RICHARD AGAIN CROWNED.

435

That

reference to the opinion or votes of the meeting."* his wishes and his necessities should have great weight with his affectionate and admiring subjects, is not to be wondered at; and every one was doubtless glad to show his sympathy with his king, and to aid him in crushing those enemies who owed to his long and unjust imprisonment the power of injuring him. I can find nothing to blame in Richard's conduct at Nottingham; but some of his subsequent acts are not so easily justified. His coronation took place on the day appointed; and William, King of Scotland, we are assured, bore the sword of state before him, as Earl of Huntingdon.

This is a curious fact, if it be a fact; for David, Earl of Huntingdon and Garioch, a gallant and distinguished nobleman nearly allied to the Scottish king, and who had done good service at the siege of Nottingham, was also in England at the time.

The same hand which had wielded the sword by the monarch's side now placed the crown upon his brow; and the ceremony was performed by Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury; but Geoffrey, the king's illegitimate brother, Archbishop of York, was not present. His absence is attributed to a ridiculous squabble with the primate, in regard to a cross; but I am inclined to believe that other and deeper motives withheld Geoffrey from the scene. Although in the conspiracy against the king Geoffrey had nobly displayed his fidelity, yet, in order to take possession of the archbishopric of York, he had returned to England contrary to the king's express commands, if not to his own solemn oath; and we find that Richard so far resented this act, or so far yielded to the impulse of his own necessities, as to exact two thousand marks of silver from Geoffrey before he would permit him to enjoy his archbishopric in peace. Five thousand marks were wrung from the Bishop of Coventry to regain the monarch's grace, and the Cistercian monks were pressed or persuaded to yield their whole crop of wool for one year to supply the king with money. All this was not sufficient, however; and, in the end, two most unjust and disgraceful acts were resorted to by Richard to replenish his finances.

I have shown, in a preceding part of this work, that, before he departed for Syria, Richard had alienated various portions * Berington.

436

MEANS ADOPTED TO RECRUIT THE TREASURY.

of the royal demesne. Whether he had any right to do so is more than doubtful, and the exact particulars of the transaction have not been clearly ascertained. All we know is, that he sold certain lands and lordships for very insignificant sums. He now resumed them, alleging as his only excuse that those who possessed them must have fully indemnified themselves, during his absence, for the sums they had paid. I find no clause of redemption alluded to, as was the case in the sale of Cyprus, otherwise I might conclude that, in this instance as in that, Richard had been blamed unjustly, and that the lands had only been granted as a pignus, or pledge, for the repayment of money borrowed. His excuse, if he ever made that which I have mentioned, would show that he knew the act to be unjust; but the holders submitted to the might which makes right; and the general people did not much murmur at one wrong which redressed another. Perhaps a still greater iniquity followed or accompanied this transaction, if we are to believe Hoveden. Upon the pretence that, in his expedition to the Holy Land, the seal had been lost, the impression of which had been fixed to many documents and charters, he forced the holders of those instruments to bring them for authentication under a new seal, exacting a fine upon the occasion.*

Such are the means which, we are informed, were adopted by Richard to recruit his treasury; and they bear too strong a resemblance to the methods he employed before he took his departure for the Holy Land to leave much doubt of the general accuracy of the statement. That he was generous even to profusion when he possessed money, is well known; but, that he was most unscrupulous as to the means of extorting it when he required it himself, admits of as little doubt.

The King of Scotland had shown himself a sincere and faithful friend, during the whole time of Richard's absence in Syria and his imprisonment in Germany. Not to have done what he might have done to injure an ally, might in those days be considered as a positive act of service and amity;

* This is a curious story. It is positively asserted that Richard caused these instruments to be resealed, on the pretence that the seal under which they had passed had been lost at Cyprus; and yet we know that the body of Malus-Catulus was cast on shore, and the seal found hanging round his neck. See page 275 of this volume.

RICHARD'S DEPARTURE FOR NORMANDY.

437

and William probably thought that he had established a claim to recompence. He took advantage of his visit to Richard at Winchester to press for a grant of the counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, alleging some claim or title thereto; and there can be no doubt that the extravagance of this request was in some degree diminished by the concessions which former kings of England had made to the Scottish monarchs. But Richard was in no condition, and probably had no inclination, to strip himself of such important territories; and he rejected the demand, though in the kindest and most considerate manner. At the same time, to show his esteem and gratitude towards William, he signed a charter awarding high honours to all Scottish kings who should visit England. They were to be met and escorted by the sheriff of every county through which they passed on their way to the court, were to be furnished abundantly with bread and wine, and allowed one hundred shillings per diem, then an immense sum, for the expenses of their journey.

