return was created abbot of the rich monastery of Croyland--_See
Encyclopedia._
NOTE U.--PAGE 47.
"_I craved a portion of the Holy dust._"--Even the dust of Palestine was
adored: it was carefully conveyed to Europe, and the fortunate possessor,
whether by original acquisition or by purchase, was considered to be safe
from the malevolence of demons. As a proof that miracles had not ceased in
his time, St. Augustine relates a story of the cure of a young man who
had some of the dust of the Holy City suspended in a bag over his
bed.--_Mill's Crusades_, p. 14.
NOTE V.--PAGE 47.
"_Pilgrim, and Palmer._"--On his return, he placed the branch of the
sacred palm tree, which he had brought from Jerusalem, over the altar of
his church, in proof of the accomplishment of his vow; religious
thanksgivings were offered up; rustic festivity saluted and honored him,
and he was revered for his piety and successful labors.--_Mill's
Crusades_, p. 14.
NOTE W.--PAGE 48.
"_Joined the Archbishop._"--The clergy of Germany had proclaimed their
intention of visiting Jerusalem; and Ingulphus, a native and historian of
England, was one of a Norman troop which joined them at Mayence. The total
number of pilgrims was seven thousand, and among the leaders are the names
respectable for rank of the Archbishop of Mayence and the Bishops of
Bamberg, Ratisbon, and Utrecht. Their march down Europe, and through the
Greek Empire, was peaceable and unmolested; but when they entered the
territory of the infidels, they fell into the hands of the Arab robbers,
and it was not without great losses of money and lives that the band
reached Jerusalem.--_History of Crusades_, p. 17.
NOTE X.--PAGE 49.
"_The Gog and Magog of sacred writ._"--Magyar is the national and oriental
denomination of the Hungarians; but, among the tribes of Scythia, they are
distinguished by the Greeks under the proper and peculiar name of Turks,
as the descendants of that mighty people who had conquered and reigned
from China to the Volga.--_Gibbon's Rome_, vol. 5, p. 411.
NOTE Y.--PAGE 50.
"_Battle Abbey._"--William laid the foundation of the Abbey of St.
Martin, now called Battle Abbey, where perpetual prayers were directed to
be offered up for the repose of the souls of all who had fallen in that
sanguinary conflict. The high altar of this magnificent monument of the
Norman victory was set upon the very spot where Harold's body was found,
or, according to others, where he first pitched his gonfanon.--_Queens of
England_, vol. 1, p. 50.
NOTE Z.--PAGE 51.
"_Did not that for his own sins._"--It is a maxim of the civil law, that
whosoever cannot pay with his purse must pay with his body; and the
practice of flagellation was adopted by the monks, a cheap, though painful
equivalent. By a fantastic arithmetic, a year of penance was taxed at
three thousand lashes, and such was the skill and patience of a famous
hermit, St. Dominic, of the iron cuirass, that in six days he could
discharge an entire century by a whipping of three hundred thousand
stripes. His example was followed by many penitents of both sexes; and as
a vicarious sacrifice was accepted, a sturdy disciplinarian might expiate
on his own back the sins of his benefactors.--_Gibbon's Rome_, vol. 5, p.
58.
NOTE AA.--PAGE 53.
The story of the noble Magyar is taken from early travels in Palestine.
NOTE BB.--PAGE 60.
"_The assassin band of Mount Lebanon._"--Hassan, with his seven
successors, is known in the East, under the name of the Old Man of the
Mountain, because his residence was in the mountain fastness in Syria.
These Ismaelians, therefore, acquired in the West the name of Assassins,
which thence became in the western languages of Europe a common name for
murderer.--_See Encyclopedia._
NOTE CC.--PAGE 68.
"_Thou shouldst have been King._"--His eldest son, Robert, was absent in
Germany, at the time of his death. William was on his voyage to England;
Henry, who had taken charge of his obsequies, suddenly departed on some
self-interested business, and all the great officers of the court having
dispersed themselves,--some to offer their homage to Robert, and others to
William, the inferior servants of the household plundered the house,
stripped the person of the royal dead, and left his body naked upon the
floor.--_Queens of England_, vol. 1, p. 85.
NOTE DD.--PAGE 69.
"_Our uncle Odo hates Lanfranc._"--The Duke William was brave, open,
sincere, generous; even his predominate fault, his extreme indolence and
facility, were not disagreeable to those haughty barons, who affected
independence, and submitted with reluctance to a vigorous administration
in their sovereign. Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and Robert, Earl of Montaigne,
maternal brothers of the conqueror, envying the great credit of Lanfranc,
which was increased by his late services, enforced all these motives with
these partisans, and engaged them in a formal conspiracy to dethrone
William Rufus.--_Hume's History of England_, vol. 1, p. 221.
NOTE EE.--PAGE 71.
"_Siege of St. Michael's Mount._"--Prince Henry, disgusted that so little
care had been taken of his interests in this accommodation, retired to St.
Michael's Mount, a strong fortress on the coast of Normandy, and infested
the neighborhood with his incursions. Robert and William, with their joint
forces, besieged him in this place, and had nearly reduced him by the
scarcity of water, when the eldest, hearing of his distress, granted him
permission to supply himself, and also sent him some pipes of wine for his
own table. Being reproved by William for his ill-timed generosity, he
replied, "What, shall I suffer my brother to die of thirst--where shall we
find another when he is gone?"--_Hume's England_, vol. 1.
NOTE FF.--PAGE 73.
"_Crowds followed the steps of the monk._"--The lower order of people
attached themselves to one Peter the Hermit, a monk of the city of Amiens.
He had at first led a solitary life under the habit of a monk; but
afterwards, men saw him traversing the streets, and preaching everywhere.
The people surrounded him in crowds,--overwhelmed him with presents, and
proclaimed his sanctity with such great praises, that I do not remember
like honors having been rendered to any one. In whatever he did or said,
there seemed to be something divine in him, so that they would even pluck
the hairs out of his mule, to keep them as relics; which I relate here,
not as laudable, but for the vulgar, who love all extraordinary things. He
wore only a woollen tunic, and above it a cloak of coarse dark cloth,
which hung to his heels. His arms and feet were naked; he ate little or no
bread; and supported himself on wine and fish.--_Michelet_, p. 209.
