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Eleanor married to Alphonso, king of Castile, and Joan, to William, king of Sicily. He left two natural sons by Rosamond; Richard Longsword, who was afterwards married to the daughter, and heiress of the earl of Salisbury; and Geoffry, who was afterwards archbishop of York.

CHAPTER IX.

RICHARD I. SURNAMED COEUR DE LION.

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ICHARD, who succeeded to the throne, without opposition, seemed resolved to discourage future disobedience, by dismissing from his service all those who had assisted him in his former undutiful conduct. Those who had seconded his rebellion, instead of meeting with that trust and honour which they expected, were treated with scorn and neglect. He retained in his service all the loyal adherents of the late king, and more than once observed, that those who were faithful to one sovereign would probably continue so to another. He instantly, upon his accession, released his mother from confinement, and was profuse in heaping favours upon his brother John, who afterwards made but a very indifferent return for this indulgence.

But the king was no way suspicious in his temper; nor did he give much attention to his own security, being more earnestly solicitous of fame. A romantic desire for strange adventures, and an immoderate zeal for the external rites of Christianity, were the ruling passions of the times. By these alone glory was to be acquired; and by these Richard only hoped for glory. The Jews, who had been for some time encreasing in the kingdom, were the first who fell a sacrifice to the enthusiastic zeal of the people; and great numbers of them were VOL. I. I

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slaughtered by the citizens of London, upon the very day of the king's coronation. Five hundredof that infatuated people had retired into York castle for safety; but finding themselves unable to defend the place, they resolved to perish by killing one another, rather than trust the fury of their persecutors. Having taken this gloomy resolution, they first murdered their wives and children; next threw the dead bodies over the wall against their enemies, who attempted to scale it; and then setting fire to the houses, perished in the flames.

This horrid massacre, which was in itself so impolitic and unjust, instead of tarnishing the lustre of this monarch's reign, was then considered as a most splendid commencement of his government; and the people were from thence led to form the most favourable sentiments of his future glory. Nor was it long before he shewed himself perfectly fitted to gratify their most romantic desires. Perhaps impelled more by a love of military glory, than actuated by superstition, he resolved upon an expedition to the Holy Land, and took every method to raise money for so expensive an undertaking.

His father had left him a treasure of above an hundred thousand marks; and this sum hé endeavoured to augment by all expedients, however pernicious to the public, or dangerous to royal authority. He set up to sale the revenues and manors of the crown, and several offices of the greatest trust and power. Liberties, charters, castles, and employments, were given to the best bidders. When some of his friends suggested the danger attending this venality, he told them, he would sell the city of London itself, if he could find a purchaser. In these times we find but one man who was honest enough to retire from employment, when places were thus become ignominious. This was the great lawyer Glanville, who resigned his post of

justiciary, and took the cross. Richard was not much displeased at his resignation, as he was able shortly after to sell his employment to Hugh, bishop of Durham, who gave a thousand marks for the office. Thus the king, elated with the hopes of fame, was blind to every other consideration. Numerous exactions were practised upon people of all ranks and stations; menaces, promises, expostulations, were used to fright the timid, or allure the avaricious. A zealous preacher of those times was so far emboldened as to remonstrate against the king's conduct; and advised him to part with his three daughters, which were pride, avarice, and sensuality. To this Richard readily replied, "You "counsel right, my friend, and I have already pro"vided husbands for them all. I will dispose of

my pride to the templars; my avarice to the "monks; and as for my sensuality, the clergy shall "share that among them." At length, the king having got together a sufficient supply for his undertaking; and having even sold his superiority over the kingdom of Scotland, which had been acquired in the last reign, for a moderate sum, he set out for the Holy Land, whither he was impelled by repeated messages from the king of France, who was ready to embark in the same enterprise.

The first place of rendezvous for the two armies of England and France was the plains of Vezelay, on the borders of Burgundy, where when Richard and Philip arrived, they found their armies amounting to an hundred thousand fighting men. These were all ardent in the cause; the flower of all the military in both dominions, and provided with all the implements and accoutrements of war, the French prince, and the English, entered into the most solemn engagements of mutual support; and having determined to conduct their armies to the Holy Land by sea, they parted, one for Genoa,

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the other for Marseilles, with a view of meeting the fleets that were to attend them at their respective stations. It was not long after that both fleets put to sea; and nearly about the same time were obliged by stress of weather, to take shelter in Messina, the capital of Sicily, where they were detained during the whole winter. Richard took up his quarters in the suburbs, and possessed himself of a small fort, which commanded the harbour. Philip quartered his troops in the town, and lived upon good terms with the Sicilian king..

It is now unknown what gave rise to a quarrel,. which happened soon after, between the Sicilians, and the English, it is doubtful whether the intrigues of the French king, or the violent proceedings of Richard. Certain it is, that the Messinese soon took occasion to treat the English with great insolence, shut their gates, manned their walls, and set Richard at defiance. Richard, who had hitherto acted as a friend, endeavoured to use the mediation of Philip to compromise this quarrel; but while the two monarchs were yet in deliberation, a body of Sicilians issued from the town, and attacked the English with great impetuosity. This insult was sufficient to excite the fury of Richard, who, naturally bold, and conscious of his own superior force, assaulted the city with such fury, that it was soon taken, and the standard of England displayed on the ramparts. Philip, who considered the place as his quarters, exclaimed against the insult, and ordered some of his troops to pull down that mark of his disgrace. To this, however Richard returned for answer, that he was willing to take down the standard, since it displeased his associate; but that no power on earth should compel him to do So. This was sufficient to produce a mutual jealousy between these two princes, which never after subsided; but which was still more enflamed by the opposition of their tempers.

Many were the mistrusts, and the mutual reconciliations between these two monarchs, which were very probably enflamed by the Sicilian king's endeavours, at length however, having settled all controversies, they set sail for the Holy Land, where the French arrived long before the English. The little knowledge that was then had of the art of sailing, made that passage by sea very long and dangerous, which is now considered as so trifling. Rich 1 ard's fleet was once more encountered by a tempest, and two of the ships driven upon the coast of the island of Cyprus. Isaac, who was then prince of that country, either impelled by avarice, or willing to discourage the rest of Richard's fleet from landing, pillaged the ships that were stranded, and threw the seamen and soldiers into prison. But Richard who soon after arrived, took ample vengeance for that injury. He disembarked his troops, defeated the tyrant, entered the capital by storm, obliged Isaac to surrender at discretion, and took the island into his own possession. It was there that Richard married Berengaria, daughter of the king of Navarre, who had attended him in his expedition; and whom he had preferred to Adelais, the king of France's sister, whose charms were not so powerful, or whose fidelity was more suspected.

Upon the arrival of the English army in Palestine, fortune was seen to declare more openly in favour of the common cause. The French and English princes seemed to forget their secret jealousies, and act in concert. In besieging the city of Acre, while the one made the attack, the other guarded the trenches, and this duty they performed each day alternately. By this conduct that garrison, after a long and obstinate resistance, was obliged to capitulate; and, upon condition of having their lives spared, they promised to restore all the pri

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