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Bloss—A Project Gutenberg eBook + </title> + + <style type="text/css"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + + body {margin-left: 12%; margin-right: 12%;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center; clear: both;} + + hr {width: 33%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + .huge {font-size: 150%} + + .blockquot {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .poem {margin-left: 15%;} + .title {text-align: center; font-size: 150%;} + + .right {text-align: right;} + .center {text-align: center;} + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .smcaplc {text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + a:link {color:#0000ff; text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:#6633cc; text-decoration:none} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Heroines of the Crusades, by C. A. Bloss + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: Heroines of the Crusades + +Author: C. A. Bloss + +Release Date: May 15, 2012 [EBook #39701] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEROINES OF THE CRUSADES *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /></div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> + +<h1><small>HEROINES OF CRUSADES.</small></h1> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img01.jpg" alt="" /></div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> + +<p class="center"><span class="huge">HEROINES</span><br /> +<small>OF</small><br /> +<span class="huge">THE CRUSADES.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">BY C. A. BLOSS.<br /> +<small>AUTHOR OF “BLOSS’S ANCIENT HISTORY,” ETC.</small></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">“Old historic rolls I opened.”</p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">AUBURN:<br /> +ALDEN, BEARDSLEY & CO.<br /> +ROCHESTER:<br /> +WANZER, BEARDSLEY & CO.<br /> +1853.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1853,<br /> +BY ALDEN, BEARDSLEY & CO.,<br /> +In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the<br /> +Northern District of New York.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">TO MY PUPILS,<br /> +The “Heroines of the Crusades”<br /> +<small>IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED</small><br /> +BY THE AUTHOR.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>To those whom it has been my privilege and pleasure to lead through the +devious and darkened paths of the Past, to all who cordially receive the +doctrine that <i>actions</i> and not faint desires for Excellence form the +character, I address a few words by way of explanation and Preface.</p> + +<p>Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, whether glorious in the beauty of her +first temple, and the excellent wisdom of her philosopher king, or veiled +in the darkness of that fatal eclipse in which the solemn scenes of +Calvary consummated her glory and shame, has occupied a position in the +great drama of human events, more interesting and important than any other +city on the globe.</p> + +<p>But Jerusalem, in the gloom of that moral night which gathered over the +nations after the fall of the Western Empire of the Romans, exerted a +greater influence upon the minds of men than at any former period. The +insulting Moslem felt a degree of veneration for the splendid ruins over +which he walked with all a conqueror’s pride—the African anchorite left +his solitary hermitage to weep upon Mount Olivet—the European adventurer +wreathed his staff with the branching palm from her holy hills—the +despairing Jew sat in sackcloth at her fallen gates, and even the mingled +barbarians of the East united with the Christian to revere the spot where +art achieved its proudest monument, and poetry found the theme of its +sublimest song.</p> + +<p>This natural reverence, exalted into piety by the decrees of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span> church, +resulted necessarily in the practice of pilgrimage. Anxious, restless +guilt, fled from the scene of its enormities to the sweet valleys where +the Saviour whispered peace to his disciples; poetry sought inspiring +visions on the Mount of Transfiguration; penitence lingered in the garden +of Passion, and remorse expiated its crimes in weary vigils at the Holy +Sepulchre.</p> + +<p>At the dawn of the eleventh century, one sublime idea pervaded +Christendom. The thousand years of the Apocalypse were supposed to be +accomplished, and a general belief prevailed that on the Mount of Olives, +whence the Son of God ascended in his chariot of cloud to heaven, he would +reappear in all the pomp of his Second Advent. From every quarter of the +Latin world the affrighted Christians, deserting their homes and kindred, +crowded to the Holy Land—terror quickened devotion, curiosity stimulated +enthusiasm. But insult and outrage awaited the pilgrims in Palestine, and +in Jerusalem itself they encountered the scoffing taunts of idolatry and +infidelity.</p> + +<p>To free those holy courts from the polluting tread of the sandalled +Paynim, to prepare a pure resting-place for the Son of Man, Superstition +roused the martial spirit of the age, and enlisted chivalry under the +banners of the cross.</p> + +<p>Thus began the <span class="smcap">Crusades</span>, those romantic expeditions which, combining +religious fervor with military ardor, united the various nations of Europe +from the shores of the Baltic to the Straits of Gibraltar, and from the +banks of the Danube to the Bay of Biscay, in one common cause, and poured +the mingled tide of fanatics, warriors and adventurers, upon the plains of +Asia. For nearly two centuries the mightiest efforts and best blood of +Christendom were wasted in the useless struggle, and it is computed that +not less than six millions of people devoted their lives and fortunes to +this desperate undertaking.</p> + +<p>But though the Crusades are so important to the historian as involving the +politics of all nations; to the philosopher as fraught with consequences +affecting the happiness of succeeding generations; and to the scholar as +commencing the era when Genius, brooding over the ruins of the Past, rose +Phœnix-like from the ashes of Arabian splendor,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span> and soaring in the +clearer light of Christianity, scattered from her wing the dew of +refinement upon the barbarians of the North; yet the general reader feels +that his knowledge of them is so vague as to detract materially from his +pleasure in allusions to them, and continually to force upon his mind a +painful sense of ignorance upon points where he ought to be informed.</p> + +<p>In some measure to supply a deficiency which common history cannot +obviate, to make the period of the Crusades interesting, by giving to it +the tangible thread of authentic narrative, these biographies of the +“Heroines” who inspired the troubadour, animated the warrior, or in person +“took the cross,” have, with much care and labor, been selected and +compiled.</p> + +<p>The era opens about the time of the Conquest, when William I., +unquestionably the greatest ruler of his time, returns in triumph to +Normandy. No two writers agreeing as to the age of his children, I have +arranged them as best suited my purpose, making Cicely the eldest, the +betrothed of Harold; and the second daughter, Agatha, the bride of Earl +Edwin; and Adela, whose ambitious character is well authenticated, the +Heroine of the First Crusade.</p> + +<p>The character and superstitions of the Saxons, with their love of +“legendary lore,” I have endeavored to embody in the early life of Maude, +while I have endeavored to make her riper years illustrate the principles +and piety of a teacher to whom you are all much attached.</p> + +<p>The half-infidel Hardrager, who was necessary to show both the plan of +Battle Abbey and the causes and character of pilgrimage, might really have +been the leader of the Assassins, since they established themselves in +Mount Lebanon, and incorporated in their belief some of the doctrines of +the New Testament about that period.</p> + +<p>Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the few women whose mature years in some +measure atoned for a youth of folly. Agnes Strickland cites authorities to +show that Fair Rosamond passed nineteen years in a convent, and died with +the reputation of a saint. You will excuse me that I permitted death to +cut her off in “her young beauty’s bloom” to present a more affecting +picture of the sad effects of guilt. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> ballads are not mine; some I +found in obsolete works, and one was versified from a legend of the Early +Romancers.</p> + +<p>For the Tournament, and contest with the lion in Berengaria, I am indebted +to the same veracious authority, though I cannot account for Richard’s +finding the Lion’s Heart so conveniently situated at the bottom of the +throat, except from the fact that “Physiology and Hygiene” had not then +assigned the true position to the internal organs.</p> + +<p>I was very sorry not to make Joanna as interesting as Edith in the +Talisman, but this was clearly impossible—first, from the fact that I had +not the genius of Scott; and second, because I made it my study to adhere +strictly to truth. It was Saphadin and not Saladin who sought to ally +himself with the princely house of Plantagenet, and I found it convenient +to console his disappointment by bestowing upon him the fictitious lady I +had brought to seek her fortune in the East. Michelet confirms this +decision by his statement that this was emphatically the era of women, and +that for some years a female exercised the sovereign power over the +territories of Islamism.</p> + +<p>Blondell, upon whose very existence so many doubts have been cast, is, I +think, a well-authenticated character, who “<i>plays his part</i>” with great +fidelity and truth.</p> + +<p>Had I not been limited as to space, the <i>ring</i> in the hand of Violante’s +grandson would have projected the catastrophe of the Sicilian Vespers. For +the same reason, I could only allude to the strife between the Guelphs and +Ghibellines, to the civil wars of France and England, to the Crusade +against the Albigenes, and the founding of the Inquisition by St. Dominic, +when, in quest of heresy, he traversed the hills and vales of Languedoe, +and doomed to death those brave spirits who dared to exercise the right of +private judgment.</p> + +<p>Eva is the only purely fictitious character of any importance in the work, +and she was drawn from life, a portrait which some of you may recognize. +Fuller, in his “Holy War,” contradicts the legend of Eleanora’s drawing +the poison from Edward’s wound, but adds, “he who shall disprove this +pretty fiction shall get to himself little credit,” and I confess I had +not the courage thus warned to attempt it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span>I would here gratefully acknowledge my obligations to the gentlemen of the +Rochester University, through whose politeness I have been permitted to +consult several works of early English authors not republished in this +country, from which I have made liberal extracts both of facts and +language.</p> + +<p>In conclusion, I can only say I have endeavored to set before you a true +history in a series of entertaining stories. In the former, I am confident +I have succeeded both as regards events and chronology; of the latter I am +somewhat doubtful; but if my “Heroines” have the effect to awaken +curiosity and induce research, I shall feel that “they have their reward.”</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Clover Street Sem.</span>, <i>Nov. 30th, 1852</i>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span></p> +<p class="title">CONTENTS.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> </td><td align="right">Page</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Adela of Blois</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_17">19</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Eleanor of Aquitaine</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_117">119</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Berengaria of Navarre</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_193">195</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Isabella of Angouleme</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_275">279</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Violante of Jerusalem</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_305">307</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Eleanora of Castile</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_339">341</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">First Crusade, a.d.</span> 1090</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Second Crusade, a.d.</span> 1147</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Third Crusade, a.d.</span> 1187</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_221">221</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Fourth Crusade, a.d.</span> 1198</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_272">272</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Fifth Crusade, a.d.</span> 1203</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Sixth Crusade, a.d.</span> 1215</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_315">315</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Seventh Crusade, a.d.</span> 1249 </td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_347">347</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Eighth Crusade, a.d.</span> 1272</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_377">377</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Notes</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_459">461</a></td></tr></table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span></p> +<p class="title">Leaders of Crusades.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Godfrey of Boulogne</span>,</td> + <td><span class="smcap">First</span></td> + <td><span class="smcap">Crusade</span>.</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Stephen, Count of Blois</span>,</td> + <td align="center">"</td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Louis VII. of France</span>,</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Second</span></td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Frederic I. Barbarossa</span>,</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Third</span></td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Philip II. Augustus</span>,</td> + <td align="center">"</td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Richard I. Cœur de Lion</span>,</td> + <td align="center">"</td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Henry, Count of Champagne</span>,</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Fourth</span></td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Conrad of Germany</span>,</td> + <td align="center">"</td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Thibaut, Count of Champagne</span>,</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Fifth</span></td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Dandolo, Doge of Venice</span>,</td> + <td align="center">"</td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Jean de Brienne, King of Jerusalem</span>,</td> + <td align="center">"</td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Hugh X. de Lusignan, Count la Marche</span>,</td> + <td align="center">"</td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Andrew II. of Hungary</span>,</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Sixth</span></td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Frederic II. of Germany</span>,</td> + <td align="center">"</td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Louis IX. of France</span>,</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Seventh</span></td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Charles d’Anjou, King of Sicily</span>,</td> + <td align="center">"</td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Edward I. of England</span>,</td> + <td><span class="smcap">Eighth</span></td> + <td align="center">"</td></tr></table> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> +<h2>ADELA.</h2> + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img02.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Adela. Countess of Blois.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER I.</p> +<p class="center">THE NIGHT OF THE 20TH OF MARCH, 1067.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Wave high your torches on each crag and cliff<br /> +Let many lights blaze on our battlements,<br /> +Shout to them in the pauses of the storm<br /> +And tell them there is no hope.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">Maturin’s</span> <i>Bertram</i>.</span></td></tr></table> + +<p>All night long the Lady Matilda, with her becoming children, knelt before +the holy shrine in the old Abbey of Feschamp.</p> + +<p>Anxiously had they watched through the lingering twilight, for the +whitening sails of the Conqueror’s fleet. No sails appeared, and the night +fell dark and stormy upon the English channel. Meet was it that prayer +should ascend to Him who rules the destiny of nations, for the hopes of +all future times were rocked upon that midnight sea. The field of Hastings +was won, Harold was slain, England was subdued, and the ships of William +the Conqueror, filled with the flower of Norman chivalry, and followed by +the sad remnant of Saxon nobles, were speeding to the Norman coast.</p> + +<p>Was it Woden the storm-throned, that thus with relentless fury pursued the +Viking’s progeny,—despoilers of the Saxon race? Was it Thor the +thunder-voiced, warning the proud Conqueror that the great heart of +England still throbbed with the pulse of Freedom, though the vale of +Sanguelac was red with the blood of her bravest sons? Was it the spirit of +a milder Faith that prevailed over that night of darkness, spread a calm +morning on those troubled waters, and through that all-pervading sunlight +scattered blessings countless as the liquid jewels that paved the track of +the rescued ships?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>The Mora with its splendid convoy was in sight, the bells rang out merrily +their matin chimes, and while Matilda lingered to unite in the anthem of +thanksgiving and praise, the little Adela, escaping from the care of the +attendants, found her way through the dim aisles, to the door of the +church, where she stood the radiant picture of delight, gazing with +childish interest upon the scene before her.</p> + +<p>The solemn service over, Matilda with her stately train emerged from the +Abbey and encircled by a princely retinue of knights and ladies, watched +the swelling canvass, which under the pressure of a steady breeze, bore +the gallant vessels into port. Impatient of delay, the royal children ran +eagerly down the green slope to the water’s edge. “Now brothers mine,” +said the fiery William, “the fair and goodly land of England, to him who +in three stones’ cast shall twice strike yon fisherman’s buoy.” Seizing a +pebble as he spoke, he was about to hurl it towards the destined mark, +when Adela thoughtlessly grasped his arm. The stone dropped idly into the +wave, sprinkling the short cloaks, and embroidered tunics of the little +group. A derisive laugh followed this exploit, and Adela, familiar with +the effects of William’s anger, fled from his uplifted hand to the +protecting care of Richard, who, sheltering her with his arm, exclaimed, +“Robert, imagine yon buoy a Saxon Earl, and try your prowess upon him. I +resign all claim to the conquered realm.”</p> + +<p>“Book and bell, latin prayers, and a pilgrimage for my brother Richard,” +replied Robert, selecting a smooth pebble and preparing to throw, but, ere +the stone left his hand, a well directed missile from William struck the +buoy, and sank it for a moment beneath the waves. With a look of proud +disdain Robert hurled the stone. It fell dimpling the waters far beyond +the mark. “England is mine,” shouted William, as again with unerring aim +he dashed the buoy beneath the surface. “England is mine,” he repeated, +pointing exultingly to the Saxon banner grasped in the hand of his own +effigy upon the prow of the Mora. Robert smiled contemptuously, and +rejoined his mother.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>All eyes were now directed towards the gallant bark which rode proudly +into port, amid the joyous flutter of banners, gonfanons, pennons, and +streamers which from every mast, spar, and standard, waved and flapped in +the morning breeze.</p> + +<p>A glad shout burst from the assembled multitude, and cries of “Long live +the conqueror William! Long live our good Duke of Normandy!” echoed by the +clangor of trumpet, and chiming of bells, welcomed the victor on shore. +Fondly embracing his lovely wife and children, and graciously receiving +the greeting of his rejoicing subjects, he turned to present the noble +Saxons, that swelled the pomp of his train.</p> + +<p>“My Matilda will welcome Edgar Atheling, in whose veins flows the blood of +her sire Alfred the Great. The brave Earls Morcar and Edwin, the noble +Waltheof, and his beautiful daughter Maude, are also guests at our court, +and must lack no courtesy at our hands.”</p> + +<p>While Matilda with high-born grace and dignity received her reluctant +guests, the little Adela accustomed to the sight of mail-clad barons, and +princely array, felt herself irresistibly attracted by the timid girl, who +clung tremblingly to the arm of Earl Waltheof. Other eyes than hers were +fascinated by the appearance of the lovely stranger. A yellow kirtle of +the finest wool fell in graceful folds to her feet; over this was thrown a +purple robe, which confined at the bodice by a girdle exquisitely wrought, +draped without concealing the delicate proportions of a figure cast in +nature’s finest mould. A crimson coverchief half hid the jewelled network, +from which her fair brown hair, brightening to gold in the sunshine, +escaped in rich abundance over a neck of snow. The steady light of her +meek violet eyes fell lovingly on Adela, and the faint tinge upon her +cheek deepened into a brilliant blush, as the sprightly child kindly +taking her hand, led her forward to receive the kiss of welcome from the +Queen Duchess Matilda.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER II.</p> + +<p class="center">“But doth the exile’s heart serenely dwell in sunshine there?”</p> + +<p>A succession of brilliant pageants, and knightly entertainments awaited +the Conqueror, his nobles and hostages, in their pompous progress through +all the towns and cities of Normandy, from Feschamp to Bayeux.</p> + +<p>Robert already wearing the spurs of knighthood, girt with silver baldric, +and bearing high the lance with its pointed banderol, led the van; +gallantly conducting the young Earls Morcar and Edwin, and the royal +Atheling: while the aspiring Prince William, attaching himself to a band +of his father’s best trained bowmen, practised on bright winged birds, +those feats of archery in which he subsequently became so cruelly skilful.</p> + +<p>Adela obtained a place near the gentle Maude, and strove by every childish +art to charm back the smiles that transiently enlivened the sad +countenance of the Saxon maiden. Not less assiduously, and not more +successfully did the Duke King, and his haughty consort, employ the +fascinations of easy grace, and polished wit, to beguile the gloomy +musings of the captive Waltheof. So passed they on, the sad hearts with +the gay. So sat they in the halls of mirth, the one keeping strict lenten +fast, the other revelling in triumphal feasts; one sole thought +embittering the fast, and sweetening the feast—and that thought +<i>England</i>.</p> + +<p>In a chamber in the palace of Bayeux were assembled the household of the +Conqueror, busy in their daily occupations. Groups of girls, with nimble +fingers, wrought silently under the eye of Matilda, the sad epic of +England’s fall.</p> + +<p>“Leave thy tangled skeins to these fair maids, and the skilful Turold, and +come thou apart with me,” said William, abruptly entering and drawing his +Queen aside, within the deep embrasure of the window, “’tis of thy glory +and mine that I would speak.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>The conference lasted long. The young princes summoned the maidens to the +mimic tourney in the tiltyard, and waiting clouds prepared the gorgeous +couch of sun, beyond the hills of Bretagne, ere the wily statesman had +completed the unfoldings of all his schemes, for fixing the Norman line +securely upon the throne of Edward the Confessor. He revealed his +apprehensions from the stern character of Waltheof, and his hopes from the +fascinations of his niece Judith d’Aumale. From Edgar Atheling he feared +little. The boy reared in a foreign court, a stranger to Saxon language +and manners, had neither desire nor capacity to contend for a dignity +unsuited to his years. He was already hand and glove with Robert, and +subject to the imperious will of the young knight.</p> + +<p>But Morcar and Edwin were more dangerous foes. Kinsmen of the late king, +at the least disaffection they might rouse the friends of the famous Earl +Siward, vanquisher of Macbeth; the thegns of Norfolk, Ely, Huntingdon, and +Northumbria, stretching far to the Scottish border; and the valiant man of +Mercia allied to the terrible Welsh.</p> + +<p>“The victory at Hastings, my Queen,” said William, with his blandest +smile, “does not establish peaceful rule o’er all the hills and vales of +merrie England. Let policy complete what valor has commenced. Methinks our +pretty Cicely might bind the restive Edwin in the silken toils of love, +more securely than unwilling homage or extorted oath.”</p> + +<p>“Cicely, the betrothed of Harold!” exclaimed Matilda. “Could’st thou have +seen her agony when tidings of Harold’s death came with news of thy +victory, thou would’st scarcely speak to her of love.” “A childish fancy,” +impatiently cried William, “the breath of praise soon dries the tears on a +maiden’s cheeks. She must be the Saxon’s bride.”</p> + +<p>“It is impossible,” replied the Queen. “In Notre-Dame de Bonnes Nouvelles, +while my soul was filled with joy for thy safety, did I dedicate thy +broken-hearted child to be the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> bride of Heaven. The holy Lanfranc has +already sanctioned the vow.”</p> + +<p>William strode hastily up and down the chamber, tying and untying the rich +cordon of his cloak in uncontrollable anger and disappointment.</p> + +<p>Matilda laid her hand soothingly upon his arm. “Agatha is fairer than +Cicely—Adela hath wit beyond her years, and child as she is, will readily +comprehend all thy schemes.”</p> + +<p>“Talk not of Adela, she hath a head for intrigue equal to my brother Odo. +Wed her to one who might foster her ambition, and neither crown nor throne +would be beyond her aspirations.”</p> + +<p>“Agatha hath a loving heart,” pleaded Matilda.</p> + +<p>“Thou sayest truth Bein Aimie, ’tis by the heart woman rules. Agatha shall +be the affianced of Edwin before he leaves these shores.”</p> + +<p>Thus it was settled. The new Queen received the title of the manor of +Gloucester, and condemned the owner, her former lover, to perpetual +imprisonment. The fair Maude was to dwell in exile a hostage for the +fidelity of her father, till a fitting opportunity might occur to make her +hand the bond of amity between the Conqueror and some disaffected peer. +Other hostages with their various possessions were disposed of in a +similar manner, and thus the shades of evening stole into that darkened +chamber, and brooded like palpable forms over the sacrifices which the new +sovereigns covertly laid upon the altar of Avarice and Ambition.</p> + +<p>The ceremony of betrothal took place on the following evening. There were +guests in embroidered garments and costly jewels, there were lights and +music, and more than wonted festivity: yet Maude saw only Edwin, and when +taking the hand of the little princess, he pronounced with unhesitating +voice, “Thine, and thine only,” the color faded from her lip and cheek, as +if a mortal woe had fastened on her heart.</p> + +<p>There were gifts and congratulations, and as Edwin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> presented his bride a +miniature shield of silver, saying gallantly, “This shall thy heart from +other love defend,” a gleam of triumph on the countenance of William +assured Matilda that Edwin was won.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER III.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 7em;">“Oh! the joy</span><br /> +Of young ideas painted on the mind,<br /> +In the warm glowing colors fancy spreads<br /> +On objects not yet known, when all is new<br /> +And all is lovely.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">Hannah More.</span></span></td></tr></table> + +<p>When the spring deepened into summer, Edwin, exulting in the pride of his +youthful elegance and princely alliance, returned loaded with honors to +his restored domains.</p> + +<p>Agatha wept sore at his departure, but no tear trembled on the cheek of +Maude. All external emotions were buried in the grave of hopeless love, +and thenceforth in her pale, changeless beauty, she looked the ivory +shrine, where the ashes of some holy thing were preserved, to work daily +miracles upon the restless spirits by which she was surrounded.</p> + +<p>In her society the turbulent, and self-willed children of the Conqueror +became calm and docile. Often in the long still twilight would she hold +them a charmed circle, listening with breathless awe to wild tales and +ghostly legends of the terrible Vikings; who drove their daring keels into +unknown seas, and immured their wailing captives in sunless dungeons of +northern ice, or left them naked and shivering upon a barren coast, a prey +to the wolfish winds, that lifted and tossed them ever on the red and +bristling spears of Aurora’s giant demons.</p> + +<p>The story of the Babe of Bethlehem—cradled among the beasts of the +stall—heralded by angels, and worshiped by the eastern sages, passing, a +holy presence that diffused joy and comfort to every heart, through the +green vales of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> Judea—walking unsandaled upon the glassy waves of +Galilee, and standing in robes white as the light upon the top of Tabor, +agonizing in Gethsemane, and suffering upon Calvary for the redemption of +a ruined race, recited in the mellow tones of Maude, imparted an interest +to the scenes of the Saviour’s life and passion, which all the sacred +relics and saintly effigies of the church had failed to awaken.</p> + +<p>But especially did Robert and Adela delight in tales of the turbaned +Paynim. The long caravan winding its spicy track through emerald oases, or +glistening sands—the dark-browed Saracens with spear and cimeter +careering in battle on Arab steeds, fleet as the desert wind—terrible +Turks from the wilds of Khosser, swifter than leopards, and more fierce +than the evening wolves—swarthy Nubians clustering like locusts in the +holy places—toil-worn pilgrims scourged and massacred, and christian +children slaughtered to furnish diabolical repasts for Moslem fiends, were +themes that never failed to excite the most intense curiosity, and to +rouse the direct imprecations of vengeance.</p> + +<p>From one of these narrations, Robert rose with a determined air, and +exclaimed—“My grandsire, Robert le Diable, say the monks, was carried to +heaven on the backs of fiends; but if by the favor of St. Stephen, I ever +visit the Holy Land, it shall be not with pilgrim’s staff, but with sword +and lance, to drive those cursed fiends back to their place of torture.”</p> + +<p>“It were a holy work,” said Richard, “and one the saints would bless.”</p> + +<p>“Were I a knight, or might a woman set lance in rest,” cried Adela, “those +heathen dogs should no longer feed upon the flesh of christian babes. +Shame to the peers of Normandy, that sit quietly in Rouen while the Holy +Sepulchre is in the hands of infidels.”</p> + +<p>“The peers of Normandy will sit quietly in Rouen only till my father +returns from his conference with Lanfranc,” said William. “Last night a +small vessel anchored off the coast, and a messenger came in breathless +haste to the palace. I could not gain speech with him, but I know he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +brings tidings from Fitz Osborne, and our Uncle Odo. Hugh de Glaville +conjectures there is treason in England.”</p> + +<p>“My mother dismissed her maidens at an earlier hour than is her wont, and +sent away Turold with a frown, when he brought her his pattern of the +wooden fort,” said Cicely, with a sigh, “my heart misgave me then that +some peril was impending.”</p> + +<p>“Pray God it may not reach Edwin,” said Agatha, with white lips.</p> + +<p>“Pray God the troubles may continue till my father moves his court to +London,” said William, as rising from the mossy bank upon which they had +been sitting, the anxious party returned through the pleasance, to the +great hall where the evening meal was prepared.</p> + +<p>When the silent repast was finished, Maude led the weeping Agatha to her +own chamber, and lifting the curtain of the oratory, stood with her before +an altar covered with a richly embroidered velvet pall. Upon the altar was +placed a golden crucifix, before which burned a silver lamp, and in a +niche above, an alabaster image of the Madonna.</p> + +<p>“Daughter of the Norman William,” said she, taking Agatha’s hands and +kneeling before the altar, “with the holy cross before thee, and the eyes +of our blessed lady looking down upon thee, tell me truly, lovest thou the +Saxon Edwin?” and Agatha whispered low but firmly, “I love the Saxon +Edwin.”</p> + +<p>“Turn thy eyes to the stars, emblems of unchanging faith, and tell me +truly, wilt thou be to Edwin a guardian Fylgia in weal or woe?” and Agatha +answered, “I will guard Edwin in weal or woe.”</p> + +<p>“Lay thy hand upon this holy shrine,” again said Maude, lifting the purple +pall, and revealing a jewelled casket, “and tell me truly, though father, +mother, brother, friend, or priest, compel, wilt thou with Edwin keep thy +plighted troth?” and Agatha answered, “I will with Edwin keep my plighted +troth.” “The pure Mary, the sleepless stars, and this holy relic of St. +John the divine aid thee to keep thy vow, Amen.” And Agatha responded +solemnly—“Amen.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>All that night the patient Maude wrought with a magic bodkin upon the +trothgift of Edwin, inscribing thereon a Saxon charm, that worn upon the +breast of his mistress should shield him from danger, defeat, and death! +the trusting Agatha keeping silent vigils by her side, while from the +court-yard below echoed the tramp of steeds, and the heavy tread of +mail-clad warriors hastening preparations for departure.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER IV.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“That cruel word her tender heart so thrilled<br /> +That sudden cold did run through every vein,<br /> +And stony horror all her senses filled,<br /> +With dying fit, that down she fell for pain.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">Spenser’s</span> <i>Fairy Queen</i>.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td>“When sorrows come, they come not single spies,<br /> +But in battalions.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">Shakspeare’s</span> <i>Hamlet</i>.</span></td></tr></table> + +<p>The conjectures of Prince William were well founded. The peers of Normandy +were again summoned from their castles to attend the Conqueror, and the +following spring the royal family removed to Winchester.</p> + +<p>The coronation of Matilda was the most imposing pageant that had ever been +seen in England. Foreign princes and peers graced the brilliant +ceremonial—a numerous and lordly company of Normans attended her to the +church, and a body-guard of Anglo-Saxons, among whom Agatha distinguished +Edwin, conspicuous alike for the beauty of his person, and the almost +oriental magnificence of his apparel, reconducted the new Queen and her +beautiful children to the palace, where a splendid banquet closed the +festivities.</p> + +<p>This season of rejoicing was followed by events of a sad and gloomy +character. The peculiar miseries which fell upon England during the +disastrous years of 1069-70 <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>compelled the Queen with the ladies of her +court, again to seek safety in Normandy. The revolt of Earl Waltheof—the +invasion of the Danes—the flight of Edgar Atheling—the hostility of +Malcolm, King of Scotland—the destruction of the city of York—the death +of Aldred, its beneficent, and much loved bishop—the desolation of +Northumberland—the laying waste the county of Hampshire—the confiscation +of private property—and the cry of houseless wanderers, perishing of +want, furnished a scene of unexampled calamities, while the odious revival +of the Danegelt, and the still more odious imposition of the <i>couvre feu</i>, +goaded the exasperated inhabitants to desperation, and excited constant +rebellions and insurrections.</p> + +<p>The heart of the king, grieved and irritated, became entirely alienated +from his Saxon subjects; and when Earl Edwin demanded the hand of Agatha, +his claim was rejected with reproach and scorn.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the ladies of the Norman court, no less than Matilda, deplored +the absence of their lords, and murmurings and complaints succeeded to +sadness and discontent, as month after month, and year after year rolled +on, and still the troubles in England required the constant exercise of +the Norman arms.</p> + +<p>The unheralded arrival of the Conqueror, with a military escort at Caen, +excited a brief sensation of pleasure, but small cause had his family to +rejoice in his coming.</p> + +<p>The princesses were listening with rapt attention while Maude related the +romance of a northern Jarl, who each night when the moon hung her silver +lamp on high, moored his ocean palace beneath the shadow of a castle, +beetling the sea, to woo fair Ulnah the Pearl of the Orkneys. The maiden, +leaning spell-bound from the lattice, had yielded to the enchanter’s song, +and dropped a pale pearl upon the deck of the war-ship; the wizard-bird +that nestled in its shroudings had spread its broad wings and hovered +broodingly above the casement, when flaming torches—splashing oars—and +wild shouts, announced the coming of her father’s fleet.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>At this point of the story a messenger hastily entered and summoned Agatha +to the presence of her dread father.</p> + +<p>With sad presentiments the princess rose and silently obeyed the mandate. +None were present with the Conqueror in the audience chamber save Matilda, +Lanfranc, and the Saxon secretary, Ingulfus.</p> + +<p>“Seat thyself beside me, daughter, and listen to my words,” said the +haughty monarch, with unwonted tenderness. “That I bade thee pledge thy +hand to Earl Edwin to secure the peace of England, instead of trusting +that event to my good sword, hath long grieved me sore; and often have I +prayed the holy saints to absolve me of the sin. Heaven has heard my +prayer and averted thy doom.”</p> + +<p>An involuntary shudder shook the slight frame of Agatha, but no sound +escaped her lips.</p> + +<p>“The brave Alphonso, King of Gallicia,” continued the king, “has sent to +woo thee for his bride; ambassadors wait in the antechamber, and the good +Lanfranc has consented to release thee from thy extorted vow. With this +costly ring the prince of Spain plights thee his faith.”</p> + +<p>Agatha instinctively drew back her hand.</p> + +<p>“Nay, shrink not, my daughter. The Saxon was unworthy of thy love. Knowest +thou not he is leagued with thy father’s foes? Resign thou his troth-gift, +I will restore it to the proud Rebel. Bid thy maidens robe thee in apparel +befitting thy rank, (certes, the Spanish diadem will well become thy jetty +locks.) Even now a splendid convoy of vessels ride at anchor in the harbor +to convey thee to thy future lord, and the pious Ingulfus, who hath long +desired to visit the Holy Sepulchre, shall attend thee to the coast of +Spain.”</p> + +<p>Agatha neither spoke nor moved.</p> + +<p>“Give me thy troth-gift, silly girl,” cried her father angrily, bending +his brow upon her, with the terrible frown, at which bold hearts were wont +to quail.</p> + +<p>Mechanically the trembling victim, drew from her bosom the talismanic +shield. Lanfranc took it from her hand, placed the ring upon her finger, +repeated the words of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> absolution, and the ceremony of betrothal, and when +he ceased, Agatha lay at her father’s feet, pale and cold in a death-like +swoon. But bitterly as Matilda wept over her suffering daughter, her heart +was torn with still keener anguish, at the maledictions pronounced upon +her first-born and favorite son. Robert had been betrothed in infancy to +the heiress of Maine; and had cherished the most romantic attachment for +his affianced bride. On the death of the princess the people demanded him +for their lord, and the young regent, generous and rash, had proceeded to +take possession of the duchy, and administer justice in his own name.</p> + +<p>William now required him to resign the fief, not only, but to give his +hand to Maude, the beautiful captive, who had so long been the companion +of his sisters. With the true spirit of chivalry, Robert indignantly +replied;</p> + +<p>“The lovely Maude hath already bestowed her affections on Earl Edwin, and +Robert’s bride shall never bear to the altar a reluctant heart. Thou hast +sacrificed the meek Agatha to the lust of dominion, but the gentle Maude +shall never suffer from thy tyranny, while the sword of a belted knight +can defend her. If ever I am king of England, the lands of Huntingdon +shall be hers, with free right to choose her own lord.”</p> + +<p>“Boast not thyself of to-morrow, England shalt thou never have. I have won +it by mine own good sword, the vicars of Christ have set its crown upon my +head, and placed its sceptre in my hand, and all the world combined shall +not take it from me,” cried the monarch in a paroxysm of rage.</p> + +<p>“I only demand the suzerainship of Normandy and Maine, which all men say +is my just inheritance,” replied Robert.</p> + +<p>“Thou would’st do well to remember the fate of Absalom, and the +misfortunes of Rehoboam, and beware of evil counsellors,” retorted +William.</p> + +<p>Robert insolently rejoined, “I did not come hither to listen to sermons, +but to claim the investiture which has been promised me. Answer me +positively, are not these things my right?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>“It is not my custom to strip before I go to bed,” replied the Conqueror; +“and as long as I live, I will not divide my native realm, Normandy, with +another, for it is written in the holy evangelists, ‘Every kingdom divided +against itself shall become desolate.’”</p> + +<p>“If it is inconvenient for thee to keep thy word, I will depart from +Normandy, and seek justice from strangers, here I will not remain a +subject,” retorted Robert, with equal pride and scorn.</p> + +<p>“Par le splendeur de Dé,” shouted William, half unsheathing his sword. “It +is not to be borne, that he who owes his existence to me, should aspire to +be my rival in mine own dominions. May the curse of Cain light upon thy +undutiful head.”</p> + +<p>Thus they parted, Robert to take refuge with his mother’s brother, in +Flanders, and William to return to his distracted kingdom, where the fires +of civil war still smouldered in the ashes of freedom.</p> + +<p>In such scenes was Adela nurtured, and thus in an atmosphere of intrigue +and superstition, was a character naturally penetrating and impetuous, +prepared to devise and carry forward the wildest schemes.</p> + +<p>Public calamities, and domestic vexations, impaired the peace and +irritated the temper of the English monarch. Bodesmen from the north, +brought news of leagues and plots against his power, while messengers from +Normandy, conveyed tidings of the disaffections of his peers, and the +hostilities of the French king.</p> + +<p>Richard, his most dutiful and affectionate son, had accompanied him to +England. The young prince was exceedingly fond of the chase, and often +spent whole days hunting in the New Forest of Hampshire.</p> + +<p>The malaria of the depopulated district, and the painful emotions awakened +in his sensitive nature, by the sight of famishing wretches, vainly +seeking food and shelter, brought on a delirious fever, which soon +terminated his life. He was interred in Winchester Cathedral.</p> + +<p>The last tone of the curfew bell was reverberating<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> through the silent +halls of the palace, when the distracted father, haunted by the piteous +lamentations, and reproachful ravings of his departed son, threw himself +despairingly upon his couch.</p> + +<p>“News from beyond seas,” said the chamberlain, entering, and presenting +him a letter. William cut the silk and read.</p> + +<p>“In the name of the blessed Mary, ever virgin, St. Michael, and St. +Valery, doth thy poor scribe Ingulfus pray, that strength may be given +thee, duke William, by grace of God, king of England, to bear the dreadful +tidings, which much it grieves me to convey. When this comes to thee thou +wilt know that thy sweet daughter, Agatha, liveth no more. From the day of +our departure she shed no tears, but a tender wailing sound, like the moan +of a wounded dove, issued ever from her lips. Her heart, she said, was +devoted to her first spouse, and she prayed that the Most High would +rather take her to himself, than allow her ever to be wedded to another. +Her prayer was granted.</p> + +<p>“The faintness which we witnessed at her betrothal, returned upon her by +night and by day, but she never murmured; and on the eve of the blessed +St. Agnes, having received the rites of our holy Church, she died, with +the crucifix in her hand, and the name of Edwin on her lips.”</p> + +<p>The scroll dropped from the hand of the stricken father and a remorseful +pang wrung his heart.</p> + +<p>Again the chamberlain entered ushering in a dark figure wrapped in a long +serge cloak, like those usually worn by monks. Kneeling at the monarch’s +feet, the stranger spoke. “Knowing, oh king! thy munificence to thy +faithful servants, and moved by the love I bear thy throne and realm, I +have discovered to Fitz Osborne the secret haunts of thine enemies, and to +obtain thy royal favor, have brought from the Isle of Ely, that which I +hope will please thee well. Behold the head of the Saxon chief.”</p> + +<p>The Conqueror shrank back in horror, as the well-known features of Edwin, +pale and distorted with the death agony,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> and the long, fair locks all +dabbled with gore, met his bewildered gaze.</p> + +<p>“Cursed traitor!” shouted he, starting from his seat, “dost thou think to +win my favor by bringing me the head of thy murdered lord? Ho! seneschal, +convey this Judas to the lowest cell of the donjon. There shall he learn +how William rewards the betrayer of innocent blood.” The prisoner was +borne from his presence.</p> + +<p>The monarch buried his face in his hands, and burst into tears of +uncontrollable anguish.</p> + +<p>“Woe is me, my daughter,—Done to death by thy father’s unholy +ambition—Thy Edwin hunted and slain on his own hearth-stone. What has +this sceptre brought me? Toilsome days, and sleepless nights,—a divided +household,—and children cut off in the flower of their youth. Truly, +saith the Scripture; ‘Woe unto him that coveteth an evil covetousness unto +his house.’”</p> + +<p>As he bowed his head his eyes fell upon the fatal, silver shield. Lifting +it reverently from the floor, and wiping the clotted blood from its +polished surface, with some difficulty, he deciphered the Saxon +inscription, which has been thus elegantly translated.</p> + +<p class="poem">“Edwin his pledge has left in me,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Now to the battle prest:</span><br /> +His guardian angel may she be,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Who wears me on her breast.</span><br /> +<br /> +To him true hearted may she prove,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Oh! God, to thee I pray;</span><br /> +Edwin shall well requite her love,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Returning from the fray.</span><br /> +<br /> +But if, forgetful of her vows,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">May Heaven avert the thought,</span><br /> +She sell this love-charm of her spouse,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Which never could be bought;</span><br /> +<br /> +If of her own free will she cast<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This talisman away;</span><br /> +May Edwin’s life no longer last,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To rue that fatal day.”</span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER V.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Still to the truth direct thy strong desire,<br /> +And flee the very air where dwells a liar.<br /> +Fail not the mass, there still with reverent feet,<br /> +Each morn be found, nor scant thy offering meet,<br /> +Haste thee, sir knight, where dames complain of wrong;<br /> +Maintain their right, and in their cause be strong.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>The last act in the bloody tragedy of England’s subjection, was +consummated in the year 1074, when Earl Waltheof, having been drawn into a +plot against the crown, and betrayed by his Norman wife, Judith, to her +uncle, the Conqueror, was beheaded on a rising ground, just without the +gates of Winchester, the first Anglo-Saxon that perished by the hand of +the executioner.</p> + +<p>The perfidious Judith had fixed her affections on a French Count, but +William had already secured a willing agent of his own purposes, in the +person of Simon, a Norman noble, lame and deformed, on whom he designed to +bestow her hand, with the rich earldoms of Northampton and Huntingdon.</p> + +<p>The haughty Judith scorned the alliance, and stripped of rank and power, +retired to the wilds of Yorkshire in obscurity and contempt.</p> + +<p>The bitter tears occasioned by the melancholy fate of Agatha and Edwin, +were fresh upon the cheek of Maude, when the heavy tidings of her father’s +cruel death, overwhelmed her in a tide of deeper anguish. A lingering +illness followed, yet sweet dreams stole ever upon her rest, and the +watchful Adela comprehended, that transported to the home of her +childhood, in the gaiety of life’s early morn, she trod again the breezy +upland, and fragrant glade, wandered through wood and wold, with Edwin by +her side, or sitting by the star-lit fountain, challenged the nightingale +from out the leafy holt, with snatches of Runic rhyme, and Saxon melody. +But young life combating disease,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> slowly led her back from the gates of +the grave. One by one the bright visions faded, and sadly her eyes +unclosed to a consciousness of the dark realities before her.</p> + +<p>William had determined that the hand of the beautiful heiress of +Huntingdon, should compensate the pliant Simon for the mortifying refusal +of her stepmother. The betrothal was to take place directly on the +Conqueror’s arrival in Normandy, but the happy oblivion of Maude, no less +than the entreaties of Adela, and the menacing of Robert served to delay +the doom they could not finally avert.</p> + +<p>William had subdued the rebel province of Maine, and moved by the +declining health, and incessant pleading of his beloved Queen, had +accorded to his refractory son a full pardon for his late rebellion, +“promising at the same time, to grant him everything that he could expect +from the affection of a father consistently with the duty of a king.”</p> + +<p>Thus peace was restored throughout the Conqueror’s dominions, and the +royal family happy in their reunion, kept merry Christmas in the capital +city of Rouen.</p> + +<p>“Sweet sister mine,” said Robert to Adela, as she sat engaged upon the +famous Bayeux tapestry, “pray leave the royal nose of our valiant sire, +which thou hast punctured and cross-stitched, till verily it seems to +bleed beneath thy fingers, and lend an ear to thy brother’s words.”</p> + +<p>“Now, gramercy! Curthose,” said Adela, laughing, “thou must have a +distinct impression of thy noble father’s visage, since thou canst not +distinguish his nose from the ‘fiery train’ of the terrific comet.”</p> + +<p>“Nay,” said Robert, taking up the simile, “the Conqueror’s fiery train in +England, has wrought more terror than all the comets since the days of +Julius Cæsar, as the inhabitants of York will testify; but come, lay aside +that odious tapestry, I have other work for thy skilful fingers.”</p> + +<p>“My duteous brother would, perhaps, employ them in puncturing his noble +sire, at the field of Archembraye, but a maiden’s needle wounds less +deeply than a warrior’s sword,” said Adela, archly.</p> + +<p>“Certes, thy tongue is sharper than thy needle,” said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> Robert, reddening, +“and thine eyes outdo thy tongue. On the field of Archembraye I did but +wound my father’s arm, while one bright shaft from thine eyes has pierced +Count Stephen’s heart.”</p> + +<p>“Methinks a heart so vulnerable, should be clad in armor,” said Adela, +reddening in her turn.</p> + +<p>“Thy woman’s wit doth run before my speech and prophesy my errand,” said +Robert. “The Count Stephen, of Blois, bids me entreat the fair Adela to +bind him in <i>ring armor</i>, that the friend of Robert may be his brother in +arms.”</p> + +<p>“<i>He</i> bids thee!” said Adela, dropping the embroidery. “Is the count, +then, in Rouen?”</p> + +<p>“Even so, bien amie,” replied Robert. “Hast thou not marked a noble figure +entering the church at twilight, and emerging at sunrise, his regards bent +upon the ground except, perchance, when he steals a glance at my charming +sister, accompanying her mother to matins or vespers.”</p> + +<p>“In truth, I marked such a youth,” said Adela, blushing, “but wherefore +frequents he not the court?”