NOTE GG.--PAGE 78.
"_Deus Vult._"--Urban was about to continue, when he was interrupted by a
general uproar; the assistants shed tears, struck their breasts, raised
their eyes and hands to heaven, all exclaiming together, "Let us march,
God wills it! God wills it!"--_History of the Popes_, p. 384.
NOTE HH.--PAGE 79.
"_Stitch the red cross._"--All mounted the red cross on their shoulders.
Red stuffs and vestments of every kind were torn in pieces; yet were
insufficient for the purpose. There were those who imprinted the cross
upon themselves with a red-hot iron.--_Michelet_, p. 210.
NOTE II.--PAGE 82.
"_Walter the Penniless._"--Sixty thousand were conducted by the Hermit.
Walter the Penniless led fifteen thousand footmen, followed by a fanatic
named Godeschal, whose sermons had swept away twenty thousand peasants
from the villages of Germany. Their rear was again pressed by a herd of
two hundred thousand, the most stupid and savage refuse of the people, who
mingled with their devotion a brutal license of rapine, prostitution, and
drunkenness. Some counts and gentlemen, at the head of three thousand
horse, attended the motions of the multitude to partake in the spoil; but
their genuine leaders (may we credit such folly) were a goose and a goat,
who were carried in the front, and to whom these worthy Christians
ascribed an infusion of the divine spirit.--_Gibbon's Rome_, vol. 5, p.
553.
NOTE JJ.--PAGE 84.
"_Inquire if that be Jerusalem._"--In some instances the poor rustic shod
his oxen like horses, and placed his whole family in a cart, where it was
amusing to hear the children, on the approach to any large town or castle,
inquiring if the object before them were Jerusalem.--_Mill's Crusades_, p.
31.
NOTE KK.--PAGE 87.
"_Adela's Letter from Stephen._"--Alexius expressed a wish that one of the
sons of Stephen might be educated at the Byzantine court, and said a
thousand other fine things, which Stephen reported to his wife as holy
truths.--_Mill's Crusades_, p. 49.
NOTE LL.--PAGE 105.
"_Of English laws and an English Queen._"--Matilda is the only princess of
Scotland who ever shared the throne of a king of England. It is, however,
from her maternal ancestry that she derives her great interest as
connected with the annals of this country. Her mother, Margaret Atheling,
was the grandaughter of Edmund Ironside, and the daughter of Edward
Atheling, surnamed the Outlaw, by Agatha, daughter of the Emperor Henry
II. of Germany.--_Queens of England_, p. 91.
NOTE MM.--PAGE 110.
"_We fought in the Plains of Ramula._"--The small phalanx was overwhelmed
by the Egyptians! Stephen, Earl of Chartres, was taken prisoner and
murdered by his enemy; he was the hero who ran away in the Crusade. His
wife was Adela, a daughter of King William I. of England, and this
spirited lady vowed she would give her husband no rest till he recovered
his fame in Palestine. He went thither, and died in the manner above
related.--_Mill's Crusades_, p. 95.
NOTE NN.--PAGE 111.
"_The daughter of Earl Waltheoff, Matilda_," was the wife of David,
afterwards King of Scotland, and the mother of the first Earl of
Huntingdon.--_Dr. Lingard._
NOTE OO.--PAGE 113.
"_Lucy lies in the sea._"--Besides the heir of England, Prince William,
there were lost in the White ship, Richard, Earl of Chester, with his
bride, the young Lady Lucy, of Blois, daughter of Henry's sister Adela,
and the flower of the juvenile nobility, who are mentioned by the Saxon
chronicle as a multitude of "incomparable folk."--_Queens of England_, p.
131.
NOTE PP.--PAGE 120.
"_Courts of Love._"--Eleanora was by hereditary right, chief reviewer and
critic of the poets of Provence. At certain festivals held by her after
the custom of her ancestors, called Courts of Love, all new _sirventes_
and _chansons_ were sung or recited before her by the troubadours. She
then, assisted by a conclave of her ladies, sat in judgment and pronounced
sentence on their literary merits.--_Queens of England_, p. 188.
NOTE QQ.--PAGE 121.
"_Romance Walloon._"--The appellation of Walloon was derived from the word
Waalchland, the name by which the Germans to this day designate Italy.
William the Conqueror was so much attached to the Romance Walloon, that he
encouraged its literature among his subjects, and forced it on the English
by means of rigorous enactments, in place of the ancient Saxon, which
closely resembled the Norse of his own ancestors.
Throughout the whole tract of country from Navarre to the dominions of the
Dauphin of Auvergne, and from sea to sea, the Provencal language was
spoken--a language which combined the best points of French and Italian,
and presented peculiar facilities for poetical composition. It was called
the langue _d'oc_, the tongue of "yes" and "no;" because, instead of
"_oui_" and "_non_" of the rest of France, the affirmative and negative
were "_oc_" and "_no_." The ancestors of Eleanora were called _par
excellence_--the Lords of "_oc_" and "_no_."--_Queens of England_, pp.
60-186.
NOTE RR.--PAGE 122.
"_In a Province fair._"--This ballad is from the early English Metrical
Romances.
NOTE SS.--PAGE 127.
"_The Lady Petronilla._"--The sister of the queen, the young Petronilla,
whose beauty equalled that of her sister, and whose levity far surpassed
it, could find no single man in all France to bewitch with the spell of
her fascinations, but chose to seduce Rodolph, Count of Vermandois, from
his wife.--_Queens of England_, p. 189.
NOTE TT.--PAGE 130.
"_Abelard._"--Abelard, Peter, originally Abailard, a monk of the order of
St. Benedict, equally famous for his learning and for his unfortunate love
for Heloise, was born in 1079, near Nantes, in the little village of
Palais, which was the property of his father, Berenger.--_Encyclopedia._
NOTE UU.--PAGE 132.
"_St. Bernard._"--St. Bernard, born at Fontaines, in Burgundy, 1091, was
of noble family, and one of the most influential ecclesiastics of the
middle ages. He was named the _honeyed teacher_, and his writings were
styled _a stream from Paradise_.