While these events had been taking place, a large fleet and army had been collected at Portsmouth; and Richard's departure was hastened, we are told, by intelligence that Philip was besieging Verneuil. A curious tale is related of the effect produced upon him by this intelligence, in which I do not place confidence, although it is in perfect accordance with the manners and ideas of the day. It is said, that the news was brought to the king when he was sitting at dinner, and that giving way to a burst of anger, he swore that he would not turn his face till he had met his enemy. Such an oath, strictly kept, might have produced many very ludicrous and many disastrous inconveniences. Only one, however, is mentioned by the historian- Richard's face happened not to be towards the door; and to show his determination he caused the wall to be pulled down, and went out through the aperture. Certain it is, however, that he was forced to turn his face before he reached the shores of France. He joined his army at Portsmouth in the end of April, and set sail on the 2nd of May; but contrary winds and tempestuous weather drove him back to the port; and he did not reach Barfleur till the 12th of that month.*

* Richard might be irritated and accelerated in his movements by the know

438

ENGLISH AND FRENCH HISTORIANS.

BOOK XXIII.

THE part of Richard's life which follows his return to Normandy has never yet been historically written. Vague, uncertain, inaccurate sketches, have been given, and some writers have contented themselves with declaring, that the events of this part of history were so unimportant, as to require a mere outline, and have then made the outline they afford obscure and inaccurate. I will endeavour to correct some errors, and to add some facts; and where I cannot bring light into the darkness, I will avoid misleading any one therein.*

In order to arrive at any certainty with regard to the facts of this part of Richard's history, the French historians must be diligently compared with the English and Norman writers, not without due consideration both of natural prejudice and national character. In the English will be found a somewhat slovenly disregard of dates, a culpable indiffer ence to the minute facts which are often explanatory of great events, and a cold self-satisfaction in regard to the exploits of their king and their armies. In the French are met the usual vain-boasting, the usual attempt to conceal defeat and to exaggerate success, but more detail, and more chronological and geographical accuracy. In point of sincerity, Rigordus, whom I shall often have occasion to depend upon, stands an honourable exception. Though willing always to find excuses for a sovereign whom he loved and admired, he dared, on many occasions, to blame him to his face; and though, in regard to many of the events he describes, there can be no doubt that he received prejudiced accounts from others, he showed himself always willing to state the truth wherever it had been discovered. William the Breton, on

ledge that Philip was preparing again to invade his territories; but such an effect could hardly be produced by a knowledge of the siege of Verneuil, for the king of France did not enter Normandy till the 10th of May. The siege commenced on the following day, and Richard, after having been driven back by contrary winds, reached Barfleur on the 12th.

* Doubtless, in so doing, I may bring many an attack upon my head from those who have become imbued by prejudiced statements and one-sided views; but I am not to be deterred from displaying the truth by any reverence for

error.

THE TREATY BETWEEN JOHN AND PHILIP.

4.39

whose modest work M. Capefigue relies, writes with all the prejudices of a Frenchman, and all the extravagance of a poet; but his prose work is occasionally serviceable as explaining particulars which others neglected or disdained to mention. The English historians and their relative merit are already known to the reader.

To form a clear idea of the events which followed Richard's landing at Barfleur, we must examine, as far as possible, what was the relative position of the English possessions on the continent, and those of Philip Augustus, at that time. A great change had taken place since Richard sailed for Palestine. Philip had improved the opportunity of his early return; and John, to plunder a brother, had bribed an enemy. Let us refer more at large to the treaty which I have before briefly noticed, entered into between the Count of Mortagne and the King of France, in January, 1194; for, from the want of a due consideration of this document, and of a knowledge of the steps taken by Philip to secure the concessions it implied, innumerable mistakes have been made.

By that treaty, John ceded to the King of France the whole of that part of Normandy, and it was then very extensive, situated on the right bank of the Seine, from the mouth of the river to the existing frontier of France, with the exception of the town of Rouen, and a circuit of two leagues around it. This, together with Gisors and its territory, comprised the whole of that part of France now forming the department of the Seine inferieure, and, it would appear, something more on the side of Beauvais and Pontoise.

Moreover, on the left bank of the Seine, the whole territory was ceded to the east of the river Iton, including the towns of Chesnebrun, Vaudreuil, Verneuil, Evreux, and Ivry. In Touraine, an immense district was made over to the King of France, extending from the confluence of the Indre and the Loire, all along the Indre as far as that river flowed through the English territories, and comprising even two towns-Loches and Chatillon-on the left bank of the river. This cession included the towns of Tours, Amboise, Montrichard, and Montbazon, with the whole territory on the left bank of the Loire and right of the Indre, to the French frontier. It will be remarked that the powerful community