</p> + +<p>“He holds his vigil of arms till twelfth day,” replied Robert, “and the +Conqueror has promised, that ere the Yule-clog, as Atheling calls it, has +ceased to burn, he will himself lay the accolade of knighthood upon the +shoulder of the young count. ’Tis my father’s wish that his children +assist at the ceremony.”</p> + +<p>“My father’s wish!” said Adela, in a tone of deep surprise.</p> + +<p>“Certes, sweet,” replied her brother, “thinkest thou the Conqueror sees +not the white flocks that range the green pastures of Blois, that he hears +not the sound of the busy looms of Chartres, and loves not the sparkling +wine, that flows from the blushing vineyards of Champaigne?”</p> + +<p>“Robert, thou hast broken my needle,” said Adela, striving confusedly to +hide from the penetrating eyes of her brother, the influence which these +considerations exercised over her own ambitious heart.</p> + +<p>“I have broken thy needle of wool, that thou mightst<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> thread a finer with +floss of silk to embroider the scarf for thy gallant knight,” said Robert, +rising to withdraw. Adela followed him to the antechamber, and dismissing +the attendants, concerted with him the arrangements for the pageant.</p> + +<p>Scarcely confessing to herself the sweet hopes that for the first time +agitated her bosom, she quitted the joustings and maskings of the +holidays, and passed the festive season in the privacy of her own +apartment, where assisted only by the faithful Maude, she wrought upon +Tyrian purple the golden lions of Chartres, budded the shining damask with +the fleur de lis of Champagne, and sewed the embroidered field azure with +the pearly crescent of Blois. The deep tones of the turret clock tolling +the midnight hour broke the stillness that reigned through the castle, +just as Adela severed the last silken thread from the embroidery frame, +and held up the gorgeous baldric in the light of the lamp before the +admiring gaze of her friend.</p> + +<p>“Hush!” said Maude, placing her finger on Adela’s lip to repress a joyous +exclamation, “we have a proverb in the north that, ‘finished works bring +prophetic dreams.’—Hasten to seek thy pillow, but beware thy glance +wander not from yon bright star that even now glimmers through the +casement. Breathe not a word while I wreathe the silken scarf in the folds +of thy canopy, and whisper the mystic charm of the morthwyrtha.” With an +incredulous smile Adela obeyed, and dismissing the tire-women, Maude left +her to her solitary slumbers. The sun had scarce risen when Maude again +entered the apartment.</p> + +<p>“The visions of the future have visited thy rest,” said she, glancing +inquiringly at the thoughtful countenance of the princess.</p> + +<p>“Question me not,” replied Adela, “a promise and a fear have bewildered +me—coming years can alone explain the mystery.”</p> + +<p>The great hall of the palace was fitted up for a brilliant ceremony. All +the knights and nobles, bishops and clergy of Normandy, and the adjacent +provinces, arrayed in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> most gorgeous vestments of their several +orders, with high-born dames and blushing maidens, sparkling in jewelry, +lined the apartment, at the upper end of which stood the family of the +Conqueror, beside an altar covered with cloth of gold.</p> + +<p>The young princes Robert and William after attending Count Stephen to the +bath clothed him in white garments, and covered him with a crimson cloak, +the one symbolical of the purity of his soul, the other of his +determination to shed his blood in the cause of heaven. Arrayed in this +simple garb, after the celebration of the high mass, he entered the hall +and approaching the altar, presented his sword to the bishop, who blessed +and consecrated it to the service of religion and virtue.</p> + +<p>Lanfranc then addressed him thus. “Thou seekest, Count of Blois, to become +a knight—thou art of noble birth—of liberal gifts and high in +courage.—Thou must be strong in danger—secret in councils—patient in +difficulties—powerful against enemies—prudent in deeds. Lay thy hand +upon this holy missal, and swear to observe the following rules.” And +Stephen laid his hand upon the clasped volume, and repeated slowly, after +the priest.</p> + +<p>“I do solemnly promise and swear to spare neither my blood nor my life in +defence of the Catholic faith,—to aid all widows and orphans—to protect +the innocent and oppressed—to be humble in all things—to speak the truth +from the heart—to seek the welfare of my vassals—to regard the rights of +my sovereign—and to live righteously before God and man.”</p> + +<p>Then rising from his knees and throwing off his cloak the neophyte stood +with his head reverently inclined toward the priest, while Prince William +buckled on the spurs of knighthood, and Edgar Atheling fastened the +greaves, and Robert belted the corselet; gracefully he sank upon his knee, +when Maude advancing adjusted the helmet upon his closely curling locks, +and Constance presented the spear with its drooping pennon; but his head +bowed in conscious devotion, and the warm blood glowed eloquently on his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +manly cheek, while Adela, the lady of his love, tremulous with agitation, +passed the scarf about his neck—fitted the silken folds across his +breast, and belted the jewelled knot upon the ivory sheath of his sword.</p> + +<p>Appareled in his splendid armor the young count took the consecrated +weapon from the altar, and presenting it to the king, knelt before the +throne while the monarch rose and laid upon his shoulder three gentle +blows, saying in a voice whose deep tones echoed to the farthest end of +the hall, “In the name of St. Michael, and St. Stephen, I make thee +knight. Be loyal, bold and true.”</p> + +<p>Following the example of the Conqueror, each knight advanced a step, drew +his sword from the sheath, and while the hall gleamed with the flash of +burnished steel, the man of God again took up the word, blessing him who +had newly undertaken, and those who had long been engaged in holy warfare, +and praying that all the hosts of the enemies of heaven, might be +destroyed by christian chivalry.</p> + +<p>The trumpets sounded without, and the knights thronging around their +brother in arms, conducted him to the court below, where vaulting upon +their steeds, they rode through the admiring crowds, among whom Stephen +scattered largesses with a liberal hand.</p> + +<p>The banquet over, a gallant train of mounted knights and ladies emerged +from the wooded park and wound along the banks of the Seine. There was +rare sport that day, when the fox broke cover, and the hounds darted away +upon his track, and the curveting steeds bounded over the crisp green +sward, in the wild excitement of the chase; but the proud barb of Stephen +obedient to the rein, curved his glossy neck and moved with lofty step, by +the dappled palfrey of Adela, while the young knight whispered words that +the princess loved to hear; and thus in sweet converse the day wore away, +and when the solemn night came on, beneath the blue cope of heaven, while +the stars gazed from their sapphire thrones and the river mingled its low +music with the murmur of their voices, Adela plighted her troth to Stephen +Count of Blois.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>But a ceremonial more joyous than a betrothal—more solemn than a burial, +occasioned the removal of the court to Feschamp.</p> + +<p>From the day of Harold’s death, Cicely his betrothed, devoted herself to +the cloister. Her father had bestowed a princely dower upon the convent of +her choice, and fixed the day of her profession upon the high festival of +Easter. At the close of the lenten fast, she quitted the scene of her +childish pleasures, gazed a last adieu on the hills, vales and streams, +over which the early spring of that bright climate was casting its mellow +sheen—distributed alms among the mendicant crowds that thronged her +route, and bade a kind farewell to the multitudes, that flocked from every +village and hamlet, to invoke the blessing of heaven upon her holy +purpose.</p> + +<p>Adela stood again in the old abbey of Feschamp, listening to the joyous +sound of the matin chime, but neither the happy associations awakened by +the place and hour, nor the warm breath of early love could charm the +sadness from her heart.</p> + +<p>She had entered the dark cloister, and conducted Cicely from her weary +vigil beside the holy relics, to wreathe her dark locks with jewels and +gold, and array her fair form for the last time in the garb of a princess. +With the selfishness of affection, she suffered none but Maude to share +the pious task.</p> + +<p>Fast fell her tears as the whispered sounds of her sister’s devotions +forced upon her an appalling sense of the final separation.</p> + +<p>The convent bell had scarce ceased its summons, ere a splendid concourse +filled the galleries, and thronged the aisles of the Abbey to witness the +holy bridal.</p> + +<p>Proudly and painfully beat the heart of the king, as his saintly daughter +leaned upon his breast—twined her soft arms lovingly about his neck—and +imprinted her last kiss upon his cheek; but sympathetic tenderness +overmastered all other emotions, as with gentle force he drew her from the +last fond embrace of her weeping mother, and the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>convulsive clasp of the +almost frantic Adela, and resigned her in all her youthful beauty, to be +immured in a living tomb. Her three young sisters less grieved at the +parting, than pleased with the pageant, with hasty adieus prepared to take +their place in the ceremony.</p> + +<p>With a light step nicely modulated to the soft chanting of the nuns, the +little Adeliza bearing a jewelled crucifix, led the procession, followed +by Constance and Gundred, each carrying a lighted taper and bearing +between them a lily-shaped basket of wrought silver, containing the vestal +habit and veil which they laid upon the altar.</p> + +<p>At the solemn call of the bishop, the fair Cicely entered, prepared as a +bride adorned for her husband, and supported by the matron sisters passed +up the long aisle, her white robes like a gathering mist floating about +her fragile form, and her calm and serene countenance, beaming with such +angelic sweetness from beneath the gossamer wreath which ornamented her +head, that to Maude’s fanciful vision she seemed already crowned with the +radiant halo of the saints. A brilliant burst of jubilant melody, pealing +from the organ, accompanied the nuns in their welcoming hymn, “O Gloriosa +Virginium,” and a breathless silence pervaded the holy courts as the soft +voice of Cicely responded. “Receive me, oh Lord! according to thy holy +word.”</p> + +<p>Kneeling before the bishop she begged his benediction and the name of +Cecilia her patron-saint. The reverend Father gave her the consecrated +name, signed her with the sign of the cross, and sprinkled holy-water upon +her garments.</p> + +<p>The high mass celebrated, and the Kyrie Eleison sung, a waxen taper was +placed in her hand, and seated by the chancel, she listened with devout +attention, while the archbishop portrayed the beatitude of that high +vocation, which had called her from the pomps and vanities of earthly +grandeur, to the durable riches of a heavenly kingdom; from the waning +light of earthly affection to the ineffable love of the immortal +bridegroom;—from the fading lustre of an earthly diadem, to the +changeless glory of an eternal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> crown: and scarcely had he concluded with +the gracious words, “Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou +excellest them all,” when the whole orchestra took up the note of +commendation and “Gloria in Excelsis” sounded through the cloistered +aisles, echoed along the vaulted roof, and breathed to the heart of the +waiting novice the full reality of joy. The sacred vestments were blessed +and replaced in their silver shrine, and the children resuming their +precious burden preceded their sister into an inner, apartment, where busy +nuns disrobed her of her resplendent array,—despoiled her of her costly +ornaments—and one by one shred away her long, bright locks, that never +more might stir a thought of pride.</p> + +<p>The solemn bandeau was bound about her brow, the black serge garment +wrapped about her form, and when she again knelt before the bishop, +saying, “I am the handmaid of Christ,” an ill-suppressed shriek from +Adela, told how changed was her appearance, and how gloomy was the fate +that awaited her—but the votaress saw nothing, heard nothing, save the +sacred mysteries in which she was engaged. Prostrated as if in deep +abasement she lay upon the marble floor, while the choir chanted the +litany; gently she inclined to the abbess, to be bound by the girdle of +humiliation; reverently she bowed her head to receive the veil that should +forever shut the world from her sight; joyfully she accepted the ring that +sealed the irrevocable vow; and while the choir chanted, “Come, oh spouse +of Christ, receive the crown,” a coronal of mingled thorns and roses was +placed upon her head—and Cicely was a nun.</p> + +<p>Loud anthems pealed upward to the swelling dome, and every demonstration +of joy welcomed the bride to her new home.</p> + +<p>The royal guests sat down to a splendid repast in the great hall of the +convent, and nuns and novices shared in the sumptuous entertainment; but +between Cicely and her family was an impassable barrier of an iron +grating, and four thick and cold stone walls separated her forever from +the friends of her youth.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER VI.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“What is’t we live for? tell life’s fairest tale—<br /> +To eat, to drink, to sleep, love, and enjoy,<br /> +And then to love no more!<br /> +To talk of things we know not, and to know<br /> +Nothing but things not worth the talking of.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">Sir R. Fane, Jr.</span></span></td></tr></table> + +<p>“Methinks,” said Adela, as she sat with Maude in the loved twilight +conference, “it were a weary thing, to fast and pray as doth my sister +Cicely, and look forever on those dull, cold images of stone or pictured +saints, whose holiness we can never hope to reach.”</p> + +<p>“Thou thinkest so, dearest, because on the bright scroll of thy future is +pictured a living form glowing with youth and beauty,” said Maude; “but +when death shuts out the light of hope, the pencil of love illumines the +canvass ever with the image of a saint.”</p> + +<p>“I have never seen a Saxon saint but thee, best one,” said Adela, +affectionately kissing her cheek. “Cicely worships the memory of him who +would have wrested the broad realm of England from her father.”</p> + +<p>“And Agatha died for one who loved that father,” said Maude, half +reproachfully.</p> + +<p>“I cannot read aright the riddle of life,” replied Adela, pensively, “less +still the riddle of love. Doth not the heart seek happiness as the flower +seeks the light? yet what men call the ‘ends life lives for,’ wealth and +power and dominion, terminate in discontent, despair, and death. No duke +of Normandy, since the days of Rou, hath been so successful as William the +Conqueror, yet the meanest serf is happier than he: and this love that +makes my heart flutter like a joyous bird, has consigned our Agatha to an +early grave—immured Cicely in the abhorrent convent—and,” she added, +with a deprecating glance, “has plucked the last pale rose from the cheek +of my lovely Maude.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>“Thou speakest thus because thou knowest neither life nor love,” replied +the maiden. “Thou deemest wisely that a lofty purpose must call the strong +man to effort, else lying dormant would his faculties perish with the rust +of inactivity. Our pious bishop, Aldred, used to say; that any purpose so +holy as not to need evil means to work its ends, like the consecration of +the wafer, brings to the human soul the <i>real presence</i> of Christ.”</p> + +<p>“Thy riddle is too deep for my poor wit,” said Adela. “Tell me of the love +I know not—thy love.”</p> + +<p>“Thou fanciest thou lovest Count Stephen,” said Maude, with a sigh, “but +should he plight his love to another, thou wouldst regard him with hate +and scorn.”</p> + +<p>“Aye, verily,” replied Adela, her cheeks glowing, and her dark eye +flashing, at the thought.</p> + +<p>“So loved not Maude Earl Edwin. Thy father bade him give his hand to +Agatha, and when I marked the undivided current of their lives, flowing on +in a stream of bliss, Ambition and Hope were quenched in my heart, but +Love went forth to light their pathway, and gilds with heavenly radiance +their early tomb.”</p> + +<p>“Maude!” exclaimed Adela, enthusiastically, “thou wert not formed for this +sinful world; thou shouldst dwell with the angels, for verily thou art one +of them.”</p> + +<p>“Commend me not,” said Maude, “thou little knowest the bitter repinings of +my heart when I heard I might not enter the convent with Cicely, nor how +my soul recoils from this unnatural alliance with Simon.”</p> + +<p>“And thou wouldst rather kneel upon the cold stone floor, and scourge thy +tender flesh with knotted cords, than live almost a princess in thy merrie +England!” said Adela, with unaffected surprise.</p> + +<p>“Nay, rather would I work a weary pilgrimage to Palestine, and dwell an +eremite in the lonely caves of Engaddi, had choice been left with me,” +answered Maude.</p> + +<p>“A pilgrimage were not so sad a fate,” said Adela; “the marvellous tales +with which thou didst beguile my childhood hours, so wrought upon my +fancy, that even to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> this day the very name of Jerusalem calls up visions +bright as the bowers of Eden. Never have I wondered that pilgrims flocked +to the Holy Land when they deemed the thousand years of prophecy +accomplished, and expected to witness the azure gates unfolding above the +holy sepulchre, and the Saviour descending upon the Mount of Olives amid +all the terrific splendor of the final judgment.”</p> + +<p>“Scarce a century since,” sighed Maude, “men looked for this heavenly +kingdom, and verily believed they found in prophecy the confirmation of +their hopes. My grandsire died upon the banks of the Jordan earnestly +expecting the coming of his Lord.”</p> + +<p>“There is a flash of spears in the moonbeams,” interrupted Adela, gazing +from the arrow-slit of the turret. “Seest thou not a troop of horse, +winding along the brow of the hill? Eye and heart alike deceive me if that +be not Count Stephen’s plume. Methought, ere this, he had reached the +borders of Maine. And there is Robert by his side. Our lady grant their +coming bode no ill.”</p> + +<p>“They pass beneath the shadow of the castle,” said Maude. “They are not +all mounted. Those men on foot, in the garb of friars, how wearily they +follow, leaning upon their long staves.”</p> + +<p>“They are pilgrims!” exclaimed the maidens with one voice. “Let us descend +to welcome them.”</p> + +<p>Prince Henry met them in the corridor. “Count Stephen has returned,” said +he, “and awaits my sister in the tapestry chamber.”</p> + +<p>“Come with me, Beauclerk,” said Maude, leading away the young prince. +“Thou shalt conduct me to these holy pilgrims.”</p> + +<p>“Adela,” said Stephen, kissing the hand of his affianced as she entered, +“thou art surprised, but I hope not ill-pleased at this unlooked-for +return.”</p> + +<p>“I feared me some mischance had occasioned it,” said Adela, “but seeing +thee well, I am happy—yet wherefore art thou come?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>“Thy brother, Robert,” replied Stephen, “vouchsafed to escort me with +twenty lances to the town of mantes—but when we reached the banks of +Eure, we found the bridges swept away, and the fords rendered impassable +by the swollen waters. A band of pilgrims were encamped upon the other +side, and at the sight of the Norman pennon, they sent forth a piteous cry +for aid. We swam our steeds across the turgid stream, and each horseman +mounting a palmer behind him, we brought them safely over. And what was my +joy to find I had thus rendered some slight service to Ingulfus, the early +tutor of my loved Adela.”</p> + +<p>“Our lady be praised, the good Ingulfus has returned. His pupil then shall +thank his benefactor as she ought.”</p> + +<p>“He is wayworn and weary,” pursued Stephen, “much toil hath he had in his +long pilgrimage, and precious are the relics he has brought from +Palestine. I craved from his gratitude a portion of the holy dust, for thy +oratory. Should danger threaten the unworthy Stephen, the prayers of +Adela, at such a shrine, would doubtless avail for his protection.”</p> + +<p>The princess started, and the color fluctuated on her cheek, as with a +look of surprise and recognition she regarded the beautiful crystal urn, +with its amethystine entablature, on which were engraven the names of +Adela and Stephen.</p> + +<p>“Dost reject my gift, or hath some sudden illness seized thee?” said her +lover, anxiously, remarking her strange emotion.</p> + +<p>“A silly dream—a passing faintness,” said Adela, convulsively grasping +the urn, and pressing her pale lips upon the inscription. “The hour wears +late, to-morrow we will meet again.”</p> + +<p>The young count imprinted a kiss upon her cold brow, and supporting her +trembling steps to the antechamber, consigned her to the care of her +attendants.</p> + +<p>When the lovers met the following morning in the chapel to which all the +inhabitants of the city repaired, to see the high altar decked with the +palms of the pilgrims, and join<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> in the general thanksgiving for their +return, all traces of agitation had disappeared from the countenance of +Adela. Relieved from his jealous fears, Count Stephen basked in the +sunshine of her smiles, and protracted his stay during the festivities +consequent upon the affiancing of Constance with Alan, Count of Bretagne. +The young bride was dowered with the lands of Chester, once the possession +of the unfortunate Earl Edwin. And William, at the same time, accorded his +approbation to the love of Stephen and Adela. Every heart seemed filled +with gaiety. Entertainment succeeded entertainment. The days were occupied +with joustings, hunting, hawking, feats of archery and tournaments; the +evenings were spent in games of hazard, or whiled away in listening to the +wondrous tales of Ingulfus.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER VII.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Some upon penance for their sins,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In person, or by attorney;</span><br /> +And some who were or had been sick;<br /> +And some who thought to cheat Old Nick;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And some who liked the journey;</span><br /> +And the staff was bored and drilled for those<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who on a flute could play;</span><br /> +And thus the merry Pilgrim had<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His music on the way.”</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">Southey.</span></span></td></tr></table> + +<p>“On my return to Caen with the remains of my dear lady Agatha,” said +Ingulfus, “I abandoned all thoughts of pilgrimage, till learning that the +clergy of Germany had determined upon a visit to the Holy Land, the desire +to worship at the tomb of the Saviour, returned again so strong upon me, +that I was induced to unite with a Norman troop, which joined the company +of the archbishop at Mentz. We were a goodly band,” continued he, “out of +every nation, kindred, tongue and people, of the Latin world—and heaven +that moved us to this expiation of our sins, opened before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> us the way, +and provided for our sustenance, both in the castles of princes, and in +the cottages of peasants.</p> + +<p>“The monasteries, of which many have been founded by pious men throughout +all Germany, furnished resting-places for the weary, and hospitals for the +sick. When we entered upon the kingdom of Hungary, which is ‘a +well-watered and fruitful country,’ we found a strange people, whose +nobles and warriors indeed live in walled towns, and castles strongly +fortified among the rocks; but the common people, for the most part, dwell +in tents like Abraham of old, and feed their flocks and herds upon the +banks of the streams. These be the people, which the holy fathers thought +were the Gog and Magog of sacred writ, and truly they came like a storm +into Europe, and like a cloud they covered the land—both they and their +bands. And because the time of their coming was near the end of the +thousand years prophesied by St. John, many wise men did say, that they +were the signs and forerunners of the end of the world. Howbeit since the +end is not yet, there be not many at the present which hold this +doctrine.”</p> + +<p>“Are there not some who say, that Gog and Magog are the heresies which vex +the church?” inquired Robert.</p> + +<p>“Even so,” said Ingulfus; “but such are not led by the true and manifest +words of Scripture, but following ‘cunningly devised fables’ have +explained away even the promises of God. Now that these are the people is +proved, in that they came from Persia and from the north quarters, and the +name in which they most delight is Magyar, which plainly agreeth to Magog, +and whosoever shall dwell in the latter days, will see ‘wars and rumors of +wars’ in Hungary, according to my judgment. I have learned many things +concerning them; for either for my sins, or the badness of the roads, the +beast on which I rode fell lame, and therefore was I forced to leave the +horsemen, and follow on foot, supporting the weariness of the way with +pilgrim’s staff. Among us were those, who from fear and love of adventure, +and not from devotion, had undertaken the pilgrimage. Their vain talk and +godless manners troubled me sore.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> There was one who having inserted a +shepherd’s reed in his staff, played thereon and sang with his voice, not +the pious psalms of the church, but the unholy madrigals of the sinful and +profane. And for that he saw it pleased me not, he delighted in it the +more, and walked by my side, and when I could not rid myself of his +company, I questioned him concerning his history.</p> + +<p>“He was an Anglo-Dane of the north countrie, a born thrall of Earl Edwin, +and had led a roving life from his youth. This man, whose name was +Hardrager, was the false vassal who betrayed the young noble, and received +from the justice of the Conqueror, the sentence of perpetual imprisonment. +But the princes of this world are often compelled to use unworthy +instruments in carrying forward their plans. When your royal father deemed +it expedient for the peace of the realm to punish the treason of Earl +Waltheof, and no man was willing to become his executioner, Hardrager +purchased free pardon by beheading him.”</p> + +<p>“It was well he sought to expiate his offences by a pilgrimage,” said +Adela.</p> + +<p>“Nay,” said Ingulfus, “no thought of true penitence had ever entered his +mind. Instead of profiting by the clemency of his sovereign, he applied +himself anew to wicked practices, pursuing the hare and slaughtering the +deer in the New Forest; till finally having suffered the loss of an ear +for his crimes, and still continuing to set at naught the game laws, he +was condemned to death; but as if the Almighty had raised him up for a +‘thorn in the flesh’ to his servants, Hardrager again escaped his doom. It +pleased your noble sire, when he founded Battle Abbey, on the field of +Hastings, and appointed monks to pray for the souls of the slain, to grant +to the Abbot the power of showing mercy to the guilty. It chanced +accordingly when Hardrager was drawn from his dungeon, and carried toward +the gibbet, that the worthy Abbot meeting the cart, caused the procession +to stop, and moved with pity for the criminal revoked his sentence, and +laid on him the penance of pilgrimage. Hardrager lost no time in quitting +England, and found means to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> join our company, upon the banks of the +Rhine. He seemed well provided with purse and scrip, and often on days of +fasting, purchased an indulgence from the bishop for himself and other +vain persons, to regale themselves with meat and wine; and yet he seemed +not to be without a sense of sin, and a certain reverence for the commands +of the church. He rose early, and performed his devotions with the most +scrupulous regularity, and every night scourged his naked shoulders with a +knotted lash; and when I looked for a reformation in his life from this +wholesome discipline, he told me he did not that for his own sins, but for +the sins of another, who furnished him money for the expedition; for, by +reason of his poverty, he had engaged to work out a three years’ penance, +that had been imposed on his benefactor; and he added, with a light laugh, +‘I can better endure the smarting of my flesh by voluntary flagellation, +than the loss of it by Compulsory abstinence.’”</p> + +<p>“By St. Stephen,” exclaimed Robert, laughing, “the cunning knave is the +true scape-goat of Scripture. It were no bad thought thus to expiate our +sins by the vicarious suffering of some poor wretch.”</p> + +<p>“Heaven forefend,” said Stephen, “that we should be compelled to raise our +own exchequer by such means.”</p> + +<p>“The indulgences and requisitions of the church,” gravely continued +Ingulfus, “are too often perverted. I thank our blessed lady, who rather +than continue me in the society of this wicked one, laid me upon a bed of +sickness. For many days, I had with difficulty continued my journey, but +Hardrager, who seemed insensible to fatigue, supported me by his strong +arm, till coming to the lands of a powerful Hungarian, whose flocks and +herds covered the hill-side for many a league, we fell behind the other +pilgrims, and my weariness increasing upon me, I sank exhausted and +senseless upon the ground. What was my surprise when my consciousness +returned, to feel myself upborne in the arms of Hardrager, who was +attempting to place me upon the back of a horse which he had stolen from +the adjoining<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> pasture, and bridled with the scourge that he wore about +his loins. ‘Cheer up, holy father,’ said he, ‘heaven has sent thee help in +time of trouble. I will walk by thy side, and we will soon prove to yonder +heartless drones that the last shall be first.’ In reply to my +remonstrance, he added, with a misbelieving smile, ‘Nay, is it not +written, “The wealth of the wicked is laid up for the just,” yon savage +Magyar may rejoice in the happy chance which enables him to send a +substitute to the holy city.’</p> + +<p>“Upon my positive refusal to mount, he stood for a moment irresolute, and +then, with a smile, ’twixt jest and earnest, fell upon one knee before me, +saying, ‘Gra’mercy, good monk, I would crave thy blessing and absolution +for this sin ere we part, for since thou wilt not accept the bounty of +heaven, I must e’en take it myself.’ Observing my hesitation, he rose +hastily, saying, ‘It boots not, ’tis but a few lashes more, and my +shoulders are well able to bear them. Adieu, holy father, I grieve that +thy conscience stands in the way of thy advancement,’ and springing upon +the restive beast, he was away with the swiftness of the wind.”</p> + +<p>“Nay, methinks I should have been less scrupulous,” said William, +laughing. “The fellow’s dexterity merited absolution.”</p> + +<p>Ingulfus resumed, “Sick and alone, and much cast down in spirit, I +stretched myself upon the grass, and looked only for death, but He who +suffers not even a sparrow to fall without his notice, had compassion upon +me, and sent a good Samaritan to my relief. Korshah, the noble Magyar, +returning from the chase, came where I was, and seeing my low estate, gave +his servants charge concerning me, to convey me to his own castle, where I +tarried for above the space of a month, till my bruised feet were healed, +and my broken health restored.”</p> + +<p>“It was a deed of Christian charity. I would fain learn something of this +strange people,” said Adela; “do they observe the rites of our church?”</p> + +<p>“At the beginning of the present century,” replied Ingulfus, “St. Stephen, +the Alfred of his nation, divided the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> country into seventy-two counties +and twelve bishoprics, but though the people have submitted to baptism, +and observe the sacred canons, yet there prevails among them a strange +mixture of barbarian fables, with the truths of holy writ; and their +language is for the most part colored with the extravagant, but beautiful +expressions of the Orientals. And because my mind was intent upon the +prophecies, and I would know concerning Gog and Magog and the chief +princes of Mesech and Tubal, I questioned the noble Magyar of his country +and the people of his ancient land. ‘My people,’ said he, ‘are numerous as +the stars of night, and countless as the drops of falling showers. The +smallest twig of yonder elm, that throws its shadow across the valley, is +greater when compared with its trunk, than is the Hungarian branch, in +comparison with the Scythian tree, whose roots strike deep into the soil +of China, and whose boughs overshadow the Alps—extend beyond the sea of +darkness on the north, and distil dews upon the broad and fruitful regions +of Persia and Cathay. Beyond the possessions of our tribes to the +eastward,’ he continued, ‘may no man go; for a desert and a land of +darkness lasts from that coast, unto terrestrial Paradise. There are the +mountains and hills which arose from Noah’s flood, when the soft and +tender ground was worn away by the waters, and fell and became valleys. +Paradise is the highest part of the world, so high that it touches the +borders of the moon. And there by a radiant way through the gates of the +morning the angels were wont to descend to commune with our first parents; +but that way was closed that Lucifer might return no more to the regions +of light after he had tempted them, and thus with them was he driven forth +from the garden. And Eve carried in her hand the seeds of the apple which +she had given unto her husband, and wherever she wandered she cast them +into the earth, and shed her tears upon them, and they sprang up and bore +fruit, some good and some evil, and from those seeds came every green tree +and herb that grow upon the earth. And this garden is enclosed all about +by a wall, which seems not to be of natural<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> stone—and the gate is of +carbuncle flashing, with an incredible splendor, and shooting on every +side its beams like flaming swords. Wherefore some visionary ones said it +was fire, and many became worshippers thereof. And in the highest place in +Paradise, exactly in the midst, is a well that casts out four streams, +which run by divers lands throughout all the earth, and above the fountain +of the streams, the four princes of the stars weave the semblances of what +shall be, and cast them upon the waters, and whithersoever these flow +there entereth a spirit into the nation or the people that dwell upon the +banks, and they go forth conquering and to conquer. And thus were the +tribes of Asia inspired to go toward the west, and establish their domain +in Europe. Therefore wise men do study the stars, and read in the scroll +of heaven the will of the Invisible. And all the sweet waters in the world +above and beneath, take their rise from the well of Paradise. The drops of +the morning-dew are gendered there, and thither the clouds return after +the rain. There the light zephyrs gather rich odors under their wings, and +from thence carry them abroad upon all the face of the earth, and give to +every flower its perfume. And because of the abundance of precious things +that are found therein, many have entered these rivers and essayed to pass +by that land of chaos unto Paradise, but they might not speed in their +voyage; for many died of weariness, by reason of rowing against the strong +waves, and many were dashed in pieces against the dark rocks. And many +vessels bound with iron were drawn aside by the shipman’s stone, and held +that they might never go thence.’ I inquired concerning this stone,” said +Ingulfus, “and he told me there were in the eastern seas ‘certain rocks of +adamant which attract iron; and that men would break off pieces, and +suspend them by a thread, and that one point thereof would turn to the +north, and another to the south; and he said also that there are two stars +fixed in the heavens, about which all the firmament turns as a wheel upon +an axle. He said, moreover, that the earth and sea are of a round form, +and that by this stone many mariners<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> have passed the whole compass of the +earth, and come again to the same point whence they set out. And these be +not half the things that he told me, and there is none of them all but +have some reason and understanding in them, and some good points of our +belief. But though this man was both learned and devout, it grieved me to +see in him the remains of his ancient superstition, for he was accustomed +to worship before a hideous idol. And when he knew I was grieved +concerning the thing, he said he worshipped not the image, but the virtue +which was in it, even as we have images of our Lady and of the saints, +which we set before us, to keep their holiness in mind. Howbeit the man +showed me no little kindness; and when I was sufficiently recovered, he +furnished me with a strong, well-appointed horse, replenished my purse, +and accompanied me to the next town on my journey.</p> + +<p>“I had hard riding to overtake my companions, which I should have failed +in doing, had they not rested in Constantinople.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>“This city was first called Byzantium, which name is still preserved in +the imperial money called byzants. It was by divine suggestion that its +appellation was changed. For when Constantine the Great was pursuing his +victorious course to the east, he lodged in that place; and in his dream +he saw, and behold there stood before him an old woman, whose brow was +furrowed with age; but presently clad in an imperial robe, she was +transformed into a beautiful girl, and fascinated his eyes by the elegance +of her youthful charms—and he waked and slept again; and there came one +unto him and said, ‘The woman thou sawest is this city worn down by age, +whose walls thou shalt restore, and whose beauty shall signalize thy name +to the end of time. Mount thy horse and give him the rein, to go +whithersoever he will. Take the royal spear in thy hand, and its point +shall describe the circuit of the wall upon the ground.’</p> + +<p>“The Emperor eagerly obeyed the vision, and employed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> the most skilful +architects in building the city. By casting in masses of rock and sand, +they straitened the ancient waters, and thus the sea wonders to see fields +unknown before amid its glassy waves, and surrounds and supplies the city +with all the conveniences of the earth. Constantine erected there the +circus, statues of triumphal heroes, and tripods from Delphi. And all the +saints whose bodies he was able to collect out of every country, were +brought thither. In Constantinople is the fairest and noblest church in +the world, called St. Sophia. It is of a circular form, domed in, and +supported with pillars of gold and silver, hung about by lamps of the same +precious metal. High mass is offered there on a different altar each day +in the year. In its innermost part on the north side, is a large and +beautiful apartment, wherein is a chest containing three pieces of our +Lord’s cross. Three times in a year this chest is brought out into the +nave of the church, and placed upon a golden altar, where all the people +are permitted to worship it. Howbeit I saw it not, which thing is a grief +of mind to me. And they say concerning this cross, that when Adam was +about to die, Seth went unto the angel that kept Paradise, to beg the oil +of mercy for his father. But the angel gave him only three grains of the +tree of life. And Seth buried them in the grave of Adam, and from these +grains sprang up three trees, and from these were fashioned the cross on +which our Saviour was crucified, as is contained in these words, ‘<i>In +cruci fit palma cypressus oliva</i>.’ Thus from the death of Adam came life +into the world. And when our Lord had risen from the dead, the Jews moved +with envy, took the crosses from Mount Calvary, and hid them in the earth. +And thus St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, who was descended from the +ancient kings of Britain, found them; and when she could not distinguish +the cross of the Saviour from those of the thieves, she caused a dead body +to be laid upon them, and when it touched the true cross it arose. St. +Helena caused these relics to be conveyed to Constantinople; but the cross +of Dismas the good thief, was carried to Cyprus, and men worship it +there.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> There also she found the Saviour’s seamless coat, and the four +nails that pierced his hands and feet; and of one of these the Emperor +made a bridle for his horse to carry him in battle, and thereby he +overcame all his enemies, and reigned from Persia to the British Sea. They +showed me also a part of the crown of our Lord, made of the branches of +Aubespine; and I had one of those precious thorns given to me as a great +favor, and it hath this virtue; that whosoever beareth it about him, is +secure from thunder and from tempest, and from the malevolence of evil +spirits and demons. We tarried long at Constantinople, for there were many +wonderful things to be seen. Every year the birthday of Jesus is +celebrated with rejoicings; and on these occasions one may behold +representatives of all the nations that inhabit different parts of the +world; and the common people are amused with surprising feats of jugglery +and dexterous motions of wild beasts, and birds of prey that have been +trained to fight each other. And the Emperor entertained the bishops right +royally in the palace of the Blaquernel, in feasts and games, and gave +them gifts of gold and silver, rich apparel and costly jewels, so that +they were in no haste to depart, and many of the mixed multitudes that +followed with us, remained there, and entered the service of the Emperor.”</p> + +<p>Ingulfus was surprised the following day in the midst of his studies, by a +secret visit from Adela.</p> + +<p>“I am come,” said she, “to obtain of thee, the precious thorn from the +crown of our Lord.”</p> + +<p>The countenance of Ingulfus indicated at once his reluctance to part with +the inestimable relic, and his strong desire to gratify the princess.</p> + +<p>“Nay,” said she, observing his hesitation, “I know its value, and am +prepared to reward thee at whatsoever cost.”</p> + +<p>“Though it may have been the practice of some unworthy palmers, to trade +in relics,” said Ingulfus, “I cannot make merchandise of that which +pierced the brow of my blessed Lord. It is thine without money, and +without price.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>Tears of gratitude beamed in Adela’s eyes. “Good father,” she answered, “I +know right well, that by reason of thy holiness thou art safe from sudden +danger, and therefore thou canst not need this talisman as does thy +unworthy pupil; yet it grieves me to take without recompense that which is +so dear to thee. Is there no gift in the power of Adela which Ingulfus +would accept?”</p> + +<p>“Thy father hath sometime suggested,” returned the friar, modestly, “that +he would reward my poor services with a benefice. It would please me well, +to spend the few short days that remain unto me, in England. Near the +monastery of Croyland was I born, and within the shelter of its walls +would I die.”</p> + +<p>“Trust me for the accomplishment of thy wish,” said Adela, bowing her head +for his benediction. Then wrapping the holy thorn in a piece of silver +tissue, and placing it in her bosom, she departed.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER VIII.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“When thou shalt see an old man bent beneath<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The burden of his earthly punishment,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Forgive him, Thalaba!</span><br /> +Yea, send a prayer to God in his behalf!”—<span class="smcap">Southey.</span></td></tr></table> + +<p class="center">INGULFUS’ STORY, CONTINUED.</p> + +<p>From Constantinople we proceeded across the Bosphorus through Asia Minor. +Our route was tedious in the extreme, and after we entered upon the +territory of the Infidels, we were continually harassed by flying bands of +Arabs; so that many were slain, and some being driven from the main body +were lost among the mountains, and we saw them no more. At length with +much toil, the pilgrims reached the village of Capernaum, where being +hardly beset by the robbers, they were constrained to tarry, until<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> they +could obtain a safe escort from the Emir at Antioch. Howbeit I only relate +these things as they were told me in Jerusalem; for a strange adventure +separated me from my fellows. There are two fountains, Jor and Dan, which +flowing down from the mountain, are collected into one, and form the +Jordan. When we passed them in our route, I was constrained to linger +among the shepherds, who fed their flocks in the green pastures which +there abound, and several devout persons tarried with me; and on the +morrow, when we had taken our leave, we journeyed on, and straightway we +came to the conflux of these streams,—and when we saw the Jordan, each +man hasted to divest himself of his garments, that he might bathe in that +stream, in which our blessed Lord was baptized. So occupied were we with +the holy ceremony, that we had not observed a band of Arabs, who assailed +us with a shower of stones and javelins, and separated us one from +another. What farther passed I know not, for a blow upon the temple felled +me to the ground, and deprived me of sense.</p> + +<p>When I unclosed my eyes, I thought myself among the fiends of hell; and +feeling for my crucifix, I found myself wrapped in many folds of fine +cloth, in which I was firmly but gently bound. As my senses gradually +returned, I began to note the things about me. The apartment seemed a +long, dark cavern, whose limits I could not distinguish, lighted by a fire +at the farther extremity, round which half clothed, swarthy figures were +engaged in roasting pieces of flesh. Others of the same appearance were +seated upon mats, with a cloth spread before them upon the ground, cutting +the meat with long, crooked knives, or tearing it with their white pointed +teeth, with savage voracity. Apart from the rest, seated upon an elevated +cushion with his legs crossed, was a tall, strong-built man, with hair and +beard white as snow, hanging over his shoulders, and down to his breast. +He took no part with the revellers, but seemed to control by his look +their wild, gibbering talk, to the end that it might not disturb my +slumbers; for through excessive faintness, I seemed only to exist between +sleeping and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> waking. His regards were fixed upon me, and his appearance +recalled a dim recollection which I was vainly striving to trace, when at +a word from him, the whole band disappeared behind an angle in the wall. +The old man then lighted a torch and approached me, carefully removed the +bandage from my head, anointed my wound with sweet-smelling balm, and gave +me to drink of a fiery liquid, which spread like an elixir through my +veins, and seemed instantly to reanimate me. With a smile at my puzzled +look, he plucked away the false beard and hair, and revealed to my +astonished sight, the swarthy countenance of Hardrager.</p> + +<p>“Well met, holy father,” said he, with his wonted laugh. “Hast come to +bring a blessing to the habitation of Hardrager?”</p> + +<p>“Is this thine habitation?” said I. “Then I was not so far wrong in +thinking myself in purgatory!” (for I was ill-pleased with the strange +place and bad company.) “But by what fatal mischance came I hither? Has +the Saviour, for my sins, denied me at last the sight of his holy +sepulchre?” and I sank back in despair.</p> + +<p>“Nay,” said Hardrager, “but for the mischance which thou deplorest, thou +mightest indeed have been in purgatory.”</p> + +<p>“And where am I?” eagerly inquired I.</p> + +<p>“Thou art in the strong-hold of the Old Man of the Mountain, and guarded +by the assassin band of Mount Lebanon,” replied he.</p> + +<p>“The saints preserve me!” said I, ejaculating a prayer.</p> + +<p>“In truth thou showest little gratitude,” said Hardrager, “to one who hath +saved thy life, (thanks to the good Hungarian steed that brought me to thy +rescue). Knowest thou not the proverb? ‘Speak well of the bridge that +carried thee safe over!’”</p> + +<p>Finding from his words, but more especially from the seriousness of his +manner, that this wild man had really undertaken to render me an essential +service, I began to regard him with more complacency, and finally brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +myself to listen with interest to his story. Stung with remorse for his +agency in the death of the noble Saxons, Edwin and Waltheof, he had +determined, as soon as his pilgrimage was accomplished, to join the +Varangians of Constantinople, and make perpetual war upon the conquerors +of England. On his route through Syria, he fell in with a band of Arabs, +wild and reckless like himself, who, scorning allegiance to any leader, +had established themselves among the ruined towers and rocky fortresses of +Mount Lebanon, and thence carried on predatory warfare upon all who +ventured to travel that way. They wore the Mohammedan garb, and observed +some of the institutions of the Koran, but were followers of Ali, uncle of +the prophet. The superior abilities and learning of Hardrager, enabled him +soon to master their language and their tenets, and by the fortunate +solution of some timely mysteries, he impressed them with the belief that +he was the prophet of Allah, and soon brought them to take oath to obey +all his requirements. But though he had thus apostatized from the faith of +his fathers, he retained a copy of the New Testament, and religiously +fulfilled his vows at the holy sepulchre, and with honesty worthy a better +man continued his nightly flagellations. He had instilled into his wild +followers his own hatred of the Norman race, and it was because of this +that they fell upon us with such violence at the Jordan. I should have +perished with my companions, for the Assassins were proceeding to rip open +the bodies of the slain and wounded in search of coin, had not Hardrager +recognized my Saxon countenance and interposed for my rescue. With the +greatest care and tenderness, he had me conveyed in a litter to their +nearest haunt, where, after protracted insensibility, I found myself +stretched upon the couch of skins in the cavern. As soon as I was +sufficiently restored, he mounted me upon the good steed of the Magyar, +which, being unable to walk, I was fain to ride, and accompanied me till +we came in sight of the pilgrims encamped upon the Mount of Olives, for by +his messengers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> Hardrager had intelligence of their movements, and +conducted me by the shortest route to join them.</p> + +<p>“Benedicite, holy father,” said he, as he lifted me gently from the horse, +and reverently inclined before me, “a blessing in the Saxon tongue would +be health to my guilty soul.”</p> + +<p>A tear glittered in his eye, and if it were a sin Heaven assoil me, for I +yielded to his importunity and granted him the blessing. “Adieu, good +friar,” said he, “thou hast taken a load from my heart. Accept from the +gratitude of Hardrager that which may stand thee instead, when thy fancied +relics are of little avail.” So saying, he gave me a small slip of +parchment inscribed with Arabic characters, and rode slowly away. I thrust +the scroll into my purse, little knowing its value, for my sight and sense +were filled with Jerusalem, which I now saw for the first time. As I +walked along the brow of Olivet, like my Saviour, I beheld the city and +wept over it, for the glory of Solomon’s temple had departed; the holy +prophets and apostles had passed away, and bands of Infidels whose bright +scimeters gleamed in the light of the setting sun dashed through her +sacred streets, and encountered each other with barbarian clamor in her +holy courts. The sound of the vesper-bell from the church of the Ascension +invited us to prayer. With divine rapture we pressed our lips upon the +stone imprinted with the last footsteps of our Saviour, and with pious +theft we gathered some of the sacred dust from before the altar.</p> + +<p>Descending from the mountain, we spent the night in fasting and prayer in +the garden of Gethsemane, and at the first cock-crowing, arose to pass +over the Brook Cedron. In the valley of Jehoshaphat we were met by the +venerable patriarch, with the Latin and Syrian Christians of Jerusalem, +who conducted us in solemn procession through the midst of the city to the +church of the Holy Sepulchre.</p> + +<p>There, amid the clangor of cymbals, and the sweet sounds of psaltery and +harp, we bowed in worship and adoration, while through the cloud of +ascending incense streamed the effulgence of innumerable lights, like the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +Shechinah of the ancient temple, and Jesus Christ the inhabitant of the +place, alone knew the sighs we breathed, the tears we shed, the prayers we +offered, and the thanksgivings we uttered.</p> + +<p>Our vows were accomplished, and with the benediction of the patriarch upon +us, we went forth, to climb the hill of Calvary, to visit the pool of +Bethesda, and to mourn over all the pleasant places which the followers of +Mohammed have laid waste. There was one among us, who, for the sins he had +committed, and the compunctions of conscience that he suffered, was +desirous to yield up his soul at the tomb of the Saviour.