He principally promoted the crusade in 1146, and quieted the fermentation
caused at that time by a party of monks, against the Jews in
Germany.--_Encyclopedia._
NOTE VV.--PAGE 135.
"_Valley of Laodicea._"--The freaks of Queen Eleanora and her female
warriors were the cause of all the misfortunes that befel King Louis and
his army, especially in the defeat at Laodicea. The king had sent forward
the queen and her ladies, escorted by his choicest troops, under the guard
of Count Maurienne. He charged them to choose for their camp the arid, but
commanding ground which gave them a view over the defiles of the valley of
Laodicea. Queen Eleanora insisted upon halting in a lovely romantic
valley, full of verdant grass and gushing fountains.--_Queens of England_,
p. 190.
NOTE WW.--PAGE 140.
"_Series of Coquetries._"--Some say that she was smitten with Raymond, of
Antioch; others with a handsome Saracen slave; and it was, moreover,
rumored that she received presents from the Sultan.--_Michelet_, p. 233.
NOTE XX.--PAGE 141.
"_Twenty days._"--The "Queens of France" record that he learned the
Provencal tongue in twenty days.
NOTE YY.--PAGE 143.
"_Knights of the Temple._"--A celebrated order of knights, which, like the
order of St. John and the Teutonic order, had its origin in the crusades.
It was established in 1119, for the protection of the pilgrims on the
roads in Palestine. Subsequently, its object became the defence of the
Christian faith, and of the Holy Sepulchre against the Saracens.
Uniting the privileges of a religious order with great military power, and
always prepared for service by sea and land, it could use its possessions
to more advantage than other corporations, and also make conquests on its
own account; in addition to which it received rich donations and bequests
from the superstition of the age.
The principal part of the possessions of the order were in France: most of
the knights were also French, and the grand-master was usually of that
nation. In 1244, the order possessed nine thousand considerable
bailiwicks, commanderies, priories and preceptories, independent of the
jurisdiction of the countries in which they were situated.
The order was destroyed in France by Philip the Fair, about the beginning
of the fourteenth century.--_Encyclopedia._
NOTE ZZ.--PAGE 144.
"_Hospitallers._"--The Knights of St. John, or Hospitallers of St. John,
afterwards called Knights of Rhodes, and finally Knights of Malta, were a
celebrated order of military religious, established at the commencement of
the crusades to the Holy Land. It was the duty of the monks, who were
called brothers of St. John or hospitallers, to take care of the poor and
sick, and in general, to assist pilgrims. This order obtained important
possessions, and maintained itself against the arms of the Turks and
Saracens by union and courage.
In 1309 the knights established themselves on the island of Rhodes, where
they remained upwards of two hundred years. In 1530, Charles Fifth granted
them the island of Malta, on conditions of perpetual war against the
infidels and pirates. From this period, they were commonly called _Knights
of Malta_.--_Encyclopedia._
NOTE AAA.--PAGE 146.
"_On her way Southward._"--Eleanora stayed some time at Blois, the count
of which province was Thibaut, elder brother to King Stephen, one of the
handsomest and bravest men of his time. Thibaut offered his hand to his
fair guest. He met with a refusal, which by no means turned him from his
purpose, as he resolved to detain the lady prisoner in his fortress till
she complied with his proposal. Eleanora suspected his design, and
departed by night for Tours. Young Geoffrey Plantagenet, the next brother
to the man she intended to marry, had likewise a great inclination to be
sovereign of the south. He placed himself in ambush at a part of the Loire
called the Port of Piles, with the intention of seizing the duchess and
carrying her off and marrying her. But she, pre-warned by her good angel,
turned down a branch of the stream toward her own country.--_Queens of
England_, p. 114.
NOTE BBB.--PAGE 151.
"_Becket._"--Thomas Becket, the most celebrated Roman Catholic prelate in
the English annals, was born in London, 1119. He was the son of Gilbert, a
London merchant. His mother was a Saracen lady, to whose father Gilbert
was prisoner, being taken in the first crusade. The lady fell in love with
the prisoner, and guided by the only English words she
knew--"Gilbert--London"--followed him to London, where he married her.
He was recommended by Archbishop Theobald, to King Henry II., and in 1158
he was appointed high chancellor and preceptor to Prince Henry, and at
this time was a complete courtier, conforming in every respect to the
humor of the king.
He died in the fifty second year of his age, and was canonized two years
after. Of the popularity of the pilgrimages to his tomb, the "Canterbury
Tales" of Chaucer will prove an enduring testimony.--_Encyclopedia._
NOTE CCC.--PAGE 155.
"_Regular Drama._"--Besides the mysteries and miracles played by the
parish clerks and students of divinity, the classic taste of the
accomplished Eleanor patronized representations nearly allied to the
regular drama, since we find that Peter of Blois, in his epistles,
congratulates his brother William, on his tragedy of Flaura and Marcus,
played before the queen.--_Queens of England_, p. 199.
NOTE DDD.--PAGE 165.
"_Adrian IV._"--Adrian IV., an Englishman, originally named _Nicholas_
Breakspear, rose, by his great talents, from the situation of a poor monk,
to the rank of cardinal, and legate in the north. He was elected pope in
1154, and waged an unsuccessful war against William, King of Sicily.
The permission which he gave to Henry II., King of England, to invade
Ireland, on the condition that every family of that island should pay
annually a penny to the papal chair, because all islands belong to the
pope, is worthy of remark. On this grant the subsequent popes founded
their claims on Ireland.--_Encyclopedia._
NOTE EEE.--PAGE 184.
"_The wasted form of Rosamond._"--It is not a very easy task to reduce to
anything like perspicuity the various traditions which float through the
chronicles, regarding Queen Eleanor's unfortunate rival, the celebrated
Rosamond Clifford. No one who studies history ought to despise tradition,
for we shall find that tradition is generally founded on fact, even when
defective or regardless of chronology. It appears that the acquaintance
between Rosamond and Henry commenced in early youth, about the time of his
knighthood by his uncle, the King of Scotland; that it was renewed at the
time of his successful invasion of England, when he promised marriage to
the unsuspecting girl. As Rosamond was retained by him as a prisoner,
though not an unwilling one, it was easy to conceal from her the facts
that he had wedded a queen and brought her to England; but his chief
difficulty was to conceal Rosamond's existence from Eleanor, and yet
indulge himself with frequent visits to the real object of his love.
