Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 1.djvu/253

A.D. 1195.] been sold, but mortgaged, and that the crown was entitled to their restitution; many high appointments were also resumed in the same; manner, and these, his well as the lands, were again sold to the highest bidder.

Impatient to take the field, Richard collected as many-troops as could be got together, and passed over into Normandy in May, A.D. 1194. He landed at Barfleur, and as soon as he had set foot upon the beach, he was met by his cowardly brother John, who cowered at his feet and begged forgiveness. His mother. Queen Eleanor, seconded the request with her prayers; and Richard on this occasion showed a magnanimity which was rare indeed in those days. He granted his brother's pardon, and said, "I forgive him; and I hope to forget his injuries as easily as he will forget my pardon." The prince who thus knelt trembling on the beach at Barfleur, had just been guilty of a most foul and treacherous murder. Regardless of the oath he had taken, he determined to desert the cause of Philip, whom he feared less than his brother; before doing so he invited the officers of the garrison placed by the French king at Evreux to an entertainment, and massacred them all without mercy.

The expedition of Richard, hastily undertaken, was attended with only partial success. The French troops were beaten in several engagements, and several towns and castles of Normandy which had been occupied by them, were retaken by Cœur-de-Lion; but his finances were soon exhausted, and the people of Aquitaine broke out into insurrection against him. The campaign came to an end in July by a truce for one year.

While Richard was absent on the Continent, the government of England was confided to Hubert "Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was appointed chief justiciary of the kingdom (A.D. 1195). As Bishop of Salisbury he had accompanied the king to Palestine, and had there shown great courage and ability, as well in the field of battle as in his interview with Saladin. Cœur-de-Lion knew both how to appreciate and reward the ability shown in his service; great men seldom choose bad instruments, and the new justiciary proved himself fully worthy of the trust reposed in him. Under his administration the country began to recover from its depressed condition, although the constant demands for money made by the king rendered it difficult to relax, in any great degree, the burdens of the people. Hubert, however, appears to have promoted their well-being to the utmost of his power; the taxes were raised with as little violence as possible; commerce was fostered, and justice equitably administered in the courts of law.

It was not long before two of the bitterest enemies of Richard were struck down by death. Leopold, Duke of Austria, was engaged in a tournament, when his horse fell upon him and crushed his foot. The wound mortified; and when he was told that death was approaching, great terror seized him, for he was still under the sentence of excommunication, in whose force he firmly believed. In this temper of mind he ordered the hostages of the English king to be set free, and the money he had received from him to be returned. It does not appear, however, that the restitution was made; for an old traveller, quoted by Mills, who passed through Germany towards the close of the seventeenth century, says that the money "beautified Vienna; and the two walls round the city, the one old and inward, little considerable at present, were built with the ransom of Richard I."

Tancred, King of Sicily, had died in 1193, and was succeeded by his young son William. As soon as the Emperor Henry had received the ransom of Richard, he expended it in preparations for a second descent upon Italy. In 1195, while Cœur-de-Lion was busily engaged in the war with the French king, Henry marched a vast army into the Sicilian dominions. The people submitted to him by a treaty, the provisions of which he swore to maintain; but he violated his oath with the most barefaced treachery, committed unheard-of cruelties upon the Sicilian nobles, and put out the eyes of the young king, the son of Tancred. The perfidious emperor having returned to his own country laden with spoils, collected a still larger army than before, and again marched into Sicily. But in this expedition, so abominable were the deeds committed by his orders, that even his wife Constance turned against him, and took the side of her oppressed countrymen. The incensed Sicilians attacked him with the energy of despair, and he was compelled to seek terms of peace, which he had no sooner obtained than death put an end to his career of cruelty. Like Leopold, he died in the agonies of a fear which is sometimes called repentance, and ordered that the ransom of Richard should be restored to him; but, as might be expected, the command was evaded by his successor to the throne.

Before the truce between Richard and Philip had expired, war again broke out, and continued, without any important advantage to either side, until the end of the year, when a temporary peace was once more concluded. The citizens of London had for some time complained of the unequal manner in which the taxes were levied, the poor being made to pay much more, in proportion to their means, than the rich. In the year 1195, the movement took a new form, headed by a man named William Fitz-Osbert, called "Longbeard," from the length of the beard which he wore to make himself look like a true Saxon. His first act, which showed no sign of disloyalty, was to visit Richard in Normandy, and lay before him the grievance of which the people complained. The king made a courteous reply, and promised that the matter should be inquired into. Months passed away, however, without any redress being obtained, and in 1196 Longbeard formed a secret association, which was said to number 52,000 persons, all of whom swore to obey the "Saviour of the Poor," as he was called. Frequent assemblies of the citizens took place at St. Paul's Cross, where their leader delivered political orations, couched in obscure language, and usually prefaced by some text from Scripture. The passions of the people were becoming daily more excited, and it was evident that these meetings could not go on without danger to the public peace. Longbeard was summoned to appear before a council composed of the barons and higher ecclesiastics, where the strange accusation was brought against him that he had excited among the lower classes of the people the love of liberty and happiness. He attended the council, but so large a concourse of his adherents escorted him there, that it was not considered prudent to take proceedings against him. Great efforts were made to counteract the effects of his teaching, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose virtues were recognised and respected by all classes, went personally among the poorest of the citizens, and prevailed