</p> + +<p>This celebrated man, Fulk Earl of Anjou, had compelled two of his servants +by an oath, to do whatsoever he commanded, and when we had completed our +procession, and obtained absolution, he was by them dragged naked through +the streets towards the Holy Sepulchre, one of them holding him by a +twisted withe about his neck, the other, with a rod scourging his bare +back, while the penitent cried out, “Lord, receive thy wretched Fulk, thy +perfidious, thy runagate—regard my repentant soul, oh Lord Jesus Christ.”</p> + +<p>Howbeit he obtained not his request at that time. We were desirous to go +down from Jerusalem to Jericho, to worship at Gilgal, and view that sea, +whose black waters roll over the cities of the plain; but the wealth of +the archbishops had been noised abroad, and the thieves that abound in +those parts, fell upon all those who ventured that way, stripped and +wounded them, and departed, leaving them to perish by the wayside. But our +Norman bands accompanied by a party of Germans, arming themselves with +swords determined to visit the Church of the Nativity, at Bethlehem. We +accomplished our purpose in safety, and were returning through the fields +of the wood, when a band of mounted Saracens, with wild cries, dashed +among us. Reluctantly, each man drew his sword and stood for his life. The +attack fell heaviest upon the Normans, and despite our vigorous +resistance, we should, doubtless, all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> have perished beneath their +javelins, had not the frantic gestures, and more especially the green +turbans of our assailants, reminded me of the cave of Hardrager, and +recalled his parting words. Hastily opening my purse, I held up the Arabic +scroll, before the eyes of a barbarian, whose drawn scimeter was flashing +above my head.</p> + +<p>At sight of it his demeanor instantly changed. He alighted, assisted me to +rise, laid his hand upon his heart to express his concern for what had +happened, and shouting, Allah ackbar, to his companions, drew them from +their work of blood, and forthwith the flying band disappeared. Nearly +half our number were slain, and the rest of us wounded and disheartened, +slowly retraced our steps to Jerusalem, and relinquished all attempts to +visit the other holy places with which the vicinity abounds. Though the +patriarch, and the monks of the various monasteries gave us hospitable +entertainments, yet, such had been the length, the weariness and +discouragements of the way, and such the thinning of our ranks by famine, +fatigue, disease, and hostility, that we were fain to choose the readiest +means of return.</p> + +<p>Learning that a fleet of Genoese merchantmen were anchored in the harbor +of Joppa, we determined to purchase a passage over seas with them. The +archbishops, therefore, gathered the pilgrims together, and numbered them, +and of the seven thousand that had set out from Mentz, scarce three +thousand remained; and on our way from Jerusalem to the place of +embarkation through the rocky defiles which are the favorite haunts of the +barbarians, we estimated that another thousand perished.</p> + +<p>Our voyage to Brundusium was the most prosperous part of our journey. +Thence we came to Rome; where I showed my life to our holy father the +pope, and was absolved of all that lay on my conscience, concerning many +grievous points, as men must needs have that travel in company with so +many people of divers sects and beliefs. We then proceeded through Italy, +and the archbishops took the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> route to Germany; and of our band that left +Normandy, thirty well-appointed horsemen, twenty miserable palmers, only, +repassed the Alps, and entered France on foot, ill, weary, and penniless; +and had not a kind Providence sent the noble Earls Robert and Stephen to +our relief, we might at last have perished on the banks of the Eure.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER IX.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>Can piety the discord heal,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or stanch the death-feud’s enmity?</span><br /> +Can Christian lore, can patriot’s zeal,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Can love of blessed charity?</span></td></tr></table> + +<p>The year 1077 opened with great rejoicing in Normandy. The royal family +were reunited for the last time, to celebrate the marriage of Adela and +Constance, with the wealthy and powerful husbands of the Conqueror’s +choice. The young Count and Countess of Blois, whose castles were numerous +as the days in the year, determined to make a festive progress through +their dominions, and the Earl of Bretagne, with his bride, with their +young sister, Gundred, and her undeclared lover, the Earl of Warrenne, +joined the happy party.</p> + +<p>In the midst of her happiness Adela did not forget her promise to +Ingulfus. The evening before her departure, she visited the cloister of +the palmer, and acquainted him with his preferment to the Abbey of +Croyland. The good friar’s gratitude and pleasure were unbounded.</p> + +<p>“Holy father,” said the countess, “I have yet one boon to crave.”</p> + +<p>“Name it,” said the priest. “If it lieth in my poor ability it shall not +fail thee.”</p> + +<p>“Because it lieth in thy power do I intrust it to thee,” continued she. +“The body of Earl Waltheof, the father of our much-injured Maude, is +interred at the four cross-roads,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> without the gates of Winchester; when +thou takest possession of thy benefice, as soon as may be, thou wilt give +him Christian burial, in the church-yard of Croyland, and cause daily +masses to be said for his soul.”</p> + +<p>Ingulfus readily promised compliance.</p> + +<p>Adela still lingered. “The lovely Maude goes with thee to England. Thou +wilt be compelled to marry her to Simon. Soften, as much as possible, her +hard fate, and watch over her interests, and comfort her with thy +counsels.”</p> + +<p>“It shall be done,” said Ingulfus, fervently.</p> + +<p>“Father, I would confess.”</p> + +<p>And the young countess, in all her beauty and pride, knelt at the feet of +the venerable man, and with the simplicity of a child, poured out her soul +before him.</p> + +<p>As Adela had predicted, the Conqueror, on his return to England, took with +him Maude, as the bride of Simon. Robert sailed, also, in the same vessel, +being commissioned by the king to establish Simon, now Earl of Huntingdon, +in his new possessions.</p> + +<p>William, too, accompanied his father, for he, more than any of the sons, +comprehended the policy, and partook of the spirit of the Conqueror.</p> + +<p>The remaining years of the Queen Duchess Matilda, were passed in splendid +solitude, in the royal palace at Bayeux. The early death of the princess +Adeliza, the failing health of Constance, together with fresh dissensions +in her family, pressed heavily upon her mind, and occasioned the lingering +illness that slowly conducted her to the tomb.</p> + +<p>The loss of his beloved queen, and the undutiful conduct of his sons, +aggravated the natural irritability and imperiousness of William, so that +according to the English chroniclers, “He became, after her death, a +thorough tyrant.” He passed the four remaining years of his life in a +constant succession of petty annoyances, and fruitless wars, with Philip +of France.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>In the stately castle of Chartres, sat the lovely Countess Adela +apparently busy with embroidery, in that age almost the only home +occupation of females. A shade of sadness was upon her brow, and an +expression of anxious care indicated the mother’s sympathy with the +suffering child, that an attendant was vainly striving to soothe.</p> + +<p>“Draw the couch of the little William to my side, Therese,” said the +countess, observing the tears in the girl’s eyes. “Thou hast a tiresome +task. Remove these frames,” continued she to the maidens, “and go ye all +to disport awhile in the pleasance, I will watch my boy’s slumbers.”</p> + +<p>The feeble child stretched his hands to his mother, and laying his head +upon her breast sank quietly to sleep.</p> + +<p>“Poor suffering one,” soliloquized Adela, “thou knowest naught but thy +mother’s love. Already thy younger brothers despise thy imbecility—the +courtiers regard thee with indifference—and the very menials flout thee. +No ducal coronet, or kingly crown will grace the head of my first-born.”</p> + +<p>The sound of heavy steps in the corridor disturbed the slumberer. He +lifted his head, moaned heavily, and regarded with a vacant stare the +warrior who entered.</p> + +<p>“Robert, my beloved brother!” exclaimed the countess, the joy of former +times flitting across her countenance.</p> + +<p>With a moody and dissatisfied air the duke returned the frank greeting of +his sister, and throwing himself upon a seat by her side, said in a tone +of ill-concealed impatience,</p> + +<p>“Adela, I have come to thee, for the prudent counsel of our mother dwells +with thee. I am robbed of my rights and stripped of my heritage.”</p> + +<p>“Art thou not Duke of Normandy,” inquired his sister with surprise.</p> + +<p>“Aye, verily. Our father left me the duchy with a blessing that sounded +marvellously like a curse. ‘The dukedom of Normandy,’ said he, ‘I granted +unto my son Robert, and having received the homage of his baronage, that +honor given cannot be revoked: yet he is a foolish, proud knave, and will +be punished with cruel fortune.’”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>“The saints preserve thee,” said the countess with a look of alarm, “and +England”—</p> + +<p>Robert interrupted.—“’Tis of that I would speak. The Conqueror bitterly +bewailing the desolation and woe he had wrought in England, protested that +he had so misused that fair and beautiful land, that he dare not appoint a +successor to it, but left the disposal of that matter in the hands of +God.”</p> + +<p>“Thou shouldst then have been king,” said the Countess, “since God made +thee his first-born.”</p> + +<p>“So should I have been,” said the duke, “but for the craft of William; but +while I tarried in Germany, little thinking that my father’s illness would +terminate so suddenly, the red-haired usurper hastened over sea, and +gaining Lanfranc to his interest secured the throne.”</p> + +<p>“Always unready,” sighed Adela. “And while the elder sons were thus +employed, the young Henry watched by the bed of his dying father. Is it +not so?”</p> + +<p>“Small watching had the Conqueror’s death-bed,” said Robert, with +something between a smile and a sneer. “The filial Beauclerk set off to +secure the treasures, and the attendants equally rapacious and inhuman, +plundered the house of all the money, plate, and precious furniture, and +even stripped the person of the monarch. And after Herlwin had succeeded +in conveying the body to the abbey of St. Stephen’s, and they were about +to place it in the grave, there stood forth an insolent noble, and forbade +the interment. ‘This spot,’ said he, ‘was the site of my father’s house, +which this dead duke took violently from him, and here upon part of my +inheritance founded this church. This ground I therefore challenge, and +charge ye all as ye shall answer it at the great and dreadful day of +judgment, that ye lay not the bones of the destroyer on the hearth of my +fathers.’ And there, exposed to the jeers of the assembled multitudes, was +the body forced to wait, while Henry drove a sharp bargain with the owner +of the soil, and purchased leave of burial for the paltry sum of sixty +shillings. Oh Adela!” said Robert, rising<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> and striding through the +apartment in extreme perturbation, “I am weary of this greatness which +makes enemies of brothers, and yields one scarce a grave at last.”</p> + +<p>The head of the countess was bent low over her sleeping child: and the +duke continued, “I sometimes wish I were an eremite, and unless thy clear +wit can devise some expedient by which I can obtain my rightful +inheritance, and chastise the vanity of this presumptuous Rufus, I am +resolved upon a pilgrimage.”</p> + +<p>“Thou saidst Lanfranc, assisted William: our uncle Odo hates Lanfranc,” +said Adela.</p> + +<p>Robert caught at the suggestion. “My sister, I thank thee,” he exclaimed +eagerly. “Thou hast made me king. I will to Normandy, and summon my trusty +squires to council. Simon of Huntingdon, Hugh of Norfolk, and William of +Durham, are already disaffected and ready for revolt. Odo shall head the +conspiracy in England.”</p> + +<p>Full of his new project the duke hurried away, scarcely waiting for the +pecuniary aid, with which the countess, who knew the impoverished state of +his finances, hastened to furnish him.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>The well-concerted scheme of the conspirators failed, through the +characteristic indolence and procrastination of Robert. Odo effected an +inglorious escape from England, and the rebel earls gladly made terms with +the king. Many of the insurgents repaired to Normandy, and suffered the +confiscation of their estates; and while the Countess of Blois daily +expected a summons to attend Robert’s coronation, she was surprised by +intelligence that William had crossed the sea with a numerous army, and by +menaces, bribery or fraud, had obtained possession of almost every +fortress, on the right bank of the Seine.</p> + +<p>The barons who held lands under both brothers, labored to effect a +reconciliation through the mediation of the French monarch.</p> + +<p>Robert still reckoning upon the liberal aid of his sister and her wealthy +lord, resisted all overtures of peace; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> Adela comprehending the +hopeless defect of a character, that not even a crown could stimulate to +promptitude, persuaded him to accept the terms of the treaty.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>As the splendid cortege attendant upon the Countess of Blois, and her +young sons Thibaut, Stephen and Henry, swept along the great road from +Chartres to Blois, the green arcades of a beautiful grove stretching down +to the brink of a small stream that rolled its clear waters to the Loire, +invited them to rest during the noontide hours. With loosened rein the +steeds wandered at will cropping the tender herbage, or slaked their +thirst in the rippling brook; while reposing upon the greensward, the +party made a refreshing repast. The children, left to the unrestrained +indulgence of their boyish glee, gathered wild flowers for their mother, +hallooed to the echoes of the wood, or pursued each other along the banks +of the stream.</p> + +<p>Allured by the sound of their happy voices, the countess left the company +and stole after them, catching occasional glimpses of their dancing +plumes, as they bounded on before her, till coming to an opening in the +glen, she stopped before an antique crucifix that some pious hand had +reared upon the verge of a fountain. Occupied with the sweet thoughts +suggested by the place, she scarcely noted the absence of her children, +till the little Henry, pulling her by the robe exclaimed with a face all +radiant with joy, “This way ma mère, Thibaut says we’ve found a hermit’s +cell, and Stephen is talking with the hermit.” Yielding to his impetuosity +the countess hastened forward and discovered sitting at the entrance of a +sylvan lodge, just where the shadow of the cross fell longest at sunset, a +youthful saint, if saint he was, reading his breviary, and telling his +beads with affected sanctity.</p> + +<p>“Beauclerk!” said the countess after a scrutinizing gaze at his +half-concealed features.</p> + +<p>“Thou knowest me then,” said the pretended monk, in a tone of bitter +reproach, rising and throwing off his gray<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> friar’s gown and cowl. “I +thought myself forgotten by all my father’s house.”</p> + +<p>“’Tis our uncle Henry,” said Thibaut, amazed and chagrined at this +transformation of his newly discovered hermit.</p> + +<p>“And hast thou then doubted the affection of Adela?” said his sister.</p> + +<p>“It were not strange that I should doubt the love of one leagued with my +foes,” replied the prince sorrowfully.</p> + +<p>“How leagued with thy foes?” inquired the countess in great surprise.</p> + +<p>“Thou surely dost not mock me,” said Henry marking the tears trembling on +her eyelids. “Thy countenance bespeaks thy sincerity. Have I then been the +dupe, as well as the prey of my designing brothers?”</p> + +<p>“If thou hast distrusted the love of Adela, yes,” replied his sister, “but +come thou with me. My lord awaits us at the castle of Blois. He shall +investigate thy cause and redress thy wrongs.”</p> + +<p>“Come with us, dear uncle,” reiterated the children observing his +hesitation.</p> + +<p>“Yield thyself, rescue or no rescue,” said the young Stephen balancing a +stick as a lance, and leading off the prince in triumph.</p> + +<p>“And hast thou not heard of the siege of St. Michael’s Mount?” said Henry +as he rode by the side of his sister, at the head of the cavalcade.</p> + +<p>“A passing rumor, and much I fear me, purposely perverted to restrain my +interference, was all that reached me,” replied Adela. “Tell me all.”</p> + +<p>“Thou knowest,” continued Henry, “that by the will of our father, the +duchy of Normandy fell to Robert, and the rich heritage of England was +given to William. Henry had neither patrimony nor domains, some small +treasure was all my share. This I gave to Robert in the hour of his need, +for the lands of Cotentin, and then passed into England, to secure the +dower of my mother. On my return, the prodigal having squandered the +moneys received from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> me, seized and confined me in one of his fortresses. +When Normandy was invaded, he released me from my imprisonment, and I did +him good service in compelling William to raise the siege of Rouen. In the +treaty to which thou didst persuade Robert, I was the principal sufferer, +and therefore”—added he with warmth, “did I deem that the guileful duke, +had stolen into the sanctuary of my sister’s affections, and robbed me of +thy love, my choicest treasure.”</p> + +<p>“My much-injured brother,” said the countess, affectionately, “I knew not +that thy interest was involved, else I had given far different counsel. +But proceed with the story of thy wrongs.”</p> + +<p>“My traitor brothers united like Pilate and Herod of old,” proceeded +Henry, with increasing asperity, “seized my castles in Cotentén, and +dogged my steps like sleuth-hounds on the track, till I took refuge in Mt. +St. Michael, where the friendly tides kept them at bay; and there I had +perished with thirst, had not Robert’s tardy compassion ministered to my +necessity, and finally effected my release. Since then, I have wandered a +fugitive and an outcast, craving scant hospitality of my brother’s +vassals, and solacing my weary hours with clerkly studies.”</p> + +<p>“Courage, my good brother,” said Adela, with enthusiasm. “Thou shalt +wander no more. Count Stephen will put thee in the way to mend thy +fortunes; and, perchance, thou wilt one day inherit the proud fiefs of +both thy brothers. See! yonder gleams the spires of Blois. But what +knightly train proceeds up the broad avenue of the castle. Listen! The +warder sounds his bugle blast, and the drawbridge is lowered. Put thy +horse to his mettle; these laggards may follow at their leisure.” So +saying the countess and her brother dashed forward, and entered the +court-yard just as the retinue of the Duke of Normandy wound up the +staircase, leading to the great hall.</p> + +<p>At sight of Robert, Henry’s eye flashed, and with an indignant gesture he +turned to depart, but Adela, with a determined air, laid her hand upon his +arm. “Remain,” said she, “that portcullis bars all egress from the +castle,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> and yon proud duke shall not escape till he has done thee ample +justice.”</p> + +<p>Earl Stephen gave a cordial welcome to Robert, and greeted his countess +with much affection, but the entrance of Henry threw him into evident +perturbation, nor did it relieve his embarrassment to see his wife, with +characteristic heroism, advance between the rival brothers, and fix her +flashing eyes upon Robert.</p> + +<p>The noble conduct of the repentant duke happily averted the gathering +storm.</p> + +<p>“Spare thy reproaches, sweet sister,” said he, “and thou, my brother, +forgive the grievous injuries thou hast suffered, and accept the only +reparation that lieth in my power. I restore unto thee Cotentén, and would +but for my poverty indemnify thee for thy losses. I have determined on a +visit to the Holy Land; and I would dispose my worldly affairs, so that +should I never return, man shall not accuse me before the throne of God.”</p> + +<p>The frankness of his confession, and the seriousness of his manner, +allayed the resentment of Henry, and effected an apparent reconciliation. +Harmony being thus restored, Robert proceeded at proper intervals to +unfold the desires and purposes that had brought him once again to counsel +with Adela.</p> + +<p>Since the treaty which confirmed William in the sovereignty of England, +not only, but secured to him several strong fortresses in Normandy, the +duke had resigned himself to listlessness and luxury. In his aimless +expeditions his attention had been frequently attracted by the appearance +of a monk, who embodied in himself the spirit of a hermit, a pilgrim, and +a soldier. His head was bare, his feet naked. His diminutive figure, +attenuated by frequent abstinence, was wrapped in a coarse garment. His +prayers were long and fervent, and the enthusiasm that gleamed in his eyes +kindled the fires of holy zeal, in every town, village, and hamlet through +which he passed. As he rode along, every street and highway was thronged +with people, who worshipped the weighty crucifix he bore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> aloft, and +listened with sighs and tears, while he depicted the sufferings of the +Christians of Palestine, and with loud and frequent appeals to Christ and +the holy mother, challenged the warriors of the age to defend their +brethren, and rescue the tomb of the Saviour from the dominion of +Infidels.</p> + +<p>Robert’s curiosity was excited. He joined the eager crowds that followed +the steps of the monk, and listened to the thrilling words till the latent +desire of pilgrimage that had long slumbered in his mind awoke to life and +activity, and he became a convert to the preachings of Peter the Hermit. +But while he hesitated at the palmer’s gown and staff, the united voices +of chivalry and religion, bade him don his armor and draw his sword.</p> + +<p>In the general council of the church, at Placentia, the ambassadors of the +Greek Emperor Alexius Comnenus had portrayed the distress of their +sovereign, and the danger of Constantinople, from the victorious Turks. +The sad tales of the misery and perils of the eastern brethren, drew tears +from the assembly, and several champions declared their readiness to march +to the East.</p> + +<p>The Greeks were dismissed with assurances of speedy and powerful succor. +Pope Urban had given his sanction to the scheme, and summoned a second +council to meet in Clermont the following November, to confer upon +measures for sending armed forces into Asia.</p> + +<p>It was to secure the concurrence of Adela, and the co-operation of +Stephen, that Robert now came to Blois.</p> + +<p>The representations of her brother, and the subject of his discourse +renewed, in the memory of Adela, the fancy sketches of her childhood, and +called up the half-formed purposes of her early youth. With the +clear-sightedness peculiar to her character, she scanned the wide field +thus opened to ambition, balanced the possible with the impracticable, +determined for her brother the only course that would give free scope to +his knightly abilities, and coveting for her husband a share in the +glorious enterprise, persuaded him to embrace the scheme, and thus +rendered herself really the “<i>Heroine of the First Crusade</i>.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER X.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Onward they came, a dark continuous cloud<br /> +Of congregated myriads numberless.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>“To dispose of his worldly affairs so that man might not accuse him before +the throne of God,” was a more serious and protracted work than the Duke +of Normandy had anticipated. The patience of Stephen was in consequence +nearly exhausted, in waiting his preparations, and it was not till the +council of Clermont had been several days in session, that the nobles +entered the district of Auvergne. As they approached the place of meeting, +the highways were thronged by the eager crowds that flocked towards the +city; and all the plains as far as the eye could reach, were dotted with +tents and booths, that afforded temporary shelter for the thousands that +could not find accommodation in the town.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the eighth day, at an early hour, the reverend clergy, +with the pope at their head, ascended a wooden pulpit, erected in the +midst of the concourse, and declared to them the decrees of the synod, +concerning the various matters at that time agitating the church. But +ecclesiastical decisions and local interests were lost in the absorbing +theme that occupied every heart. The blessing of Heaven was invoked upon +their deliberations; and a stillness fell upon the waiting multitudes, +like the hush of winds before the mighty storm, while the Monk of Amiens +in a voice of persuasive eloquence and power, told them how terrible were +the sufferings of their brethren in the East, and how burdensome was the +tribute exacted by the inhuman Mussulmans. He stated that lodging in the +house of Simon, the patriarch of Jerusalem, he had become an eye-witness +of these enormities, and had been commissioned to invite all the princes +of the West, to contribute towards their remedy; that on a certain day +filled with grief, he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> entered the church of the Resurrection, and +given himself to prayer, till at length sinking upon the cold stone +pavement, there had breathed upon his senses,—first a soft strain like a +shepherd’s flute, swelling into a heavenly harmony, such as the advent +angels sung, and then, triumphant anthems deepening into the trumpet’s +thunder tone, and the discordant clash of armor; that like Elijah of old +he had afterwards heard a still small voice, saying, “Arise, Peter, make +haste and fulfil without fear, what I have enjoined upon thee; for I will +be with thee. It is time for the holy places to be purified, and for my +servants to be succored in their distress;” that immediately after the +seraphic vision had beamed upon his sight, the brightness of the light +awoke him; when he beheld lying upon the altar a letter containing the +words of the Saviour; and his own pilgrim’s staff transformed into a +sword.</p> + +<p>The Hermit ceased; and held up the miraculous scroll before the eyes of +all the people. A wailing swept over the vast throng, and the whole +multitude bowed, as the forest bends before the first rush of the tempest.</p> + +<p>Seizing upon the favorable moment, the pontiff arose and addressed the +assembly. “My brethren and dearest children, whether kings, princes, +marquises, counts, barons, or knights, all you who have been redeemed by +the bodily passion, and shedding of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, +hear the complaints of God himself, which are addressed to you concerning +the wrongs and unlooked-for injuries, which have been done to him in Asia, +where sprang the first germs of our faith, where the Apostles suffered +martyrdom, and where at the present day, the persecuted christians with +stifled sighs, long for a participation in your liberties. Have compassion +upon your brethren that dwell in Jerusalem, and in the coasts +thereof,—check the insolence of the barbarians, and you will be extolled +throughout all ages—let your zeal in the expedition atone for the rapine, +theft, homicide, licentiousness, and deeds of incendiarism, by which you +have provoked the Lord to anger,—turn against the enemies of Christ those +weapons, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> you have hitherto stained with blood, in battles and +tournaments against yourselves. To those present, I command this; to those +absent, I enjoin it. For ourselves we will trust in the mercy of the +Almighty God, and in virtue of the power He has given us, and by the +authority of the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, we absolve all who +engage in this holy war, from all the offences which they shall repent in +their hearts, and with their lips confess, and in the retribution of the +just we promise to the same an increased portion of eternal salvation. And +this forgiveness shall extend also to those who contribute by their +substance or counsel to its success. Go then, brave soldiers, and secure +to yourselves fame throughout the world. God will accompany you on your +march—the season of the year be propitious, both by the abundance of +fruits, and by the serenity of the elements. Those who shall die, will sit +down in the Heavenly guest-chamber, and those who survive will set their +eyes on the Saviour’s sepulchre. Happy are they who are called to this +expedition, that they may see the holy places in which our Lord conversed +with man, and where to save them he was born, crucified, died;—was buried +and rose again. Take then the road before you in expiation of your sins, +and go assured that after the honors of this world have passed away, +imperishable glory shall await you, even in the kingdom of Heaven.”</p> + +<p>Loud shouts of ‘God wills it,’ ‘God wills it,’ pronounced simultaneously +in all the different dialects, and languages, spoken by the nations of +which the multitude was composed, for a moment interrupted the prelate. +Commanding silence by a motion of the hand, he resumed.</p> + +<p>“Dear brethren, to-day is shown forth in you, that which the Lord has said +by his evangelist, ‘When two or three shall be assembled in my name, there +shall I be in the midst of them.’ For if the Lord God had not been in your +souls you would not all have pronounced the same words, or rather God +himself pronounced them by your lips, for it was He who put them in your +hearts. Be they then your war-cry in the combat, for those words came +forth from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> God. Let the army of the Lord when it rushes upon his enemies, +shout but that one cry, ‘Deus vult,’ ‘Deus vult.’ Oh brave knights! +remember the virtues of your ancestors; and if you feel held back from the +course before you, by the soft ties of wives, of children, of parents, +call to mind the words of our Lord himself, ‘Whosoever loveth father or +mother more than me is not worthy of me. Whosoever shall abandon for my +name’s sake, his house, or his brethren, or his sisters, or his father, or +his mother, or his wife, or his children, or his lands, shall receive an +hundred fold, and shall inherit eternal life.’ Gird yourselves then, my +brave warriors, for the battle, and let him who is ready to march, bear +the holy cross of the Lord upon his shoulders, in memory of that precept +of the Saviour, ‘He who does not take up his cross and follow me, is not +worthy of me.’”</p> + +<p>The agony of conflicting emotions that shook the assembled throngs, burst +forth in a storm of sighs, groans, and tears, and as the trees of the +forest fall prostrate in the blast, the agitated multitudes sank upon +their knees, smote their breasts in sorrow, poured forth their +confessions, and consecrated their persons and their property to the Holy +Crusade.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER IX.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“There the wild Crusaders form,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">There assembled Europe stands,</span><br /> +Heaven they deem awakes the storm,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hell the paynims’ blood demands.”</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">Carlyle.</span></span></td></tr></table> + +<p>The results of the council of Clermont were speedily felt throughout +Europe. No nation was so remote, no people so retired, but, gaining the +intelligence by common rumor, or miraculous revelation, commenced +preparations for the mighty enterprise.</p> + +<p>The Welshman forsook his hunting,—the Scot his native<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> mountains,—the +Dane forgot his wassail-bowl,—the Norwegian left his fishing-tackle on +the sand. Whatever was stored in granaries or hoarded in chambers, to +answer the hopes of the avaricious husbandman, or the covetousness of the +miser, all was deserted, or bartered for military equipments.</p> + +<p>“Zeal and sympathy, and indignation and chivalrous feeling, and the thirst +for glory, and the passion for enterprise, and a thousand vague, but great +and noble aspirations, mingled in the complicated motive of the Crusade. +It increased by contagion—it grew by communion—it spread from house to +house—and from bosom to bosom—it became a universal desire—an +enthusiasm—a passion—a madness.”</p> + +<p>Princes labored like peasants at the forge or in the armory. High-born +dames abandoned their embroidery, and employed their delicate fingers in +fabricating garments for the retainers of their lords.</p> + +<p>The Countess of Blois laid aside the famous Bayeux tapestry, which her +mother had left for her completion, and accompanied her husband from +castle to castle, through all their wide domains, presiding over the +labors of her maidens, while with pious zeal they stitched the red cross +upon the surcoats of the warriors.</p> + +<p>Robert pledged his ducal domains to the grasping Rufus, for a sum of money +scarcely sufficient to meet the expenses of the expedition; and Edgar +Atheling bestowing his orphan nieces in the nunnery of Wilton, joined the +train of his friend.</p> + +<p>Godfrey, Duke of Lorraine, a prince of the royal house of France, +assembled his followers, from the banks of the Rhine to the Elbe; Raimond +of Toulouse, and Adhemar, bishop of Puy, called the Moses and Aaron of the +host, collected the Goths and Gascons, and all the mingled people between +the Pyrenees and the Alps; Bohemond of Apulia commanded the tribes from +the Tuscan sea to the Adriatic, while volunteers from all parts of Europe +flocked to the standards of these noble leaders, or joined the band of the +Hermit himself.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>The long-looked-for time was now at hand, when the hoary garb of winter +being laid aside, the world clad in vernal bloom, invited the pilgrims to +the confines of the East. And in the beginning of March, 1097, the masses +of European population began to roll. The first band that swept on through +Germany into Hungary consisted of twenty thousand footmen, marshalled +under Walter the Penniless. Then followed Peter the Hermit, with forty +thousand men, women and children. Next a German priest headed fifteen +thousand enthusiasts, and another band of two hundred thousand unarmed and +disorderly people hurried on by the same path; and ere these desperate +adventurers had reached the borders of the Grecian Empire, Europe +glittered with mustering hosts of warriors arrayed in all the pomp and +splendor of chivalry, and led by the greatest warriors of the age.</p> + +<p>Few chieftains brought so many soldiers to the standard of the cross as +Stephen, Count of Blois and Chartres. But notwithstanding the precipitate +zeal of Robert, and the prompt and politic measures of Adela, the summer +was wasted in idle delays; and it was not till the autumnal equinox that +these distinguished nobles joined the forces of Hugh, Count of Vermandois, +and crossed the Alps, intending to proceed by sea to the Holy Land. They +found Pope Urban at Lucca, and received from him the standard of St. +Peter. The autumn was passed in the gaiety and dissipation of Italy, where +the earls disposed their troops for winter-quarters. Count Stephen +returned once more to Blois, already dissatisfied with the prospects of +the expedition. In the ensuing spring, one year after the time designated +by the pope, with Robert and Hugh, and their united forces, the husband of +Adela embarked for Palestine. In the meantime numbers, disaffected by the +first encountering of difficulties, returned to claim subsistence from the +bounty of the Countess of Blois.</p> + +<p>“Methinks, my beneficent sister,” said Henry, observing her charity +towards the miserable wretches, “if thou hadst seen yon beggars sell their +flocks and herds for a few <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>shillings, thou wouldst be better inclined to +laugh at their folly than relieve their poverty.”</p> + +<p>“Adela counts it not folly for a man to sell all he hath for the kingdom +of Heaven’s sake.”</p> + +<p>“I fancy,” said Henry, laughing, “that those self-sacrificers have an eye +to the ‘manifold more in this life,’ rather than to the heavenly +inheritance; and <i>some</i>, I trow, understand by the kingdom of heaven, a +principality in Palestine.”</p> + +<p>“And were not the establishment of Christian powers in Asia a worthy +purpose?” returned Adela, little pleased at her brother’s insinuations.</p> + +<p>“Certes, my beloved sister. But wherefore didst thou detain thy unworthy +Beauclerk, is there not kingdom or duchy for him?”</p> + +<p>“Nay! I scarcely claim the merit of detaining thee,” said Adela, “since I +suspect that a stronger tie than compassion for my lone estate has +withheld thee.”</p> + +<p>“That a tender interest in the declining health of the Red King somewhat +influenced my decision I cannot deny,” replied Henry, evasively.</p> + +<p>“And had the superlative beauty of the Red King’s ward no influence?” said +Adela, pressing her advantage.</p> + +<p>“Nay, sister, since thou divinest my secret,” said Henry, frankly, “I will +e’en tell thee all. Perceiving that thy crusades would draw from the +Norman power its military strength, I deemed it wise, in case of my +brother’s death, to entrench myself in the affections of the English +people, by uniting my personal interest with the Saxon race. Accordingly, +when Robert sent me to England to negotiate the mortgage of his duchy with +Rufus, I visited the nunnery of Wilton, with Edgar Atheling.”</p> + +<p>“And thou sawest there the fair novice, Matilda,” interrupted Adela.</p> + +<p>“Call her not novice, she scorns the name, and hath a spirit like a queen. +In presence of her uncle the Atheling, she tore the hateful veil from her +head, and trampled it under her feet.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>“And did the spirited damsel smile upon thy suit?”</p> + +<p>“I proffered no suit save to her uncle.”</p> + +<p>“And what said the Atheling to thy visionary scheme?”</p> + +<p>“He promised to give her to me with his blessing, on his return from the +crusade.”</p> + +<p>“But here comes another son of Cushi, with tidings for the Countess of +Blois. Judging from his tattered garments, and limping gait, his story +must eclipse all that have gone before. My ‘<i>visionary schemes</i>’ shall not +claim the attention that should be devoted to this magnificent eastern +ambassador;” and with a smile of irony Henry took his departure.</p> + +<p>The appearance of the individual who entered the presence of Adela, and +the tidings he brought, fully justified the sarcastic conjectures of +Henry. He was a refugee from the party of Walter the Penniless, a band +whose only recommendation for the Holy war was their poverty. Before +setting out, each one was searched, and the man upon whose person was +found the sum of two sous, was hooted from the camp. Animated by a blind +fanaticism, they expected that rivers would be opened for their passage; +that flesh would be miraculously supplied; manna rained from heaven upon +them, and the smitten rock send forth its cooling stream. The hospitality +of the Hungarians confirmed their faith; but when they entered the kingdom +of Bulgaria, the illusion vanished, and the famine-stricken multitudes, +abandoning their presumptuous trust in heaven, resorted to carnage and +plunder. The exasperated inhabitants fell upon them without fear or mercy. +Many were slain, numbers fled to the forests, and a remnant of the +disappointed devotees attempted to retrace their steps to their own land.</p> + +<p>After listening to the account of the miserable fugitive, Adela remarked, +that the misfortunes of the company doubtless proceeded from their +forgetfulness of the last directions of the Saviour: “He that hath a purse +let him take it, and likewise his scrip, and he that hath no sword let him +sell his garment and buy one.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>“Ah, lady!” said the wretched fanatic, “think not that our misfortunes +arose from our want of money or arms, but rather through our impatience to +be gone, that led us to set out on Friday, instead of waiting for the holy +rest of the Sabbath.”</p> + +<p>The countess was residing with her family in Troyes, when she gave +audience to another of her “eastern ambassadors,” as Henry jocosely called +them.</p> + +<p>This man arrived at nightfall, on a sorry mule, the self-same animal that +a few months before, under Peter the Hermit, had led greater hosts to +battle than Bucephalus under Alexander, and which had enjoyed such a +reputation for sanctity that even his very hairs were devoutly treasured +as relics. Now, jaded and dispirited, with drooping head and pendant ears, +the poor beast slowly paced his heavy way up to the gates of the castle. +His rider seemed no less bowed with grief and fatigue, and wearily +dismounting, he meekly waited among the servants, till summoned to the +presence of his mistress.</p> + +<p>“You behold, noble lady,” said he, “one of those individuals whose fate it +is to bring ruin upon every expedition in which he embarks.”</p> + +<p>“Miserable man,” exclaimed Adela, “hast thou betrayed the army of the +Lord?”</p> + +<p>“God forbid that I should have been guilty of so foul a deed,” said the +pilgrim, devoutly crossing himself; “but the curse of Jonah rests upon me. +Evil was the day when, impoverished by the wars of Duke Robert, I +plundered the sacred vessels of a church, and melted and sold them, to +obtain food for my starving family. The crime lay heavy on my conscience, +and to expiate its guilt I joined the band of the Hermit. But my sinful +love for my children prevailed over my devotion, and Satan tempted me with +the thought, that were they permitted to accompany me, they at least might +win the crown of martyrdom, though their father should suffer the +punishment of his sins. With much difficulty and labor, we scraped +together means to purchase a yoke of oxen and a cart, and the charity of +my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> noble countess (heaven reward thee) provided raiment for my poor old +father and helpless infants. Heaven pardon me, but my wicked heart was +inflated with pride, as seating my precious ones in the vehicle, I walked +by their side; and pleased was I as we reached any town or city, to hear +the little ones inquire, if that were Jerusalem. Fool that I was not to +remember the Saviour’s words, ‘He that forsaketh not all that he hath, +cannot be my disciple.’ There were many who, falling into the same error, +cumbered the train with useless baggage, and many feeble and sick, both +men and women, caused that our route was tedious and slow. The heat of +summer came on, and the weariness of the way seemed to increase. My +children forgot their innocent prattle, and stretched their tender limbs +upon the floor of the cart. The old man, my father, slept, and we could +not wake him; and my wife gave me the infant from her breast—it was +dead—and we buried them by the wayside. This was the beginning of +sorrows. But the <i>horrors</i> of my crime flashed upon me, when certain sons +of Belial among our company, set fire to the houses, and commenced to +plunder the people through whose villages we passed. The inhabitants armed +against us, and I shudder to describe the bloody scenes which followed. +Enraged at the wanton attack, they rushed out upon us, fell upon the rear +of the army, glutted their wrath with the blood of all that opposed them, +and destroyed that part of the multitude whom weakness left without +defence. My wife and sons fell victims to their fury, and Therese, my +lovely daughter, was torn shrieking from my arms, and carried away by a +brutal ruffian.”</p> + +<p>“Unhappy Therese,” said Adela, dropping a tear. “My poor William has pined +for his patient nurse.”</p> + +<p>“In the extremity of my desperation,” continued the pilgrim, “I rushed +into the thickest of the fight, and sought for death; but in vain. My +crimes were too great, and I was reserved to mourn the loss of those for +whose dear sakes I had perilled my soul.</p> + +<p>“Deploring the ruin that my sins, and the sins of such as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> me had brought +upon the holy pilgrims, I determined to hide myself in a convent, and seek +by a life of penance, the pardon I hoped to have found at the Saviour’s +tomb; and finding the deserted mule of our leader, wandering upon the +border of a marsh, I mounted upon his back, and begged my way hither.”</p> + +<p>The countess gave him money for the remainder of his journey, to the +monastery of Caen, and with a heavy heart dismissed him.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>A German monk of great sanctity resided in a solitary cell in the forest +of Troyes. The fame of cures, effected by him, through the medium of +invisible agents, led the countess to consult him with regard to her +invalid son. Thibaut and Stephen, with a small train, accompanied her to +the hermitage.</p> + +<p>On their return their way was obstructed by a crowd, collected about a +grotesque-looking figure clothed partly in armor, and partly in priestly +robes. His head was ornamented with a cap like that of a merry-Andrew, at +the top of which flourished a feather cut in the form of a cross. From his +shoulders hung numerous thongs, to which were attached boxes and bags of +various colors and dimensions, and a rosary of small human bones was +suspended about his neck. This he occasionally shook with demoniac glee, +as an accompaniment to songs, whose sentiment strangely alternated between +piety and profanity.</p> + +<p>“News from the wars,” shouted he approaching the cavalcade.</p> + +<p class="poem">“Holy relics for sinners all,<br /> +The thumb of St. Peter, the tooth of St Paul.”</p> + +<p>“Yea more—Babylon has fallen—the Jews, the Jews—Shadrach, Meshach, and +Abednego, are consumed in the burning fiery furnace—Ha! ha! How the +flames crackled and sparkled—How the Long-beards winced and +writhed—Ashes! Ashes!” said he, throwing the contents of one of the boxes +into the faces of the spectators—“Yea more—</p> + +<p class="poem"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +“The crusaders followed the spirit divine,<br /> +And water and blood it turned into wine;<br /> +That made us strong for the slaughter.</p> + +<p>Drink—heal—wassail,”—and he poured from a bottle a noisome liquid, from +which the crowd shrank back in disgust.</p> + +<p>“The demons shrieked in the forest—and the little fiends winked in the +marshes—they showed us the way to the holy sepulchre—bridges of +corpses—rusty armor—glaring eyeballs. How the wolves howled on our +track—and the black ravens croaked over the dying—’Twas rare sport to +hear them groan.</p> + +<p class="poem">“The goat led his followers up the steep rock,<br /> +The goose flapped her wings, and headed the flock;<br /> +List to the sound of the martyrs’ bones;”</p> + +<p>and the lunatic broke into a wild fantastic dance, rattling his boxes and +shaking his horrid rosary with demoniac frenzy.</p> + +<p>The countess was here relieved from her involuntary attendance upon the +frightful exhibition, by the approach of Prince Henry, who having +consigned the madman to proper care, dispersed the crowd, and permitted +the train proceed.</p> + +<p>In reply to Adela’s anxious inquiries, he informed her that the miserable +creature whom she had seen, had belonged to a mad-rabble, that set off for +the Holy Land without leader or guide, held together only by the strange +infatuation of adoring a goat and a goose, which they believed to be +filled with the divine spirit.</p> + +<p>Their malignant zeal was directed principally against the Jews, whom they +exterminated wherever they came. The Hungarians denied them a passage +through the country. The fanatics attempted to force their way across the +Danube. The nation rose to arms, and for several days smote them with such +slaughter, that the fields were strewed with the slain, and the very +waters of the river were hidden by the multitude of the corpses.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>“Heaven punished their impiety with a loss of reason,” said Adela, with a +sigh.</p> + +<p>“Their impiety began with a loss of reason,”s said Henry, drily. “Thy +pardon, sweet sister, but the heralds of thy grand expedition and the +tidings they bear, remind one of the evil messengers of Job, each man +having escaped alone to tell thee.”</p> + +<p>“We have as yet gained intelligence only from the ill-appointed and +barbarous hordes that encumbered rather than aided the expedition. When we +shall receive news from warriors, whose heroic courage executes the plans +of temperate wisdom, I trust that the disasters of our foes will form the +theme of conversation,” said Adela, with much spirit.</p> + +<p>“Nay, I meant not to vex thee,” returned Henry, soothingly, “and to prove +my desire of peace, I have brought with me a flag of truce,” and he handed +her a letter from her husband.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>Adela’s letter from Stephen contained the most gratifying intelligence. +Completely duped by the artful policy of Alexius, the count gave a glowing +description of his reception at Constantinople, and the splendid ceremony +by which the Latin chiefs did homage to the Greek Emperor, for the cities +they hoped to win in Palestine.</p> + +<p>He described the magnificence of the city, and enlarged upon the +advantages which the holy legions would derive from this allegiance, both +in supplies of money and provisions. He stated that Alexius had already +furnished ships to convey them across the Bosphorus, that a part of the +army were already in Asia Minor, and expatiated upon the munificence of +their Imperial host, who each week presented the leader of the expedition +with as much gold as two slaves could bear upon their shoulders.</p> + +<p>Delicately alluding to the favors bestowed upon himself, he closed the +epistle by presenting the monarch’s request to the mother, that her son +Stephen should be sent to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>Constantinople, to receive princely nurture at +the most refined and elegant court in the world.</p> + +<p>Tears of affection and gratification filled the beautiful eyes of the +countess, as gazing upon her blooming boy, she murmured, “My son may yet +wear the diadem of the Cæsars. My father was styled The Conqueror, because +he added a poor island to his duchy of Normandy, but what title shall he +bear who restores a continent to the dominion of Christendom?”</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>For the three following months the countess received no certain +intelligence concerning the fate of the crusade. There were rumors of +famine in the christian camp, and stories of dreadful battles with the +Infidels; but the statements were vague and unsatisfactory.</p> + +<p>Prince Henry had been absent for some time quelling an insurrection in +Normandy, and the loneliness of Adela’s situation, together with the +anxiety of her mind, filled her thoughts with melancholy forebodings, and +subdued the natural vivacity of her manners.</p> + +<p>The prince upon his return, was alarmed by the pallor of her countenance, +and the sadness of her tones.</p> + +<p>“Cheer thee, my sister,” said he, “thou wert, indeed, a prophet, to +declare that the victories of the warriors would compensate for the +disasters of the rabble crowds.”</p> + +<p>“Art thou the bearer of good tidings?” said Adela, a flush of hope +irradiating her features.</p> + +<p>“Aye, verity,” returned the prince, with exultation, “a well-authenticated +account of the victories of the cross, embellished with as pretty a +Passage of Arms in Cupid’s tilt-yard, as the Romancers could well desire.”</p> + +<p>“Sport not with my impatience,” said Adela. “Tell me the name of thy +messenger, and the news he brings.”</p> + +<p>“The messenger is Gilbert of Becket, a Saxon esquire of Edgar Atheling, +and, therefore, direct from Duke Robert and Count Stephen. He sailed with +them across the Ionian Sea, and carried the shield of his master at the +grand parade, in Constantinople.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>Adela interrupted him. “I know all to the time of their departure from +that city. How have they sped in their encounters with the Infidels?”