Brompton says, "That one day, Queen Eleanor saw the king walking in the
pleasance of Woodstock, with the end of a ball of floss silk attached to
his spur, and that, coming near him unperceived, she took up the ball, and
the king walked on, the silk unwound, and thus the queen traced him to a
thicket in the labyrinth or maze of the park, where he disappeared. She
kept the matter secret, often revolving in her own mind in what company he
could meet with balls of silk.
"Soon after, the king left Woodstock for a distant journey; then Queen
Eleanor, bearing this discovery in mind, searched the thicket in the park,
and found a low door cunningly concealed; this door she had forced, and
found it was the entrance to a winding subterranean path, which led out at
a distance to a sylvan lodge, in the most retired part of the adjacent
forest." Here the queen found in a bower a young lady of incomparable
beauty, busily engaged in embroidery. Queen Eleanor then easily guessed
how balls of silk attached themselves to King Henry's spurs.
Whatever was the result of the interview between Eleanor and Rosamond, it
is certain that the queen neither destroyed her rival by sword nor poison,
though in her rage it is possible that she might threaten both.
The body of Rosamond was buried at Godstow, near Oxford, a little nunnery
among the rich meadows of Evenlod. King John thought proper to raise a
tomb to the memory of Rosamond; it was embossed with fair brass, having an
inscription about its edges, in Latin, to this effect,
"This tomb doth here enclose
The world's most beauteous rose
Rose passing sweet erewhile,
Now nought but odor vile."
_Queens of England._
NOTE FFF.--PAGE 185.
"_Imprisonment of Queen Eleanor._"--Queen Eleanor, whose own frailties had
not made her indulgent to those of others, offended by the repeated
infidelities of the king, stirred up her sons, Richard and Geoffrey, to
make demands similar to that of their brother, and persuaded them, when
denied, to fly also to the court of France. Eleanor herself absconded; but
she fell soon after into the hands of her husband, by whom she was kept
confined for the remainder of his reign.--_Pictorial History of England._
NOTE GGG.--PAGE 187.
"_Turning proudly to the rebel lords._"--Hoveden, and some other English
writers, have recorded a story, that the Count of Tripoli and his friends
proffered their allegiance to the queen, upon the reasonable condition
that she should be divorced from Lusignan, and should choose such a person
for the partner of her throne as would be able to defend the kingdom. She
complied, and after she had been crowned, she put the diadem on the head
of Lusignan.--_Mills' Crusades_, p. 137.
NOTE HHH.--PAGE 190.
"_Thy brother William and his beautiful bride._"--The Earl of Salisbury
was the son of King Henry II., by fair Rosamond. His christian name was
William, and his wearing a longer sword than was usual gave him his
surname. His half brother, King Richard I., gave him in marriage Ela,
eldest daughter and coheiress of William de Eureux, Earl of Salisbury and
Rosemer; and also raised him to the title of earl. Ela was granddaughter
of Patric Earl of Salisbury, murdered by Guy de Lusignan.--_Mills'
Crusades_, p. 198.
NOTE III.--PAGE 195.
"_The well Zemzem._"--Zemzem is believed by the followers of Mohammed, to
be the identical spring which gushed forth in the wilderness for the
relief of Hagar and Ishmael; and marvellous efficacy is ascribed to its
waters, in giving health to the sick, imparting strength of memory, and
purifying from the effects of sin.--_Encyclopedia._
NOTE JJJ.--PAGE 200.
"_Pampeluna_"--a city of Spain, and capital of Navarre, situated on the
Arga, in a plain near the Pyrenees, founded by Pompey.--_Encyclopedia._
NOTE KKK.--PAGE 220.
"_Blood oozed._"--When Richard entered the abbey he shuddered, and prayed
some moments before the altar, when the nose and mouth of his father began
to bleed so profusely, that the monk in attendance kept incessantly wiping
the blood from his face.--_Queens of England_--_Eleanora of Aquitaine_, p.
220.
NOTE LLL.--PAGE 227.
"_Driven from the harbor._"--Queen Joanna's galley sheltered in the harbor
of Limoussa, when Isaac, the Lord of Cyprus, sent two boats, and demanded
if the queen would land. She declined the offer, saying, "all she wanted
was to know whether the King of England had passed." They replied: "they
did not know." At that juncture Isaac approached with great power, upon
which the cavaliers who guarded the royal ladies, got the galley in order
to be rowed out of the harbor at the first indication of
hostilities.--_Bernard le Tresorier._
NOTE MMM.--PAGE 242.
"_Battle of Tiberias._"--In the plain near Tiberias the two armies met in
conflict. For a whole day the engagement was in suspense, and at night the
Latins retired to some rocks, whose desolation and want of water had
compelled them to try the fortune of a battle. The heat of a Syrian
summer's night was rendered doubly horrid, because the Saracens set fire
to some woods which surrounded the Christian camp. In the morning, the two
armies were for awhile stationary, in seeming consciousness that the fate
of the Moslem and the Christian worlds was in their hands.
But when the sun arose, the Latins uttered their shout of war, the Turks
answered by the clangor of their trumpets and atabals, and the sanguinary
conflict began. The piece of the true cross was placed on a hillock, and
the broken squadrons continually rallied round it. But the crescent had
more numerous supporters than the cross, and for that reason
triumphed.--_Mills' History of the Crusades_, p. 139.
NOTE NNN.--PAGE 250.
"_Courtesies of life._"--Through the whole of the war Saladin and Richard
emulated each other as much in the reciprocation of courtesy, as in
military exploits. If ever the King of England chanced to be ill, Saladin
sent him presents of Damascene pears, peaches, and other fruits. The same
liberal hand gave the luxury of snow, in the hot season.--_Hoveden_, p.
693.
NOTE OOO.--PAGE 254.
"_Union between his brother._"--Political disturbances in England demanded
the presence of Richard, and he was compelled to yield to his necessities,
and solicit his generous foe to terminate the war. He proposed a
consolidation of the Christian and Mohammedan interests, the establishment
of a government at Jerusalem, partly European and partly Asiatic; and
these schemes of policy were to be carried into effect by the marriage of
Saphadin with the widow of William, King of Sicily. The Mussulman princes
would have acceded to these terms: but the marriage was thought to be so
scandalous to religion, that the imams and the priests raised a storm of
clamor, and Richard and Saladin, powerful as they were, submitted to
popular opinion.--_Mills' Crusades._
NOTE PPP.--PAGE 258.
"_This way sire._"--A friend led him to a hill which commanded a view of
Jerusalem: but, covering his face with a shield, he declared he was not
worthy to behold a city which he could not conquer.--_Mills' History of
the Crusades_, p. 164.
NOTE QQQ.--PAGE 266.
"_Count Raimond._"--The young count so well acquitted himself of his
charge, that he won the affection of the fair widow, Queen Joanna, on the
journey. The attachment of these lovers healed the enmity that had long
subsisted between the houses of Aquitaine and that of the Counts of
Toulouse, on account of the superior claims of Queen Eleanora on that
great fief. When Eleanora found the love that subsisted between her
youngest child and the heir of Toulouse, she conciliated his father by
giving up her rights to her daughter, and Berengaria had the satisfaction
of seeing her two friends united after she arrived at Poitou.--_Berengaria
of Navarre_, p. 16.
NOTE RRR.--PAGE 267.
The song of Richard and Blondell is found in _Burney's History of Music_,
vol. 2, p. 236.
NOTE SSS.--PAGE 271.
"_The black banner._"--Finding his end approaching, Saladin commanded the
black standard, which had so often led the way to victory, to be taken
down, and replaced by the shroud which was to wrap his body in the grave.
This was then borne through the streets, while the cries called all men to
behold what Saladin, the mighty conqueror, carried away with him of all
his vast dominion. Saladin died, a monarch in whose character, though the
good was not unmixed with evil, the great qualities so far preponderated,
that they overbalanced the effects of a barbarous epoch and a barbarous
religion, and left in him a splendid exception to most of the vices of his
age, his country and his creed.--_James' History of Chivalry_, p. 264.
NOTE TTT.--PAGE 273.
"_The Fourth Crusade._"--Saphadin marched against them, and the Germans
did not decline the combat. Victory was on the side of the Christians; but
it was bought by the death of many brave warriors, particularly of the
Duke of Saxony, and of the son of the Duke of Austria. But the Germans
did not profit by this success, for news arrived from Europe, that the
great support of the crusade, Henry VI., was dead. The Archbishop of
Mayence, and all those princes who had an interest in the election of a
German sovereign, deserted the Holy Land.--_Mills' History of the
Crusades_, p. 172.
NOTE UUU.--PAGE 277.
"_Blanche of Castile._"--This queen, so justly celebrated for her talents
in the administration of government, as well as her lofty character and
the excellent education her son received under her direction, was
granddaughter of Eleonor of Guyenne. She was born at Burgos, in Spain, in
1185, and was the daughter of Alphonso IX., King of Castile, and of
Eleonor, daughter of Henry II. of England.--_Queens of England_, p. 164.
NOTE VVV.--PAGE 284.
"_Suabia._"--In 1030, Frederic of Staufen, Lord of Hohenstaufen, displayed
so much courage in battle, that the Emperor, Henry IV., bestowed upon him
the Duchy of Suabia, and his daughter Agnes in marriage. Thus was laid the
foundation of the future greatness of a house, whose elevation and fall
are among the most important epochs in the history of the German empire.
The inextinguishable hatred of the Guelphs, against the house of
Hohenstaufen (Ghibelines) resulted in a contest which involved Germany and
Italy in accumulated sufferings for more than three hundred years.--_See
Encyclopedia._
NOTE WWW.--PAGE 288.
"_Submission of the eastern Empire to the Pope._"--If the French would
place Alexius on the throne, religious schism should be healed; the
eastern church should be brought into subjection to the church of Rome;
and Greece should pour forth her population and her treasures for the
recovery of the Holy Land.--_See Encyclopedia._
NOTE XXX.--PAGE 291.
"_St. Dominic._"--The Dominicans originated in 1215, at Toulouse. The
principal objects of their institution was to preach against heretics.
This passion for heresy-hunting established the order of the Inquisition.
The Dominicans were called Jacobins in France, because their first convent
at Paris, was in the _rue_ St. Jaques. Their order is now flourishing only
in Spain, Portugal, Sicily and America.--_See Encyclopedia._
NOTE YYY.--PAGE 296.
"_Magna Charta._"--The Great Charter of Liberties, extorted from King
John, in 1215. The barons who composed the army of God and the Holy
Church, were the whole nobility of England; their followers comprehended
all the yeomanry and free peasantry with the citizens and burgesses of
London. John had been obliged to yield to this general union, and, June
15th, both encamped on the plain called Runneymede, on the banks of the
Thames, and conferences were opened, which were concluded on the 19th. The
thirty-ninth article contains the writ of _habeas corpus_, and the trial
by jury, the most effectual securities against oppression which the wisdom
of man has ever devised.--_See Encyclopedia._
NOTE ZZZ.--PAGE 307.
"_Filled the office of Regent of Jerusalem._"--In the 13th century we find
woman seated, at least as mother and regent, on many of the western
thrones. Blanche, of Castile, governed in the name of her infant son, as
did the Countess of Champagne for the young Thibaut, and the Countess of
Flanders for her captive husband. Isabella, of Manche, also exercised the
greatest influence over her son, Henry III., King of England. Jane, of
Flanders, did not content herself with the power, but desired manly honors
and ensigns, and claimed at the consecration of St. Louis, the right of
her husband to bear the naked sword, the sword of France. By a singular
coincidence, a woman, in the year 1250, succeeded, for the first time, a
sultan. Before this, a woman's name had never been seen on the coin, or
mentioned in the public prayers. The Caliph of Bagdad protested against
the scandal of this innovation.--_Michelet's History of France._
NOTE AAAA.--PAGE 308.