</p> + +<p>“The first place of importance which they attacked,” replied Henry, “was +Nice, the chief city of Rhoum, occupied by the Seljoukian Turks, who +exacted tribute from all the inhabitants of Asia Minor. The Sultan Soliman +hearing of the coming of the crusaders, left his capital defended by a +strong garrison, and hastened to the mountains levying troops in all +directions. The first body of croises that reached the city, was led by +Godfrey of Boulogne, and Hugh of Vermandois, who took up their position on +the eastern side. Raimond of Toulouse, and the Bishop of Puy, encamped on +the south, while Robert of Flanders, and Bohemond of Tarentum pitched +their camp upon the north. And of this Bohemond, the noble chief of +Otranto, I must tell thee. Forty Norman gentlemen who had distinguished +themselves in the wars of our father, returning from a pilgrimage to the +Holy Land, disembarked in Italy. Learning that the Prince of Salerno was +besieged by the Saracens, they threw themselves into that town, and being +supplied with arms and horses, soon compelled the Infidels to retire. +After their return home, deputies came to Normandy from the prince +imploring their further assistance. In consequence of his promises and +persuasions, several bodies of adventurers, at the head of whom was Robert +Guiscard and his eleven brothers, emigrated together, cleared the south of +Italy from the locust-like invaders, and established themselves lords of +Apulia and Calabria. Robert Guiscard spent most of his life in wars with +the Greek Emperor, and was finally poisoned by Alexius. Bohemond, the son +of this Guiscard, espoused the quarrel, and was preparing to avenge his +father’s death, but when he heard the crusade proclaimed, his chivalric +spirit at once caught the flame. Dashing his armor to pieces with his +battle-axe, he caused them to be formed into small crosses, which he +distributed among his followers, and abandoning his possessions in Italy, +joined the pilgrims with his cousin, Tancred, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> youth distinguished for +beauty, valor, generosity, enthusiasm—”</p> + +<p>“I care not,” said Adela, “though he were as beautiful as Absalom and wise +as Solomon. There are two less distinguished chiefs, who possess far more +interest for me than all the warriors in Italy.”</p> + +<p>“Of those thou shalt hear anon,” said Henry. “When this Bohemond was in +Constantinople, the emperor sought to win his friendship.”</p> + +<p>“Return not to Bohemond again,” interrupted the countess, “’tis of Stephen +and Robert I would hear.”</p> + +<p>“Now, sister,” said Henry, playfully, “thou knowest not what thou +refusest. Will it not please thy woman’s curiosity, to hear of the +magnificent rooms of the Blaquernel, filled with stores of money and +jewels, costly garments, and rich silks of unheard-of value, that Alexius +gave Bohemond to secure his allegiance.”</p> + +<p>“Nothing will please me,” said Adela, “but to know what is the fortune of +my husband.”</p> + +<p>“And that will please thee well,” said Henry, breaking into a playful +laugh. “Stephen, triple Count of Blois, Chartres, and Champagne, the +husband of my gifted sister,” bowing to the countess, “son-in-law of +William the Conqueror, father of earls, and I doubt not of kings, the most +beautiful, accomplished, eloquent, and <i>prudent</i> man of the times, was +chosen president of the council of chiefs.”</p> + +<p>“Heaven bless thee for thy news,” said Adela, in a transport of joy; “and +Robert?”</p> + +<p>“Justifies his youthful soubriquet of ‘unready.’ He came last to the siege +of Nice. His troops, however, were fresh and vigorous, and when he +approached the city by the west, which position had been left for his +encampment, he scanned, with a fearless eye, the double walls, defended by +three hundred and fifty towers, filled with bowmen, and spearsmen of the +most determined valor. He drew up the warriors of Normandy, with those of +Blois and Chartres, and a band from Boulogne, where a great part of the +people led by Walter the Penniless and Peter the Hermit had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> been defeated +and slain. The Infidels in mockery had formed here a great pile of their +bones, and covered them with earth; so that when Robert arrived with his +forces, he pitched his tent just beside the green sepulchre of those who +had found martyrdom on that very spot. Peter the Hermit, with the remnant +of his forces, soon after joined the besiegers, and the army, as they were +then numbered, consisted of 600,000 infantry and 100,000 mailed cavalry. +Each man confessed his sins, and the sacrifice of mass being offered, they +commenced the erection of engines, and other preparations for the siege. +Soliman himself was encamped upon the mountains, scarcely ten miles off, +watching in what manner he might best free his city from the enemies that +clustered around it. Two of his messengers were intercepted by Godfrey. +They confessed that they were sent to concert with the besieged a double +attack upon the christian camp. The crusaders immediately prepared for the +conflict. By break of day the Moslems began to descend from the hills, and +issue from the town. The Christians received them everywhere with +determined valor, repulsed them on all points, became in turn the +assailants, and all the plain around Nice grew one general scene of +conflict. This attack was twice repeated with the same result, and the +sultan was at last compelled to retire, astonished at the lion-like +courage of the Franks, who with a thousand lances, could charge, and +easily put to flight twenty thousand Turks. But amidst these splendid +achievements, which the Saxon Gilbert described, with great vividness, he +said it was mournful to see the pilgrims at nightfall collecting the dead +bodies of their companions and bearing them in sad procession to the +cypress groves adjacent, where by the melancholy glare of the torches they +buried them without coffin or shroud.</p> + +<p>“To intimidate the besieged, the croises cut off the heads of the fallen +Moslems, and shot them from their engines into the city.</p> + +<p>“The Turks invented a horrid method of retaliation. Long iron hooks were +let down from the walls, by which the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> bodies of the slaughtered +Christians were seized and drawn up through the air, and after being +stripped and maimed were again cast forth upon the ground.</p> + +<p>“Young Gilbert being wounded and lying insensible, was grappled and drawn +into the city in this manner, but finding that life was not extinct, they +delivered him over to the care of Soliman’s physicians, who tended him as +a prisoner of note. The siege had been protracted to some length and the +Christians had succeeded in undermining a huge tower at the north-eastern +angle of the wall. The Sultana, alarmed at the loss of this important +defence, determined upon flight. Several boats were prepared, and the +Queen, with her train, among whom was young Gilbert, attended by a +dark-eyed daughter of an Emir, beautiful as an houri, attempted to make +her escape at night by way of the lake. As the little fleet moved +stealthily in the shadow of the overhanging cliff, Becket seized a bow, +and dexterously discharged an arrow towards the nearest outpost of the +christian camp.</p> + +<p>“The twang of the bow-string attracted the attention of the Moslems, but +Zaida perceiving the danger of her favorite smote the strings of her harp, +and thus, ingeniously reproducing the sound, made the whole appear the +result of accident.</p> + +<p>“Becket afterwards learned, that the dart fell at the very feet of the +sentinel dozing by the watch-fire, who started up, aroused his comrades, +and soon the knights of Duke Robert swarmed along the shore.</p> + +<p>“The Paynims plied their oars in vain, the Normans intercepted their +flight. The Sultana was taken prisoner, and only the boat of the Emir with +the disappointed Gilbert escaped capture.</p> + +<p>“The Christians having thus discovered the means, by which the city was +supplied with provisions, procured boats from Constantinople and converted +the siege into a blockade. All hope now abandoned the Turks, and about the +time of the summer solstice they offered terms of capitulation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>“The necessary negotiations were in progress, when Tatius, the lieutenant +of the subtle Alexius, entered into a private treaty with the besieged, +and while waiting for the gates to be opened, with indignation and +astonishment the Christians discovered the imperial ensign floating upon +the walls of Nice. Alexius endeavored to appease their wrath by +distributing rich bribes among the chiefs, and largesses among the private +soldiers, but dissatisfied and exasperated they struck their tents, and +departed without setting foot within the city they had conquered.</p> + +<p>“Meanwhile, the captive Becket, was conveyed to the army of the Sultan, +and though his ardent spirit chafed at restraint, and panted for the +fight, his impatience was soothed by the tender attentions, and sweet +songs, of the Emir’s daughter.</p> + +<p>“Soliman, with the whole of his force, amounting to 200,000 men, hung upon +the rear of the crusading army, concealing his own evolutions, by his +perfect knowledge of the country, and watching those of the croises with +the keen anxiety of a falcon hovering over its prey. By some mischance, +Robert and Bohemond were separated from the main body of the army. They +encamped nevertheless on the banks of a beautiful stream, in the valley of +the Gorgon, and passed the night in repose. Scarcely had they commenced +their march, on the following morning, when the immense army of the Sultan +appeared upon the hills. From his station upon a lofty eminence, Becket +had opportunity to watch the progress of the contest, and from christian +captives that were brought to the camp, he learned many particulars +concerning his companions.</p> + +<p>“Our brother Robert, with a vigor and promptitude foreign to his +character, drew up his forces, formed a rampart of wagons and baggage, and +exhorted his men to meet with bravery the overwhelming shock. The terrific +cries of the Turks, as they bore down upon the little band, the tramp of +cavalry—the ringing of armor—the clash of shields—the trumpets of the +christian hosts—the shouts of the chiefs and heralds, raised so fearful a +din that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> none could distinguish the war-cry of friend from foe. Becket +perceived, however, that the Christians dropped the points of their long +lances, and prepared to receive the heavy charge upon their swords, when +suddenly each Moslem raised his bow, as he galloped forward, a thick cloud +seemed to hide all objects from his sight, and two hundred thousand arrows +dropped death among the followers of the cross.”</p> + +<p>An involuntary shudder shook the frame of the countess, and she pressed +her hands upon her eyes, as if to shut out the dreadful vision.</p> + +<p>Her brother continued, “The European chivalry spurred up the hill against +their assailants. The Turks, as was their habit, yielded ground on every +side, avoiding by the fleetness of their horses, the lances of the +knights, and like the Parthians of old, continuing their fearful archery, +even as they fled. Again they wheeled, and with fiendish yells, fell upon +the diminished band, encompassing them within the valley; and fast as the +Infidels fell beneath the tremendous blows of the Norman battle-axes, new +foes stepped into their places. Borne back by the growing multitude that +pressed upon them, the knights gave way before the Saracens, and were +driven struggling against the very pikes of the foot-soldiers, that were +advancing to their support. The Christians wavered. At this critical +moment, Robert revived all the courage of his heart, and baring his head +in the midst of the fray, seized his banner, and clear and far above all +the roar of the conflict, Becket distinguished his cry of, Normandy! +Normandy to the rescue! The crusaders rallied, and stood again to their +arms, and the Turks were driven back. Again the Saracens bore down upon +them, giving them not a moment of repose. Thick and fast was mown the +flower of christian chivalry, soldier beside soldier, and knight beside +knight. In the glimpses granted by the rapid evolutions of the Arab +cavalry, Becket could see the women of the camp bringing water from the +river to the fainting troops, and bathing the wounded and dying. Thus the +battle lasted for many hours, when the eye of the Saxon soldier perceived +a cloud<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> of dust rising behind the hills. Then came banner, and pennon, +and lance, and glittering armor, and the Red Cross fluttering on the wind. +In scattered bands spurring on their horses for life, on came the western +division of the croises. None waited for the others, but each hastened to +the fight, and rank after rank, troop after troop, shouting, ‘<i>Deus +vult</i>,’ ‘<i>Deus vult</i>,’ rushed over the mountains to the valley of the +battle. The christian war-cry thrilled the heart of the heroic Gilbert, +and he panted once more to join the standard that bore the emblem of our +holy religion. Tearing off the white turban that Zaida had bound about his +brow, he held it up aloft, vainly hoping to attract the attention of his +countrymen, and regain his liberty. But all were too intent upon the rout +of the Infidels, to notice the signal, and his heart sunk within him, as +the emir, fearing total discomfiture, commanded the slaves to carry away +the women and prisoners to a strong fastness in the mountains. As they led +him along the brow of the hill, he still kept his longing eye fixed upon +the scene of conflict, and distinctly discerned at the head of the +division of Raimond and Godfrey, the forms of two canonized martyrs, in +armor glittering above the brightness of the sun; and he could perceive +that their presence struck terror into the heart of the enemy. But farther +particulars concerning the battle he could not learn, except from the +Saracens themselves, who seemed sadly discomfited, and hurried on in +advance of the christian army, through Phrygia and Cilicia, laying waste +the villages, and making a desert of the country through which they +passed. At Tarsus he was separated from his faithful Zaida, and lodged +alone in a Paynim tower, overlooking the Cydnus. Here he pined in +loneliness day by day, gazing through the arrow-slit upon the +never-varying hills, or watching wearily the waterfowl sporting upon the +bosom of the stream. The christian host passed beneath the very walls of +his tower. He distinguished the forms of Robert, and Stephen, and the +Atheling, and the armorial bearings and ensigns of the various detachments +of European chivalry, and he struggled like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> an imprisoned bird to be +free. He shouted the honored names of the leaders, and the potent war-cry +of the Christians; called on the Saviour, and Mary, and every saint in the +calendar for release; but in vain. The walls of his prison alone echoed +his cry; no ear heard his voice; no eye was lifted towards his lonely +turret. He watched till the last cross disappeared in the distance, and +overwhelmed with despair, sank in agony upon the floor.</p> + +<p>“The moon was riding high in heaven when he was awakened by the light +touch of a delicate hand, and the soft voice of Zaida whispered, ‘Gilbert! +England!’ the only Saxon words he had taught her. He started up, and an +exclamation of joy mounted to his lip. But Zaida, with a warning motion, +imposed silence, and beckoned him to follow her. Silently he tracked his +stealthy way through the mazes of the castle, guided by the vision that +glided on before him, more like a spirit of the air, than a being of +earthly mould, and the young Englishman had dizzy work to follow her down +a rude stone stair, winding to the base of the cliff, where a little skiff +was moored. She motioned him to embark. He obeyed, and turned to place her +by his side. She was gone. Far up the steep he saw the last flutter of her +white robe. He sprang to follow, but a strong arm dashed him to the bottom +of the boat. The rowers bent to their oars, and the little bark glided +noiselessly down the stream.”</p> + +<p>“Did he rejoin the christian army?” said Adela.</p> + +<p>“All along the banks of the river,” replied Henry, “he beheld, with +torturing gaze, the watch-fires of the christian camp, and heard the +pass-word repeated by familiar voices, but the pirates, for such they +were, permitted him neither to speak nor move. Reaching the sea of Cyprus, +they put him on board a vessel, and he was conveyed to Brundusium.”</p> + +<p>“And were these pirates Infidels?” inquired Adela.</p> + +<p>“Saracens they were not,” said her brother, “but to what extent they +believed in our holy religion Becket was not prepared to state. They spoke +several dialects of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> Europeans, and at the commencement of the +crusades, turned their course towards the Holy Land, in the pleasant hope +of serving both God and mammon with the sword.”</p> + +<p>“And what farther chanced to the Saxon?” inquired the countess.</p> + +<p>“He returned through France, and when I saw him at Feschamp, had engaged +his passage to England. And now, dear sister, I have come to take my leave +of thee, in order to accompany him.”</p> + +<p>“The news thou hast brought has removed a burden from my heart, and nerved +me to my duties,” said his sister. “But wherefore wouldst thou to +England?”</p> + +<p>“I have learned that the Duke of Bretagne is pressing his suit with the +fair Matilda, and I must away to see that the prize be not riven from my +grasp.”</p> + +<p>“Hast heard aught of the Countess of Huntingdon?” inquired Adela.</p> + +<p>“Aye, and strange news concerning her have I for thine ear. Thou knowest +’tis scarce a twelvemonth since the death of her husband Simon; and she +has again entered the holy estate of matrimony.”</p> + +<p>“Impossible!” exclaimed Adela. “She who so longed for the quiet of +conventual life!”</p> + +<p>“She was forced to forego her own inclinations to escape the tyranny of +Rufus,” returned Henry.</p> + +<p>“Poor Maude!” said Adela, “her life has been a continual sacrifice to the +selfish interests of others.”</p> + +<p>“Her patient meekness disarms even her cruel fate,” said Henry. “Simon +always regarded her with the most devoted affection, and made her sole +heir to all her father’s former possessions. It is said that our brother +Rufus had fixed his eye upon the charming widow, and that to avoid his +addresses, she accepted the hand of David, prince of Scotland.”</p> + +<p>“She will then be thy best advocate with David’s sister, Matilda.”</p> + +<p>“Truth,” said Henry. “The future Queen of Scotland shall aid to place the +crown on the head of the future Queen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> of England. Farewell. When I come +again I hope to present thee my lovely bride.”</p> + +<p>“Heaven speed thy purpose,” said the countess, fervently, and thus they +parted.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER XII.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“I rather tell thee what is to be feared,<br /> +Than what I fear.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>The administration of the affairs of her domains, rendered it difficult +for the Countess of Blois, in the absence of the most vigorous part of the +population, to provide for the numerous families, left dependent by the +wars; and the increasing helplessness of her idiot son, added greatly to +the burden of her cares. ’Twas Christmas morning, the anniversary of her +betrothal. A crowd had assembled in the grand cathedral of Chartres, to +unite in the sacred solemnities of the day, and to witness the christening +of Lucy, the infant countess. So occupied was Adela with the impressive +scene, that she did not observe the entrance of several knights, on whose +noble forms and toil-worn habiliments, the eyes of the multitude were +riveted with the most intense curiosity; nor did she notice, while the +bishop sprinkled the babe with the holy-water, and consecrated it to God, +that their leader had advanced to the altar and knelt beside her at the +font: but when the warrior stretched out his arm to receive the +white-robed cherub from the hands of the priest, she turned to see her +<i>husband</i> gazing with unutterable tenderness upon his infant daughter, +whom he now beheld for the first time.</p> + +<p>The unexpected return of their lord gave an additional impulse to the +festivities of the day among the numerous retainers of the count.</p> + +<p>When the joyous greetings and congratulations were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> over, and Adela and +Stephen were left to the free interchange of their own thoughts, the +countess, who suspected that some misadventure had occasioned this +unannounced arrival, led the way to an explanation. “And wherefore comes +not Robert with thee?” she inquired.</p> + +<p>“Methinks thou mightest spare thine asking,” said Stephen, looking fondly +upon her. “Robert has not those ties that draw me to my native land. +Adventure and war are wife and children to him.”</p> + +<p>“Did wife and children draw my husband from the paths of glory and the +cause of God?” replied the countess, apprehensively.</p> + +<p>“Those paths which thy imagination invests with glory,” said Stephen, “are +but the tracks where reptiles and savage beasts have found their way, +among craggy rocks and thorny bushes, bleeding deadly venom. We followed +them through deplorable suffering, and were conducted to disaster and +defeat. And as for the cause of God, if thou hadst seen the vices of these +<i>holy</i> croises, and the hardships they endured, thou wouldst have deemed +either that they were not the people of God, or that the Almighty took +little note of the sufferings of his faithful servants.”</p> + +<p>“’Tis the faint heart that feels the toils of the way, and distrusts the +care of Providence,” said Adela, reproachfully. “Did not the vows of +knighthood alone forbid thee to abandon the holy cause?”</p> + +<p>“To abandon a cause forsaken by God and man, were the dictate of +prudence,” retorted Stephen, stung by the censure of his beloved countess.</p> + +<p>“Prudence is born of cowardice,” replied she, with unabated warmth. “I +have hitherto heard of deeds of valor, not of desertion; of victory, not +of defeat.”</p> + +<p>“Thine ignorance then excuses thy violence,” said Stephen; “but if thou +wilt listen patiently to thy lord, thou mayest perchance become better +informed.”</p> + +<p>“I will listen to nothing that brands my Stephen with cowardice!” +exclaimed Adela. “My heart exulted in the thought that the president of +the chiefs would counsel them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> to worthy deeds!” and the haughty woman +burst into tears of mingled tenderness and mortified pride.</p> + +<p>“By the crucifix at Lucca!” exclaimed Stephen, rising in wrath, “an thou +wilt not listen to reason, ’twere vain to talk.”</p> + +<p>“And if reason determined thy return, wherefore comest thou alone?” said +Adela, striving to conquer her emotion.</p> + +<p>“Alone!” replied the count. “Of the multitudes that left Europe at the +preaching of Peter, three fourths have returned already or fallen victims +to their folly. The Hermit himself has fled from the sight of miseries +that he was impotent to relieve and unable to endure. Baldwin has joined a +piratical band that ravage the coast of Cilicia. Raimond, of Toulouse, +languishes the victim of a pestilential fever. Godfrey, the soul of the +expedition, torn and lacerated, in an encounter with wild beasts, lies +prostrate with his wounds; nay, the Count Melun, and Tatius the lieutenant +of Alexius, have withdrawn their forces; and when sickness compelled me to +retire for a season from the siege of Antioch, fifteen thousand Turks, +from the heart of Asia, were on their way to join the myriads that +surround the christian camp.”</p> + +<p>“And what kind hand tended thy illness?” said the countess, her tenderness +returning at the thought of his suffering.</p> + +<p>“The bivouac of the soldier admits few of those attentions so grateful to +an invalid,” replied her husband, much softened. “However, my +indisposition was of short duration, and I should have rejoined my +companions, had not intelligence reached me that caused me to abandon all +hope for the success of the enterprise.</p> + +<p>“I tell thee that the project of subduing Asia is utterly foolish and +vain. The Greek empire, the barrier of Europe on the east, is little less +infidel than the sons of Islam; and every conquest of the Christians is +claimed by Alexius as feudal lord. He wrested from us the city of Nice in +the very hour of victory. On my return, I met him at the head of his army +on the way to take possession of Antioch,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> and by representing the power +of the Turks turned him from his purpose.”</p> + +<p>“But do not the people of God always triumph in the battles with the +Infidels?” inquired Adela.</p> + +<p>“In single encounter or in a fair field,” replied Stephen, “the croises +are uniformly victorious: but valor wields no weapon against famine and +disease. Our army, at such a distance from their own land, must be +dependent for supplies upon the grace of Alexius, each victory, therefore, +but lays the foundation for another contest, and were Palestine delivered +from the Turk, it would require still greater exertion, to wrest it from +the Greek.” The countess was silenced by reasoning which she could not +answer, but against which all her feelings revolted. Yet though she +apparently acquiesced in her husband’s decision, her heart was keenly +alive to every rumor that might reflect upon his fame. Nor were her +feelings soothed, by hearing that the pilgrims besieged in Antioch, +enfeebled by disease and wasted by famine, reproached Count Stephen, as +the cause of all their miseries; since he had withdrawn his own forces, +not only, but turned back the armies that were hastening to their relief. +Her pride and ambition were deeply wounded by these reports, and when she +learned that the Christians, at the very point to die of starvation, had +bound themselves never to abandon the cause, till they had pressed their +lips upon the Holy Sepulchre; that visions of saints and apostles, had +reawakened energy and activity in their wasted ranks, that the lance that +pierced the side of the Saviour, had been discovered and that a “bright +squadron of celestial allies,” had closed in with the battalions of the +christian army and pursued the Saracen legions from the vale of the +Orontes, she felt that her husband had not only tamely resigned an earthly +crown, but had by the same cowardly act forfeited an heavenly inheritance. +In the agony of her disappointment and chagrin, she vowed she would give +him no rest till he returned to the Holy Land, to wipe out with his blood +if need be, the foul stain upon his honor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>In this state of mind Stephen found it impossible to interest her in any +of their accustomed occupations and amusements. News from the Crusade +alone restored her wonted animation, and as these tidings, generally, +reflected little honor upon himself, he suppressed as much as possible all +intelligence from the East, and contrived to pass his time in distant +parts of his domains. The torturing suspense of the countess at length +induced her secretly to dispatch a messenger to Italy. He returned bearing +a transcript of an official letter, which the chiefs of the Crusade had +sent to Pope Urban. After giving the details of the march from Antioch +along the sea-coast past Tripoli, through the country of Sidon to Ramula, +the letter went on. “Thence our troops continued their route to the +village formerly called Emmaus, and like the disciples of old ‘our hearts +burned within us,’ when there came to us certain brethren from Bethlehem +to comfort us, after all our fatigues, and to welcome us to this holy and +beautiful land. Sleep was banished from every eye, and ere midnight was +well passed, every man animated by the fervor of hope and the intensity of +desire, had girded on his armor and come forth from his tent, prepared for +the last conflict. We wandered along the highways and fields, in darkness; +but at length the heavens blushed with the glorious suddenness of eastern +dawn, and as the sun shot his level rays across the sacred brow of Olivet, +the holy city lay before our eyes. ‘Jerusalem! Jerusalem!’ was repeated +with tumultuous wonder, by a thousand tongues. Every fatigue, every +danger, every hardship, was forgotten, and the warrior became at once a +simple pilgrim; his lance and sword were thrown aside, and the passion +which stirred every heart, was clothed with divers gestures. Some shouted +to the sky—some wept in silence—some knelt and prayed—some cast +themselves down and kissed the blessed earth—‘all had much to do to +manage so great a gladness.’ Taking off our shoes, we trod the sacred +ground with naked feet, and thus proceeding, came in front of the city and +pitched our camp upon the north, between the gate of St. Stephen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> and the +tower of David. It was early summer, the harvest was upon the ground, the +grapes were ripe upon the vines, and before the waters of the autumnal +equinox, dropped upon us out of heaven, the ensign of the cross was +floating upon the walls of Jerusalem. For having long assailed the +bulwarks in vain, we prepared movable towers of great strength, which we +rolled to the walls, commenced the assault, not as in former times at the +sound of drums and trumpets, but with the inspiring melody of hymns and +psalms, while the priests bowed on Mt. Zion and prayed for the aid of +heaven on the ensuing conflict. The Infidels, to manifest their rage, +erected the symbol of our holy religion, and cast dust upon it, but the +Lord was with us, and the sacrilegious insult was well atoned by their +blood, for while Godfrey and Baldwin leaped from a tower and planted a +banner upon the battlements, Tancred and Robert burst open one of the +gates, Raimond and his followers scaled the walls, and thus we have freed +the city from the dominion of the Infidels, and avenged the cause of +heaven. We laid down our arms, washed our hands from the bloody stains, +put on the habiliments of repentance, and in the spirit of humility, with +uncovered heads and reverent feet, walked over all those places which the +Saviour had consecrated by his presence. The ghost of the departed Adhemar +came and rejoiced with us, and the spirits of the martyrs who perished on +the road from Europe to Jerusalem, appeared and shared in the felicity of +their brethren. The whole city was influenced by one spirit, and the +clamor of thanksgiving was loud enough to have reached the stars. Thus in +the year of our Lord 1099, was the city of Jerusalem added again to the +dominion of Christendom, on the very day and hour of the crucifixion of +the Saviour. At this auspicious time, Pope Urban second sits in the Roman +see; Henry is emperor of the German, and Alexius of the Grecian empire. +Philip reigns in France and William Rufus in England, whilst over all men +and all things, reigns our Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever, to whom be +honor and glory for endless ages.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER XIII.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 9em;">“I have deeply felt</span><br /> +The mockery of the shrine at which my spirit knelt.<br /> +Mine is the requiem of years in reckless folly passed,<br /> +The wail above departed hopes on a frail venture cast.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">Whittier.</span></span></td></tr></table> + +<p>Acting upon the hint of Adela, Prince Henry repaired immediately to +Huntingdon and secured the good offices of Maude and her husband, in +effecting a communication with the beautiful novice Matilda. He was thus +enabled to counteract the efforts of his powerful rival Warrenne, Earl of +Surrey, to whom Rufus had promised her hand. Deeming it unsafe however to +quit England, he tarried at court and passed his time in hunting and +hawking, according to the manners of the age. The New Forest was the +constant scene of dissolute pleasures. The sweet solemnity of the deep +woods was daily disturbed by the Bacchanal revel, and the pure echoes of +the dell were forced to answer the loose laugh and thoughtless +imprecation. Godly men lifted up their voice against the corruptions of +the age, and saintly priests warned by omens and dreams, admonished the +Red King on a certain day, to avoid the glen in which Prince Richard was +supposed to have contracted his fatal disease. But the impious Rufus, with +studied contempt led the chase that way, diverting his attendants with +ribald jests upon the warnings he had received. “Come, Deer’s foot,” said +Warrenne, tauntingly to Prince Henry, “yonder bounds the stag. The fair +hand of Matilda to him who brings the antlered monarch down.” “I have +broken the string of my arblast, and must repair to the hut of this +forrester to replace it,” replied Henry coldly. “Come on, ye laggards. Ho! +Tyrrel, thou and I alone will be in at the death,” cried Rufus, putting +spurs to his horse. As Henry entered the cottage, a weird wife rose up as +if from the ground before him, chanting in Norman French,</p> + +<p class="poem"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +“Hasty news to thee I bring—<br /> +Henry, thou art now a king.<br /> +Mark the words and heed them well,<br /> +Which to thee in sooth I tell.”</p> + +<p>The closing words were interrupted by hurried cries of alarm and distress. +The prince turned, and the horror-stricken Tyrrel, whose erring shaft had +slain the king, dashed past the door. Comprehending the whole affair at +once, Henry remounted his horse and rode full speed to Winchester, forced +the keys from the keeper, and took possession of the regalia and royal +treasure. The people thronged round him in the streets, and while the +nobles and prelates were debating on the claims of Robert, the populace, +whose allegiance he secured by the promise of English laws and an English +Queen, made the city resound with loud shouts of “Long live King Henry.” +Within three days he was crowned at Winchester, by the bishop of London.</p> + +<p>Scarce a month after the Countess of Blois was apprized of these events, +the tardy Robert arrived at Chartres. He had lingered in Apulia to woo +Sybilla, the fair cousin of Bohemond, and now returned to claim his +inheritance, after his younger brother was securely seated on the throne. +The countess received him with the greatest joy, and honored his peerless +bride with the most distinguishing attentions; but when she learned that +he depended upon her good offices with Stephen to secure assistance in a +meditated invasion of England, her love for her favorite brother Henry, +and her apprehension of the unsteady rule of Robert, moved her to dissuade +him from the scheme, and she secretly hoped that he might be made +instrumental in inducing her husband to return again to the Holy Land. She +learned from Robert the various success of the leaders of the crusade. +While some were still carving their way with the sword, Bohemond was +Prince of Antioch, Baldwin of Edessa, and Godfrey enjoyed the enviable +distinction of being King of Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>“The voice of fame has spoken oft to me of the prowess<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> of my brother +Robert,” said she. “Did not his peers deem him worthy a principality in +Palestine?”</p> + +<p>“Nay, it needed not the suffrages of the chiefs, since heaven itself +preferred my poor claims above all others,” replied Robert. “When a king +was to be chosen, the bishops gave to each leader a waxen candle, and +directed us to walk in procession to the Holy Sepulchre. As we advanced +within the sacred place, a sudden flame kindled upon the taper I held in +my hand, but at that moment a whisper of Rufus’ death swept across my +spirit, and remembering the throne of England I dashed out the light.”—</p> + +<p>“Unhappy man!” exclaimed the countess. “Thou hast refused the call of +heaven. Look not for success in any future enterprise. Hope not that +divine sanction will back thine endeavor, and expect not aid or succor by +thy sister’s intervention.”</p> + +<p>“By the Holy Rood,” shouted Robert in wrath, “thou Queen’st it well for a +woman whose craven husband was the first to desert his standard. It were +indeed the part of a madman to expect assistance from the dastard earl.” +Before the anger of the countess gave her voice to reply, he strode from +her presence.</p> + +<p>Meantime, Henry hearing that Robert had arrived in Normandy, strengthened +his power by conciliating the English nation, and took prompt measures to +redeem his promise of giving them an English Queen. But for some +unaccountable reason the Saxon princess seemed averse to quitting her +gloomy convent, nor would she consent to bestow her hand upon the +handsomest and most accomplished sovereign of his time, till he had +promised to confirm to the nation all the ancient laws and privileges +established by her great ancestor Alfred, and ratified by Edward the +Confessor. When a digest of these rights and immunities had been made, and +a hundred copies committed to the care of the principal bishoprics and +monasteries of England, she consented to become “the bond of peace to a +divided nation—the dove of the newly sealed covenant between the Norman +sovereign and her own people.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>The efforts of Robert, delayed till Henry’s power was thus consolidated, +of course proved ineffectual. He wasted the munificent dower of his +beautiful Sybilla, in idle feasting, and having buried his lovely wife the +third year after their marriage, he gave up Normandy to Henry, for an +annual pension, and was finally taken in a revolt, conveyed to Cardiff +Castle, where in a sort of honorable captivity he passed the remainder of +his useless life.</p> + +<p>The spirit of crusade was still active in Europe, and combined with this +spirit, was the hope of gain, springing from vague and exaggerated +accounts of the wealth and principalities which the leaders of the first +expedition had acquired. The devastated lands of Palestine were soon +settled by families who immigrated from pecuniary or pious motives, and +not long after the death of Godfrey, and the election of Baldwin I. to the +throne of Jerusalem, several bodies of armed men set out to join their +brethren in Asia. Count Stephen, wearied with the incessant importunities +of his ambitious wife, shamed by the example of Hugh, Count of Vermandois, +and stimulated, perhaps, by the hope of obtaining easier conquest, and +less dangerous honors, consented to return to the Holy Land. At +Constantinople they met with Raimond of Toulouse, who was returning for +assistance, and proceeded under his guidance. On their way through Asia +Minor, they encountered the Turks, lost one hundred thousand men, together +with Hugh of Vermandois, who died of his wounds, at Tarsus. Raimond of +Toulouse was slain at Tripoli, but Stephen, Count of Blois, with the rest +of the leaders proceeded straight to Jerusalem; and having by the +completion of his pilgrimage, wiped out the disgrace of his first +desertion, embarked on board a vessel to return to Europe. The heart of +the countess dilated with pride and joy, as from time to time she heard of +his noble deeds, and with feelings akin to the romance of her youthful +admiration, she hourly expected his return. One evening, sitting thus +alone, a servant announced, that a monk in the anteroom craved permission +to speak with her. The countess ordered him to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> be instantly admitted, and +her heart sickened with a sad foreboding, as a diminutive figure veiled in +palmer’s weeds stood before her.</p> + +<p>“Speak thine errand quickly,” said she, pale and breathless with +agitation. “What of my lord?” He replied only by an upward motion of the +hand, and Adela knew that her husband was dead. She sank back in her seat +and clasped her hands, but kept her eyes fixed with the intensity of the +keenest emotion upon the face of the monk. “Tell me all, good father,” +said she, in a voice nervously firm.</p> + +<p>“I know little, noble lady,” replied the palmer, “and though I have come +all the way from Palestine to bring thee tidings, my story will be brief. +Thou hast, doubtless, heard of the poor services of Peter the Hermit, in +awakening the attention of Europe to the low estate of Jerusalem. When by +Divine favor I had been so blest as to conduct the greatest warriors of +the age to the conquest of the Holy Sepulchre, and had seen the Christians +thus relieved from Turkish oppression, fall at my unworthy feet, and call +down blessings upon my head, I felt to exclaim like Simeon of old, ‘Lord, +lettest now thy servant depart in peace, since mine eyes have seen thy +salvation.’ With the deepest humiliation, for having in a moment of +temptation, wavered in faith, I thought to found a monastery upon the +shores of Lake Gennesareth, where I might have the example of the sinking +Peter ever before mine eyes. One evening, as I walked upon the shores of +the sea, revolving these things in my thoughts, I felt myself suddenly +seized from behind. A bandage was thrown over my eyes, I was forcibly +lifted from the ground, placed upon a mule and hurried forward. I +attempted to cry out, but a hand was laid upon my mouth, and a voice +whispered in Anglo-Norman, ‘Fear not, old man, thou art among friends, and +bidden only to labor in thine holy calling.’ Thus assured, I ceased my +struggles. How far I was conveyed, I know not, but when the bandage was +taken from my eyes, I found myself in a wild cave of the mountain, by the +side of a dying crusader, and recognized in the pale countenance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> before +me, the lineaments of Stephen Earl of Blois. ‘Take courage, noble count,’ +said the voice that had before spoken in mine ear, ‘I have caught a priest +whose ghostly counsels will speedily prepare thee for the long journey, +which all must sooner or later take.’ With a tenderness which one would +scarcely look for in such a savage, the chief raised the dying earl, and +gently supported him while I received his directions concerning certain +affairs, and ministered the last rites of our holy faith. The count +pressed me to promise that I would, myself, bring to thee the epistle, +which he had with much pain and difficulty indited. And when I hesitated, +by reason of the monastery which I had resolved to found, he summoned all +his remaining strength, and while I guided his trembling hand, drew for me +a deed of the vale of Montier, and bade me bring it to thee for thou +wouldst ratify it, and endow the abbey by thy bounty. Scarcely had he +finished it, when his wounds bleeding afresh, a deadly faintness seized +him. The chief laid him back upon the cushions. I held up the crucifix +before his eyes, and murmuring a prayer in which were mingled the names of +wife and children, he expired. That night I gave him christian burial +beneath one of the cedar-trees of Mount Lebanon, the swarthy barbarians +holding torches, and looking with reverent awe upon the solemn scene. +Before morning I was again blindfolded, and conducted to the sea-coast, +and put on board a vessel bound for Italy.” So intent had the Hermit been +on his narration, that he had not observed the countess, pale and rigid as +though turned to stone; and when she clutched with convulsive eagerness +the parcel he extended, he bowed and withdrew.</p> + +<p>She tore off the envelope, and the scarf which her girlish hand had +wrought in the hours of her first sweet love, soiled and blood-stained, +fell across her lap, and crept accusingly to her feet. She opened the +letter and read—</p> + +<p>“To Adela, my best and only beloved, thy Stephen sends this last token of +affection. In this my dying hour it is my sweetest consolation to feel +that with my sword I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> have pierced the cloud that has so long been between +us, and that could I see my Adela, she would smile upon me as the loved +and honored husband of her youth. I have bathed in the Jordan, and +worshipped at the sepulchre; but it was the <i>human love</i> and not the +<i>Divine</i>, that baptized my soul with joy, and whispered pardon to my +wounded spirit. I have sought for glory in the land of patriarchs and +prophets, and I have found it; but in the accents of fame my ear has heard +only the voice of Adela. The Eternal saw mine idolatry and punished it. +Adverse winds drove back the vessel that was to bear me to my native land. +The King of Jerusalem called upon us again for aid. We fought in the +plains of Ramula, seven hundred knights against the whole force of the +Turkish army. Hemmed in on every side, we fell, bravely defending the +standard of the cross. Fainting from loss of blood, my dull ear heard the +cry of ‘Allah ackbar.’ Like one dreaming I called upon the name of +Hardrager. Immediately the <i>old man</i> came to me and stanching my mortal +wound, bound it tightly with the scarf which I had thrown across my breast +to animate me, for the conflict. I was conveyed away, and awoke as did +Ingulfus, in the cave of the Assassins. I know that I shall die. I cannot +long sustain the pressure of the ligament, and when once ’tis loosened my +last blood will flow. Hardrager has promised me christian burial, and sent +for a priest to shrive my parting soul. Think of me kindly, proudly, my +best beloved. Teach my sons to honor their father’s name, for he died +fighting in the Holy Land. Kiss my darling Lucy, the sweet babe who +unconsciously smiled upon my return. Darkness gathers upon my sight. The +forms that gladdened my youthful days pass before me, and the fairest +among them all is my bride, my Adela.” A few more words were indistinctly +traced, the page seemed blotted with tears, and the name of Stephen was +scarcely legible.</p> + +<p>Years passed over the spirit of the countess in the intense agony of that +one night. Her heart-strings strained to their utmost tension by the power +of this mighty woe,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> thenceforth gave no response to the light fingering +of ordinary circumstance. The tender solicitude of friendship, the sweet +prattle of childhood, the hilarity of mirth, the consolations of religion, +and the schemes of ambition, were endured and accepted with the same +passionless apathy. She made a journey to Normandy, and arranged a +reconciliation between her brother Henry and the primate Anselm with her +accustomed wisdom. She visited Boulogne, and presided at the nuptials of +her son Stephen with her wonted grace. She gave her Lucy to the Earl of +Chester, with a mother’s blessing, and saw her depart in the fatal White +Ship without emotion. But when she again stood at the door of the abbey of +Feschamp to welcome Maude once more to Normandy, the curtain of +retrospection was lifted, and the whole drama of her life passed before +her. Adela and Maude! The disparity between the happy child and the sad +captive was less striking than the contrast between the elegant and +stately Countess of Blois, and the serene and gracious princess of +Scotland, who now met after life had gathered the bloom of their youthful +beauty, and left the indefinable shades which character traces upon the +human countenance. Fixed and calm were the features of Adela, once radiant +with vivacity, but their repose was the death of emotion, and their +calmness was not resignation, but submission to inexorable fate. The face +of Maude, still fair and beautiful in the strength of its repose, beamed +with the serene benignity of ineffable peace, and she seemed one, the +joyousness of whose inner life found occasion for an overflow of +beneficence in every outward occurrence.</p> + +<p>Again they journeyed together through the scenes that witnessed the +triumphal progress of William the Conqueror. But it was now the task of +Maude to soothe the spirit of her friend, bound with the chain of +remorseful regret. Cicely, celebrated for her piety, had become lady +abbess of the convent of Caen, and it was the intention of the countess to +enter the nunnery under her care. In fitting up her dormitory Adela had +laid aside all her accustomed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> magnificence, and the only relic of her +former state was a gorgeous curtain that divided her oratory from the +cheerless apartment, chosen as the home of her future years.</p> + +<p>“Maude,” said she, as they sat together there, “rememberest thou the +riddle of life and love that once formed our theme of converse in an hour +like this? How thy heart pined for the convent, and mine shuddered at its +gloom.”</p> + +<p>“Aye,” said Maude, “well do I remember it, and often have I smiled at the +presumption which made me attempt to solve the greatest mystery of human +existence, and arrogate to myself the choice of the future; when the +highest wisdom leads only to the faithful performance of daily duties.”</p> + +<p>“I mind me now,” replied the countess, “that thy gentle admonition pointed +to that effect.—But I scorned control, and when I saw the cruel policy by +which my father strengthened his dominion, I determined that my hand +should never seal the bond of a political alliance, and it was not till +after years that I learned that the meeting between Stephen and myself +resulted from a preconcerted plan to bind me to one whose mild virtues +would counteract my unholy aspirings. Thy instructions had taught me the +power of a righteous purpose, and I sought its aid to compensate for what +I considered a defect in my husband’s character, vainly hoping that +ambition, sanctioned by religion, would secure its reward. With fatal +skill I wrought upon his generous affections till he relinquished the dear +delights of his family, to seek barren laurels, and find a lonely grave on +a foreign shore.”</p> + +<p>“Reproach not thyself,” said Maude, tenderly.</p> + +<p>The countess heeded not her interruption. “Thou and I,” said she, “have +wrought for different ends, and the results for which I toiled have come +to thee unsought.”</p> + +<p>Maude would have replied, but the passionate woman proceeded. “Nay, let me +speak; for since my great grief has fallen upon me, I have unburdened my +heart to no one. As a captive thou didst bring a blessing to the household +of the Conqueror; thy sweet spirit moulded the rude Simon into a +benefactor of his dependents, and I know well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> that it was thy benevolent +wisdom which instructed Matilda to secure the liberty of England, and the +stability of Henry’s throne. Thy silent sacrifices have made the rich +current of thy life one stream of beneficence, while my erring spirit has +converted the bounties of heaven into fountains of misery. My wicked pride +found occasion in the imbecility of my first-born William for ceaseless +repining, and sowed the seeds of sorrow in the hearts of my other noble +beautiful children. Thibaut is in arms against his sovereign, Stephen a +pensioner on the fickle humors of a king, Henry seeks preferment through +the church, and my lovely Lucy, the darling of her father, lies entombed +in the sea. Oh! Maude! Maude! my best and truest friend, pity her whose +only occupation through long years has been ‘to write bitter things +against herself!’ But I might have known it all,” continued she +impetuously, “for heaven through thy intercession deigned to warn me of my +fate, and I would not tell thee lest thy gentle love should win me from +it.”</p> + +<p>She drew aside the curtain of the oratory, and led the princess within the +shadow. Through the oriel windows the mellow light of the autumnal sun +fell softly upon the altar, where stood beside the crucifix the crystal +urn containing the hallowed dust of Palestine. The scarf of Stephen, with +its golden embroidery rusted, and its bright pearls dimmed with his blood, +was wound round the precious love-gift, and fastened with the thorn +obtained from Ingulfus.</p> + +<p>“It seems but yesterday,” said she, tenderly detaching the baldric, “since +I held this up before thee with pride and pleasure, and in careless wonder +saw thee wreathe it in the canopy of my couch. But that dream, now that my +whole life looks a dream, seems the one reality of my existence. I shall +tell it thee, for my spirit already feels the balm of thy gentle sympathy.</p> + +<p>“My slumbers were at first broken and disturbed. I seemed with Stephen and +Robert in an eastern land, hurrying over rocks and sands, a tiresome, +weary way, in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>pursuit of a crown which constantly tempted, but eluded the +grasp. First I missed Stephen from my side, then Robert disappeared, and +at last I sank down among myriads of wretches perishing of thirst. I woke +in terror, and it was long ere I could compose myself again to rest. +Whether I slept again I know not, but as I lay gazing into the depths of +the heavens, my vision seemed to pierce beyond the stars; and from the +uttermost distance came one winging his way past the bright orbs, till he +stood within the casement, the impersonation of my lover.</p> + +<p>“My scarf lay upon his breast, and his right hand held out to me an urn, +pure as though formed of consolidated light, upon whose amethystine +entablature was engraven <i>Human Love</i>. As I extended my hand, and clasped +the precious treasure, the shattered inscription fell to dust in the vase. +I raised my eyes,—he threw a pitying smile upon me, and immediately there +sprang up from the ashes a celestial flower, and as each living petal +unfolded, there floated off a radiant line of light bearing the sacred +words <i>Divine Love</i>, till the whole air was filled with redolence and +beauty.</p> + +<p>“The ringing of the matin chimes recalled me to consciousness, and my +bright vision was absorbed by the flood of glory which the morning sun +poured into the apartment.</p> + +<p>“Thou saidst truth!” exclaimed Maude. “Thy dream is a reality; for in the +ashes of <i>Human Love</i>, the <i>Divine</i> plants the sweetest hopes of +existence.”</p> + +<p>The long sealed fountain of Adela’s tears began to flow, and as the +gracious drops distilled from her surcharged heart, and her paralyzed +sensibilities felt once more the bliss of emotion, the strong, proud +woman, became gentle and humble as a child.</p> + +<p>“Maude,” said she, clasping her hands in gratitude, “there was ever a +mystery about thee. I had thought to wear out my life in sad penance, and +thou hast opened to me a source of happy contemplation: henceforth my +desert future, fertilized by the sweet waters that have gushed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> from the +rock at thy magic touch, shall blossom with the flowers of Paradise.”</p> + +<p>The abbess Cicely here entered, and summoned them to the hall of general +reception, where Maude embraced her son and received the ambassadors sent +by her husband to conduct her to Stirling, the place appointed for her +coronation, as Queen of Scotland.</p> + +<p>“Go,” said Adela, with affectionate joy, as she saw her depart. “Go to thy +bright destiny. Thou art a living illustration of the truth of scripture, +‘Be thou faithful over a few things, and I will make thee ruler over many +things.’”