"_St. Dunstan._"--Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury, in the year 948,
possessed complete ascendancy over King Edred and the councils of state.
He lived for some time in a cell so small that he could neither stand nor
sit in it, and was honored with remarkable dreams, visions, and
temptations. He it was who introduced the order of Benedictine monks into
England.--_Parley's History._
NOTE BBBB.--PAGE 309.
"_Convent of L'Espan._"--Queen Berengaria fixed her residence at Mans, in
the Orleannois, where she held a great part of her foreign dower. Here she
founded the noble Abbey of _L'Espan_.--_Queens of England._
NOTE CCCC.--PAGE 314.
"_Sultan of Egypt._"--Saphadin's son, Coradinus, the Prince of Syria and
Palestine, did not proclaim the death of his father till he had secured
himself in the possession of the royal coffers. Discord and rebellion were
universal throughout Egypt when the news arrived of the death of Saphadin,
and his son Carnel, lord of that country, was compelled to fly into Arabia
for protection from his mutinous people.--_Mills' Crusades._
NOTE DDDD.--PAGE 320.
"_Mongols._"--Genghis Khan, the chief of a mongrel horde, in 1260,
conceived the bold plan of conquering the whole earth. After the death of
Genghis Khan, in 1227, his sons pursued his conquests, subjugated all
China, subverted the Caliphate of Bagdad, and made the Seljook Sultans of
Iconium tributary.
NOTE EEEE.--PAGE 323.
"_Wainscoted with gold._"--This description of the Sultan's palace is
taken from William of Tyre's glowing account of the "House of Wisdom,"
found in a note of _Michelet's France_, vol. 1, p. 206.
NOTE FFFF.--PAGE 327.
"_Moslem Rosary._"--A rosary of ninety-nine beads, called Tusbah, or
implement of praise. In dropping the beads through the fingers, they
repeat the attributes of God, as, O Creator, O merciful, &c., &c. This act
of devotion is called Taleel. The name Allah is always joined to the
epithet, as "Ya Allah Kalick, Ya Allah Kerreem," found in note to the
Bahar Danush.
NOTE GGGG.--PAGE 328.
"_Congregation repeated 'Praise be to God.'_"--_See Griffith's description
of Mahomedan funeral._
NOTE HHHH.--PAGE 330.
Kibla, or Cabbala, signifies oral tradition. The term is used by the Jews
and Mahomedans to denote the traditions of their ancestors, or, most
commonly, their mystical philosophy.--_Encyclopedia._
NOTE IIII.--PAGE 333.
"_Tones of the Arabic._"--Frederic II., the grandson of Barbarossa, was
successively the pupil, the enemy, and the victim of the church. At the
age of twenty one years, in obedience to his guardian, Innocent III., he
assumed the cross; the same promise was repeated at his royal and imperial
coronations, and his marriage with the heiress of Jerusalem forever bound
him to defend the kingdom of his son Conrad. For suspending his vow,
Frederic was excommunicated by Gregory IX.; for presuming the next year,
to accomplish his vow, he was again excommunicated by the same pope.
He was well formed, of a fair and fine complexion, and a gentle and kind
expression of the eye and mouth. He was brave, bold, and generous, and
possessed great talents, highly cultivated. He understood all the
languages of his subjects--Greek, Latin, Italian, German, French and
_Arabic_. He was severe and passionate, mild or liberal, as circumstances
required; gay, cheerful, and lively, as his feelings dictated. He was a
noted Freethinker, and regarded men of all religions with equal favor.
NOTE JJJJ.--PAGE 346.
"_Opened Negotiations with the Sultan of Egypt._"--Frederic signed a
treaty with Camel, which more effectually promoted the object of the Holy
Wars than the efforts of any former sovereign. For ten years the
Christians and Mussulmans were to live upon terms of brotherhood.
Jerusalem, Jaffa, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and their appendages, and the Holy
Sepulchre, were restored to the Christians.
NOTE KKKK.--PAGE 348.
"_Simon de Montfort._"--The family of Montforts seems to have been
fiercely ambitious. They trace their origin to "Charlemagne."
Simon de Montfort, the true leader of the war against the Albigeois was a
veteran of the crusades, hardened in the unsparing battles of the Templars
and the Assassins. On his return from the Holy Land he engaged in this
bloody crusade, in the South of France.
His second son seeking in England the fortune which he had missed in
France, fought on the side of the English commons, and threw open to them
the doors of Parliament. After having had both king and kingdom in his
power, he was overcome and slain. His son (grandson of the celebrated
Montfort, who was the chief in the crusade against the Albigeois) avenged
him by murdering in Italy, at the foot of the altar, the nephew of the
king of England, who was returning from the Holy Land. This deed ruined
the Montforts. Ever after they were looked upon with _horror and
detestation_.--_Michelet._
NOTE LLLL.--PAGE 351.
"_Richard of Cornwall_," in the spring of the year 1240, embarked for the
crusade. The Christian name of the Earl of Cornwall alarmed the Saracens.
The very word Richard was dreaded in Syria; so great was the terror which
Coeur de Lion had spread.
NOTE MMMM.--PAGE 351.
"_Greek Fire._"--This was invented in the 7th century. When the Arabs
besieged Constantinople, a Greek architect deserted from the Caliph to the
Greeks, and took with him a composition, which by its wonderful effects,
struck terror into the enemy, and forced them to take flight. Sometimes it
was wrapped in flax attached to arrows and javelins, and so thrown into
the fortifications and other buildings of the enemy to set them on fire.
At other times it was used in throwing stone balls from iron or metallic
tubes against the enemy. The use of this fire continued at least until the
end of the 13th century, but no contemporary writer has handed down to us
any accurate account of its composition.
NOTE NNNN.--PAGE 351.
"_King Louis._"--The superstition of a French king, and the successes of
the savage Korasmians, gave birth to the seventh crusade. One night during
the Christmas festival (A.D. 1245), Louis caused magnificent crosses,
fabricated by goldsmiths, to be sown on the new dresses, which, as usual
upon such occasions, had been bestowed upon the courtiers. The next day
the cavaliers were surprised at the religious ornaments which had been
affixed to their cloaks; but piety and loyalty combined to prevent them
from renouncing the honors which had been thrust upon them.
NOTE OOOO.--PAGE 351.
"_Statutes of Oxford._"--The English barons assembled at Oxford, on the
11th of June, 1258, and obliged the king and his eldest son, then eighteen
years of age, to agree to a treaty by which twenty-four of their own body,
at the head of whom was De Montfort, had authority given them to reform
all abuses.--_History of England._
NOTE PPPP.--PAGE 355.
"_Mamelukes._"--Slaves from the Caucasian countries, who, from menial
offices, were advanced to the dignities of state. They did not, however,
form a separate body; but when Genghis Khan made himself master of the
greatest part of Asia, in the thirteenth century, and carried vast numbers
of the inhabitants into slavery, the Sultan of Egypt bought twelve
thousand of them, and had them instructed in military exercises, and
formed a regular corps of them. They soon exhibited a spirit of
insubordination and rebellion, and in 1254 appointed one of their own
number Sultan of Egypt. Their dominion continued two hundred and
sixty-three years.--_Encyclopedia._
NOTE QQQQ.--PAGE 355.
"_Damascus Steel._"--Damascus was celebrated in the middle ages for the
manufacture of sabres, of such peculiar quality as to be perfectly elastic
and very hard.
NOTE RRRR.--PAGE 358.
"_Eva Strongbow._"--Dermot, King of Leinster, formed a treaty with
Pritchard, surnamed Strongbow, earl of Strigul. This nobleman who was of
the illustrious house of Clare, had impaired his fortune by expensive
pleasures, and being ready for any desperate undertaking, he promised
assistance to Dermot on condition that he should espouse Eva, daughter of
that prince, and be declared heir to all his dominions.--_Hume's History
of England._
NOTE SSSS.--PAGE 362.
"_Queen Gold._"--One great cause of the queen's unpopularity in London
originated from the unprincipled manner in which she exercised her
influence to compel all vessels freighted with corn, wool, or any
peculiarly valuable cargo, to unlade at her hithe, or quay, called
Queen-hithe, because at that port the dues which formed a part of the
revenues of the queens-consort of England, and the tolls, were paid
according to the value of the lading. In order to annoy the citizens of
London, Henry, during the disputes regarding the queen's gold, revived the
old Saxon custom of convening folkmotes which was in reality the founding
the House of Commons.--_Queens of England._
NOTE TTTT.--PAGE 365.
"_Holy crown of Thorns._"--This inestimable relic was borne in triumph
through Paris by Louis himself--barefoot and in his shirt, and a free gift
of ten thousand marks reconciled the emperor, Baldwin de Courtenay, to his
loss. The success of this transaction tempted him to send to the king a
large and authentic portion of the true cross, the baby linen of the Son
of God, the lance, the sponge, and the chain of his Passion.--_Gibbon_,
vol. vi. p. 122.
NOTE UUUU.--PAGE 367.
"_Lay concealed._"--During the captivity of her husband and son, it is
asserted that Eleanor, of Provence, made more than one private visit to
England, but she ostensibly resided in France with her younger children,
under the kind protection of her sister, Queen Marguerite. Robert, of
Gloucester said that she was _espy_ in the land for the purpose of
liberating her brave son.--_Queens of England._
NOTE VVVV.--PAGE 373.
"_Shouts of pursuers._"--Lady Maud Mortimer having sent her instructions
to Prince Edward, he made his escape by riding races with his attendants
till he had tired their horses, when he rode up to a thicket where dame
Maud had ambushed a swift steed. Mounting his gallant courser, Edward
turned to his guard, and bade them "commend him to his sire the king, and
tell him he would soon be at liberty," and then galloped off; while an
armed party appeared on the opposite hill, a mile distant, and displayed
the banner of Mortimer.--_Queens of England._
NOTE WWWW.--PAGE 386.
When the Old Man rode forth, he was preceded by a crier who bore a Danish
axe with a long handle, all covered with silver, and stuck full of
daggers, who proclaimed, "Turn from before him who bears the death of
kings in his hands."--_Joinville_, p. 97.
NOTE XXXX.--PAGE 387.
"_Fedavis._"--Henri, Count of Champagne, visiting the grand-prior of the
Assassins, the latter led him up a lofty tower, at each battlement of
which stood two fedavis (devotees). On a sign from him, two of these
sentinels flung themselves from the top of the tower. "If you wish it," he
said to the count, "all these men shall do the same."--_Michelet._
NOTE YYYY.--PAGE 390.
"_Loving lips._"--"It is storied," says Fuller, "how Eleanor, his lady,
sucked all the poison out of his wounds without doing any harm to herself.
So sovereign a remedy is a woman's tongue, anointed with the virtue of a
loving affection. Pity it is that so pretty a story should not be true
(with all the miracles in love's legends); and sure he shall get himself
no credit, who undertaketh to confute a passage so sounding to the honor
of the sex."
NOTE ZZZZ.--PAGE 406.
"_Earl of Devon._"--The Courtenays derive their ancestry from "Louis the
Fat." Beside the branch that was established upon the throne of
Constantinople, a part of the family settled in England, and twelve Earls
of Devonshire of the name of Courtenay were ranked among the chief barons
of the realm, for a period of more than two hundred years.
By sea and land they fought under the standard of the Edwards and Henrys.
Their names are conspicuous in battles, in tournaments, and in the
original list of the Order of the Garter; three brothers shared the
Spanish victory of the Black Prince. One, the favorite of Henry the
Eighth, in the Camp of the Cloth of Gold broke a lance against the French
monarch. Another lived a prisoner in the Tower, and the secret love of
Queen Mary, whom he slighted perhaps for the princess Elizabeth, and his
exile at Padua, has shed a romantic interest on the annals of the
race.--_Gibbon's Rome._
NOTE AAAAA.--PAGE 407.