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> +<h2>ELEANOR.</h2> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img03.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Eleanor of Aquitaine.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER I.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 5em;">“In the midst was seen</span><br /> +A lady of a more majestic mien,<br /> +By stature and by beauty marked their sovereign Queen.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>The southern provinces of France, Poitou, Saintogne, Auvergne, Perigord, +Limousin, Angoumois and Guienne, received of the Romans the classic +appellation of Aquitaine. This beautiful land, watered by the Garonne and +Loire, whose clear and sparkling streams, flowing from vine-clad hills, +stretched their silvery arms to irrigate the fairest fields and to enclose +the finest harbors in the world, was in the twelfth century, inhabited by +the most civilized and polished people on the face of the earth. The arts, +and the idealities, and the refinements of life, like the native flowers +of its sunny vales, seemed wakened and nourished by the genial airs of a +climate, softened by the proximity of the sea, and rendered bracing by the +mountain breeze. The numerous and independent sovereigns, whose feudal +sway extended over this fair territory, imbibed the spirit of chivalry, +and caught the enthusiasm that precipitated the armies of Europe upon +Asia. Count Raimond of Toulouse, was one of the first who took the cross, +at the council of Clermont. He was styled <i>par excellence</i> the Moses of +the expedition. Before leaving for Palestine, on his returnless voyage, he +ceded his dominions to his daughter, wife of William IX. of Poitou. The +grand-children of William IX. were Eleanor and Petronilla. The father of +these fair sisters, William X., left Aquitaine in 1132, with their uncle +Raimond, who was chosen prince of Antioch.</p> + +<p>The poetical taste of Eleanor was early cultivated and developed by the +unrestrained freedom she enjoyed in the queenless court of her minstrel +grandfather in Gay Guienne.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> The language that prevailed all over the +south of France, was called Provençal. It was the mother-tongue of Duke +William, the grandfather of Eleanor, who was one of the most liberal +patrons and earliest professors of that style of composition in which the +Troubadours celebrated the feats of love and arms. The matchless charms of +Eleanor were enhanced by all the accomplishments of the south. Her fine +genius found ample exercise in composing the sirvantes and chansons of +Provençal poetry, and her delicate fingers wiled the spirit of music from +the echoing harp to accompany her voice adown the tide of song. She +inherited from her grandfather the political sovereignty of her native +dominions not only, but the brilliant talents and ancestral superiority +that made her Empress in the realm of Taste, and Queen of the courts of +Love.</p> + +<p>When the gay and licentious Duke William felt the infirmities of age +coming upon him, he determined to seek the readiest means to rid himself +of the burden of his sins. Accordingly, he resolved to resign the most +potent sceptre in Europe to the unpractised hand of his youthful +granddaughter, and devote the rest of his days to prayer and penitence in +a hermitage of the rocky wilderness of St. James de Compostella. Eleanor +had not attained her fifteenth year when her grandfather commenced his +career of self-denial, by summoning the baronage of Aquitaine to transfer +their allegiance to herself; and the child-sovereign exercised the royal +functions of her new dignities while the duke visited the court of Louis +le Gros and offered her hand to the young prince. The wise lawgiver of +France readily accepted the proposal—for the rich provinces which +constituted the dower of Eleanor, held allegiance to the crown, only by +feudal tenure; and the son, equally impatient for the possession of his +fair prize, set off with a noble train for Bordeaux. The light heart of +Eleanor was easily won by the unrivalled attractions of Louis le Jeune, +whose courtly graces were illuminated by the prospect of the crown of +Charlemagne; while the damsels that composed her court, exercised their +blandishments with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> cruel skill upon the too susceptible hearts of the +cavaliers that came in the train of the bridegroom. The parliament of Love +deliberated day by day in mock solemnity upon the pretensions of the fair +rivals, and the discreet decisions of Eleanor, the presiding genius of the +conclave, inspired the songs of Trouveres and Troubadours, who vied with +each other in celebrating her charms.</p> + +<p>A succession of long, bright days, closed the month of July, and on the +last evening the court of Love continued its session till the brilliant +twilight had faded from the western sky, and the mellow harvest-moon +poured a silver flood upon fountains that sprang as if instinct with life +to catch and fling the shining radiance upon the gay company that still +lingered in the Rose Pavilion. The Queen of the court, attired like Venus, +sat upon a throne, canopied with Acaeia, through whose trembling leaves +the light fell playfully contending with the envious shadows that seemed +striving to hide her smiles. At her feet sat her favorite page, with wings +framed of gauze attached to his shoulders, holding a lyre, fashioned to +resemble the bow of Cupid, upon which he occasionally struck a few notes +to announce a change in the evening’s entertainment. Lovely maidens +arrayed as Nymphs and Graces reclined upon verdant couches around the fair +arbitress of these amorous debates. Groups of light-hearted girls, +representing heathen goddesses, listened encouragingly to their favorite +minstrels, and strove, by various subtle arts, to win the meed of praise +to the verse that celebrated their charms. Sirventes and Chansons had been +recited and sung, still the assembly listened with an air of impatience, +as if anticipating matters of more general interest. With a smile that at +once excited and baffled curiosity, the Queen touched the cheek of her +page with her flowery sceptre, saying, “Why slumbers the harp of my pretty +Peyrol? Has he no song for the ear of his lady?”</p> + +<p>“Peyrol cannot sing in the Romance Walloon,” said the youth, casting down +his eyes with jealous pique.</p> + +<p>“Proud one,” replied the queen, “thou knowest that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> though the lord of +<i>oui</i> and <i>non</i> delights our eye, his language charms not our ear. We +would hear a pretty faibleaux of Grenada, or wilt thou give us a fitting +apostrophe to the court, where Gaiety and Innocence preside.”</p> + +<p>“Nay, honored lady,” said the page, “since Gaiety and Innocence parted +company on the plains of Pleasure, harmony hath forsaken the lyre, and not +even the goddess of Love can heal the discord.”</p> + +<p>“Thou pratest, pert boy,” replied the queen, with a stolen glance at +Petronilla.</p> + +<p>Perceiving from her tone, that he had presumed too far, the page bent over +his harp and rapidly swept his fingers across the strings, saying +apologetically,</p> + +<p>“If my lady will accept a lay of Bretagne, Peyrol is ready to do her +bidding.”</p> + +<p>“The sweet tones of the langue d’oc little befit the rugged legends of the +northern clime,” said the queen, “but tune thy lyre without further +parley.” The page needed no second command, but sang:—</p> + +<table style="margin-left: 15%;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">1.</td> +<td>In a province fair of sunny France,<br /> +Beside a winding river,<br /> +Over whose waves in joyous dance,<br /> +The sunbeams gleam and quiver,<br /> +Stood a castle tall, a goodly sight,<br /> +With its broad and rich domain,<br /> +And therein dwelt a noble knight;<br /> +I ween he had a lady bright<br /> +And three sweet babes withouten stain.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">2.</td> +<td>A generous heart, an open hand,<br /> +To courtlie companie,<br /> +And eke as any in the land<br /> +For beggars of low degree.<br /> +So gentle his mien in lady’s bower,<br /> +So full of courtesie,<br /> +Yet valiant was he in tournament,<br /> +And a good bow in the greenwood bent,<br /> +I wot right dextrously.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">3.</td> +<td>He had been blest in his earthly state<br /> +With such fair prosperity,<br /> +That his heart beat high with pride elate,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>Forgot he the giver good and great<br /> +And christian humility.<br /> +Whereat to punish his arrogance,<br /> +Our Lady sent him sore mischance,<br /> +And dire adversity.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">4.</td> +<td>Sir Isumbras to the hunt has gone,<br /> +Riding so gallantly,<br /> +With hawk and hound in the dewy morn,<br /> +When a vision bright above him born,<br /> +Appeared in the clear blue sky.<br /> +He saw a maiden meek and fair,<br /> +An angel I wist was she,<br /> +A messenger sent to bid him prepare<br /> +For chill calamity.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">5.</td> +<td>A woful man was the knight that day,<br /> +He turned him home in sore dismay,<br /> +When his good steed fell and died,<br /> +And hawk and hound of life bereft,<br /> +Sir Isumbras in the forest left,<br /> +With no living thing beside.<br /> +When to him there came his little foot page,<br /> +As fast as he might hie.<br /> +My noble master, a sad message,<br /> +It is that I bear to thee.<br /> +“Thy proud castell lies in ruins low,<br /> +Thy lady and children escaped the blow,<br /> +But and with jeopardy.”</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">6.</td> +<td>The knight bowed meekly to heaven’s decree;<br /> +A wiser and sadder man was he,<br /> +And with his lady and children, three,<br /> +Sir Isumbras boune him o’er the sea—<br /> +A penitent pilgrim he would be<br /> +To holy Palestine.<br /> +Through seven weary lands they went—<br /> +The strength of the babes was wellnigh spent,<br /> +For charity, cold was their nourishment.<br /> +They came to a wood, with flowers besprent—<br /> +To a rapid river of broad extent,<br /> +Where never the sunbeams shine.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">7.</td> +<td>His eldest born, Sir Isumbras bore<br /> +With tenderest care to the farther shore;<br /> +But ere he returned again,<br /> +A lion fierce from the thicket sprang—<br /> +The little one tore from that cruel strand,<br /> +Nor him might they regain.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">8.</td> +<td>He found his lady weeping, full lorn,<br /> +For in his absence a leopard strong,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>With a fell and bloody unicorn,<br /> +The others from her arms had torn.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">9.</td> +<td>The lady wished that she might die,<br /> +Or ever this sore calamity,<br /> +She should have been preserved to see;<br /> +But the knight with meek humility,<br /> +To Mary mother a prayer ’gan say,<br /> +That his penance might soon have end—<br /> +When wandering through the weary land,<br /> +The Sultan’s captives they were ta’en<br /> +Before his face to bend.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">10.</td> +<td>I trow the Sultan had rarely seen<br /> +A lady so lovely, in form or mien,<br /> +Or a knight so bold and true.<br /> +“Sir knight, I will give thee gold and fee,<br /> +As much as thou might wish to see,<br /> +If thou wilt renounce Christianity,<br /> +And fight for the banners of Paynimrie,<br /> +And sell thy lady bright to me;”<br /> +His form to its height he drew.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">11.</td> +<td>“Our Lady forefend that I should e’er<br /> +In infidel ranks a standard bear,<br /> +Or the holy cross betray;<br /> +And for weal or woe my lady fair,<br /> +I wed in the face of day;<br /> +A recreant knight I be when e’er<br /> +This right I shall gainsay.”</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">12.</td> +<td>They have putten off his scarlet mantell<br /> +Within the goldis shred;<br /> +They drove him from that land of Baal,<br /> +And left him as he were dead.<br /> +The lady was sent to a far countrie,<br /> +The bride of the Sultan she should be,<br /> +When from the wars of Chrisendie<br /> +In triumph he returned.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">13.</td> +<td>Asleep in the forest the good knight lay<br /> +And when he awoke at dawn of day<br /> +He saw his treasure borne away,<br /> +By an eagle strong in search of prey—<br /> +No longer he there sojourned.<br /> +To the Virgin he made a fervent prayer<br /> +Invoking for aye her watchful care.<br /> +Then to Palestine he turned.</td></tr> +<tr><td> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">14.</td> +<td>Through ten long years the knight pursued<br /> +His weary pilgrimage;<br /> +Then buckled he on his armor bright,<br /> +With heart beating free and light,<br /> +He hath boune him for the fight,<br /> +A gallant and unknown knight<br /> +Withouten heritage.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">15.</td> +<td>Much they marvelled then to see<br /> +A warrior, unknown as he,<br /> +Such deeds of valor do.<br /> +They wist he was no mortal wight,<br /> +But some weird magician sprite,<br /> +When in the thickest of the fight<br /> +The Sultan dread he slew.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">16.</td> +<td>They have broughten him to the christian king<br /> +With gladness and great welcoming,<br /> +And honor and praise had he;<br /> +But his object fell he did obtain,<br /> +For his mighty enemy he hath slain.<br /> +He donned his pilgrim weeds again,<br /> +And his wanderings pursued.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">17.</td> +<td>The scorching sun, with a feverish glare,<br /> +On the burning sands cast radiance clear;<br /> +When weary and faint the knight drew near,<br /> +Where stately and tall a castle fair<br /> +From a green oasis rose.<br /> +The cool palms waving in golden light,<br /> +With music of murmuring fountains bright,<br /> +Beckoning called the fainting knight<br /> +To bowers of repose.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">18.</td> +<td>He passed the portals of the hall,<br /> +And stood ’mong squires and good knights tall,<br /> +Holding it seemed high festival.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">19.</td> +<td>A lady beautiful to see,<br /> +Sat ’neath a gorgeous canopy.<br /> +She was queen of that countrie,<br /> +Lady of generous chivalry,<br /> +And eke of lowly charity.<br /> +The holy Palmers with reverence,<br /> +Welcomed she to her residence;<br /> +Gentle and kind was she.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">20.</td> +<td>But the knight would not be comforted,<br /> +For restless recollection shed<br /> +A sadness over all.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>In silent mood he wandered<br /> +Through tower and lofty hall.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">21.</td> +<td>It fell on a day the Queen with her guest<br /> +Were seated at the mid-day feast,<br /> +When entered her favorite page in haste.<br /> +In the early morning he went in quest<br /> +Of eaglets’ eyries, and on the crest<br /> +Of a lofty mountain he found a nest,<br /> +With golden treasure hid in its breast,<br /> +Wrapped in a scarlet mantel.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">22.</td> +<td>No sooner beheld she the page’s prize,<br /> +Than the tears o’erflowed the ladie’s eyes.<br /> +My true and loyal knight she cries,<br /> +(The palmer looked on with mute surprise.)<br /> +Hast thou Sir Isumbras seen?<br /> +One moment they gazed in silent survey,<br /> +The mists of memory rolled away;<br /> +And locked within his arms she lay—<br /> +The lost one found again.<br /> +And there was feast and festival;<br /> +Resounded then through bower and hall,<br /> +The lute and joyous madrigal;<br /> +And joustings there were in tournament,<br /> +And breaking of lances in compliment,<br /> +To the beauty of ladies bright;<br /> +Then over the Sultan’s fair domain,<br /> +In peace the knight and lady reign;<br /> +Till the king in all sincerity,<br /> +Strove with pious zeal to free<br /> +From the bonds of Infidelity,<br /> +<i>His Paynim lieges hight</i>.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">23.</td> +<td>But no one there his cause upheld,<br /> +Save God and the Queen, I trow;<br /> +And were they e’er so valorous,<br /> +Never could they withstand<br /> +An armament so numerous,<br /> +As the unbelievers’ band.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">24.</td> +<td>Then by a chance miraculous,<br /> +The tide of war was turned.<br /> +As they might be sent in our Lady’s name,<br /> +Three knights came pricking o’er the plain,<br /> +As if the ground they spurned.<br /> +Came the first on a lion strong;<br /> +On a leopard the second was borne—<br /> +The third bestrode a unicorn.<br /> +Tall men and brave were they;<br /> +The hosts of the Saracens fled in dismay,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>And repenting of their disloyalty,<br /> +Returned they then to their fealty;<br /> +And the knight and lady peacefully<br /> +Together with their children, three<br /> +Restored to them so happily,<br /> +Reigned in tranquillity,<br /> +Prosperously and long.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">25.</td> +<td>They lived and died in good intent;<br /> +Unto Heaven their souls went.<br /> +When that they dead were,<br /> +Jesus Christ, Heaven’s king,<br /> +Give us aye his blessing,<br /> +And shield us aye from care.</td></tr></table> + +<p>Rousing herself from the abstraction that had prevented her hearing the +song of her page, the queen remarked, “Thy story is somewhat long, and for +ourself we would have preferred that the husband had won the holy estate +of martyrdom ’neath the sword of the Soldan. But thou hast rhymed it right +dextrously, and we opine that the moral of thy lay accords well with the +ascetic manners of the north.” She extended her wand. The herald then +stood forth, and sounding a few notes on a chalumeaux, cried,</p> + +<p class="poem">“Comes there no cause of Arrets d’amour,<br /> +Our gracious liege and sovereign before,<br /> +From lady, knight, or troubadour?”</p> + +<p>The flute-like call was thrice repeated, and then a low response to the +challenge issued from a mimic grotto, curiously roofed with overhanging +vines.</p> + +<p>“The minstrel of our sister Petronilla has leave to present her cause +before our court,” said the queen encouragingly, as the troop of the young +princess advanced from the shadow into the clear light, and knelt at the +footstool of justice.</p> + +<p>“The lady Petronilla,” began the Troubadour, “arraigns before the court +her recreant knight, Count Rudolph of Vermandois. Cold greeting gives he +for her fair looks, scant courtesy for her warm smiles; his ungloved hand +returns not the pressure of her slight fingers, and the banderol she sent +him flutters not from his gleaming lance.” A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> slight pause followed this +accusation, and the herald again stood forth and demanded if any minstrel +or Troubadour could say aught in extenuation of the offence of the +accused. Not a voice answered, not a harp string stirred. At the third +call the page of Eleanor arose, and with a graceful obeisance begged to be +heard.</p> + +<p>“Rudolph of Vermandois,” said he, “witnesseth by me, that since he set +lance in rest to do his devoir for the fair Adelais of Champaigne, his eye +and smile, and heart and hand, as loyal husband and true knight, are due +and devote to her alone.”</p> + +<p>A general murmur attested the disapprobation of the assembly at this new +and strange defence; for it had already become a proverb in Guienne, that +“True love cannot exist between married persons.” The importance of the +action, however, elicited a brilliant contest among the rival Troubadours, +and never was a case more warmly argued, more skilfully enveloped with the +subtleties of logic, or more thoroughly transpierced with the sallies of +wit, than that which arose from the efforts of the wily granddaughter of +Philippa of Toulouse, to fascinate the husband of the granddaughter of +Adela, Countess of Blois. The fair jurors finally, like their successors +in modern days, rendered their verdict in accordance with preconceived +opinions, independent of justice or argument. The defence being thus found +invalid, the culprit was put under ban of the court, and all true ladies +were forbidden to smile upon him, except by the grace of his slighted +lady-love. The fairy camp then adjourned its sitting to receive the royal +guests, who were already on the way to meet them. As Eleanor accepted the +assistance of her lover to climb the terraced pathway leading to the +castle, she said with her most bewitching smile, “We consign our young +sister, Petronilla, to the care of our noble cousin of Vermandois.” The +count dissembling his reluctance bowed and offered his hand to the +sprightly sorceress, and the queen whispered her sister, “The hawk is +hooded, it must be thine to bind his jessies.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER II.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>Where is the antique glory now become,<br /> +That while some wont in woman to appear?<br /> +Where be the bold achievements done by some?<br /> +Where be the battles, where the shield and spear?<br /> +And all the conquests which them high did rear<br /> +Be they all dead, or shall again appear?<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">Spenser.</span></span></td></tr></table> + +<p>The first of August, 1137, rose upon a brilliant ceremonial. The princely +capital of Bordeaux glittered with all the splendor that Guienne, and its +dependent fiefs could supply; for on that day the native subjects of +Eleanor assembled to accept the resignation of Duke William, and to give +the hand of their liege lady in marriage to the heir of France. Though +Eleanor was sufficiently dazzled by the prospect of ruling in the court of +Paris, she had the sagacity to accept the proposal of her barons and +refuse her consent to the arrangement, till by charter and deed she had +secured inviolate the laws and customs of Aquitaine, and the +administration of the government to herself alone. Upon the conclusion of +the ceremony the duke laid down his robes and insignia of sovereignty, and +in presence of his loving subjects and weeping grandchildren, took up the +hermit’s cowl and staff and departed on his lonely pilgrimage.</p> + +<p>The royal cortege set out the following day for the north, resting only at +the principal towns, where the young duke and duchess received the homage +of the feudal lords.</p> + +<p>At Blois, the Count of Vermandois, who had by circumstances that seemed to +him wholly accidental been forced to give his constant attendance upon the +artful Petronilla, embraced once more his beautiful Adelais, and pleading +her ill health, obtained permission of the prince to absent himself for a +time from court. The disappointed Petronilla could scarcely conceal her +chagrin at this unlooked-for interruption in her proceedings, and from +that moment conceived the most violent hatred of her innocent rival.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> On +their entrance at Paris, instead of the enthusiastic greeting and splendid +festivities which Eleanor had anticipated, the bridal party was escorted +through silent streets by weeping attendants, who conducted them to the +death-bed of Louis VI. The great legislator of France gazed with a look of +solemn benignity upon the youthful pair that knelt to crave his parting +blessing, and reminding them, that their recent union involved not only +their individual happiness, but the peace and prosperity of both the north +and the south, added with his expiring breath, “Remember, royalty is a +public trust, for the exercise of which a rigorous account will be exacted +by Him who has the sole disposal of crowns and of sceptres.”</p> + +<p>On the conscientious mind of Louis, the words of his dying father made a +deep impression; but his thoughtless partner was no sooner crowned Queen +of France, than she entered upon her career of folly, exerting all her +talents, and exercising all her influence in the exciting games of court +intrigue. The impassioned verse in which Abelard celebrated the beauty and +love of the gifted but frail Heloise, furnished employment for Eleanor’s +Provençal minstrels, and formed the topic of general remark among the +minions of the court. She assisted the persecuted monk in his defence +before the Council of Sens, and after his death caused his body to be +conveyed to the chapel of the Paraclete, and consigned to the care of the +melancholy Heloise. She persuaded Louis that the services of his prime +minister Vermandois, were indispensable at Paris, and thus, again, brought +that nobleman within the charmed sphere of Petronilla’s attractions. She +contrived, at the same time, to secure for herself a devoted admirer in +the Count of Ponthieu, who became the agent of her slightest wish. Through +his gallantry she succeeded in involving the beautiful Adelais in some +matters of court scandal, and thus by exciting the jealousy of the Count +of Vermandois, and exposing him to the bewitching spells of her sister, +she finally persuaded him to divorce his lovely and amiable wife, and +espouse the designing Petronilla.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>Adelais sought to hide her sorrow and her wrongs in the seclusion of a +convent; but her brother, the valiant Count Thibault of Champagne, was not +inclined to suffer the indignity in silence. Such, however, was Eleanor’s +power over the plastic mind of her husband, that the count appealed in +vain to the sympathy or justice of the king. Finding that his remonstrance +could not reach the royal ear, he presented his cause before the pope, who +compelled Vermandois to put away the guilty Petronilla, and take back the +injured sister of Champagne. The repudiated wife enraged at her own +dishonor, and incensed at the undissembled joy with which Vermandois +exchanged her dazzling graces, for the long-regretted charms of the +weeping recluse, again had recourse to Eleanor. The queen, not less +vindictive than her sister, and more practised in diplomacy, succeeded in +fanning an ancient feud between Louis and Count Thibault, into the flame +of war. The king invaded Champagne at the head of a large army, and +commenced a devastating progress through the province. The town of Vitry, +strongly walled and fortified, for a long time resisted the royal forces; +but the queen, whose apprehensions of the temperate counsels of Suger, +prompted her to accompany her husband upon every occasion, privately +commissioned a body of Gascons to set fire to the town at the very moment +of its surrender. The flames spread from house to house, and finally +extended to the cathedral, and thirteen hundred persons who had taken +refuge there, were burned to death. The king stung by the cries of his +perishing subjects, exerted himself for their rescue, but in vain; and the +horrors of the scene made such a fearful impression on his mind, as +seriously to affect his health. The vision of his lamented father, +repeating in solemn tones, “Remember, my son, that royalty is a public +trust, for the exercise of which a rigorous account will be exacted by Him +who has the sole disposal of crowns and of sceptres,” haunted his slumbers +and destroyed his rest. Queen Eleanor journeyed with him from one holy +place to another, to entreat the prayers of pious monks in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> his behalf, +but the dejection of his mind increased to such an extent, that even her +insinuating blandishments failed to recall him from his gloomy +contemplations. Wearied with fruitless endeavors, she petulantly remarked +to Petronilla, who now triumphed in the possession of a new lover, the +young Count Maurienne, “Fate has given me the name of queen with the +destiny of a nun. Would we were again in our native realm, for I tire of +this dull life. Instead of the gay minstrelsy of the sweet southwest, I am +jaded with perpetual psalmody, and my attempts to beguile the weary hours +with the ‘joyous science,’ are mocked with the mummery of muttered +prayers. I have married a monk rather than a monarch;” and the mortified +queen burst into tears.</p> + +<p>While this state of feeling subsisted between the conscience-stricken +Louis and his discontented consort, news of the fall of Edessa and the +conquests of Noureddin reached Europe, and the sagacious Eleanor saw, in +the general sympathy which the intelligence excited, the means by which +she might make the melancholy of Louis the instrument of her own pleasure. +She forsook at once her gay amusements, joined her husband in alms, deeds +and prayers, expressed the greatest pity for the misfortunes of their +royal cousins, and constantly wished that she might be permitted to lead +her brave Provençals to restore the gallant Courtenays to their lost +principality of Edessa. The gracious change in the character of Eleanor +delighted the penitent monarch, and he began to listen with interest and +pleasure to her oft-repeated suggestion, that a pilgrimage would prove an +acceptable penance for the misdeed at Vitry. Animated by a renewed hope, +he called a council of the clergy and nobility of his kingdom to +deliberate on the propriety of an expedition to the Holy Land, and by +their advice despatched deputies to gain the sanction of Pope Eugenius. +The vicar of Christ entered readily into the design, and commissioned the +famous St. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, to preach the <i>Second Crusade</i>. +Louis and his queen, and all their court, attended on the ministry of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +holy man, and such crowds flocked to listen to the eloquent saint that no +cathedral, however large, could contain them. His auditors were impressed +by his sanctity, persuaded by his enthusiasm, and carried away by his +zeal. “The cross!” “The cross!” was echoed from every tongue. Louis and +his queen were the first to adopt the holy symbol, and as the multitudes +that pressed forward to follow their pious example soon exhausted the +supply already prepared, the reverend orator tore his monkish garment into +small pieces and fixed them to the shoulders of his kneeling converts.</p> + +<p>Encouraged by his success, St. Bernard passed into Germany, and every city +and village from Constance to Carinthia responded to the call of war. +Those who understood not even the language which he spoke, were awed by +his gestures, and the dignity of his demeanor, and the miracles that +accompanied his presence. The mind of the emperor Conrad III. was moved by +his startling delineations of the judgment day, when punishment should be +inflicted upon the idle, and heavenly rewards showered upon the faithful, +and openly professed that the Lord of the Germans knew and would perform +his duty to the church.</p> + +<p>The romantic purpose of becoming a female crusader now completely occupied +the light head of Eleanor, and as she was in the very plenitude of her +charms, and possessed sufficient wealth to practise any extravagance, she +soon made it the fashion among all the vain sentimentalists of her court. +The absurd arrangements which she made for the campaign, gave little +promise of rational conquest. The female recruits sent their useless +distaffs and embroidery-frames to all the knights and nobles who had the +good sense to suppose that Heaven would be better pleased with their +remaining in peace at home, than by their going abroad to destroy their +fellow-men; and this ingenious taunt had the desired effect upon the +doughty knights, who, fearing a woman’s raillery, joined an expedition to +Syria to prove their valor. The fair warriors clothed themselves in helmet +and hauberk, having golden crosses tastefully embroidered upon the left +shoulder; gilded slippers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> glittering spurs, and silver-sheathed +falchions suspended from the side completed the equipment, and mounted on +richly-caparisoned steeds, they formed a brilliant squadron, caricoled +about Paris and performed a thousand fantastic follies in public, calling +themselves the body-guard of the <i>Golden-footed Dame</i>.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER III.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>A voice, a flute, a dreamy lay,<br /> +Such as the southern breeze<br /> +Might waft, at golden fall of day<br /> +O’er blue transparent seas.</td></tr></table> + +<p>Louis took the cross in 1146, and in the following year, having received +from the pope the consecrated banner as a warrior, and the staff and scrip +as a pilgrim, set out for the general rendezvous at Mentz with his queen +and her grotesque cavalcade. Here they were joined by an immense number of +nobles and knights and soldiers, among whom were crusaders from England +and the remote islands of the northern sea. After the lapse of half a +century, the second crusade, consisting of two hundred thousand people, +tracked their way along the banks of the Danube by the whitening bones of +those who had fallen victims to the blind fanaticism of the first +expedition. Manuel Comnenus, who now sat on the throne of Constantinople, +adopted the same policy that had distinguished the councils of his +grandfather, Alexius. His envoys, bearing letters filled with flattery and +fair speeches, met the advancing warriors, but the imperial guides were +instructed to conduct the soldiers of the west by difficult and circuitous +routes, and the purveyors had secret orders to furnish them with sacks of +flour mixed with chalk and lime. Conrad, who was the brother-in-law of +Manuel, was so indignant at this breach of hospitality, that he crossed +the Bosphorus without meeting or conferring with the emperor—but the +splendid city of Constantinople<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> presented too many attractions to the +female adventurers to be passed in so hurried a manner.</p> + +<p>The wily Comnenus soon perceived that the readiest means to divide the +forces of the crusade would be to amuse the fickle Queen of France. All +the voluptuous refinements of the Greek court were accordingly put in +requisition to detain his unwelcome visitors, and if the avaricious +Bohemond was bribed with the contents of a treasure-chamber in the palace, +Eleanor might well be excused if her frivolous fancy was captivated by her +splendid suite of rooms adorned with all the luxury of eastern +magnificence, and the richly-attired slaves that waited her slightest +bidding, and when at last they set forward, the Damascene silks, costly +jewels, and precious gifts, which Manuel showered upon the finery-loving +Amazons, added not a little to the cumbrous baggage with which the +thoughtless queen loaded the expedition.</p> + +<p>Louis, lulled into security by the flattering assurances of Manuel, had +lingered in the Greek empire till the defeat of Conrad at Iconium, when +convinced by the report of the discomfited Germans, of the treachery of +his royal host, he set forward with his troops along the coast of Asia +Minor. They passed Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia without accident, +defeated the Turks on the banks of the Meander, and arrived in safety at +Laodicea. The freaks of Eleanor and her female warriors were the cause of +all the misfortunes that afterwards befell the French army. On the second +day after leaving Laodicea, their way led up the mountains, by a winding +and difficult ascent. The prudent king sent forward the queen and her +ladies, escorted by his choicest troops, under the guard of Count +Maurienne, charging them to entrench themselves upon the wooded heights +that overlooked the valley of Laodicea. Himself followed slowly with the +rearguard, encumbered by the useless baggage, and harassed by the Arabs. +The Count Maurienne, with Petronilla by his side, rode gallantly up the +steep, and halted at the place appointed, but when Eleanor reached the +spot she was so attracted by the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>appearance of an adjacent valley, cooled +by waterfalls, and shaded by thickets, which seemed to beckon them on with +an inviting grace, that she insisted upon pressing forward, and forming +the bivouac there. The Count Maurienne endeavored to dissuade the queen +from her purpose, by representing the danger of abandoning the commanding +position designated by the king, but opposition only increased her +pertinacity, and aided by the light artillery of Petronilla’s eyes, she +soon brought the discomfited knight to terms. The scene that opened before +them as they descended into the valley, was sufficient to charm away all +fatigue and fear. The rocky heights at the west, behind which the sun was +just sinking, veiled their bold fronts in the misty fringes of the opal +clouds; the blue Mediterranean circled the horizon on the south; and far +to the east stretched every variety of woodland, meadow, and glade, till +the Taurus ridge, melting into the sky, shut out the sands of Syria. The +happy party soon entered the valley. The sumpter mules were speedily +unloaded, the light spars planted, the white canvass of the tents +stretched upon them, and a cold collation spread out for their +refreshment. When the repast was finished Eleanor caused her couch to be +placed at the door of the tent, so that wild roses nodded at its pillow, +and flinging herself upon it, as the brilliant stars of that eastern clime +looked down upon her, she exclaimed, “Petronilla, my sister, seems not +this like our own dear Provence? I could almost fancy myself once more in +the Rose Pavilion.”</p> + +<p>“Certes,” said Petronilla, “and were it not a fitting time and place to +hold the festival of our Court of Love? Methinks yon, count,” with a +mischievous glance at Maurienne, “withstood our entreaties to enter this +delightful retreat beyond the limits of gallantry.”</p> + +<p>“Gra’mercy, fair ladies,” said the count, with mock gravity, “that I fear +the frowns of this august tribunal more than the displeasure of my royal +master, is perhaps my sin, and it is with unfeigned apprehensions that I +surrender to the court.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>“I accuse the count—” began the princess. Maurienne interrupted her, +“Petronilla my accuser! Then am I lost indeed. I had hoped to hear her +eloquent lips plead my excuse.”</p> + +<p>“Nay! nay!” said Eleanor, striking the velvet turf with her tiny foot. +“The court forbids these disorderly proceedings. Henry de Blois, arrest +thou the Count Maurienne at the complaint of the princess, bind his hands +with this string of pearls, and confront him with his accuser. Our brave +Warrenne, take thy spear and stand sentinel by yon copse. A prowling +Saracen would make an awkward addition to our goodly company. Knights and +ladies, recline at ease upon these verdant cushions. When the cause of +this culprit shall have received verdict, perchance your own delinquencies +may pass review.”</p> + +<p>“Heaven forefend!” exclaimed a chorus of voices, mingling ejaculations +with merry laughter and gay pasquinade.</p> + +<p>The queen, now in her element, succeeded in quelling the tumultuous mirth, +though an occasional titter was elicited by the solemn visages of +Maurienne and Petronilla, who played their part to admiration.</p> + +<p>“Where is the petulant Peyrol?” inquired the queen, looking round the +circle, “we can no more proceed with our important affairs without the aid +of song than could the prophet without the inspiration of music.”</p> + +<p>“Peyrol, my liege, attends upon the king,” replied a Spanish cavalier, who +had recently rode so constantly by the side of the queen that the +courtiers dubbed him her saddle-beau.</p> + +<p>“Gonzalvo,” returned Eleanor, “we have heard that thou stringest a lute +upon occasion. Let not our pastime be marred by the defection of this +truant boy. Give us a Moorish ballad, if thy memory serves thee with +nothing better. Our royal spouse will be here anon and summon us to +prayers.”</p> + +<p>“I am but a poor pilgrim, and little skilled in the ‘Joyous Science,’” +said the Spaniard, with affected modesty;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> “but the command of my queen +must give me the fitting inspiration.” He touched a melodious prelude, and +sung in a clear, manly voice:—</p> + +<table style="margin-left: 15%;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">1.</td> +<td>“I a minstrel of Grenada, Gonzalvo Bercio hight,<br /> +Once wandering as a pilgrim, found a meadow richly dight,<br /> +Green and peopled full of flowers, of flowers fair and bright,<br /> +A place where many a weary man would rest him with delight.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">2.</td> +<td>“And the flowers I beheld all looked and smelt so sweet,<br /> +That the senses and the soul they seemed alike to greet,<br /> +While on every side ran fountains through all this glad retreat,<br /> +Which in winter kindly warmth supplied, yet tempered summer’s heat.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">3.</td> +<td>“And of rich and goodly trees there grew a boundless maze,<br /> +Rich grapes and apples bright, and figs of golden rays,<br /> +And many other fruits beyond my skill to praise,<br /> +But none that turneth sour, and none that e’er decays.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">4.</td> +<td>“The freshness of that meadow, the sweetness of its flowers,<br /> +The dewy shadows of the trees that fell like cooling showers,<br /> +Renewed within my frame its worn and wasted powers,<br /> +I deem the very odors would have nourished me for hours.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>An arrow that pierced the tent, and fell among the strings of the +minstrel’s harp, interrupted the symphony, and called forth discordant +screams of terror. A moment after the Earl of Warrenne, breathless and +bleeding, rushed into the assembly, and communicated the startling +intelligence, that the Turks had taken possession of the heights allotted +for their encampment, and that the king, unaware of his danger, was +proceeding to the snare, spread for his whole army. Maurienne hastily cast +away his mimic fetters, and counselling his lovely charge to remain as +close as possible beneath the shadow of the trees, stationed a small guard +to defend them, and hastened back to the assistance of his sovereign.</p> + +<p>The Syrian moon now rose broad and clear in the east, and the frightened +females, huddling together like a flock of timid sheep, could distinctly +see the heavy-armed troops on which rested all their hopes, toiling slowly +up the mountain, in the face of a tremendous shower of arrows and loose +masses of stone which the Moslems threw upon them from above. Men, horses +and baggage, overborne by the sudden<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> attack, rolled down the precipitous +steep, and the expiring cries of familiar voices could be distinctly heard +through the still air. Maurienne soon succeeded in putting to flight the +Arabs that had attacked the vanguard, but the most dreadful havoc was made +among the followers of Louis, and the king himself was only saved by the +greatest efforts of personal valor. Seven thousand of the flower of French +chivalry paid with their lives the penalty of the queen’s caprice. The +baggage containing the fine array of the lady-warriors, was plundered by +the Arabs, and the fragments of their dainty supper was the only provision +left for their sustenance.</p> + +<p>The further progress of the French was beset with dangers and privations. +The discipline of the army was broken, and they marched or rather +wandered, for they knew not the roads, along the coast of Pamphilia, +purchasing or plundering food of the frightened inhabitants; and famine +thinned the ranks with such rapidity, and so many horses and other beasts +of burden perished by the way, that it was finally determined to turn +aside from these scenes of desolation and proceed by sea to Antioch. But +upon reaching the coast, a new difficulty occurred. A sufficient number of +ships could not be procured to transport them all, and the brave peers of +France, with honorable pride, agreed that the simple pilgrims, with the +women and children, should alone make their passage with the king, while +themselves should continue their route on foot. Louis distributed what +money he had among the soldiers, who were left to surmount the higher +difficulties of the land route, and engaged a Greek escort and guide to +conduct them, and taking leave of the miserable beings who had followed +him to their own destruction, went on board the ships. The escort soon +deserted the French soldiers, the guide betrayed them, and but few if any +ever reached Syria.</p> + +<p>The royal party arrived at Antioch in a condition little short of beggary; +but Prince Raimond, the uncle of Eleanor, opened his hospitable gates to +them, and by the beautiful stream of the Orontes, the distressed warriors +of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> cross refreshed themselves after their fatigues, and the +thoughtless queen regained once more her roses and her smiles. Recent +experience had greatly cooled her military ardor, and the gaiety of the +court of Antioch presented greater attractions to her fancy than a journey +over the sandy plains of Syria. Prince Raimond, wishing to avail himself +of the panic which a new arrival of crusaders had spread among the Turks, +to extend the limits of his own territories, set himself at once to +prevent the immediate departure of Louis for Jerusalem. The prince was the +handsomest man of his time, and directly began to pay the most assiduous +court to his lovely niece. The queen, flattered by his attentions, +commenced such a series of coquetries with him as greatly scandalized and +incensed Louis; but it was not till she attempted to persuade her husband +to join Raimond in an expedition against Cesarea that she found she had at +last irritated the kind monarch beyond the limits of forbearance. Louis +left her in anger, and departed with his forces for Jerusalem, where he +was received with the greatest joy. Crowds of ecclesiastics and laymen +going out to meet him, conducted him within the holy gates, singing, +“Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”</p> + +<p>Disappointed in the assistance of Louis, Raimond determined to secure an +ally in Saladin, a young Emir of the Sultan. Eleanor, who was at this time +moping with chagrin at the desertion of her husband, first saw the +handsome barbarian at a Passage of Arms given by Raimond for her +amusement, in which the dark-browed Saracen drove a javelin through the +target with such skill and grace as completely pierced her heart. She +immediately conceived the idea that if she should convert this powerful +Infidel to the Christian faith, she should achieve a greater conquest than +all the forces of Christendom. Prince Raimond, who gladly availed himself +of any attraction that should detain the Arab chief within the walls of +Antioch, smiled upon her pious project. But to bring a follower of the +Prophet devoutly to consider the tenets of the Latin church, required<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +more familiar intercourse and a greater exercise of personal influence +than the ceremonious observances of Eastern society permitted, or the +strictly virtuous deemed quite discreet. The zealous queen, however, +scorned to be controlled by such fastidious considerations. Her apartments +opened upon a terrace which conducted to a garden filled with every +variety of odoriferous shrub and fragrant flower, at the foot of which a +clump of olive-trees spread abroad their arms to hide a mossy seat from +the intrusive rays of the sun. A little wicket concealed by vines led from +the garden into the street, and Eleanor kept the key. Through this wicket +she admitted her young disciple, and in this retreat, with missionary +zeal, commenced her efforts for the conversion of the Mussulman. It was +some time before the European and Asiatic succeeded in coming to a perfect +understanding; for though Saladin was tolerably well versed in the Lingua +Franca, his vocabulary comprehended little else than those terms used in +common intercourse or war. Whether the philosophers of that day had taught +that though some languages may be deficient in expressions of abstract +ideas, all are replete in the dialect of love, certain it is, that both +teacher and pupil became aware of the fact in their own particular case. +But it was no part of Eleanor’s religious plan to entangle herself in a +mesalliance, and when the fascinated Emir began to stammer forth his +admiration, she playfully told him she could understand love only in the +Provençal tongue. The Saracen took his departure, and though she watched +anxiously for the arrow tipped with the eagle feather, by which he was +wont to announce his coming, she saw him not again for twenty days. When +the long-wished-for token at length appeared, and the handsome youth in +his crimson robe and green baldric stood again before her, his face +radiant with joy, and his dark eyes sparkling with delight; when she heard +him pour forth his eloquent passion in the loved Provençal, with all the +fluency and ease of a native, she almost fancied a miracle had been +wrought, and felt convinced that not to lead such talents to the bosom of +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> church would be a grievous sin. The Saracen soon persuaded her that +love for her alone had endowed him with supernatural powers, and the +delicate flattery determined her to exercise to the fullest extent the +influence that could produce such wonderful effects. The young Emir belted +his tunic with a silken girdle several yards in length. Upon this ribbon +Eleanor, still intent upon her design, embroidered a cross which the youth +accepted with his accustomed gallantry, saying, “I worship the Divinity it +represents.” The next day he brought her a casket of diamonds, and an +ivory box filled with the sweetest perfumes. As he reclined at her feet +she opened the box, and twining his raven hair about her fingers poured +the precious liquid upon his head.</p> + +<p>Peyrol who from his childhood had regarded the queen with the impassioned +devotion of the south, had hardly consented to share her heart with Louis. +Since her marriage, her ambition for conquest had kept him constantly in a +state of jealous excitement. His interested eyes had been the first to +discern her stolen interviews with Saladin; and on the day of her +acceptance of the diamonds, he contrived to secrete himself in the garden, +and thus witnessed the whole affair. Convinced of her danger, he set off +direct for Jerusalem, to advertise Louis of her conduct, and while Eleanor +fancied herself doing God service in her efforts to convert the lord of +the Saracens, though at some slight sacrifice of personal delicacy, the +king arrived at Antioch, and hurried her away with small leave-taking of +her uncle, and without even allowing her a parting interview with her +heathen convert. Eleanor submitted to this unaccustomed harshness of her +husband, with a very ill grace. She attempted to explain to him that she +was doing more for the preservation of the Sepulchre than King Baldwin +himself. She expressed the most violent anger at being the object of +unfounded suspicion, and entered the Holy City in a most indignant mood. +The upright mind of Louis could not be made to comprehend the piety that +led to such an ebullition of temper, nor could he well <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>appreciate the +purity of a motive that induced a wife to exchange presents with a lover; +and from this time all confidence between them was at an end. The Queen of +France was, notwithstanding, received and entertained at Jerusalem, with +all the honors due her rank; but Peyrol was instructed to watch her +movements, and prevent any further communication with Raimond.</p> + +<p>A council was held at Ptolemais, composed of the christian powers of Syria +and Palestine, and the crusaders from Europe, and though the restoration +of the Courtneys to their lost principality was the object of the +expedition, it was decided that Damascus was a far more dangerous neighbor +to Jerusalem than the remote city of Edessa. The decree to march to +Damascus was accordingly passed, and the kings Louis VII., Baldwin III., +and Conrad III. brought their troops into the field.</p> + +<p>The best disciplined parts of the army were the Knights of the Temple, and +of St. John. In the early days of pilgrimages, an institution for the care +of the sick had been established in Jerusalem. In this friendly hospital +the wounded and dying of the first crusade were received and tended with +the greatest care. King Godfrey with affectionate gratitude rewarded their +pious labors by the gift of an estate in Brabant, whence they derived a +steady revenue. The association acquired importance, and finally formed a +religious house under the tutelage of St. John the Baptist. They took the +usual vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, and the patriarch of +Jerusalem invested them with a black robe, having a white linen cross of +eight points upon the left breast.</p> + +<p>In <span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> 1113, the Hospital was put under the protection of the Holy See, +and their revenues increasing beyond the demands of charity, about <span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> +1130, they determined to draw the sword against the enemies of the faith. +The Hospitallers were accordingly arranged into three classes, nobility, +clergy, and serving brothers, who divided their duties between making +deadly war upon the Infidels, healing the wounds of the Christian soldier, +and praying for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> the souls of the departed. The admirers of valor and +piety either joined their standard or enriched their coffers. Great men +sent their sons to them for instruction, and the Knights Hospitallers soon +became a powerful monastic and military order.