"_Merlin._"--Merlin Ambrose, a British writer who flourished about the
latter end of the fifth century. The accounts we have of him are so mixed
up with fiction, that to disentangle his real life from the mass would be
impossible. He was the greatest sage and mathematician of his time, the
counsellor and friend of five English kings, Voltigern, Ambrosius, Uther,
Pendragon, and Arthur. He uttered many prophecies respecting the future
state of England.--_Encyclopedia._
NOTE BBBBB.--PAGE 408.
"_Unjust Aspersion._"--When Leicester brought his newly-wedded wife, the
king's sister, to pay his devoir to Eleanor of Provence, he was received
with a burst of fury by Henry, who called him the seducer of his sister,
and an excommunicated man, and ordered his attendants to turn him out of
the palace. Leicester endeavored to remonstrate, but Henry would not hear
him, and he was expelled, weeping with rage, and vowing vengeance against
the young queen, to whose influence he attributed this reverse.--_Queens
of England._
NOTE CCCCC.--PAGE 416.
"_Daughter of Elin de Montfort._"--The first mischance that befell the
Welsh was the capture of the bride of Llewellyn, coming from France.
The young damsel, though the daughter of Simon de Montfort, Edward's
mortal foe whom he had slain in battle, was at the same time, the child of
his aunt, Eleanor Plantagenet. He received her with the courtesy of a
kinsman, and consigned her to the gentle keeping of his queen, with whom
she resided at Windsor Castle.
The fair bride of Llewellyn died after bringing him a living daughter.
This daughter whose name was Guendolin, was brought to Edward a captive in
her cradle; she was reared and professed a nun in the convent with her
cousin Glades, only daughter of Prince David.--_Queens of England._
NOTE DDDDD.--PAGE 421.
"_I would have taught him._"--Alphonso, tenth King of Castile who
flourished in the 18th century. When contemplating the doctrine of the
epicycles, exclaimed, "Were the universe thus constructed, if the deity
had called me to his councils at the creation of the world, I would have
given him good advice." He did not however mean any impiety or
irreverence, except what was directed against the system of Ptolemy.
NOTE EEEEE.--PAGE 425.
"_Motley courtiers._"--Alphonso was not in good repute with his people,
either as a Spaniard or a Christian. A great clerk, devoted to the evil
sciences of Alchemy and Astrology, he was ever closeted with his Jews, to
make spurious money or spurious laws--adulterating the Gothic laws by a
mixture of the Roman.--_Michelet's France._
NOTE FFFFF.--PAGE 423.
"_Raymond Lullius._"--A story is told of this famous alchemist, that
during his stay in London, he changed for King Edward I., a mass of 50,000
pounds of quicksilver into gold, of which the first _rose nobles_ were
coined.
NOTE GGGGG.--PAGE 433.
"_Everywhere well received._"--The Mendicants strayed everywhere--begged,
lived on little, and were everywhere well received. Subtle, eloquent, and
able men, they discharged a multiplicity of worldly commissions with
discretion. Europe was filled with their activity. Messengers, preachers,
and at times diplomatists, they were then what the post and press now
are.--_Michelet's France._
NOTE HHHHH.--PAGE 435.
"_Slipped a ring._"--Procida offered the ambitious Peter of Arragon, the
crown of Sicily, which that monarch might justly claim by his marriage
with the daughter of Mainfroy, and by the dying voice of Conradin, who
from the scaffold had cast a ring to his heir and avenger.--_Gibbon._
NOTE IIIII.--PAGE 437.
"_Friar Bacon._"--Though an extraordinary man, could not entirely free
himself from the prejudices of his times. He believed in the philosopher's
stone, and in astrology. There are to be found in his writings new and
ingenious views on optics, on the refraction of light on the apparent
magnitudes of objects, on the magnified appearance of the sun and moon
when in the horizon. He also states that thunder and lightning could be
imitated by means of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal. Hence he had
already an idea of gunpowder.
NOTE JJJJJ.--PAGE 440.
"_Albertus Magnus._"--During the year 1280, died the celebrated Albert the
Great, of the Order of Preaching Friars, less known as a monk than a
magician. The prodigious diversity of his learning, and the taste which he
had for experiments in alchemy, which he himself called magical
operations, caused a superhuman power to be attributed to him. Besides the
automaton which St. Thomas de Aquinas, his disciple, broke with a club, it
is affirmed that Albert entertained William, Count of Holland, at a
miraculous banquet in the garden of his cloister and that though it was
in the _depth of winter_, the trees appeared as in spring, covered with
flowers and leaves, which vanished as if by enchantment, after the
repast.--_History of the Popes._
NOTE KKKKK.--PAGE 446.
"_I was anxious._"--This passage is quoted from Falcando, an Italian
historian of the twelfth century.
NOTE LLLLL.--PAGE 449.
"_Shepherd of Cotswold._"--To Eleanora, is due the credit of introducing
the Spanish breed of sheep into England.
NOTE MMMMM.--PAGE 452.
"_Red stockings._"--According to Michelet, Procida influenced the pope to
sign the treaty with the Greek Emperor, by repeating the insulting
allusion of Charles to the purple buskins worn by the pontiff.
NOTE NNNNN.--PAGE 453.
"_Easter Monday, 1282._"--The intelligent readers of history will observe
an anachronism in placing the Sicilian vespers after the Welsh war. They
will also discover a mistake in representing Alphonse as the rival of
Conrad, rather than of Rodolph, of Hapsburg, for the crown of the German
empire.
NOTE OOOOO.--PAGE 454.
"_Rescued._"--Constance of Arragon, fortunately arrived in time to prevent
the Sicilians, from putting Charles the Lame to death. She carried him off
from Messina in the night and sent him to Spain. When Charles of Arragon
was informed of the defeat of his troops, and the captivity of his son, he
fell as though struck down by a thunderbolt, and succeeding attacks of
epilepsy carried him to the tomb in a few months. Through the mediation of
Edward, Charles the Lame, surrendered to Alphonse of Arragon, all claims
to the crown of Sicily, and thus gained his liberty. He reigned over
Provence in right of his mother, and was the progenitor of Margaret of
Anjou.