</p> + +<p>A few years later, some French gentlemen founded the equally honorable +institution of the Red Cross Knights. The original design of this order, +was to watch the road and keep open the communication between Europe and +the Holy Land. At first they were fed and clothed by the Hospitallers, and +to indicate their poverty, adopted a seal with the figures of two men on +one horse. They bound themselves to the three great monastic virtues, and +added some austerities, which were supposed to give them power with God +and man. They were originally styled Milites Christi, but when Baldwin I. +assigned them a residence in the royal palace, adjacent to the Temple of +Solomon, they assumed the title of Templars, or Knights of the Temple. +They wore linen coifs with red caps close over them, shirts and stockings +of twisted mail, sapra vests and broad belts with swords inserted, and +over the whole was a white cloak touching the ground. This order, too, +rose into dignity and power; and the military friars of the Hospital, and +the Red Cross Knights of the Temple, soon became the bulwark of +Christendom, “the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise.”</p> + +<p>Acquainted with the roads, the Templars led the way to Damascus, and +accustomed to succor the weak, the Hospitallers brought up the rear of the +Christian army. The eastern and southern quarters of the city of Damascus +were defended by impregnable walls; but the north and west were faced by +fields and gardens, and protected only by towers and ditches. Here the +crusaders pitched their camps; and numerous and long-continued were the +engagements between the Christians and Moslems. They succeeded in driving +in the outposts of the Infidels and seizing several fortifications looked +upon Damascus as their own. But now a more serious contest arose. Should +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>Damascus become an appanage of Jerusalem, a fief of the French crown, or +a German principality? Days and weeks passed away in fruitless disputes +among the crusaders, and at length it was determined that the prize should +be given to the Count of Flanders, because he had twice visited the Holy +Land. This decision only increased the dissatisfaction. There were rumors +of treason in the camp, and the Templars were accused of accepting bribes. +A proposition was made to remove the camp to Ascalon, and while debate +fostered delay the Saracens had time to repair the fortifications of +Damascus, and to summon assistance from the Sultan. The German emperor, +terrified with the report that the Emir of Mosul was marching to the city, +was the first to abandon the siege; and the other leaders, discontented +with themselves and with each other, gloomily retraced their steps to +Jerusalem. Conrad, with the shattered relics of the German host, +immediately returned to Europe; but the king of the French lingered +several months, visiting the holy places, and seeking opportunities to do +military service worthy the expedition; till at length learning from +Peyrol that Eleanor, through the connivance of Petronilla, had exchanged +letters with Saladin, and was meditating a flight to Antioch; he gathered +together the miserable remnant of his army, amounting to three hundred +persons, and accompanied by his enraged queen and her crest-fallen +Amazons, embarked for Constantinople. Here Eleanor found some small +consolation in repairing the sad inroads made upon her wardrobe at the +defeat of Laodicea. From Constantinople the dissatisfied pair sailed for +France.</p> + +<p>It was the intention of Louis to put away his wife immediately on his +return, but the sagacious Abbot Suger dissuaded him from this course, +since he would thus detach from the crown the great duchy of Aquitaine, +the probable inheritance of the young Princesses Mary and Alix. She was, +however, closely watched, and forbidden to visit her southern domains. In +<span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> 1150, Geoffrey Plantagenet, the Count Anjou, came to the court of +Louis VII., with his son Henry, a youth about the age of Saladin, whose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +fine person and literary attainments made him an object of attraction to +all the ladies of Paris. To Geoffrey Eleanor confided her troubles, one of +the greatest of which was, the refusal of the king to adopt the courtly +adornings of the times, particularly the long-toed shoes, fastened to the +knee by golden chains; and she was especially vexed that he had, at the +suggestion of the clergy, parted with his long curls, handsome beard and +mustachios.</p> + +<p>“Already,” said she, “he wears the shaven chin and the serge robe, and he +needs only the tonsure and cowl to make him a priest.”</p> + +<p>The duke repaid her confidence by delineating his own domestic afflictions +arising from the haughty demeanor of his consort the Empress Matilda, +whose irritable temper had not been improved by her ineffectual struggles +with Stephen for the throne of England. Altogether they had a very +sympathizing meeting.</p> + +<p>Two years after, Henry of Anjou once more visited Paris to do homage for +his domains, and the queen with a facility acquired by practice, +transferred to him the partiality she had entertained for his father. The +young Plantagenet was a noble, martial-looking prince, with a fair and +gracious countenance, and eyes that sparkled with intelligence and energy. +In the light of this new attachment, Eleanor discovered that King Louis +was her fourth cousin, and farther that the divorce he had threatened was +a matter of conscience and propriety. Louis for the first time in many +years seemed to find happiness in the same plan that pleased his queen. A +council of the church was called at Beaugencie, and in the presence of +Eleanor and Louis, and a numerous circle of relatives, the marriage was +declared invalid on account of consanguinity.</p> + +<p>Leaving her daughters in the care of their father, the liberated princess +joyfully departed with her sister Petronilla and her Provençal attendants +to her own country. On her way southward she stopped some time at the +castle of Blois, where the old Count Thibaut, father of Adelais, whose +domestic peace she had so selfishly invaded, became<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> enamored of the great +Provence dower, and offered his hand to his fair guest. Unabashed by the +lady’s prompt refusal, the venerable suitor determined to detain her a +prisoner in his fortress till she should comply with his proposition; but +Peyrol accidentally learning the design, disguised his mistress and her +sister in his own apparel, conducted them through the postern by night, +and procuring a fisherman’s boat, escaped with them down the Loire. Here a +new danger awaited them. Geoffrey of Anjou, the young brother of Henry +Plantagenet, captivated by the charms of the princess, stationed himself +with a strong guard, at the Pont de Tas, with the intention of carrying +her off. Before the fugitives reached the spot they perceived the ambush, +and the royal ladies, each seizing an oar, concealed their faces by +bending to their tasks, while Peyrol ingeniously evaded the questions of +the sentinel, by displaying the fishing-tackle and turning the boat into a +little creek, as if preparing to commence the morning’s sport. Hidden by +the willows that shaded the stream, the party pursued their way with the +utmost rapidity, and before the count had discovered their escape, they +were beyond the reach of capture.</p> + +<p>The enthusiastic greetings with which the Provençals hailed the return of +their beloved duchess, had scarcely subsided into the quiet demonstrations +of affectionate obedience, when the young Henry Plantagenet followed her +to Bordeaux, and in that wealthy city, with all the pomp that the +luxurious Provençal could command, they were married the first of May, +<span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> 1152. Thus the sweet provinces of the south became the appanage of +the English crown, and a foundation was laid for those desolating wars +that for centuries drained the best blood of both France and England.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER IV.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Imperial being! e’en though many a stain<br /> +Of error be upon thee,<br /> +There is power in thy commanding nature.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>Henry immediately conveyed his bride to Normandy, and installed her in the +palace at Bayeux, once the residence of the family of William the +Conqueror. The marriage of Eleanor, but little more than a month after her +divorce, astonished all Europe. Especially was the King of France incensed +by a union which made his already too powerful vassal lord of seven more +beautiful and wealthy provinces.</p> + +<p>He immediately entered into an alliance with Stephen to deprive Henry of +Normandy, and incited the baffled Geoffrey to make war upon his brother.</p> + +<p>“Let the stupid king do his worst,” said Eleanor to her husband, as she +despatched Peyrol to order the vessels of Bordeaux into the English +Channel. “The barons of <i>oc</i> and <i>no</i> will raise the banner of St. George +and the golden leopards far above the oriflamme of France, and rejoice at +having such fair cause of quarrel with the suzerain and jailer of their +princess.”</p> + +<p>The Provençal fleet that was thus brought to guard the coast of England, +was of essential service to Henry in quelling the agitations excited by +Louis not only, but in securing his peaceful accession to the throne of +his grandfather, Henry I. During the six weeks that elapsed after the +death of Stephen, before he was ready to assume his crown, the maritime +power anchored in the English harbors preserved the public tranquillity, +and kept all foreign enemies in awe. Henry and Eleanor, with a brilliant +train, landed on the coast of Hampshire, at the beginning of December, +<span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> 1154, and proceeded direct to Winchester.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> The prelates and nobles +gathered round them from every part of the kingdom, and their journey from +Winchester to London was a continual triumph.</p> + +<p>Their coronation, which took place in Westminster Abbey, was without +parallel for magnificence. The silks, brocades, and velvets shot with +silver or embroidered with gold, which the new queen had brought from +Constantinople, and the jewels which she had hoarded as mementoes of her +self-denying efforts in Palestine, served to illuminate this august +ceremony. The dark beauty of the south wore her long, black hair closely +braided, and bound about her head, like an eastern tiara, from which +flashed the diamonds of her Paynim lover like jewels set in jet. Her snowy +kirtle, of the finest Indian fabric, confined at the throat by a collar of +gems, and fastened by a jewelled belt at the bodice, fell in an amplitude +of drapery to her feet, and the same transparent vesture covered, without +concealing, the exquisite roundness of her arms. Over this was thrown an +elegant pelisson, bordered with fur, having full loose sleeves, lined with +ermine. In fine contrast with his sparkling queen, stood Henry, the first +monarch of the warlike Plantagenets. The Saxon lineaments predominated in +his face and person, the wealth of his brown locks, and his thick, curling +mustachios gave an air of manliness to his somewhat boyish visage, but his +calm youthful countenance was not at that period marked with the strong +and violent passions that afterwards kindled in his eye, and darkened in +his frown. He wore a doublet of crimson damask, and a short Angevin cloak, +which gained for him the soubriquet of Courtmantle. The ecclesiastics who +graced this ceremony also appeared in gowns and cassocks of silk and +velvet, another importation of Eleanor from Constantinople. After the +celebration of the Christmas festivities, the royal pair took up their +residence in Bermondsey, a pastoral village, nearly opposite London, where +was an ancient Saxon palace and a priory.</p> + +<p>While Eleanor remained in this quiet retreat, Henry devoted his energies +to settling the affairs of his government,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> with a prudence and discretion +beyond his years. In one council, he appointed the great officers of the +crown; in another he confirmed to his subjects, all the rights and +liberties secured under the famous charter of Henry Beauclerk, in a third +he induced the barons to do homage to his eldest son William, and in the +event of William’s death, to his second son Henry, a child in the cradle. +He demolished many of the castles reared by the rebellious barons under +Stephen, dismissed the foreign mercenaries or Brabancons, that had long +infested the kingdom, and compelled Malcolm, grandson of David and Maude, +to exchange three northern counties for the earldom of Huntingdon, which +the King of the Scots claimed as the descendant of Earl Waltheof. During +the stormy period of Stephen’s reign, the ecclesiastical tribunals had +acquired an authority above the judicial courts; and it was the ardent +desire of the monarch to reform this abuse. He owed so much, however, to +the friendship and constancy of Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, that +he found it difficult to work any innovation upon the jurisdiction of the +church so dear to the heart of his venerable friend. Eleanor occupied in +her own pleasures, and it is charitably to be hoped in the duties of a +mother, took little interest in these affairs; for the death of her eldest +boy, and the birth of a daughter, had in some sort awakened her mind to +maternal responsibilities. She was particularly solicitous with regard to +the tutor to be chosen for her son Henry, and herself made a visit to the +archbishop to confer upon the subject. A few days after the king entered +her apartments in an unusually facetious mood.</p> + +<p>“The good Theobald,” said he, “who suffered banishment for my mother, has +parted with his right hand to benefit her son. He has sent us his own +archdeacon as a tutor for Henry.”</p> + +<p>“And how looks the candidate for our favor; is he fair and wise?” asked +Eleanor.</p> + +<p>“Nay, for that,” said Henry, “the archbishop, with his wonted sagacity, +has shown due regard for the tastes of the family, since the man he has +sent is half Saxon, half Saracen.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>“A Pullani,” exclaimed Eleanor, her curiosity at once excited. “I met many +of this class in Palestine. Comes he direct from the Holy Land?”</p> + +<p>“Nay, he was born in London, and except some of the characteristics of his +wily race, is as good a Christian as ever attended mass. His father, +Guilbert Becket, was taken captive in the first crusade, and confined in +the palace of an emir. The daughter of the Infidel fell violently in love +with the young Christian, liberated him by night, and pawned her jewels to +a band of roving pirates, to engage them to convey him safe to Europe. +Thither she followed him through a great variety of dangers, replying only +‘London,’ ‘Guilbert,’ to all who questioned her. These two magic words +brought her to the metropolis, where she found the object of her search. +She was baptized by the Saxon name of Matilda, and Becket rewarded her +devotion by marrying her. Thomas à Becket was their only son. He passed +his childhood under the care of the canons of Merton; he has studied in +the schools of Oxford and Paris, frequented the lectures on Philosophy at +Bologna, been bred in a thorough knowledge of the civil and canon law, has +visited Rome, stands high in the favor of pope and primate, and with all +these qualifications,” added Henry, in a tone of exultation, “<i>he is not a +priest</i>.”</p> + +<p>Eleanor was delighted with the story, and Becket was immediately installed +as tutor of Prince Henry. Becket’s romantic origin, affable manners, but +more especially his nice tact in exhibiting intelligence or ignorance, +according to the demands of delicate emergencies, recommended him at once +to the favor of both king and queen. The principal residences of the royal +family were Westminster palace, Winchester, and the country palace of +Woodstock, the favorite abode of Henry Beauclerk and Matilda the good. In +this charming retirement, Eleanor amused herself and the ladies of her +court, with mysteries and mummeries, contrived and acted by the priests +and parish clerks. Even the miracles of the holy volume were degraded from +their sacred character, and made the subjects of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> clumsy efforts at +merriment. Eleanor, who delighted in scenic amusements, on one occasion +instructed the master of ceremonies to dramatize the miraculous trials of +St. Dunstan. So many characters were necessary for this important play, +that new recruits of abbots, clerks and scholars were imported from the +neighboring priory, and the queen’s dames d’honneur were enlisted in the +choir, and faithfully drilled in the chanting of most unearthly melodies. +The usual services in the chapel were for several days omitted. The +carpenters displaced the priests, and instead of the sound of matins and +vespers, the walls echoed with the noise of workmen’s hammers, preparing a +false floor for the mimic purgatory. The trees of the park were robbed of +their leafy honors, to fit up a forest over the high altar, which by the +removal of a panel, and the addition of dry leaves, pebbles and mosses, +answered very well for the hermit’s cave. The eventful night arrived, and +expectation, so long on tiptoe, quietly settled itself upon the temporary +benches to enjoy the intellectual treat, while an imaginary moon broad as +the shield of their Saxon fathers, reflected the light of a supposed +invisible torch placed behind a window shutter. Owing to the imperfection +of the machinery there was some difficulty in raising the curtain, but the +queen was privately informed that the creaking was not intended as part of +the play. The learned and gifted Provençal must be pardoned if she +exchanged some sly criticisms and satirical smiles, with the witty Peyrol, +at the expense of the well-meaning performers.</p> + +<p>The scene opened disclosing a barren heath, in the centre of which was a +mound of rubbish, strewed with grass and surmounted with a huge stone, +which had been transplanted with much care and labor, from an adjacent +cromlech. By its side stood a youth, who bashfully hanging his head and +awkwardly twirling a wand, thus unfolded the plan of the drama:—</p> + +<p class="poem">“Here you see this hill and stone,<br /> +For that you may know anon.<br /> +The story of the blest St. Dunstan:<br /> +For dun is hill, and stone is stane,<br /> +That is what this here shall mean.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>To the holy Saint was trouble sent,<br /> +As we here shall represent—”</p> + +<p>When young Harlequin had concluded his prologue, he paused in great +embarrassment staring up at the curtain, till finding that it refused to +fall he stepped to the side of the stage and assisted its descent with all +his strength.</p> + +<p>A considerable bustle then ensued behind the scenes, during which the +audience amused themselves as is usual in such cases, by suppressed +titters and whispers.</p> + +<p>The reluctant curtain again rose, and instead of the notable hill and +stone, the individual typified thereby, St. Dunstan himself appeared, a +burly Saxon priest wedged into his altar-cave; an appropriate arrangement +admirably adapted to the tradition, since he could neither sit, stand, nor +lie down at ease in it. The holy man was professedly engaged at his +devotions, rattling off credos and ave maries in a style showing a +lamentable want of familiarity with Latin. The arch tempter was a little +behind his time, for the saint had evidently exhausted his stock of +prayers, and had commenced a repeat when Lucifer appeared in the disguise +of a laborer with spade in hand. Approaching the cave, he held out a bag +of gold and invited the holy Father to follow him. The hermit impatiently +waved his hand and turned his eyes resolutely away from the glittering +lure, while the baffled demon walked off the stage. Confused groans and +shrieks from the imps beneath followed his departure, while the choir of +unseen angels sung with great emphasis—</p> + +<p class="poem">“With gold he doth the saint assail,<br /> +But not with this can the devil prevail.”</p> + +<p>The next scene was of a more striking character. The monk was this time +interrupted by the advent of a beautiful damsel, who, gliding like an +apparition of light from the greenwood, stopped before the cave, showered +roses upon his missal, and in the most enticing manner sought to win him +from his devotions. The saint, however, remained firm, and when she laid +hold of his arm, he snatched a pair<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> of pincers, conveniently heated for +the occasion, and zealously seized the sorceress by the nose, who first +cried piteously and then bellowed most lustily—but the heart of the pious +priest was not to be moved. In the struggle, the glittering mask +unfortunately fell off, carrying with it the whole apparatus of the flimsy +disguise, and a saucy-looking page, thus unexpectedly revealed, scampered +off the stage, much to the discomfiture of the players and greatly to the +amusement of the spectators. This <i>contre-temps</i> produced a most uncommon +roaring among the demons below, while the choir sung with renewed +vehemence—</p> + +<p class="poem">“With love he doth the saint assail,<br /> +But not with this shall the devil prevail.”</p> + +<p>Hardly had the cheering and laughter subsided, when the curtain rose the +third time. A sulphurous vapor filled the apartment, and from a trap-door +in the staging, amid mimic thunders and faint attempts at lightning, rose +his Satanic majesty, in <i>propria persona</i>, with the usual adjuncts of +horns, hoofs and tail. As if to strengthen the trembling saint for the +final conflict, the choir reiterated with great excitement—</p> + +<p class="poem">“With fear he doth your heart assail,<br /> +But not with this shall the devil prevail.”</p> + +<p>The fiend advanced with diabolical grimace, and the whole staging trembled +beneath his tread, while the terrified devotee shrank to the farthest +corner of the cell, and throwing his huge arms round the wooden crucifix, +told his beads with startling volubility. It was evidently the fiend’s +object, to detach St. Dunstan from the cross; but the broad-shouldered +priest was more than a match for the sturdy boor, encumbered as he was +with the trappings of his new dignities. A terrible struggle ensued, but +such was the desperate energy with which the saint grasped the holy +symbol, and so intimately was it connected with the whole design of the +performance, that in attempting to drag the priest from its protection, +the stout yeoman tore the crucifix<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> from the altar, the forest from its +foundations, and while the choir were preparing to vociferate a splendid +song of triumph, friar and fiend, angels and apparatus were precipitated +into the yawning purgatory beneath. At the same moment, the man with the +moon abruptly set, leaving the chapel in total darkness. The musical pitch +wavered and quavered, and terminated in shrieks of affright, and the +audience, apprehensive that the devil had not yet his due, fled in most +undignified haste. It was not until the queen had reached her own +apartments, and her tire-women one after another came hurrying to her +presence in ludicrous disarray, that she forgot her fright and gave way to +a genial burst of merriment. The forlorn damsels at length found it +impossible not to join in her mirth, and every fresh arrival was hailed +with irrepressible peals of laughter.</p> + +<p>“Welcome, my angeliques,” cried the queen. “I feared that your late +promotion would unfit you for mortal duties; but I perceive, with +pleasure, that a foretaste of the punishment that awaits the unfaithful, +has rendered you more than usually alert this evening. For ourself, we +feel the necessity for repose, and will gladly be disrobed for our couch.”</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the unsuccessful efforts of her Saxon clerks, Eleanor was +not discouraged. She summoned from Blois a celebrated abbot named William, +who, under her patronage, and assisted by her genius, brought out his +tragedy of Flaura and Marcus, the first appearance of the regular drama in +England.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER V.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>For close designs and crooked counsels fit,<br /> +Sagacious, bold, and turbulent of wit;<br /> +Restless, unfixed in principle and place,<br /> +In power unpleased, impatient in disgrace.</td></tr></table> + +<p>Thomas a Becket had risen rapidly in the royal favor. His calm +discrimination and cool judgment had made him the chosen counsellor of his +patron, his sedulous attention to his pupil had won the heart of Eleanor, +while his courtly qualities and knightly address made him popular with all +classes of people. The king conferred upon him the honors of Eye, the +wardenship of the tower of London, and made him chancellor of the realm. +The versatility of his accomplishments enabled him to adapt himself to +Henry’s various moods, and he thus became the monarch’s inseparable +companion. The rapidity of his rise was equalled only by the splendor of +his course. He rivalled the king in the appointments of his household, +exercised the most unbounded hospitality towards those who visited the +court, and became the medium through which the subjects communicated with +their sovereign. The king was his frequent guest, and the monarch and the +favorite seemed bound by ties of real friendship. Queen Eleanor had +removed her court from Woodstock, to the palace of Beaumont, in Oxford, +where the celebrated Cœur de Lion was born, <span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> 1157. On the receipt +of this pleasing intelligence, the king set off with his chancellor and +train to join his family. As they rode along, conversing upon terms of the +most easy familiarity, a miserable beggar followed them asking an alms. +The king carelessly bestowed a few pence, and the chancellor observing the +tattered garments of the mendicant, facetiously remarked, that the command +was not to feed the hungry alone, but to clothe the naked.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>“Thou sayest truth,” said the king, “and art thyself worthy to illustrate +thy own doctrine.”</p> + +<p>So saying, he seized the chancellor’s cloak, and began pulling it from his +shoulders. The favorite resisted this charitable impulse, and put spurs to +his horse. The king, however, retained his grasp, and urged his steed to +keep pace with that of the close-fisted courtier, and betwixt their +struggles and laughter, both had nearly been rolled in the dirt. Becket, +finally, released his hold, and the wondering beggar wrapped his shivering +limbs in the finest mantle in the kingdom.</p> + +<p>As their road wound through the rich meadows of Evenlod, they caught +occasional glimpses of the nunnery at Godstow, half-hidden among the +trees, and before they reached the outer line of the convent walls, they +saw at a short distance before them, crossing a rustic bridge, the figure +of a beautiful girl, mounted upon a coal-black steed. The ease and grace +with which she reined the mettlesome animal, the exquisite symmetry of her +form, set off by the rich drapery of her robe, first attracted the king’s +notice. Her hair of a golden brown escaping from a turban-like riding-cap, +floated like a veil over her shoulders, and air and exercise imparted a +brilliant bloom to a face of lily fairness, and gave additional lustre to +eyes, whose mirror-like depths seemed formed to reflect the light of +heaven. Henry instinctively drew rein as the beautiful being dashed across +their way and struck into a bridle-path, followed by a venerable-looking +serving man, in green livery.</p> + +<p>“What dazzling vision is this?” said Henry, pausing as if to recall a +half-forgotten memory. “I have seen that face before, or my eye is, for +the first time, at fault.”</p> + +<p>“The appointments of the servant are those of the Clifford’s,” said +Becket, coldly.</p> + +<p>“And what is the name of the fair creature with the golden locks?” pursued +Henry.</p> + +<p>“If it be the daughter of Lord Walter de Clifford, her name is Rosamond,” +said Becket, little inclined to satisfy the monarch’s inquiries.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>“Walter de Clifford!” said the king, with a thrill of recollection. “I +mind me now, when the King of Scotland laid the sword of knighthood on my +shoulder, it was the Lord de Clifford that buckled on my spurs; and this +fair girl, then a child of exquisite beauty, sat among the maids of the +queen, who presided at the tournament. A king bred in a foreign land must +needs be a sad stranger in his own realm. Canst thou point me to the home +of this fair damsel?”</p> + +<p>Becket, who perceived that the impetuosity of the monarch would not brook +evasion, answered; “Clifford castle is some two days’ distance, on the +banks of the Wye. The Lord de Clifford has been a crusader in Palestine +this many a year, and his daughter, who after her mother’s death, was in +care of the nuns of Godstow, is haply on her way to the convent. The +serving man, I see, is old Adam Henrid, her seneschal.”</p> + +<p>“Let us push on,” said Henry, “to-night we sup at Godstow. Much I wonder,” +he added, musingly, “if the sweet girl holds in recollection the image of +the boy knight.”</p> + +<p>“Becket,” he added, aloud, “there is little about me to betray the king. I +will be to-night, the simple Duke of Maine. Be thou my squire. Our men in +attendance may proceed to Oxford.” So saying, the impatient monarch put +spurs to his horse, and galloped forward followed by his reluctant +courtier, and alighted at the nunnery just after Rosamond had been +received within its walls. The sound of the bell brought to the great gate +of the convent the portress, summoned from her evening meal, and still +holding in her hand the bunch of leeks and slice of brown bread, which +formed the repast.</p> + +<p>“And what wouldst thou, sir knight?” she inquired, gruffly.</p> + +<p>“Rest and refreshment,” said Henry, in French. “We are weary travellers, +and seek shelter for the night.”</p> + +<p>“Ye are from beyond the sea,” replied the portress, “and we will none of +your outlandish tongue. Yonder lies the way to Oxford.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>“Becket,” whispered the king, “let thy ready wit serve us in this time of +need, and thou shalt not find thy lord ungrateful.” The wily chancellor, +who never lost the opportunity of laying the monarch under obligation to +himself, instantly rejoined in Saxon to the nun,</p> + +<p>“Open to us, good mother. The Duke of Maine is a zealous patron of the +church, and perchance thine own convent will be none the poorer for +granting him entertainment.”</p> + +<p>The mollified portress immediately admitted them, muttering +apologetically, “The wayfarer and benighted are ever received with +Christian charity, by the sisters of the blessed St. Bernard.”</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>The infant Richard was a child of great promise, and his ambitious mother +began, at once, to plan for his future advancement. She besought her +husband to bestow upon the prince the dukedom of Aquitaine, and to permit +her to convey him thither, to receive the homage of the barons, and to +arrange a betrothment between him and Philippa, the infant daughter of her +sister Petronilla and Raymond of Arragon. To her great joy and surprise +Henry acceded at once to the proposal, and co-operated in her scheme for +remaining some time as regent in her southern dominions.</p> + +<p>Louis VII., King of France, had given his two daughters by Eleanor, in +marriage to the Counts of Blois and Champagne; and after the death of his +second wife Constantia, conferred the crown matrimonial upon their +father’s sister, Adelais of Champagne, widow of the famous Rudolph of +Vermandois. He also bestowed upon the Count of Champagne the office of +seneschal of his kingdom, which of right belonged to Henry, as Duke of +Anjou, who, enraged at this measure, made war upon his liege lord. The +affair was finally compromised by the affiancing of Henry’s eldest son +with Louis’s third daughter Marguerite. Henry and Eleanor repaired to +Normandy to celebrate the nuptials, and Becket was sent to Paris to bring +the young bride to Rouen. On this important occasion the chancellor +travelled in the greatest state. When he entered a town two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> hundred and +fifty boys singing national airs led the procession, while from wagons +covered with skins and protected by guards and dogs the populace were +regaled with draughts of English beer. Other wagons, each drawn by five +horses, led by servants in splendid livery, followed with the furniture of +his chapel, bed-chamber and kitchen, his plate, wardrobe, and attendants. +Then came twelve sumpter horses each carrying a groom and monkey; then the +esquires, gentlemen’s sons, falconers with hawks upon their wrists, +officers of the household, knights and clergymen, and last of all Becket +himself in familiar converse with a few friends. The French, when they saw +an ambassador affecting a magnificence greater than their own sovereign +could command, exclaimed, “What manner of man must the King of England be, +when his chancellor travels in such state.” The King of France received +Becket with the most distinguishing courtesy, and committed the infant +Marguerite to his care. Becket conveyed the little princess to Rouen, +where the contract of marriage was solemnized, and the juvenile bride and +bridegroom were committed to him for education, and Louis gave to Henry +three cities as the dower of his daughter.</p> + +<p>But a misunderstanding arising with regard to the matter, a fresh +compromise was effected by another match. The death of the little princess +of Arragon had left the hand of Richard again at liberty. This hand was +given as a pledge of amity to Alice, the infant daughter of France, who +was also conveyed to England for education. It was the policy of Henry to +strengthen his government by powerful alliances: and these early marriages +were followed in quick succession by similar unions between Geoffrey his +third son and Constance the heiress of Bretagne, and his eldest daughter +Matilda with Henry the lion Duke of Saxony.</p> + +<p>In the midst of these domestic and political arrangements Theobald, +Archbishop of Canterbury, died; and the king entered upon his +long-meditated design of reforming the abuses of the church. He had loaded +Becket with every demonstration of favor and affection, and counting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +confidently upon his co-operation, offered him the vacancy. The chancellor +objected that he was not a priest, but Henry insisted that the time +required to take orders was only a few hours. Still the chancellor seemed +to decline the dazzling gift. He protested that were he once a bishop he +must uphold the rights of the church, and solemnly told the king the night +before his consecration that the mitre would interpose an eternal barrier +between them. Henry persisted, and Becket at last modestly accepted the +first office in the kingdom.</p> + +<p>Directly on his investment the new archbishop became as much distinguished +for his austerity as he had before been for his ostentation. He resigned +his office of chancellor, dismissed his knightly train, clothed himself in +sackcloth, fed upon the coarsest fare, drank water nauseous with fennel, +and daily upon his knees washed the feet of thirteen beggars, whom he +afterwards dismissed with alms. On all occasions he defended the rights of +the church in opposition to those of the crown. As he was the most learned +man in the kingdom, the most eloquent and the best beloved, he possessed +unbounded influence with all classes, and Henry soon found in the man whom +he trusted as an ally a most powerful adversary.</p> + +<p>But the king did not on this account relinquish his plans for reform. A +parish priest had been guilty of murder under circumstances that +peculiarly aggravated the crime. The judicial courts sought to try the +criminal. The bishop contended that degradation from office was the +highest punishment that could be inflicted upon a son of the church. The +affair created great sensation throughout the kingdom, and Henry finally +convened a general council of the nobility and clergy. Several articles, +were drawn up called the Constitutions of Clarendon, the drift of which +was that no churchman should be entitled to privileges greater than those +enjoyed by his peers among the laity. Becket at first refused to sign the +articles and the other bishops followed his example. Being threatened with +exile or death he at length yielded; but afterwards, learning that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +pope did not approve his course, he retracted his consent. The king +incensed at the conduct of his favorite, ordered a succession of charges +to be prepared, on which the archbishop was cited to trial. Becket +declined the jurisdiction of the court and appealed to the pope, finally +escaped across the sea and made his way to the King of France.</p> + +<p>Troubles in Aquitaine had made it necessary for Eleanor to take up her +abode there, where, in company with her children, she remained some time +exercising the functions of regent with great ability. To detach Prince +Henry, who was enthusiastically fond of his tutor, from the party of +Becket, the king sent for him to be crowned at Westminster, and admitted +to a share of the government. But when the princess Marguerite found that +Becket, the guardian of her youth, was not to place the diadem upon her +head, she trampled upon the coronation-robes, and perversely refused to +leave Aquitaine for London. King Louis took up his daughter’s quarrel, and +entered Normandy at the head of an army. Henry hastened to defend his +domains, and hostilities were commenced, but the two monarchs had a +private conference, and Henry finally promised to seek an immediate +reconciliation with his exiled primate. The archbishop of Rouen and the +bishop of Nevers were authorized to arrange an interview, and the King of +England awaited the arrival of his rebellious subject in a spacious +meadow, on the borders of Touraine. As soon as Becket appeared Henry +spurred on his horse, with his cap in hand, thus preventing any formal +recognition, and discoursed with all the easy familiarity of former days. +At the gracious words of his master, the archbishop descended from his +horse, and threw himself at the feet of his sovereign; but Henry laid hold +of the stirrup, and insisted that he should remount, saying,</p> + +<p>“Let us renew our ancient affection for each other,—only show me honor +before those who are now viewing our behavior.” Then returning to his +nobles, he remarked, “I find the archbishop in the best of dispositions +towards me; were I otherwise toward him I should be the worst of men.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +The king, however, adroitly avoided giving the kiss of peace, a +circumstance which the primate observed, and made the subject of the most +gloomy presage. Having waited in vain for the money which Henry had +promised him, Becket borrowed a sum sufficient to defray the expenses of +the journey, and contrary to the advice of his friends, returned to his +diocese. He despatched a letter to the king at Rouen, which closed thus:—</p> + +<p>“It was my wish to have waited on you once more, but necessity compels me, +in the lowly state to which I am reduced, to revisit my afflicted church. +I go, sir, with your permission, perhaps to perish for its security, +unless you protect me; but whether I live or die, yours I am, and yours I +shall ever be in the Lord. Whatever may befall me or mine, may the +blessing of God rest on you and your children.”</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>Before the meeting between Becket and the king, the pope had issued +letters of suspension against those who had assisted at the coronation of +the young prince, and Becket returned to England with those letters upon +his person, and immediately proceeded upon the work of excommunication. +These tidings were conveyed to Henry by the first ship that sailed for +Normandy, and the outraged monarch exclaimed in a fury of passion, “Of the +cowards who eat my bread is there not one to rid me of this turbulent +priest?” Four knights, at the head of whom was Reginald Fitzurse, +immediately set out for England, and proceeding straight to Canterbury, +entered the house of the archbishop, and required him, in the king’s name, +to absolve the excommunicated prelates. Becket refused, and repaired to +the church with the utmost tranquillity to evening vespers. The solemn +tones of the organ had ceased, and the archbishop had opened the book and +commenced the lesson of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, “Princes sat and +spake against me,” when the knights, with twelve companions, all in +complete armor, burst into the church. “Where is the traitor? Where is the +archbishop?” inquired Fitzurse. “Here am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> I,” replied Becket, “the +archbishop, but no traitor.” He read his doom in the eyes of his pursuers. +“Tyrant king,” muttered he, “though I die I will be thy undoing.” He wrote +hastily upon a tablet, “<i>Woodstock</i>,” and giving it to his only attendant, +whispered, “Deliver this to Queen Eleanor. Tarry not till thou find her.” +Then turning calmly to the knights,</p> + +<p>“Reginald,” said he, “I have granted thee many favors, what is thy object +now? If thou seekest my life, I command thee, in the name of God, not to +touch one of my people.”</p> + +<p>“I come not to take life,” replied Reginald, “but to witness the +absolution of the bishops.”</p> + +<p>“Till they offer satisfaction I shall never absolve them,” said the +prelate.</p> + +<p>“Then die!” exclaimed the knight, aiming a blow at his head. The attendant +interposed his arm, which was broken, and the force of the stroke bore +away the prelate’s cap, and wounded him on the crown. As he felt the blood +trickling down his face, he joined his hands and bowed his head, saying, +“In the name of Christ, and for the defence of his church I am ready to +die.” Turning thus towards his murderers, he waited a second stroke, which +threw him on his knees, and the third prostrated him on the floor, at the +foot of St. Bennett’s altar. He made no effort towards resistance or +escape, and without a groan expired. The assassins instantly fled, and the +people, who had by this time assembled, crowded into the cathedral. The +priests with pious reverence took up the body of the dead archbishop, and +laid it in state before the high altar. They tore his garments in pieces, +and distributed each shred as a sacred relic. The devout wiped up his +blood and treasured the holy stains, and the more fortunate obtained a +lock of hair from his honored head. Becket was interred with great +solemnity in Canterbury cathedral, and all the power he had exercised in +life was but a trifle to the influence of the miracles wrought at his +tomb.</p> + +<p>Henry was celebrating the holidays in Normandy, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> the news of this +event threw him into the deepest melancholy. The train of calamities, +which would inevitably follow the curse of the church, made him tremble +for his throne, and the natural horror of the crime alarmed his +imagination and partially disordered his reason. He knew not how to +receive the murderers, nor yet how to treat with the pope, and finally +concluded to give the matter over to the judgment of the spiritual courts. +The assassins in consequence travelled to Rome, and were sentenced by way +of expiation to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. To evade meeting the +legates of the pope, Henry determined to seize this opportunity for his +long meditated invasion of Ireland.</p> + +<p>The same month that witnessed the splendid coronation of Henry and +Eleanor, had been signalized by the succession of Nicholas Breakspear, to +the throne of the Vatican. This prelate, consecrated under the name of +Adrian IV. was the only Englishman that ever sat in the chair of St. +Peter; and his partiality for his native sovereign had led him to bestow +upon Henry, a grant of the dominion of Ireland. Now when troubles arose in +that province and circumstances rendered absence from his own dominions +desirable, the king led an army into Ireland.</p> + +<p>From the time of the marriage of her daughter Matilda with the Lion of +Saxony, Eleanor had not visited England. The arrival of Becket’s messenger +in Bordeaux, conveyed to her the first intelligence of the prelate’s +death; and the mysterious word <i>Woodstock</i>, immediately revived a +half-forgotten suspicion excited by the stratagems of Henry, to prevent +her return to her favorite residence. Her woman’s curiosity prevailed over +her love of power, and she intrusted the regency to her son Henry, +repaired to England, and lost no time on her way to Woodstock. As she +approached the palace, her keen eye scanned every circumstance that might +lead curiosity or lull suspicion, but with the exception of a deserted and +unkept look, the appearance of the place indicated no marked change. +Though she came with a small train and unannounced, the drawbridge was +instantly lowered for her entrance, and the aged porter <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>received her with +a smile of unfeigned satisfaction. The state rooms were thrown open and +hastily fitted up for the reception of the royal inmates, and the +servants, wearied with the listless inactivity of a life without motive or +excitement, bustled about the castle and executed the commands of their +mistress, with the most joyful alacrity. Under pretence of superintending +additions and repairs, Queen Eleanor ordered carpenters and masons, who +under her eye, visited every apartment, sounded every wall, and tore off +every panel, where by any possibility an individual might be concealed. +She did not hesitate even to penetrate the dungeons under the castle; and +whenever the superstition of the domestics made them hesitate in mortal +terror, she would seize a torch and unattended thread her way through the +darkest and dampest subterranean passages of the gloomy vaults. All these +investigations led to no discovery. The pleasance offered little to invite +her search. It had been originally laid out in the stiff and tasteless +manner of the age, with straight walks and close clipped shrubbery, but so +long neglected it was a tangled maze, to which her eye could detect no +entrance. Below the pleasance the postern by a wicket gate communicated +with a park, which was separated only by a stile from the great forest of +Oxfordshire. Mounted on her Spanish jennet, Eleanor galloped through this +park and sometimes ventured into the forest beyond, and she soon +discovered that the attendants avoided a thicket which skirted the park +wall. Commanding the grooms to lead in that direction, she was informed +that it was the ruins of the old menagerie, located there by Henry I., +overgrown by thorns and ivy and trees, that shut out the light of the sun. +The aged porter assured her that no one had entered it in his day, that +wild beasts still howled therein, and that the common people deemed it +dangerous to visit its vicinity. He added, that one youth who had charge +of the wicket, had been carried off and never again seen; and that all the +exorcisms of the priests could never lay the ghost. The old man crossed +himself in devout horror and turned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> away; but the queen commanded him to +hold the bridle of her horse, while she should attempt the haunted +precincts alone. The thick underwood resisted all her efforts, and she +found it impossible to advance but a few steps, though her unwonted +intrusion aroused the beetles and bats, awakened the chatter of monkeys +and the startled twitter of birds, and gave her a glimpse of what she +thought were the glaring eyeballs of a wolf. A solemn owl flew out above +her head as she once more emerged into the light of day, and the timid +porter welcomed her return with numerous ejaculations of thanksgiving to +the watchful saints; but he shook his head with great gravity as he +assisted her to remount saying,</p> + +<p>“I would yon dismal bird had kept his perch in the hollow oak. Our proverb +says, ‘Woe follows the owl’s wing as blood follows the steel.’”</p> + +<p>Disappointed in the wood, Eleanor relinquished her fruitless search. But +by dint of questioning she learned, that though the palace wore the +appearance of desertion and decay, it had been the frequent resort of +Henry and Becket, and since the favorite’s death, her husband had made it +a flying visit before leaving for Ireland. Farther than this all inquiries +were vain. The unexpected return of her husband, and his look of surprise +and anxiety at finding her at Woodstock, again awakened all her jealous +fears. His power of dissimulation, notwithstanding, kept her constantly at +fault, and during the week of his stay, nothing was elicited to throw +light upon the mystery. Henry had been negotiating with the pope to obtain +absolution for Becket’s murder, and was now on his way to Normandy to meet +the legates. The morning before his departure, Queen Eleanor saw him +walking in the pleasance, and hastened to join him. As she approached she +observed a thread of silk, attached to his spur and apparently extending +through the walks of the shrubbery. Carefully breaking the thread she +devoted herself by the most sedulous attention to her husband, till he set +out for France, when she hastened back to the garden, and taking up the +silk followed it through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> numerous turnings and windings till she came to +a little open space near the garden wall, perfectly enclosed by shrubbery. +The ball from which the thread was unwound lay upon the grass. There the +path seemed to terminate; but her suspicions were now so far confirmed +that she determined not to give up the pursuit. A broken bough, on which +the leaves were not yet withered, riveted her attention, and pulling aside +the branch she discovered a concealed door. With great difficulty she +opened or rather lifted it, and descended by stairs winding beneath the +castle wall. Ascending on the opposite side by a path so narrow that she +could feel the earth and rocks on either hand, she emerged into what had +formerly been the cave of a leopard, fitted up in the most fanciful manner +with pebbles, mosses, and leaves. She made the entire circuit of the cave +ere she discovered a place of egress: but at length pushing away a verdant +screen, she advanced upon an open pathway which wound, now under the thick +branches of trees, now through the dilapidated barriers that had prevented +the forest denizens from making war upon each other, now among ruined +lodges which the keepers of the wild beasts had formerly inhabited; but +wherever she wandered she noted that some careful hand had planted tree, +and shrub, and flower in such a manner as to conceal the face of decay and +furnish in the midst of these sylvan shades a most delightful retreat. At +last she found herself inextricably involved in a labyrinth whose +apartments, divided by leafy partitions, seemed so numerous and so like +each other as to render it impossible for her to form any idea of the +distance she had come, or the point to which she must proceed. The sun was +going down when by accident, she laid her hand upon the stile. Following +its windings, though with great difficulty, she emerged into the path that +terminated in the forest. The low howl of a wolf-dog quickened her steps, +and she arrived at the palace breathless with fear and fatigue. Sleep +scarcely visited her pillow. She revolved the matter over and over again +in her mind. “Where could Henry find balls of silk?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> For whose pleasure +and privacy was the labyrinth contrived? What hand had planted the rare +exotic adjacent to the hawthorn and the sloe? Was this tortuous path the +road to a mortal habitation? And who was the fair inmate?” She could +hardly wait for the dawn of the morning, and when the morning came it only +increased her impatience, for heavy clouds veiled the sun, and a continued +rain confined her for several days to her apartments.</p> + +<p>When she next set out on her voyage of discovery she took the necessary +precaution to secure a hearty coadjutor in the person of Peyrol, who +silently followed her with the faithfulness of early affection, wondering +to what point their mysterious journey might tend. At the secret door she +fastened a thread, and with more celerity than she had hoped, traced her +former course to the labyrinth; with much difficulty she again found the +stile, and after a diligent search perceived a rude stair, that winding +around the base of a rock assumed a regular shapely form, till by a long +arched passage it conducted to a tower screened by lofty trees, but +commanding through the interstices of the foliage a view of the adjacent +forest. Here all effort at concealment was at an end. The doors opened +into rooms fitted up with all the appliances of wealth, and with a +perfection of taste that showed that some female divinity presided there. +Vases of fresh-culled flowers regaled the senses with rich perfume. A harp +lay unstrung upon the table, a tambour frame on which was an unfinished +picture of the Holy Family leaned against the wall, while balls of silk +and children’s toys lay scattered around in playful disorder. Everything +indicated that the tower had been recently occupied, but no inmate was to +be found. Retracing their steps into the forest they proceeded by a +well-beaten path along the banks of a little stream, to a pebbly basin in +which the waters welled up with a faint murmur that spoke of rest and +quiet. A sound of music made them pause, and they heard a low gentle voice +followed by the lisping accents of a child chanting the evening hymn to +the Virgin. Stepping stealthily along they saw, half shaded by a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> bower +inwoven with myrtle and eglantine, a beautiful female kneeling before a +crucifix hung with votive offerings. Her face was exquisitely fair, and +her eyes raised to the holy symbol seemed to borrow their hue from the +heavens above. A soft bloom suffused her cheek, and her coral lips parted +in prayer revealed her pearly teeth. The delicate contour of her finely +rounded throat and bust were displayed by her posture, and one dimpled +shoulder was visible through the wavy masses of bright hair that enveloped +her figure, as though the light of the golden sunset lingered lovingly +about her. An infant, fairer if possible than the mother, with eyes of the +same heavenly hue, lay by her side. He had drawn one tiny slipper from his +foot, and delighted with his prize laughed in every feature and seemed +crowing an accompaniment to her words. Startled by the sound of footsteps, +the mother turned, and meeting the dark menacing gaze of Eleanor, snatched +up the baby-boy, which clasped its little hands and looked up in her face, +instinctively suiting the action of entreaty to the smile of confident +affection. The elder boy before unnoticed advanced as if in doubt, whether +to grieve or frown.</p> + +<p>The deep earnest gaze of his hazel eyes and his soft brown hair, clearly +indicated his Norman extraction, and when he passed his arm +half-fearfully, half-protectingly around his mother’s neck, and the +eloquent blood mounted to his cheek Eleanor recognized the princely +bearing of the Plantagenets.</p> + +<p>“False woman,” said she, darting forward and confronting the trembling +mother with flashing eyes, “thou art the paramour of King Henry, and these +your base-born progeny.” To the paleness of terror succeeded the flush of +indignation not unmingled with the crimson hue of shame, as the fair +creature raised her head and repelled the accusation.</p> + +<p>“Rosamond de Clifford is not King Henry’s paramour. My lord is the Duke of +Maine; and when he returns from the wars will acknowledge his babes before +the nobles of the land.”</p> + +<p>“Aye, the Duke of Maine,” retorted Eleanor, in scornful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> mockery, “and of +Anjou, and of Normandy, and through his injured queen lord of the seven +beautiful provinces of the south. Thy white face has won a marvellous +conquest. The arch-dissimulator boasts many titles, but one that bars all +thy claims. He is the <i>husband</i> of Eleanor of Aquitaine!” “Becket! where +is Becket, why comes not my friend and counsellor?” exclaimed Rosamond in +the accents of despair, as a conviction of the truth flashed upon her +mind. “Dead,” replied the infuriated woman, approaching nearer and +speaking in a hoarse whisper. “Henry brooks no rival in his path, nor will +Eleanor.” The implied threat and fierce gestures warned Rosamond of her +danger, and clasping her frightened children to her breast, she sank down +at the feet of the queen in the utmost terror and abasement. “Heaven +assoil thee of thy sin,” said Eleanor, turning to depart, “at dawn we meet +again.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER VI.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Oh! think what anxious moments pass between<br /> +The birth of plots, and their last fatal periods;<br /> +Oh! ’tis a dreadful interval of time,<br /> +Fill’d up with horror, and big with death.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>The first conference of Henry with the legates proved unsatisfactory, but +at the second, in the presence of the bishops, barons and people, with his +hand on the gospels, he solemnly swore that he was innocent both in word +and deed of the murder of Becket. Yet, as his passionate expression had +been the occasion of the prelate’s death, he promised to maintain two +hundred knights for the defence of the Holy Land; to serve in person +against the Infidels three years, either in Palestine or Spain, and to +restore the confiscated estates of Becket’s friends. Pleased with the +successful issue of this negotiation, Henry was preparing to return with +joyful haste to England, when his peace was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> disturbed by quarrels +originating in his own family. For some unaccountable reason his children +seemed all armed against him. His son Henry demanded immediate possession +of either England or Normandy, and on being refused appealed to his +father-in-law Louis VII. Before three days had elapsed, Richard and +Geoffrey followed their brother, and soon after Henry learned to his +dismay that Queen Eleanor had herself set off for the court of her former +husband. Remembering the perilous vicinity in which he had left the queen, +it at once occurred to him that she was the original instigator of the +plot. By a skilful manœuvre, he intercepted her flight, and sent her +back to Winchester a prisoner. Immediately his undutiful sons, adding +their mother’s quarrel to their own grievances, bound themselves by oath +to the King of France that they would never make peace with their father +except by Louis’s consent. The Duke of Flanders joined the league of the +parricides, and the King of Scotland poured into the northern counties his +strongest forces. Never was the crown of Henry in such danger.</p> + +<p>While repelling the attacks of the insurgents in Normandy, he received a +visit from the Bishop of Winchester, who entreated him to return once more +to England, as his presence alone could save the kingdom. Henry at once +set out. His countenance was gloomy and troubled, and his mind seemed +deeply affected by the rebellion of his children, the perfidy of his +barons and general combination of the neighboring princes, and above all, +by his fearful uncertainty with regard to the fate of those whom he had so +long and so carefully guarded. To ease the torment of his mind, he +secretly determined to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of the +recently-canonized martyr St. Thomas à Becket. He landed at Southampton, +and without waiting for rest or refreshment, rode all night towards +Canterbury. At the dawn of the morning, he descried the towers of Christ’s +Church. Dismounting from his horse, he exchanged the garb of the king for +that of a penitent, and walked barefoot towards the city, so cruelly +cutting his feet with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> stones that every step was marked with blood. +He entered the cathedral, descended to the crypt, knelt before the holy +relics of his former friend, confessed his sins; and then resorting to the +chapter-house, bared his shoulders, and submissively and gratefully +received three stripes from the knotted cords which each priest, to the +number of eighty, applied for his spiritual benefit. Bleeding and faint, +he again returned to the crypt, and passed the night in weary vigils upon +the cold stone floor. The following morning he attended mass, and then +mounted his horse and rode to London, where the fasting, fatigue and +anxiety he had undergone threw him into a fever. Scarcely had he +recovered, when he learned that his enemies had abandoned the idea of +invading England and were concentrating their efforts upon his continental +dominions, and that an army more numerous than any which Europe had seen +since the expedition of the crusades, was encamped under the walls of +Rouen. These circumstances made it necessary for him to embark again for +France.</p> + +<p>In two successive campaigns he foiled the attempts of his rebel sons and +their foreign allies, and finally brought them to demand a general +pacification. The three princes engaged to pay due obedience to their +father, the King of the Scots agreed to hold his crown as a fief of +England, and this made it necessary for all parties to proceed to York.</p> + +<p>Peace being again restored, after a great variety of detentions and +delays, Henry at last found himself at liberty to obey the promptings of +his heart, and visit Woodstock. He endured with such patience as he could +the enthusiastic greetings of the household, and at the imminent jeopardy +of his secret, took his way through the pleasance. He was first alarmed by +finding the concealed door in the wall wide open, and every step of his +advance added to his apprehensions. There were marks of a bloody struggle +at the entrance to the tower, and everything within indicated that the +occupants had been disturbed in the midst of their daily avocations. The +rocking-horse of Prince William stood with the rein across his neck, as if +the youthful rider<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> had just dismounted, the pillow of the little Geoffrey +still retained the impression of his cherub head; the thimble and scissors +of Rosamond lay upon the table, but the embroidery was covered thick with +dust, and rust had corroded the strings of the harp.</p> + +<p>The scene by the Hermit’s Well was yet more desolate. Withered herbage and +leaves had stopped the welling fountain, and entirely choked the current +of the stream. Rosamond’s bower, once invested with every attraction, now +neglected and deserted struck a chill upon his soul. Rank weeds had +overrun the verdant seats, the eglantine struggled in vain with the ivy, +whose long and pendulous branches waved and flapped in the night-breeze +like the mourning hatchments above a tomb. A bevy of swallows took wing at +his entrance, the timid rabbit fled at his intrusive step, and a green +lizard glided from beneath the hand with which he supported his agitated +frame against one of the columns. Rosamond was gone.</p> + +<p>But by what means had she been conveyed from the retreat where she had so +long dwelt content with his love, and happy in the caresses of her +children? Was she a wanderer and an outcast, with a bleeding heart and a +blighted name? Had she made her couch in the cold, dark grave? Had her +indignant father returned from the Holy Land, and immured her in the +dungeons of Clifford castle to hide her shame? Or had some other hand +dared to blot out the life so dear to him?</p> + +<p>The thought was madness. He ran, he flew to the palace. The old porter was +summoned and closely questioned. He remembered the time of the queen’s +last visit, her anxiety to penetrate the wood and search the castle. The +night before her departure three of her French servants suddenly +disappeared, but as several horses were missing at the same time, and the +queen had been employed in writing letters, it was supposed that they were +couriers. There were lights seen, and cries heard in the wood. One of the +grooms affirmed that the ghost of the youth who some years before was +spirited away, appeared in the stable,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> and a boy belonging to a +neighboring peasant had never since been heard of. Though Henry traced +this story through all the interpolations and additions that ignorance and +credulity could give it, neither his utmost inquiries nor his subsequent +researches could elicit any further fact. Satisfied that nothing could be +learned at Woodstock, the king hurried to Winchester. The passionate +queen, amidst upbraidings and revilings, acknowledged that she had +discovered the retreat of his mistress, and that, stung by jealousy, she +had threatened to take her life by the poniard or poison; that to prevent +the escape of her fair rival, she had stationed two of her Gascon +servants, a guard at the tower-stair. But she declared that when she +returned on the following morning to execute her fell purpose, she found +the grass dripping with gore, and not far distant the dead bodies of her +servants, and the corpse of another whom she had known in her early days +as Sir Thomas, guarded by a wolf-dog just expiring from a sword-wound; and +that, assisted by Peyrol, she had dragged the bodies into the thicket, and +then vainly endeavored to trace the fugitives. Notwithstanding all the +threats that Henry employed to extort further confession, she persisted in +affirming her ignorance of the fate of Rosamond.</p> + +<p>Little crediting her asseverations, he increased the rigor of her +confinement, and installed Alice, the affianced of Richard, with almost +regal honors, in the state apartments. This sudden partiality of his +father roused the jealousy of Richard, and he demanded the hand of his +bride in terms not the most respectful nor conciliatory. Henry felt that +the bond between his son and France was sufficiently strong, and +ingeniously delayed the nuptials.</p> + +<p>Then ensued another rebellion led by young Henry; but before the day fixed +for battle arrived, anxiety and fatigue threw the prince into a fever, +from which he never recovered. On his death-bed his soul became agitated +with fear and remorse. He sent messengers to his father to implore +forgiveness for his unfilial conduct, and ordered the priests to lay him +on a bed of ashes, where having received the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> sacraments, he expired. The +king was about the same period called upon to part, in a more hopeful +manner, with his second daughter, Eleanor, who had been for some time +betrothed to Alphonso, King of Castile. Henry’s affection for his children +in their early years, was of the most tender character; and Eleanor’s +fondness for him for some time subsequent to their marriage, partook of +the passionate devotion of the south, but when her fickle attachment was +assailed by the demon of jealousy, her love was changed to hate: and as +Henry justly imagined, the rebellion of his sons was the consequence of +her instructions.</p> + +<p>His domestic afflictions aggravated the melancholy occasioned by the +mysterious disappearance of Rosamond, and he lamented in bitterness of +spirit that the tempting lure of wealth and dominion offered in the +alliance of Eleanor, had bribed him from his boyish purpose of placing +Rosamond on the throne of England. He cursed the ambition that had +nurtured foes in his own household, and deplored the selfish passion that +had remorselessly poured sorrow into the young life that ventured all upon +his truth. The calm heroism of his early character was changed into +petulant arrogance. He frequently spent whole days hunting in the forests, +or riding alone in different parts of his dominions. In the simple garb of +a country knight, he had often sought admittance to the ancient seat of +the Cliffords, and the nunnery of Godstowe, but without success. The sight +of a crowd of people collected round a returned pilgrim at length +suggested another mode of disguise. Procuring a palmer’s weeds, he +repaired to Herefordshire, and craved an alms from the servants, at +Clifford castle. He was at once admitted, and the curious household +gathered round the holy man to listen to his story.</p> + +<p>It had been, he said, a long time since he had left the Holy Wars. He had +been a wanderer in many lands, but his heart had led him to his native +country, to seek for those whom he had known in his youth. He would fain +see, once more, the good Lord de Clifford, for he had saved his life in +Palestine. The servants replied that the Lord<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> de Clifford had not been +heard from for many a year. “Might he gain a moment’s audience of the Lady +de Clifford?” The lady died soon after her lord’s departure. “Could he +speak with Adam Henrid?” The good seneschal had been long dead.</p> + +<p>His voice faltered as he inquired for Rosamond. An ominous silence was the +only reply. “And Jaqueline, the lady’s maid?” She, too, lay in her grave. +He ran his eye along the group, and said with a look of embarrassment and +pain, “There is none to welcome my return. It was not so in the good days +when my lord and my lady rode forth to the chase with their gallant train, +and the sound of feasting and wassail resounded in the castle hall. +Remains there none of Lord Walter’s kin to offer welcome or charity in our +lady’s name?” A proud boy stepped forth among the listeners, and with +princely courtesy extended his hand.</p> + +<p>“Come with me, holy father,” said he, “it shall never be said, that a +pilgrim went hungry and weary from the castle of the Cliffords.” With a +step that accorded better with his impatience than his assumed character, +Henry followed the lad to an inner apartment, where a repast was soon +spread before him. As soon as the servants had withdrawn he entered into +conversation with his young host. “Thou art a De Clifford,” said he, as +though it were an undoubted fact. “What is thy name?” “William,” replied +the youth; “and this clerk,” pointing to a fair boy who sat reading in the +deep embrasure of the window, “is my brother Geoffrey.” “And how long have +you dwelt at the castle?” “Some winters,” replied the boy, after a +moment’s hesitation. “Who brought you hither?” “We came with Jaqueline, +from our cottage in the wood.” “And where is your mother?” said Henry, +making a desperate effort to speak with calmness. “She went with Jaqueline +so long ago, that Geoffrey does not remember her.” “And your father?” said +Henry, with increased agitation. “Jaqueline said our father was a king, +and we must never leave the castle till he came for us.” “And why did +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>Jaqueline leave the castle?” “She went to the convent for confession; and +there was where she died: but it is a long way.” The heart of the father +yearned towards his sons, as he gazed from one to the other, and compared +their features with the miniature that their infant charms had set in his +memory, but with the sweet certainty that he had at last found the objects +of his search, was born the thrilling hope that their mother yet lived. +Then a struggling crowd of thoughts, emotions, and purposes rushed through +his mind, and foremost among them all was the idea that Eleanor might be +divorced, Rosamond’s wrongs repaired, the diadem of England placed upon +her brow, and his declining years solaced by the affection of these +duteous sons who should take the places and titles of the rebel princes. +Yet even in the midst of the tumult of his feelings his wonted +self-control taught him not to risk the safety of his new-found joys by +any premature discovery. Rising from the table with an air of solemnity, +he pronounced his parting blessing in a tone of the deepest fervor, and +hurriedly took his leave. Retaining his disguise, but occupied with +thoughts that ill-became a palmer’s brain, he bent his steps towards the +nunnery of Godstowe. Near the close of the second day he entered the +confines of Oxfordshire, and found himself, little to his satisfaction, in +the vicinity of a country fair, with its attendant junketing, masquerade, +and feats of jugglery and legerdemain. To avoid the crowd, he determined +to seek lodging in a booth that stood a little apart from the main +encampment. The weary monarch had stretched himself to rest, when the +sound of uproarious mirth disturbed his slumbers, and a Welsh +ballad-singer, whom he remembered to have seen in the service of Giraldus +Cambrensis, the tutor of John, commenced in a voice of considerable power +and pathos, the following song:—</p> + +<p class="poem">When as King Henry ruled this land,<br /> +The second of that name,<br /> +Besides the queen, he dearly loved<br /> +A fair and comely dame;<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>Most peerless was her beauty found,<br /> +Her favor and her face;<br /> +A sweeter creature in this world<br /> +Did never prince embrace.<br /> +<br /> +Her crisped locks like threads of gold<br /> +Appeared to each man’s sight,<br /> +Her sparkling eyes like orient pearls<br /> +Did cast a heavenly light;<br /> +The blood within her crystal cheeks<br /> +Did such a color drive,<br /> +As if the lily and the rose<br /> +For mastership did strive.<br /> +<br /> +Yea, Rosamond, fair Rosamond,<br /> +Her name was called so,<br /> +To whom dame Eleanor our queen<br /> +Was known a deadly foe.<br /> +The king therefore for her defence<br /> +Against the furious queen,<br /> +At Woodstock builded such a bower,<br /> +The like was never seen.<br /> +<br /> +Most curiously that bower was built<br /> +Of stone and timber strong,<br /> +One hundred and fifty doors<br /> +Did to this bower belong;<br /> +And they so cunningly contrived<br /> +With turnings round about,<br /> +That none but with a clew of thread<br /> +Could enter in or out.<br /> +<br /> +And for his love and lady’s sake<br /> +That was so fair and bright,<br /> +The keeping of this bower he gave<br /> +Unto a valiant knight.<br /> +But Fortune, that doth often frown<br /> +Where she before did smile,<br /> +The king’s delight, the lady’s joy<br /> +Full soon she did beguile.<br /> +<br /> +For why, the king’s ungracious son<br /> +Whom he did high advance,<br /> +Against his father raised wars<br /> +Within the realm of France.<br /> +But yet before our comely king<br /> +The English land forsook,<br /> +Of Rosamond, his lady fair,<br /> +His farewell thus he took.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span><br /> +“My Rosamond, my only Rose<br /> +That pleasest best mine eye,<br /> +The fairest flower in all the world<br /> +To feed my fantasy,<br /> +The flower of my affected heart,<br /> +Whose sweetness doth excel,<br /> +My royal Rose, a thousand times<br /> +I bid thee now farewell.<br /> +<br /> +“For I must leave my fairest flower,<br /> +My sweetest Rose a space,<br /> +And cross the seas to famous France,<br /> +Proud rebels to abase.<br /> +But yet my Rose, be sure thou shalt<br /> +My coming shortly see,<br /> +And in my heart, when hence I am,<br /> +I’ll bear my Rose with me.”<br /> +<br /> +When Rosamond, that lady bright,<br /> +Did hear the king say so,<br /> +The sorrow of her grieved heart<br /> +Her outward looks did show,<br /> +And from her clear and crystal eyes<br /> +Tears gushed out apace,<br /> +Which like the silver pearled dew<br /> +Ran down her comely face.<br /> +<br /> +Her lips erst like the coral red,<br /> +Did wax both wan and pale,<br /> +And for the sorrow she conceived<br /> +Her vital spirits did fail.<br /> +And falling down all in a swoon,<br /> +Before King Henry’s face,<br /> +Fell oft he in his princely arms<br /> +Her body did embrace.<br /> +<br /> +And twenty times with watery eyes,<br /> +He kissed her tender cheek,<br /> +Until he had revived again<br /> +Her senses mild and meek.<br /> +“Why grieves my Rose, my sweetest Rose?”<br /> +The king did often say.<br /> +“Because,” quoth she, “to bloody wars<br /> +My lord must pass away.<br /> +<br /> +“But since your grace on foreign coasts,<br /> +Among your foes unkind,<br /> +Must go to hazard life and limb,<br /> +Why should I stay behind?<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>Nay, rather let me, like a page,<br /> +Your sword and target bear,<br /> +That on my breast the blows may light,<br /> +That should offend you there.<br /> +<br /> +“Or let me in your royal tent<br /> +Prepare your bed at night,<br /> +And with sweet baths refresh your grace<br /> +At your return from fight.<br /> +So I your presence may enjoy,<br /> +No toil I will refuse;<br /> +But wanting you my life is death,<br /> +Nay, death I’d rather choose.”<br /> +<br /> +“Content thyself, my dearest love;<br /> +Thy rest at home shall be,<br /> +In England’s sweet and pleasant soil;<br /> +For travel suits not thee.<br /> +Fair ladies brook not bloody wars;<br /> +Sweet peace, their pleasures breed<br /> +The nourisher of heart’s content,<br /> +Which Fancy first did feed.<br /> +<br /> +“My Rose shall rest in Woodstock’s bower,<br /> +With music’s sweet delight,<br /> +Whilst I among the piercing pikes<br /> +Against my foes do fight.<br /> +My Rose in robes of pearl and gold,<br /> +With diamonds richly dight,<br /> +Shall dance the galliards of my love,<br /> +While I my foes do smite.<br /> +<br /> +“And you, Sir Thomas, whom I trust<br /> +To be my love’s defence,<br /> +Be careful of my gallant Rose<br /> +When I am parted hence.”<br /> +And therewithal he fetched a sigh,<br /> +As though his heart would break,<br /> +And Rosamond, for very grief,<br /> +Not one plain word could speak.<br /> +<br /> +And at their parting well they might,<br /> +In heart be grieved sore,<br /> +After that day fair Rosamond<br /> +The king did see no more.<br /> +For when his grace had passed the seas,<br /> +And into France was gone,<br /> +Queen Eleanor with envious heart<br /> +To Woodstock came anon.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span><br /> +And forth she calls this trusty knight,<br /> +Who kept this curious bower,<br /> +Who with his clew of twined thread,<br /> +Came from this famous flower;<br /> +And when that they had wounded him,<br /> +The queen this thread did get,<br /> +And went where Lady Rosamond<br /> +Was like an angel set.<br /> +<br /> +But when the queen, with steadfast eye,<br /> +Beheld her heavenly face,<br /> +She was amazed in her mind<br /> +At her exceeding grace.<br /> +“Cast off from thee these robes,” she said,<br /> +“That rich and costly be;<br /> +And drink thou up this deadly draught,<br /> +Which I have brought to thee.”<br /> +<br /> +Then presently upon her knee,<br /> +Sweet Rosamond did fall;<br /> +And pardon of the queen she craved,<br /> +For her offences all.<br /> +“Take pity on my youthful years,”<br /> +Fair Rosamond did cry,<br /> +“And let me not with poison strong,<br /> +Enforced be to die.<br /> +<br /> +“I will renounce my sinful life,<br /> +And in some cloister bide,<br /> +Or else be banished if you please,<br /> +To range the world so wide.<br /> +And for the fault which I have done,<br /> +Though I was forced thereto,<br /> +Preserve my life and punish me,<br /> +As you think good to do.”<br /> +<br /> +And with these words, her lily hands<br /> +She wrung full often there,<br /> +And down along her lovely face,<br /> +Proceeded many a tear.<br /> +But nothing could this furious queen<br /> +Therewith appeased be;<br /> +The cup of deadly poison strong,<br /> +As she sate on her knee,<br /> +<br /> +She gave this comely dame to drink,<br /> +Who took it in her hand,<br /> +And from her bended knee arose,<br /> +And on her feet did stand,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>And casting up her eyes to heaven,<br /> +She did for mercy call,<br /> +And drinking up the poison strong,<br /> +Her life she lost withal.</p> + +<p>“Help! ho! Have done with your foolish madrigal,” cried a stout yeoman, +who had watched the terrible agony depicted upon the face of the king, +during this rehearsal; “the holy palmer is well nigh suffocated with your +folly.”</p> + +<p>“Give him a taste of one of the psalms of David,” hiccoughed a little man +from the opposite side of the booth, “the pious aye thrive upon the good +book,” and he laughed at his own profanity.</p> + +<p>“A horn of good English beer will do him better,” roared a Yorkshire man, +pouring out a bumper of ale. “Build up the body, mon, and the soul will do +weel eneugh.” “Gramercy!” cried the minstrel, going nearer and gazing upon +his distorted features. “Some evil demon possesses him. ’Tis a terror to +look upon his bloodshot eyes.” “An if the evil demon is in him ’twere best +to cast him out,” interposed the owner of the booth. Suiting the action to +the word, he dragged the senseless king from the couch of fern leaves, to +a more refreshing bed upon the dewy grass. The cool air at length revived +the miserable monarch, and the very torture of returning recollection gave +him strength to rise and pursue his course. On he sped through the night, +insensible to fatigue and regardless of rest. As he struck into the bridle +path where his eyes were dazzled by the bright vision that first led his +feet to Godstowe, the faint sound of the convent bell fell upon his ear. +He thought it the ringing of the matin chime; but approaching nearer, the +solemn toll smote heavily upon his heart, for he recognized in it the +knell of a parting soul. He quickened his steps, and by reason of his +friar’s gown, gained ready admittance to the convent. The messenger that +had been despatched for a priest to shrive the dying nun had not yet +returned, and Henry’s services were put in requisition to perform the holy +office. Without giving him time for question or explanation, the +frightened sisters hurried him through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> long passages of the dormitory +and introduced him into a cell, where stretched upon a pallet of straw, +lay the pale and wasted form of Rosamond. The faint beams of morning +struggling through the open casement, mingled with the sickening glare of +waxen tapers, which according to the rites of the church, were placed at +the head and foot of the bed. The couch was surrounded with objects +intended to familiarize the mind with the idea of death, to fit the soul +for its final departure. A coffin half filled with ashes stood near, +whereon was placed the crown and robe, in which she had professed herself +the bride of Christ, now ready to adorn her for her burial, and the +necessary articles for administering extreme unction, were arranged upon a +small table, above which hung a cross bearing an image of the dying +Saviour. With a despairing glance at these terrible preparations, Henry +approached the bed, and gazed upon the unconscious sufferer. Unable to +command his voice, he waved his hand and the attendant devotees retired +from the room; the lady abbess whispering as she passed, “I fear our +sister is too far gone to confess.” Hastily throwing back his cowl, he +bent over the sleeper, raised her head, clasped in his own the attenuated +hand that had so often returned his fond pressure, and in the accents of +love and despair, whispered her name. The dying one languidly lifted the +snowy lids that veiled her lustrous eyes, and looked upon him, but in the +vacant gaze was no recognition. “My Rosamond!” cried Henry, passionately +pressing a kiss upon her ashy lips. A thrill ran through her frame, her +slight fingers quivered in his clasp, and the world of recollections that +rushed back upon her brain, beamed from her dilating eyes. Her palsied +tongue assayed to speak, but Henry caught only the low sound, “My +children!” “My children”—reiterated the monarch—he said no more—her +breast heaved—her lips trembled with the last faint sigh, and a smile of +ineffable joy rested on the features of the dead.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER VII.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>Ingratitude! thou marble-hearted fiend,<br /> +More to be dreaded when thou showest thee in a child,<br /> +Than the sea-monster.</td></tr></table> + +<p>The protracted imprisonment of Queen Eleanor infuriated her Provençal +subjects. The southern court, deprived of its most brilliant gem, no +longer attracted the gifted and the gay from all parts of Europe. The +troubadours in effect hung their harps on the willows, and the faithful +Peyrol, banished from the presence of his beloved mistress, attempted to +console the weary hours of her captivity, by tender <i>Plaintes</i>, in which +with touching simplicity he bewailed her misfortunes. “Daughter of +Aquitaine,” wrote he, “fair fruitful vine, thou hast been torn from thy +country, and led into a strange land. Thy harp is changed into the voice +of mourning, and thy songs into sounds of lamentation. Brought up in +delicacy and abundance, thou enjoyedst a royal liberty, living in the +bosom of wealth, delighting thyself with the sports of thy women, with +their songs, to the sound of the lute and tabor; and now thou mournest, +thou weepest, thou consumest thyself with sorrow. Return, poor +prisoner—return to thy cities, if thou canst; and if thou canst not, weep +and say, ‘Alas! how long is my exile.’ Weep, weep, and say, ‘My tears are +my bread both day and night.’ Where are thy guards, thy royal +escort?—where thy maiden train, thy counsellors of state? Thou criest, +but no one hears thee! for the king of the north keeps thee shut up like a +town that is besieged. Cry then—cease not to cry. Raise thy voice like a +trumpet, that thy sons may hear it; for the day is approaching when thy +sons shall deliver thee, and then shalt thou see again thy native land.”</p> + +<p>But the warlike chiefs of Guienne did not confine themselves to +expressions of tenderness. Richard and Geoffrey,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> though often hostile to +each other, were always ready to lead the barons of the south to battle, +and for two years the Angevin subjects of Henry and the Aquitaine subjects +of Eleanor, incited by her sons, gave battle in the cause of the captive +queen, and from Rochelle to Bayonne the whole south of France was in a +state of insurrection. The melancholy death of Geoffrey added to the +afflictions of his already wretched mother. In a grand tournament at Paris +he was thrown from his horse and trodden to death beneath the feet of the +coursers. He was distinguished for his manly beauty and martial grace, and +Eleanor had regarded him with an affection as intense as was the causeless +hatred she bore to his wife Constance. His infant son Arthur, for whom +Eleanor’s namesake had been set aside, inherited the dower of his mother +both in possessions and enmity. Not long after the death of her favorite +son Eleanor was called upon to part with her youngest daughter Joanna, who +became the bride of William II. King of Sicily. Thus deprived of all +affection, Eleanor dragged on a monotonous existence during Henry’s +protracted search for Rosamond.</p> + +<p>The innocence of his queen being fully proved, the softened monarch began +to regard her with more complacency: but the vindictive spirit of Eleanor, +incensed by the indignities she had suffered, and enraged by being the +victim of unjust suspicions, could not so easily repass the barriers that +had been interposed between their affections, and though she accompanied +her lord to Bordeaux, she set herself to widen the breach between him and +Richard, and he soon found it necessary to remand her again to the +seclusion of Winchester palace.</p> + +<p>When Henry received absolution from the pope for the murder of Becket, he +solemnly swore to visit the Holy Land in person, and the day had been +fixed for his departure with Louis King of France. The death of that +monarch prevented the expedition, and Henry had delayed it from time to +time, though the patriarch of Jerusalem and the grand-master of the +knights Hospitallers, had made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> the long and difficult journey to England, +and in name of Queen Sibylla, had delivered to him as the successor of +Fulk of Anjou, the royal banner and the keys of the Holy City and +Sepulchre. Now impressed with a sense of the vanity of human hopes, and +the fading grandeur of earthly distinction, he determined if possible, to +divert his mind from the endless train of sad recollections, by plunging +into the excitement of novel scenes and rekindling his wasting energies at +the fane of Religion. The eyes of all the European nations were at this +time directed, with peculiar anxiety to the distresses of the Christians +in Palestine. At the death of Baldwin III. the sceptre passed to the hands +of his brother Almeric, who wasted his subjects and treasure in a +fruitless war with the Vizier of Egypt. The crown from Almeric descended +to Baldwin IV., his son by Agnes de Courteney, heiress to the lost +principality of Edessa. Baldwin IV. was a leper; and finding that disease +incapacitated him for performing the royal functions, he committed the +government to his brother-in-law Guy de Lusignan, a French knight whom +Henry had banished for murder. At the death of Baldwin his sister Sibylla +and her husband Guy became King and Queen of Jerusalem, but the Count of +Tripoli refused to do them homage. At last he consented to proffer his +allegiance to the queen, on condition that she should be divorced from +Lusignan and choose a partner who should be able to protect the kingdom. +Sibylla was a woman of great beauty, majestic person and commanding +talents. She consented to the proposal of the Count of Tripoli, only +requiring in return the oath of the barons that they would accept for +sovereign whomsoever she should choose. The terms were settled, the +divorce obtained, and the ceremony of her coronation took place. As soon +as she was crowned, turning proudly to the rebel lords, she placed the +diadem on the head of Lusignan, saluted him as her husband, bent the knee +to him as king, and with a voice of authority, cried aloud, “Those whom +God has joined together let not man put asunder.” The simple truth and +affection of the queen, and the grandeur of the spectacle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> awed the +assembly; and the astonished barons submitted without a murmur.</p> + +<p>The famous Saladin, about the same time, began his career of conquest in +the East. Tiberius, Acre, Jaffa, Cesarea and Berytus were the trophies of +his victories. One hundred thousand people flying from the sword of the +Turks crowded into Jerusalem, and the feeble garrison was not able to +defend them. Saladin, unwilling to stain with human blood the place which +even the Moslems held in reverence, offered the inhabitants peace on +condition of the surrender of the city, and money and lands in Syria; but +the Christians declared that they would not resign to the Infidels the +place where the Saviour had suffered and died. Indignant at the rejection +of his offer, Saladin swore that he would enter the city sword in hand and +retaliate upon the Franks the carnage they had made in the days of Godfrey +de Boulogne. For fourteen days the battle raged around the walls with +almost unexampled fury. The Moslem fanatic fearlessly exposed his life, +expecting that death would give him at once to drink of the waters of +Paradise,—the Christian, hoping to exchange an earthly for a heavenly +Jerusalem, poured out his blood in protecting the Holy Sepulchre. When it +was found that the wall near the gate of St. Stephen was undermined, all +farther efforts at defence were abandoned; the clergy prayed for a +miraculous interposition of heaven, and the soldiers threw down their arms +and crowded into the churches. Saladin again offered favorable conditions +of peace. The miserable inhabitants spent four days in visiting the sacred +places, weeping over and embracing the Holy Sepulchre, and then, sadly +quitting the hallowed precincts, passed through the enemy’s camp, and took +their disconsolate way towards Tyre, the last stronghold of the Latins in +Palestine.</p> + +<p>Thus after the lapse of nearly a century, the Holy City that had cost +Europe so much blood and treasure, once more became the property of the +Infidel. The great cross was taken down from the church of the Sepulchre +and dragged through the mire of the street, the bells of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> churches +were melted, while the floors and walls of the mosque of Omar, purified +with Damascene rose-water, were again consecrated to the worship of the +false prophet. The melancholy tidings of this event occasioned the +greatest sensation throughout the Christian world. The aged pontiff died +of a broken heart. The husband of Joanna put on sackcloth and vowed to +take the cross. Henry, Philip, the new King of France, the Earls of +Flanders and Champagne, and a great number of knights and barons resolved +to combine their forces for the redemption of the Holy City.</p> + +<p>Immediately upon the death of Rosamond, Henry had made all the reparation +in his power to her injured name, by acknowledging her children and +placing them at Woodstock to be educated with his son John. The boys grew +up to manhood, and developed a perfection of personal elegance and +strength of character more befitting the sons of a king than any of the +children of Eleanor. He promoted them to offices of honor and trust, and +made Geoffrey chancellor of the realm.</p> + +<p>Everything was now ready for the king’s departure. In a general council +held at Northampton it was enacted that every man who did not join the +crusade should pay towards the expense of the expedition one tenth of all +his goods; and the Jews were fined for the same purpose one fourth of +their personal property. Henry wrote letters to the emperors of Germany, +Hungary and Constantinople, for liberty to pass through their dominions, +and receiving favorable answers, passed over to France to complete the +arrangement with Philip, when the whole plan was defeated by that +monarch’s demanding that his sister Alice should be given to Richard, and +that the English should swear fealty to the prince as heir-apparent to the +throne. Henry refused; and his son Richard, in the public conference, +kneeling at the feet of the French monarch, presented him his sword, +saying, “To you, sir, I commit the protection of my rights, and to you I +now do homage for my father’s dominions in France.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>The king, amazed at this new act of rebellion, retired precipitately from +the council, and prepared with some of his former alacrity, to meet the +combination against him. But Fortune, that had hitherto smiled upon him, +seemed now to forsake him. He was defeated in every battle, driven from +city to city, his health became impaired, his spirits failed, and at last +he submitted to all the demands of his enemies, agreeing to pay twenty +thousand marks to Philip, to permit his vassals to do homage to Richard, +and above all, to give up Alice, the cause of so much domestic misery.</p> + +<p>He stipulated only for a list of the disaffected barons who had joined the +French king. The first name that caught his eye was that of John, the +idolized child of his old age. He read no further, but throwing down the +paper, fell into one of those violent paroxysms of rage to which of late +years he had been so fearfully subject. He cursed the day of his birth, +called down maledictions upon his unnatural children and their treacherous +mother, flung himself upon the couch, tore the covers with his teeth, and +clutched the hair from his head, and swooned away in a transport of anger +and grief. A raging fever succeeded; but in his lucid moments he +superintended an artist, who, at his command, painted upon canvass, the +device of a young eaglet picking out the eyes of an eagle. Day after day +the monarch lingered and suffered between paroxysms of pain and grief, and +intervals of lassitude and insensibility; and when others forsook his +bedside in weariness or alarm, Geoffrey, unconscious of drowsiness or +fatigue, stood a patient watcher by his dying father. The feeble monarch +recognized in the voice of this son the tones which his ear had loved in +youth, and obeyed its slightest bidding; and the only alleviation of his +agony was found in gazing upon the face that revived the image of his lost +Rosamond. Taking the signet-ring from his finger, he placed it upon the +hand of Geoffrey; “Thou art my true and loyal son,” said he. “The blessing +of heaven rest upon thee for thy filial service to thy guilty sire. +Commend me to thy brother William and his beautiful bride.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> As for the +others, give them yon parable,” pointing to the picture of the eagle, +“with my everlasting curse.” He leaned his head upon the breast of his +son, and supported in his arms, expired.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>Eleanor survived her unhappy consort more than twenty years, and in that +time made some amends for the follies and vices of her early life. The +first step of her son Richard on his accession to the throne, was to +release his mother from her confinement, and make her regent of the +kingdom. She employed her freedom and her power in acts of mercy and +beneficence, making a progress through the kingdom, and setting at liberty +all persons confined for breach of the forest-laws, and other trivial +offences, and recalling the outlawed to their homes and families. During +the absence of Richard in the Holy Land, she administered the government +with prudence and discretion, and after the accession of John, resumed the +sceptre of her own dominions, slowly and painfully gathering, in the +crimes and miseries of her children, the fruit of the evil counsels she +had given them in their childhood. At the age of eighty she retired into +the convent of Fontevraud, and three years after died of sorrow, when the +peers of France branded her son John as the murderer of Arthur.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> +<h2>BERENGARIA OF NAVARRE.</h2> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img04.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Berengaria of Navarre.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER I.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“What thing so good which not some harm may bring?<br /> +E’en to be happy is a dangerous thing?”</td></tr></table> + +<p>“Sing no more, for thy song wearieth me,” exclaimed the impatient daughter +of Navarre, tossing upon her couch with the heavy restlessness of one who +courts slumber when nature demands exercise. The Moorish maiden, +accustomed to the petulance of the beautiful Berengaria, arose from her +cushion and laying aside her lute, murmured despondingly, “The proverb +saith truly, ‘’Tis ill-pleasing him who is ill-pleased with himself.’” +Abandoning further attempts to soothe her mistress, the attendant retired +to the extremity of the long apartment and gazed listlessly from the +casement. “Art vexed that my ear loved not the sound of thy lute, peevish +child?” inquired the youthful princess. “Read me a riddle, or tell me a +marvellous tale of the Genii, such as thou hast learned in thy southern +land.” With the air of one who performs an accustomed task while his +thoughts are far away, the girl resumed her seat, and recited</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">A TALE OF ARABY.</p> + +<p>Once upon a time three Genii, returning from their missions to mortals +rested beside the well Zemzem. And as they sat recounting to each other +the things that they had seen, behold they fell into conversation +concerning the Eternal One (whose name be exalted), the destinies that +reign over the fate of men, the characteristics of the world, and the +misfortunes and calamities which happen unto all, both the righteous and +the wicked. And one said to another,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> “Declare unto us now what is thine +opinion, and what knowest thou concerning this thing. What is that, +diffused in air, dissolved in water or concealed in earth, the subtle +essence of which, being bestowed upon one of human mould, shall bring him +nearest to the throne of Allah, (blessed be his name), and give him right +to eat of the tree that standeth in the seventh heaven by the garden of +the Eternal Abode?” And the first said, “It is Beauty,” and the second, +“It is Love,” and the third, “It is Happiness.” And there arose a +contention among them; and when they found that neither could convince the +others, they agreed to depart each on his way, to search the elements of +all things for that concordial mixture with which he would nourish a human +soul into immortality. So they went their way. And after the lapse of a +cycle of years, they returned again and sat by the well Zemzem. And each +bore in his hand a phial purer than crystal, sealed with the seal of +Solomon the wise, the magnificent. Then spake the first, saying, “Earth +hath no form of beauty from the flash of the diamond hidden in its deepest +caves, through all the brilliant variety of gems and sands of gold; no +delicate pencilling from the first faint tinge upon the rose-bud’s cheek +to the gorgeous dyes of the flowers and fruits that deck the vale of +Cashmere; water hath no shade of coloring from the sea-green lining of its +coral caves, to the splendid iridescence of its pearly shells; air hath no +tint of the virgin stars, no ray of parted light; vapor beareth no beauty +in its morning clouds and rainbow hues, from which I have not ravished the +subtlest source. Whatever form of Beauty can become apparent to the sense, +either as breath of fragrance, sweetness of sound, or grace of motion, +sublimated to its purest element, lieth here enclosed for the endowment of +whomsoever we shall choose.” And he held up the phial, and lo! it +contained a liquid having a faint coloring of the rose.</p> + +<p>Then spake the second and said, “The Almighty (blessed be he) hath given +unto me that mysterious power by which I read the thoughts and purposes of +men, even as the Holy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> Prophet (on whom be benedictions) was wont to read +the ‘Book of Life.’</p> + +<p>“From the heart of the child that turneth ever to watch the movements of +its mother, from the heart of the servant that seeketh the favor of her +mistress, from the heart of the sister that exults with pride in the glory +of her brother, from the heart of the maiden that beateth bashfully and +tenderly at the sound of the footsteps of her lover, from the heart of the +bridegroom that yearneth with strong desire towards his bride, from the +heart of the father that expands in the fulness of joy at the sight of his +first-born, from the heart of the mother that watcheth ever the steps of +her child, whether he sporteth in innocence by her side or wandereth with +vice in foreign parts; I have gathered the sweetest and purest and truest +thought of Love. Its impalpable essence lies hidden in this phial,” and he +placed it before them. And lo! it seemed filled with a vapor which flushed +in their gaze with the hue of the dawn.</p> + +<p>Then spake the third and said, “It is not permitted unto me the servant of +Ifraz the Unknown, to declare unto you in what outward manifestations of +human hope or desire, in what inward workings of thought and feeling, I +have detected and imprisoned the elusive spirit of Happiness,” and he held +up his phial before them. And with one voice they exclaimed, “It is +empty.” And they laughed him to scorn.</p> + +<p>Then spake he in anger and said, “Truly the fool proceedeth upon +probability, and the wise man requireth proof.” And they replied, “Go to, +now, we will abide the proof.”</p> + +<p>And forthwith they took their way to the land of Suristan. And as they +passed by the well of Israel, Ben Izak (on whom be peace), they saw a +maiden bearing a pitcher of water. And the first said, “Behold, now, +immortality is given unto man by the Almighty the Ordainer of fate and +destiny (whose name be exalted), but unto woman it is not given except as +her <i>beauty</i> shall delight the heart of man.” But the second said, “Except +as <i>love</i> gives her a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> seat by the Well of Life;” and the third, “Except +as <i>happiness</i> translates her to Paradise.” Then said the first, “Let us +contend no more, but let us take this damsel and bestow upon her, each our +separate gift, and she shall be a sign and a testimony concerning these +things.” And thus they agreed together.</p> + +<p>And when the maiden retired to her couch, and the angel of sleep had laid +his finger upon her eyelids, the first genii calling upon the name of God +the All-perfect (blessed be he) broke the seal of his phial, and poured a +portion of the liquid upon her lips. And the three genii watched her +slumbers till the dawn; and thus they did evening by evening. And they +beheld her form developing in loveliness, tall and straight as the palm, +but lithe and supple as the bending branch of the oriental willow. Her +smoothly rounded arms gleamed like polished ivory beneath the folds of her +transparent izar, and the tips of her rosy fingers were touched with the +lustre of henna. Her lips had the hue of the coral when it is wet with the +spray of the sea, her teeth were as strings of pearl, and the melting +fulness of her cheek was suffused with the soft bloom of the peach. In her +eyes was the light of the stars, and her eyelids were adorned with kohl. +Her hair was glossy and black as the plumage of the raven, and when she +covered it with her veil, her countenance beamed from it comely as the +full moon that walketh in the darkness of the night. Her speech was as the +murmur of the waterfall and the clear tones of the nightingales of the +Jordan. She was a wonder unto herself and unto her neighbors. Her step had +the lightness of the gazelle and the grace of the swan; and when she went +forth abroad, the eye that beheld her beauty exclaimed, “Glory be to him +who created her, perfected her, and completed her.” But the genii beheld +with sorrow and mortification that she became vain, and that foolish +thoughts sprang up in her heart; so that it was said of her, “Hath God the +High, the Great, put an evil spirit in the perfection of beauty?” Then +said the second genii, “Ye shall see what the elixir of <i>love</i> shall do.” +And he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> entered into her chamber, and he broke the mystic seal which was +the seal of Solomon Ben David (on both of whom be peace), and a sweet odor +was diffused through the apartment. And the lips of the sleeper moved as +with a pleasant smile, and there beamed upon her countenance the nameless +charm with which the houris fill with delight the dwellers in the Garden +of Eternity. And it came to pass that all who looked upon her loved her +and said, “There is none among the created like her in excellence of +beauty, or in charms of disposition. Extolled be the perfection of the +Creator of mankind.” And they strove one with another which should possess +the inestimable treasure. And contention and strife arose daily among +them; and her heart inclined unto all, and she feared to unite herself +with one, lest grievous wars should follow. Therefore her soul was filled +with grief, and she ceased not to weep by day and by night, and the tears +were on her cheeks. Then said the third genii, “Behold sorrow is of earth, +and the beauty and love ye have bestowed have gathered with them the +noxious principles inwoven in the basis of human things. Ye shall behold +the power of happiness.” Then he took the colorless phial, and he broke +the seal thereof, calling upon the name of Ifraz the Unknown, and lo, hour +after hour the invisible, impalpable elixir seemed to permeate her being, +and the light of her eye was tempered to a holy ray, the color blanched on +her cheeks, and the vivacity of love gave place to the serenity of +content. And as she walked forth the voluptuous and the wise said, “Behold +she is too pure for earth, the Terminator of delights and Separator of +companions will soon call for her. Extolled be the perfections of the +Eternal in whose power it lieth to annul and to confirm.”</p> + +<p>And when the two genii saw that Beauty and Love availed not, they were +filled with envy, and they seized the damsel and conveyed her away to the +cave of enchantment. And the third genii being transported with grief and +disappointment, broke the phial, and that which remained of the elixir of +Happiness returned to its primeval<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> source, and entered again into the +combinations of human things. But the seal being broken it became known to +mortals that the elixir of Life existed in the elements, and hence it is, +that those who are skilled in the mysteries of nature have searched its +grand arcanum with the powerful agencies of alchemy, and tortured the +genii with spells and incantations to wring from them the mighty secret.</p> + +<p>Berengaria had listened to the story with unwonted interest, and at its +close started up from her couch and eagerly inquired, “What has been the +result? Have they discovered the long-sought principle? I have heard +wondrous tales concerning these alchemists. Men say they deal in the black +art; but were there one in Navarre, I would brave the imputation of +sorcery to question him concerning the elixir of beauty.” “A Moorish +physician dwells in the suburbs of Pampeluna,” replied Elsiebede, +measuring her sentences with timid hesitation, “whom I have often seen in +the byways, gathering herbs, it is said he readeth the fates of mortals in +the stars.”</p> + +<p>“Let us go to him,” exclaimed the princess, “bring me my pelisson and +veil.”</p> + +<p>The girl obeyed with a trembling alacrity, that to a less occupied +observer, would have betrayed that the expedition was the unexpected +accomplishment of a long-cherished desire.</p> + +<p>“This way,” said Elsiebede, drawing her mistress from the public street, +now beginning to be thronged with laborers returning from their toil, “the +alchemist brooks not impertinent intrusion, and we must beware that no +officious attendant, nor curious retainer find the place of his abode.” +Silently and swiftly the two maidens threaded a narrow alley, leading +through an unfrequented part of the town, turning and winding among +buildings more and more remote from each other, till it terminated on a +grassy heath, surrounding a dilapidated mansion. The sun had already set, +and Berengaria, never too courageous, began to shudder at the loneliness +of the place. With instinctive fear, she clung tremblingly to the arm of +her resolute dependent,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> whispering, “Whither dost thou lead me? There is +here no sign of human life. Let us return.” But the spirited slave bent +the weak will of the mistress to her purpose; and with alternate +assurances of safety and incitements to curiosity, led the way to the rear +of the ruined pile, where descending a stone stair, she gave three raps +upon a low door. The grating of rusty bolts was heard, the door was +cautiously opened, and Berengaria felt herself suddenly drawn within the +portal. A glare of dazzling light blinded and bewildered her, and a +stifling vapor added to her former terror, almost stupefied her senses.</p> + +<p>The voice of Elsiebede somewhat reassured her, and as her eyes became +accustomed to the light, she took a survey of the scene before her. The +apartment seemed to have been originally the kitchen of the castle, one +end being occupied by a wide, large chimney, now built up except in the +centre, where a furnace, covered with crucibles, glowed with the most +intense heat. A white screen with a small dark screen before it, nearly +concealed one side, of the apartment, while on the other side from three +serpent-formed tubes connected through the wall with retorts, gleamed +tongues of colored flame. Various gallipots, alembics, horologues, +diagrams, and dusty manuscripts were deposited upon shelves in angles of +the wall.</p> + +<p>The principal occupant was a man of a lean, haggard figure, bowed less by +age than by toil and privation. A few black, uncombed locks escaping from +the folds of a turban, once white, now begrimed with smoke and dust, +straggled over a swarthy forehead, marked with lines caused by intense +thought, and abortive speculations. He was dressed in Moorish garments, +the sleeves tucked above the elbows, revealing his emaciated arms, while +his talon-like fingers grasped an immense triangular crystal, through +which he was casting refractions upon the screen. His deep, cavernous eyes +seemed to gleam with the fires of insanity, yet he spoke in a tone of deep +abstraction, though with something like the voice of affection. “Disturb +me not, my daughter, but stand aside till I have completed my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +experiment.” The maidens remained silently by the door, and Berengaria had +leisure to note the motions of a dwarf African, who sat diligently blowing +the bellows of the furnace, rolling his eyes, and saluting the ladies with +smiles which served at once to exhibit his white teeth and his +satisfaction at the interruption.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding her fears at finding herself in so strange a situation, +the curiosity of Berengaria was so excited by the novelty of the scene, +that she waited patiently while the philosopher experimented first with +one light and then with another, till apparently becoming dissatisfied +with the result, he attempted to change the position of the tubes. Scarce +was his purpose accomplished, when a deafening explosion rent the air, +followed by sounds as of the falling of the ruin overhead. Profound +darkness ensued, and the groans of the wounded alchemist mingled with the +demoniac laughter of the African, and the echo of her own shrieks +increased the terror of the princess almost to agony. Elsiebede alone +retained any share of self-possession. “A light, a light, Salaman,” +exclaimed she. Instantly a line of blue flame crept along the wall, and a +tiny torch in the hand of the dwarf mysteriously ignited, revealed again +his malevolent countenance, and threw his misshapen and magnified image in +full relief upon the screen. An odor of brimstone that seemed to accompany +the apparition, did not serve to allay Berengaria’s apprehensions. +Elsiebede for once forgot her mistress. Hastily snatching the torch from +the negro, she lighted a lamp and raising her father from the stone floor, +began to examine his wounds. The blood was oozing from a contusion upon +the back of his head, one side of his face was dreadfully burned, and his +right hand lay utterly powerless. Giving hurried directions in Moorish to +the grinning Ethiope, Elsiebede with his assistance placed her father upon +a couch behind the screen, and bathed the painful wounds with a balmy +liquid from one of the dusty phials, accompanying her soothing appliances +with the soft and gentle expressions of affection. Their language was +foreign to the ear of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>Berengaria, but she discovered by the tones of the +father, and the tears of the daughter, that he was chiding her as the +cause of his misfortune. At length overcome by his upbraiding, Elsiebede +drew from her bosom a silken purse, and taking thence a jewel kissed it +fervently, and like one resigning her last treasure at the call of duty, +put it into his extended hand. The black meanwhile had prepared a cordial, +which he intimated would soon give her father rest. The alchemist eagerly +swallowed the draught, and soon sank into a heavy sleep.</p> + +<p>Berengaria, whose impatience had scarcely brooked the delay necessary for +this happy consummation, hurried the reluctant Elsiebede away. “I knew +not, Elsie,” said she, when they were at a safe distance from the ruin, +“that thy father dwelt in Pampeluna. I thought thou wert an orphan, when +my father moved by thy beauty and distress purchased thee of the rude +Castilian. Tell me thine history.”</p> + +<p>“My father,” replied Elsiebede, “was when young the physician of the +Moorish prince, and occupied himself in separating the hidden virtues of +nature from the impurities with which they are combined. When walking +abroad to gather plants for the prosecution of his inquiries, he met every +day a young flower girl, carrying her fragrant wares to the palace of the +Alhambra. Attracted by her beauty, he purchased her flowers, and +interested himself in her history. He learned that she belonged to a band +of Saracens or Gyptianos, that had recently settled in Grenada. He loved +her and she became his wife.</p> + +<p>“I was their only child. My youth was spent in listening to the wondrous +tales of the East, with which my mother delighted me, or in acquiring the +elements of science with my father. The sudden illness and death of my +mother destroyed all my happiness. My father betook himself again to the +most abstruse studies, spent whole nights in watching the stars, practised +incantations to the spirits of the air, and pondering continually upon the +mystery of death, commenced the search for that mighty principle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> which is +said to prolong human existence. Many wonderful secrets of nature were in +this process revealed to his sight; but he became so sad and gloomy, and +his eyes beamed on me with such an unwonted fire, that I feared lest grief +should dethrone the angel of reason. To divert his mind, I began to lead +him forth in his accustomed walks. One day when we had lingered rather +later than usual beyond the walls of Grenada, a band of armed Castilians +fell upon us, and carried us away captives. The noble Sancho found me +singing songs for my cruel master, and redeemed me from my fate.”</p> + +<p>“And what became of thy father?” inquired Berengaria. “He was enabled by +some of his medicines to heal a long-established malady of his captor, and +thus obtained his freedom: since which, until within a few months, he has +wandered through Spain in search of his lost child.” “And wherefore didst +thou commit to a dying man the precious jewel which I saw in thy hand?” +The tears of Elsiebede began to fall fast, and with a choking voice she +replied, “Question me not, I entreat thee. Oh, my mistress, concerning the +ring, at another time I will tell thee all.” Touched with the instinctive +reverence that nature always pays to genuine sorrow, the princess forbore +further inquiries, and the two maidens completed their walk in silence.</p> + +<p>The terror that Berengaria had suffered took away all desire to prosecute +her inquiries with the alchemist, but with unusual consideration, on the +following day, she dismissed Elsiebede at an early hour, giving her +permission to pass the night with her father. The poor girl returned in +the morning overwhelmed with grief. The alchemist was dead. From her +self-reproaches and lamentations Berengaria learned, that in his +scientific researches he had consumed all his property, and melted every +valuable belonging to his daughter, except her mother’s ring. This gem she +had steadily refused to give him, both on account of its being a memento +and a charm, and the failure of his experiment with its fatal results he +had in his dying hour attributed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> the lack of the potency of the +precious gem. Stung with remorse, Elsiebede declared that if the ring +could not save her father’s life, it should at least procure him a grave, +and telling her mistress that she could never again look upon the jewel +without a shudder, begged her to accept it, and to assist her in burying +him according to the rites of the Mohammedan religion. In catholic Navarre +this was next to an impossibility; but through the generosity of the +princess, and the ingenuity of Salaman, the corpse was secretly conveyed +to the Moorish cemetery in Grenada.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER II.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 8em;">“O, such a day</span><br /> +So fought, so followed, and so fairly won,<br /> +Came not till now, to dignify the times.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>It was a gala-day in Navarre. Sancho the Strong, the gallant brother of +Berengaria, had proclaimed a tournament in compliment to his friend +Richard Plantagenet, Count of Poitou. In the domestic wars which had vexed +the south of France since the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine with Henry +of Anjou, these valiant youths had fought side by side, and from a +friendship cemented by intimacy as well as similarity of tastes and +pursuits, had become <i>fratres jurati</i>, or sworn brothers, according to the +customs of the age. Both were celebrated for their knightly +accomplishments and their skill in judging of Provençal poetry, and each +had proved the prowess of the other in chivalric encounter, and provoked +the genius of his friend in the refined and elegant contests of minstrelsy +and song. The brave Sancho had arranged the lists, giving to his friend +the first place as knight challenger, reserving the second for himself, +and bestowing the third upon their brother in arms, the young Count of +Champagne. The gay pavilions were set, a splendid concourse assembled,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +and Berengaria, proclaimed Queen of Beauty and Love, had assumed her regal +state attended by all the beauties of Navarre, when to the infinite +disappointment and mortification of the prince, Count Raimond of Toulouse +arrived to say, that Richard, having received letters from his mother, had +found it necessary to depart suddenly for England; but that the +festivities of the day might not be marred by his absence, he entreated +that the bearer of the message, Count Raimond, might occupy his pavilion, +bestride his war-steed, and do his devoir in the lists. With a courtesy +that ill-concealed his chagrin the noble Sancho accepted the substitute, +and conducting him to the tent glittering with green and gold, consigned +him to the care of the esquires; while himself went to acquaint his sister +with the mortifying fact that the spectacle, for which they had prepared +with such enthusiastic anticipations, was yet to want the crowning grace +expected from the presence of that flower of knighthood, Richard +Plantagenet.</p> + +<p>To conceal from the spectators the knowledge of this untoward event, their +father, Sancho the Wise, who held the post of honor as judge of the +combat, decided that Count Raimond of Toulouse should assume the armorial +bearings of Richard, and personate him in the lists. These preliminaries +being satisfactorily arranged, the heralds rode forth and proclaimed the +laws of the tournament, and the games proceeded. The Count of Champagne +and the royal Sancho, better practised in the exercises of the lance than +the Spanish cavaliers who opposed them, won applause from all beholders; +but the crowd seemed to take especial delight in the prowess of Count +Raimond, shouting at every gallant thrust, and every feat of horsemanship, +“A Richard, a Richard! A Plantagenet!” Notwithstanding the unfavorable +auspices under which the tournament commenced, the sports of the day were +as gay and animated as the most sanguine could have hoped. The three +challengers had overborne all opponents. With a heart fluttering with +pride and pleasure, the young Blanche of Navarre had seen her sister +confer a golden coronet upon the Count of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> Champagne, and Sancho had also +received from Berengaria a chaplet in honor of his knightly achievements. +But the first in honor as in place, was the warrior who had personated +Richard. When, however, he laid aside his vizor, to receive the well-won +laurel as leader of the victors, the multitude discovered that the hero +whom they had greeted with such enthusiastic applause was Count Raimond of +Toulouse, and new bursts of acclamations rent the air, while the marshals, +and squires, and heralds, forgetting for a moment their duties, gathered +round the throne of Love and Beauty to interchange congratulations with +the gratified count.</p> + +<p>In the general excitement no one had noticed the entrance of a <i>knight +adventurous</i>, one of those wandering cavaliers who, to perfect themselves +in feats of arms, travelled from province to province, challenging the +skill of all comers in chivalrous combat. The appearance of this +knight-errant was such as attracted all eyes. He was mounted on a bay +horse of spirit and mettle that hardly yielded to the strong rein; his +helmet was surmounted with a crest of the figure of a red hound, while his +erect form shielded in brown armor, and the firmness with which he +maintained his seat gave him the appearance of a bronze statue, borne +along in the procession. Disregarding the indications that the fortunes of +the day were already decided, the stranger knight rode directly to the +pavilion emblazoned with the arms of Richard, and struck his spear with +such force upon the shield, as to summon at once the attendants to duty.</p> + +<p>“Whom have we here?” exclaimed Sancho, with a hearty laugh. “By our Lady, +Count Raimond, this day’s sun shall not set till the heathen hound on the +crest of yon crusading knight hath bit the dust. Pardieu, I almost envy +thee thy good fortune to tilt against so fair a foe.” The interest which +this new-comer gave to the flagging sports was evinced by the eager +inquiries and hurried whispers that went round among the spectators. A +breathless silence ensued, as Count Raimond couched his lance and started<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +forward to meet his strange challenger. “A Raimond! A Raimond!” cried the +crowd, as the two combatants dashed upon each other.</p> + +<p>“Long life to the Red Knight,” “Success to the Crusaders,” was echoed by +the fickle multitude, with increased satisfaction, as the hero of +Toulouse, overthrown by the violence of the shock, struggled beneath his +fallen charger, while the stranger applying rein and spur, caused his +gallant steed at one bound, to leap over the prostrate horse and rider, +then dexterously compelling the animal to caricole gracefully in front of +the queen’s galley, and lowering his lance, the victorious knight +courteously bowed as if laying his honors at the feet of Love and Beauty. +The prizes for the day were already bestowed; but the enthusiastic +Berengaria found it impossible to let such prowess go unrewarded. Hastily +untying her scarf, she fastened it to the end of his spear, and the +Crusader, with the armorial bearings of Navarre streaming from his lance, +rode slowly and proudly from the lists.</p> + +<p>The squires meanwhile had extricated the vanquished Raimond from his +perilous position, and conducted him to his tent, where his bruises were +found to require the skill of the leech. All were busy with conjectures +concerning the unknown, many sage surmises very wide of the truth were +hazarded by those best acquainted with heraldic devices, and arguments +were rapidly increasing to animosities, when the slight tinkling of a bell +again drew the attention of the concourse.</p> + +<p>“A champion! A champion,” exclaimed they again as a second knight, strong +and broad-shouldered, sheathed in shining black armor, entered the arena. +Glimpses of a ruddy complexion and sparkling eyes, were visible through +the jetty bars of his vizor, and a raven with smooth and glossy plumage, +its beak open, and a bell suspended from its neck, was perched upon his +helmet. His coal-black steed was a war-horse of powerful make, +deep-chested and of great strength of limb; his red nostrils distended by +his fiery impatience, glowed like the coals of a furnace,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> while the +gauntleted hand that with matchless skill controlled his speed, looked as +though it might have belonged to a giant of the olden time. The +impetuosity of the black knight left the spectators not long in doubt of +his purpose. Count Henry of Champagne was summoned to reassume his armor +and make good his claim to his recently won laurels. “Pray heaven thine +eye and hand falter not, Count Henry,” exclaimed Sancho, as he personally +inspected the armor of his friend, and cautioned the squires to see that +each ring and buckle was securely fastened. “The issue of this combat +should depend upon thine own right arm, not upon a weak spring or careless +squire.” The courtesy of the black knight seemed proportioned to his +strength and skill. Reining his horse to the left, he gave the count the +full advantage of the wind and sun, and instead of meeting him in full +career, eluded the shock, parried his thrusts with the most graceful ease, +and rode around him like a practised knight conducting the exercises of +the tilt-yard in such a manner, as to develop and display the prowess of +an ambitious squire; and when at last Count Henry lost his saddle, it was +rather the effect of his own rashness, than from any apparent purpose of +his antagonist; for exasperated to the last degree at being thus toyed +with, he retreated to the extremity of the lists, put his horse upon its +full speed and dashed upon his opponent. The black knight perceiving the +intent of this manœuvre, brought his well-trained steed at once into an +attitude of perfect repose, and sitting immovable as an iron pillar, +received the full shock upon his impenetrable shield. The horse of the +count recoiling from the effect of the terrible collision, sank upon his +haunches, and the girth breaking, the rider rolled in the dust. Something +like a smothered laugh broke from beneath the bars of the stranger’s +vizor, as he rode round his vanquished foe, and extended his hand as +though inviting him to rise. But his demeanor was grave and dignified, +when he presented himself before the admiring Berengaria, who in default +of a better chaplet stripped her tiny hand of its snowy <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>covering, and +bestowed the embroidered glove as the guerdon of his skill. “Part we so +soon, sir knight?” said Sancho, reining his steed, so as to keep pace with +that of his unexpected guest. “I would fain set lance in rest against so +fair a foe.” Without deigning a reply, the knight put spurs to his horse, +and leaping the barriers disappeared in the wood. Rejoining his two +friends in the pavilion who were condoling with each other over their +inglorious defeat, Sancho burst into a stream of invective. “Ungrateful +cravens,” cried he, “to repine at heaven’s grace. I would have given the +brightest jewel in the crown of Navarre, for leave to set lance in rest +against either of yon doughty knights.” “Thou shouldst have been very +welcome,” exclaimed Raimond, laying his hand upon his wounded limb. “Our +Lady grant henceforth that dame Fortune send all such favors to thee,” and +he laughed in spite of his discomfiture. A startling blast from the wood +interrupted the colloquy, and Count Raimond petulantly exclaimed, +“Methinks the foul fiends have congregated in the forest! That hath the +sound of the last trumpet.”</p> + +<p>“Aye, verily,” replied Count Henry, reconnoitering from the door of the +pavilion, “and yonder comes Death on the pale horse. Prince Sancho, thine +hour has come, prepare to meet thy final overthrow.” There seemed a +terrible significance in the words, for upon a snowy charger, whose mane +and tail nearly swept the ground, just entering the lists, was seen a +knight, dressed in a suit of armor of such shining brilliancy as almost to +dazzle the eyes of the beholders. His crest was a white dove with its +wings spread, and conspicuous upon his right shoulder appeared a blood-red +cross. He carried neither lance nor spear, but an immense battle-axe hung +at his saddle-bow. “By my troth,” said Sancho, “be he the angel of death +himself, I will dispute his empire, even though he bring twelve legions of +his mysterious retainers to back him. It shall not be said that the +chivalry of Spain, aye, and of France to boot,” casting a glance at his +crest-fallen friends, “are but trophies of the prowess of these unknown +demi-gods.” “Heaven grant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> thou mayest make good thy boast, for truly +these demi-gods wield no mortal weapons,” said Count Raimond, with a +bitter smile, as the prince anticipating a challenge rode forth to meet +the white champion. Unpractised in the use of the mace, Sancho, whose ire +was completely roused at seeing the honors of the day borne off by +strangers, disregarded the laws of the tournament (which required the +challenger to use the same weapons as his adversary), and seizing his +spear, attacked his opponent with a fierce energy, which showed that he +fought for deadly combat, and not for trial of skill in knightly courtesy. +The brilliant figure, at the first rush, bowed his head, till the plumage +of the dove mingled with the flowing mane of his courser, and suffered the +animal to sheer to the right, thus compelling the prince, in his onward +career, to make a similar involuntary obeisance as the result of his +ineffectual thrust. Completing the demivolte, the two champions again +returned to the onset; and now the mace of the white knight describing +shining circles round his head, received upon its edge the spear of the +prince, clave the tough oak wood asunder, and sent the spear-head whirling +through the air almost to the feet of the spectators. A second, a third, +and a fourth spear met with the same fate. The welkin rang with the +applause of the beholders. “Bravo, sir white knight!” “Glory to the Red +Cross!” “Honor to the crusader!” “Death to the Paynim,” accompanied the +flourish of trumpets and the shouts of heralds, which, together with the +flutter of pennons and the waving of signals from the galleries of the +ladies, showed the exciting interest of the scene. At length the +dove-crested warrior, by a skilful manœuvre, brought himself into such +proximity as to be able with one blow to strike the helmet from the head +of his antagonist; at the same moment, however, he extended his hand and +prevented the unbonneted prince from falling prone beneath the feet of his +horse. The gallant Sancho thus compelled to yield, with knightly grace +accompanied his vanquisher to Berengaria’s throne. “Thy best guerdon, my +sister, for thy brother’s conqueror,” said he. “Beside the arm of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> Richard +Plantagenet, I thought there was not another in Christendom that could +break the bars of my vizor and leave my skull unscathed. Why dost thou +hesitate?” exclaimed he, observing her embarrassment. “The daughter of +Sancho the Wise is not wont to be tardy when called upon to honor the +brave. Has the same blow that still keeps the blood dancing in the brain +of thy brother, paralyzed thy hand?” “Nay,” said Berengaria, while a +brilliant blush suffused her cheeks, “but I would fain see the countenance +of the brave knight, who carries off the honors of the field from such a +competitor,” and drawing the ring of Elsiebede from her finger, she +bestowed it upon the victor. Rising from his knees, the knight inclined +courteously to the squires, who with a celerity lent by curiosity, unlaced +his casque and unfastened his gorget, revealing the face of Richard +Plantagenet, beaming fair and ruddy from the bright yellow curls that +clustered round it, and eyes that sparkled in the full appreciation of the +surprise and merriment that his unexpected apparition occasioned. “Mon +cher frère,” exclaimed Sancho, grasping his hand, “I am conquered by +Richard, then am I victor. Give me joy, knights, ladies, and squires.” The +heralds taking up the word, sounded the tidings through the field, while +the spectators shouted, “A Richard! a Richard! Long live the gallant +Plantagenet!” The Counts of Toulouse and Champagne, assisted by their +attendants, hastened to the scene, and discovering the scarf and glove of +Berengaria resting beneath the loosened hauberk, recognized each his +conqueror, and found in that circumstance a greater balm for their wounded +pride, than all their bruises had experienced from the mollifying +appliances of leechcraft. The knights challengers thus all vanquished by +the single arm of Richard, left the field with the highest sense of +satisfaction, and the ready wit of their champion, pointed the sallies and +directed the mirth of the banquet, which followed, and continued long into +the night.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER III.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 5em;">“Beshrew your eyes,</span><br /> +They have o’erlooked me, and divided me;<br /> +One half of me is yours, the other half yours,<br /> +And so all yours.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>In the general excitement attendant upon the discovery of Richard and the +breaking up of the tournament, Berengaria had remarked the agitation of +Elsiebede, and seized an early opportunity to learn the cause. “Where hast +thou known Count Richard?” said she in a tone of feigned indifference. “I +have never seen him till to-day,” replied the attendant. “But thou didst +start and turn pale when the White Knight disclosed the features of +Plantagenet?” “Aye, because I saw my lady bring a curse upon his head.” “A +curse upon him? How meanest thou, silly child?” replied the princess, +growing pale in her turn. “Pardon, my dear mistress,” continued Elsiebede, +falling upon her knees, “I should have told you, the ring bestowed upon a +knight, is a fatal gift.” “And why fatal?” inquired Berengaria, somewhat +relieved that she had no greater cause for disquiet. “I know not why. The +jewel of the ring has been in the possession of my mother’s tribe for many +generations, and whenever man has called it his own, sorrow and distress +have followed, till this tradition has become a proverb.</p> + +<p class="poem">“’Twill thwart his wish, and break his troth,<br /> +Betray him to his direst foe,<br /> +And drown him in the sea.”</p> + +<p>“Thou art too superstitious,” said Berengaria, as her attendant recited +the malediction, with an appearance of the most profound sense of its +reality; “but to please thee, foolish child, I will regain the toy.” +Berengaria secretly determined to lose no time in relieving Richard from +his dangerous possession, and accordingly lost no occasion for conversing +with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> the prince; but though he treated her with the most distinguished +courtesy, the term of his visit to Navarre expired before their +acquaintance had ripened into an intimacy that would warrant her venturing +upon the delicate task of reclaiming her gift. Months elapsed before +Berengaria again saw the knight who had made such an impression upon her +youthful imagination, and she began to fear that the ring had, in reality, +conducted him to his predestined sepulchre in the sea, when her brother +Sancho returning from a tour in France, brought intelligence of the most +gratifying character. “Rememberest thou, my sister,” said he, “the valiant +Plantagenet, who so gallantly bore off the honors of our tournament?” +“Aye, verily,” replied the princess, casting down her eyes. “He has been +wandering through Germany, challenging all true knights to chivalrous +combat, and has met with many strange adventures,” continued Sancho. +“Recount them,” said Berengaria, “I listen with attention.” “Thou who +didst reward his valor, as red, and black, and white knight in one day, +canst well appreciate his partiality for disguises,” resumed her brother: +“and it seems, that during this expedition, one had nearly cost him his +life. Passing through the dominions of the King of Almaine, he assumed the +dress of a palmer, but being discovered, was cast into prison. Ardour, the +son of the king, learning that a knight of remarkable strength and prowess +was confined in a dungeon, brought him forth and invited him to stand a +buffet. Richard accepted the challenge, and received a blow that laid him +prostrate. Recovering himself, he returned the stroke with so much force, +that he broke the cheek-bone of his antagonist, who sank to the ground and +instantly expired. The king awakened to fresh transports of fury, at the +loss of his son, gave orders that the prisoner should be closely fettered +and returned to the lowest dungeon of the castle. But the monarch had, +also, a daughter, a princess of great beauty, who became exceedingly +interested in the man that had so dexterously slain her brother. Learning +that a plan was on foot to make the bold knight the prey of a lion, she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +found means to enter his cell, and acquaint him with his danger. The bold +heart of Plantagenet did not fail him in this extremity. Rewarding the +solicitude of the tender Margery with a kiss, he desired her to repair to +him in the evening, bringing forty ells of white silk, and a supper with +plenty of good beef and ale. Thus fortified in the outer and inner man, he +calmly awaited his fate. The next day, as soon as the roar of the monster +was heard, he wrapped his arm in the silk, and evading the spring of the +animal, gave it such a blow in the breast, as nearly felled it to the +ground. The lion lashing itself with its tail, and extending its dreadful +jaws, uttered a most hideous yell; but the hero suddenly darted upon the +beast, drove his arm down the throat, and grasping the heart tore it out +through the mouth, and marched with his trophy, yet quivering with life, +to the great hall of the palace, where the king with a grand company of +dukes and earls, sat at meat. Pressing the blood from the reeking heart, +Prince Richard dipped it in the salt, and offered the dainty morsel to the +company. The lords rose from the table, and declaring, that since the days +of Samson, no mortal had achieved so wonderful an exploit, dubbed him +Cœur de Lion, on the spot. The barbarian finding it impossible, longer +to detain a prisoner who seemed to enjoy the especial favor of Providence, +bestowed upon him gifts and presents, mounted him on a fleet horse, and +with great joy, saw him depart. A herald has this morning arrived, to say +that he wends his way hither; therefore, prepare, my sister, to receive +the lion-hearted prince, with a state becoming his new honors.”</p> + +<p>Berengaria needed no second bidding. She was already more interested in +the gallant Plantagenet than she dared confess, even to herself, while the +conduct of Richard, upon his arrival, intimated plainly the attraction +that had drawn him to Navarre, and the flattering attention with which +both the elder and younger Sancho treated him, promised fair speed to his +wooing. He was exceedingly fond of chess, and this game served to beguile +many hours when the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> weather precluded more active sports. Though a +practised, Richard was often a careless player, and his fair antagonist +gained many advantages over him, while he pertinaciously declared himself +vanquished by her beauty rather than her skill. The ready blush that +followed his compliments gave occasion for renewed expressions of +admiration, and often in the midst of triumph the victor found herself +covered with confusion. Many gages of trifling value were lost and won +between the amicable rivals, but it was not till after repeated defeats +that Richard began to suspect there was some article in his possession +that his beautiful opponent was particularly anxious to win. He playfully +proposed to stake his head against one lock of her hair, and when he lost +the game, gravely inquired whether she would accept the forfeit, with its +natural fixture, or whether like the vindictive daughter of Herodias, she +would require it to be brought in a charger, as was the head of John the +Baptist. Re-arranging the pieces before she could interpose a +remonstrance, he declared the stakes should next be his heart against her +hand. The game was terminated in his favor. Gallantly seizing her hand, +pressing his lips upon it, he protested that in all his tournaments he had +never won so fair a prize; then suddenly exclaiming, “What magic game is +this, in which a man may both lose and win?” he laid his broad palm upon +his side, and with an appearance of great concern, continued, “By the +blessed mother my heart is certainly gone; and I must hold thee +accountable for its restoration.”</p> + +<p>Making a strong effort at recovering her composure, Berengaria asserted +that she had neither lost nor won the game, since he had arranged the +pieces unfairly, and proceeded to capture her queen almost without her +knowledge, and certainly without her consent.</p> + +<p>The sportive colloquy finally ended in a compromise, Richard agreeing that +the affair could justly be accommodated by Berengaria’s staking her heart +against his hand, and she playfully avowing that a gamester so +unprincipled might expect to lose both body and soul, if he did not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +commit the arrangements to one of greater probity. The keen eye of +Plantagenet soon discovered that this game possessed an interest for his +fair rival far beyond the preceding ones, and in doubt whether it arose +from her anxiety to gain his hand, or from her desire delicately to assure +him that he could never win her heart, he suffered himself to be beaten. +The result only increased his perplexity; for the princess, though +evidently elated by her success, seriously proposed to relinquish her +claim upon his hand, in consideration of the ring that glittered upon his +finger. Too much interested any longer to regard the game, Richard pushed +aside the chess-board, and fixing his eyes upon her, inquired, “Wherefore +wouldst thou the ring?”</p> + +<p>The princess more than ever embarrassed by the seriousness of his voice +and manner, stammered forth, “The jewel is a charm.” “True,” said Richard, +with unaffected warmth, “Berengaria’s gifts are all charms.” “Nay, nay!” +said she, with uncontrollable trepidation, “I mean—I mean—it is a fatal +possession.”—“Of which I am a most undoubted witness,” interrupted he, +“since by its influence I have lost my head, my heart and my hand.” “Have +done with this idle jesting, and listen to me,” said Berengaria, +earnestly. “It will thwart thy dearest wish, and betray thee to thy direst +foe.” “None but Berengaria can thwart my dearest wish,” said Richard, +steadily regarding her, “and from my direst foe,” he added, with a gesture +of defiance, “this good right arm is a sufficient defence.” Tears shone in +Berengaria’s eyes, and she added, “Why wilt thou misunderstand me? I tell +thee it will break thy troth.” “Our Lady grant it,” responded he, with a +shout of exultation. “Since the day I first received it, I have not ceased +to importune King Henry to cancel my engagement with Alice of France.” The +baffled princess having no further resource burst into tears. “Nay, weep +not, my sweetest Berengaria,” said Richard, tenderly, “the gem is indeed a +talisman, since by its aid only have I been able to discover the treasure +thou hadst so effectually<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> concealed from my anxious search. Fear no evil +on my behalf, my poor life has double value since thou hast betrayed an +interest in my fate.” He stooped to kiss the tears from her cheek, and +passing a chain with a diamond cross about her neck, left her alone to +recover her composure.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER IV.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Ah me! for aught that I could ever read,<br /> +Could ever hear by tale or history,<br /> +The course of true love never did run smooth.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>“A long and secret engagement, replete with hope deferred, was the fate of +Richard the Lion-hearted and the fair flower of Navare.” The vexatious +wars in which Eleanor of Aquitaine constantly involved her husband and +children occupied Richard in combats more dangerous than those of the +tourney. The heart of Berengaria was often agitated with fears for his +safety. She was also compelled to reject the addresses of numerous +suitors, attracted by her beauty and wealth, and she thus subjected +herself to the imputation of caprice, and the displeasure of her father, +when her thoughts were distracted by rumors that Richard was about to +consummate his marriage with Alice. An occasional troubadour who sang the +exploits of her gallant lover sometimes imparted new life to her dying +hopes, and again when a long period elapsed without tidings of any kind, +she bitterly reproached herself for permitting him to retain an amulet +which she was so well assured would change the current of his affections; +and notwithstanding the general frankness of his character, and the +unfeigned earnestness of his manner, which more than his words, had +convinced her of his truth; she was often tortured with the suspicion that +Richard had only amused himself with the artlessness of a silly girl, and +had no <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>intention of demanding her of her father. Her only confidant in +the affair was her brother Sancho the Strong, who consoled her by +violently upbraiding her for the unjust suspicion, and resolutely +vindicating the honor of his absent friend. While the mind of Berengaria +was thus cruelly alternating between hope and fear, her sister Blanche was +wedded to Thibaut, brother of Count Henry of Champagne. On the festive +occasion Richard accompanied the bridegroom: and when Berengaria once more +read admiration and love in every glance of his speaking eyes, and +listened to his enthusiastic assurances of devotion, and above all, when +she heard his wrathful malediction against those who interposed the claims +of Alice, she wondered how she could ever have distrusted the sincerity of +his professions. But though her heart was thus reassured, the first +intelligence that she received from Champagne through the medium of +Blanche, overwhelmed her with new apprehensions. It was asserted, that an +alliance had been formed between Richard and Philip, the young King of +France, to wrest Alice from the custody of Henry, and that the two +princes, to prove that they looked upon each other as brothers, exchanged +clothing, ate at the same table, and occupied the same apartment. The +confident Sancho even, was somewhat shaken by this report; particularly as +the Gascon subjects of Richard began to prepare for war. Instigated by his +own doubts, but more especially by the mute appeals of Berengaria’s +tearful eyes, Sancho made a journey to the north to prove the guilt or +innocence of his friend. At Bordeaux he learned that Richard had gone to +Poictiers. At Poictiers it was said he might be found at Tours. At Tours +the rumor was confirmed, that Richard had transferred his allegiance from +Henry to Philip, and that Henry, in consequence of his son’s rebellion, +had fallen sick at Chinon, and that Richard had been summoned to that +place to attend the monarch’s death-bed. Without delay, therefore, Sancho +posted forward to Chinon. As he ascended an eminence commanding a view of +the road for some distance, he saw a band of armed horsemen riding in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +advance of him, and thought he discerned, in the van, the crest of Richard +Cœur de Lion. Putting spurs to his horse, he joined the rear of the +cavalcade, which proved to be the funeral procession of Henry II., led by +his erring son to the abbey of Fontevraud. The mournful tones of the bell +mingled with the clanging tread of the mail-clad nobles, as solemn and +slow they followed the prince up the long aisle of the church. The air was +heavy with the breath of burning incense, and the strong and ruddy glare +of the funeral torches, revealed with fearful distinctness the deep +furrows made by age, and care, and grief in the noble features of the +deceased monarch. The walls draped with the sable habiliments of woe, +returned the muffled tones of the organ, while drooping banners, that +canopied the bier, shook as with a boding shudder, at the approach of the +warrior train. One solitary mourner knelt beside the altar, a fair-haired +youth, whose features of classic purity, seemed to have borrowed their +aspect of repose from the dread presence before him. It was Geoffrey, the +younger son of Rosamond. The solemn chanting of the mass was hushed, and +the startled priests suppressed their very breath in awe, as heavy sobs +burst from the great heart of Cœur de Lion, and shook the steel +corselet that was belted above his breast. Geoffrey silently rose, and +moving to the head of the bier, left the place of honor to his repentant +brother. “My father!” exclaimed Richard, bending over the dead, and +lifting the palsied hand, “My father! oh canst thou not forgive?” He +stopped in speechless horror, for <i>blood</i> oozed from the clammy lips that +till now had always responded to the call of affection.</p> + +<p>The sensitive heart of Sancho, wrung with a kindred agony, could no longer +brook the terrible spectacle. He left the abbey, and was followed by one +and another of the crowd till the self-accusing parricide was left alone +with the body of his sire.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>When the Prince of Navarre returned to Pampeluna, he forbore to pain his +sister’s heart by a recital of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>melancholy circumstances that had so +affected his own, but he carried to her an assurance that <i>Richard would +wed only Berengaria</i>, sealed with the mysterious jewel now reset as the +signet ring of the King of England. He described the splendid coronation +of his friend, the wealth of his new realm, and the enthusiastic rapture +with which his new subjects hailed his accession to the throne. He also +informed her that Richard, previous to his father’s death, had taken the +cross for the Holy Land, and that all his time and thoughts were now +occupied in settling the affairs of the realm for this object; and that +the alliance with Philip, which had caused her so much anxiety, was an +engagement, not to marry Alice, but to enter with the French monarch upon +the <i>Third Crusade</i>.</p> + +<p>The prospects of her mistress awakened all the enthusiasm of Elsiebede. +She dreamed by night and prophesied by day of long journeys on horseback +and by sea, and she interspersed her prognostications with agreeable tales +of distressed damsels carried off by unbelieving Afrites, and miraculous +escapes from shipwreck by the interposition of good Genii. But though her +tongue was thus busy, her hands were not idle. She set in motion all the +domestic springs to furnish forth the wardrobe of her mistress and herself +with suitable splendor, and amused the needle-women with such accounts of +eastern magnificence that they began to regard the rich fabrics upon which +they were employed as scarcely worthy of attention.</p> + +<p>In the beginning of the autumn of 1190, Queen Eleanor arrived at the court +of Navarre to demand of her friend Sancho the Wise the hand of his +daughter for her son Richard. The king readily accepted the proposal, for +beside being Berengaria’s lover, the gallant Plantagenet was the most +accomplished, if not the most powerful sovereign of Europe. Under the +escort of the queen dowager the royal fiancée journeyed to Naples, where +she learned to her mortification and dismay that her intended lord was not +yet released from the claims of Alice, and that the potentates assembled +for the crusade were in hourly expectation of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> seeing the armed forces of +Christendom embroiled in a bloody war to decide her title to the crown +matrimonial of England.</p> + +<p>The forebodings of Elsiebede did not increase her equanimity. “It is all +the work of the fatal ring,” said the superstitious maiden. “Did I not +tell thee it would thwart his dearest wish?” Berengaria could reply only +by her tears. Other circumstances made her apprehensive concerning the +fate of the expedition. The Emperor Frederic Barbarossa was among the +first of those whose grief arose to indignation at the fall of Jerusalem. +He wrote letters to Saladin demanding restitution of the city, and +threatening vengeance in the event of non-compliance. The courteous +Infidel replied, that if the Christians would give up to him Tyre, Tripoli +and Antioch, he would restore to them the piece of wood taken at the +battle of Tiberias, and permit the people of the west to visit Jerusalem +as pilgrims. The chivalry of Germany were exasperated at this haughty +reply, and the emperor, though advanced in age, with his son the Duke of +Suabia, the Dukes of Austria and Moravia, sixty-eight temporal and +spiritual lords, and innumerable hosts of crusaders, drawn out of every +class, from honorable knighthood down to meanest vassalage, set out from +Ratisbon for the East. The virtuous Barbarossa conducted the march with +prudence and humanity. Avoiding as much as possible the territories of the +timid and treacherous Greek Emperor, Isaac Angelus, he crossed the +Hellespont, passed through Asia Minor, defeated the Turks in a general +engagement at Iconium, and reached the Taurus Ridge, having accomplished +the difficult journey with more honor and dignity and success than had +fallen to the lot of any previous crusaders.</p> + +<p>When the army approached the river Cydnus, the gallant Frederic, emulating +the example of Alexander, desired to bathe in its waters. His attendants +sought to dissuade him, declaring that the place had been marked by a +fatality from ancient times; and to give weight to their arguments, +pointed to this inscription upon an adjacent rock, “Here<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> the greatest of +men shall perish.” But the humility of the monarch prevented his listening +to their counsels. The icy coldness of the stream chilled the feeble +current in his aged veins, and the strong arms that had for so many years +buffeted the adverse waves of fortune, were now powerless to redeem him +from the eddying tide. He was drawn out by the attendants, but the spark +of life had become extinct.</p> + +<p>The tidings of this melancholy event came to Berengaria, when her heart +was agitated by the perplexity of her own situation not only, but by the +intelligence that Richard’s fleet had been wrecked off the port of Lisbon, +and that he was himself engaged in hostilities with Tancred. Cœur de +Lion was indeed justly incensed with the usurper of his sister’s +dominions. Upon the first news of the fall of Jerusalem, William the Good +had prepared to join the crusade with one hundred galleys equipped and +provisioned for two years, sixty thousand measures of wine, sixty thousand +of wheat, the same number of barley, together with a table of solid gold +and a tent of silk, sufficiently capacious to accommodate two hundred +persons. Being seized with a fatal disease, he left these articles by will +to Henry II, and settling upon his beloved Joanna a princely dower, +intrusted to her the government of the island. No sooner was he deceased, +than Tancred, an illegitimate son of Roger of Apulia, seized upon the +inheritance and threw the fair widow into prison. The roar of the +advancing lion startled Tancred from his guilty security, and he lost no +time in unbarring the prison doors of his royal captive. But Richard +required complete restitution, and enforced his demands by the sword. He +seized upon Messina, but finally through the intervention of the French +king, accommodated the matter by accepting forty thousand ounces of gold, +as his father’s legacy and his sister’s dower. He also affianced his +nephew Arthur of Brittany, to the daughter of Tancred, the Sicilian prince +agreeing on his part to equip ten galleys and six horse transports for the +crusade. Completely reconciled to the English king, Tancred, in a moment +of confidence, showed him letters in which Philip had volunteered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> to +assist in hostilities against Richard. This treachery on the part of +Philip brought matters to a crisis. Seizing the evidences of perfidy, +Richard strode his way to the French camp, and with eyes sparkling with +rage, and a voice of terrible power, upbraided him with his baseness. +Philip strongly asserted his innocence, and declared the letters a +forgery, a mere trick of Richard to gain a pretext for breaking off the +affair with his sister. The other leaders interposed and shamed Philip +into acquiescence with Richard’s desire to be released from his engagement +with Alice. Some days after the French king sailed for Acre.</p> + +<p>But though the hand of the royal Plantagenet was thus free, the long +anticipated nuptials were still postponed. It was the period of the lenten +fast, when no devout Catholic is permitted to marry. Eleanor finding it +impossible longer to leave her regency in England, conducted Berengaria to +Messina, and consigned her to the care of Queen Joanna, who was also +preparing for the voyage. The English fleet, supposed lost, arrived in the +harbor of Messina about the same time, and arrangements were speedily made +for departure. As etiquette forbade the lovers sailing together, Richard +embarked his sister with her precious charge on board one of his finest +ships, in the care of the noble Stephen de Turnham, while himself led the +convoy in his favorite galley Trenc-the-mere, accompanied by twenty-four +knights, whom he had organized in honor of his betrothment, under a pledge +that they would with him scale the walls of Acre. From their badge, a +fillet of blue leather, they were called knights of the Blue Thong.</p> + +<p>Thus with one hundred and fifty ships and fifty galleys, did the +lion-hearted Richard and his bride hoist sail for the Land of Promise, +that El Dorado of the middle ages, the Utopia of every enthusiast whether +of conquest, romance or religion.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER V.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“The strife of fiends is on the battling clouds,<br /> +The glare of hell is in these sulphurous lightnings;<br /> +This is no earthly storm.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>Trustfully and gaily as Infancy embarks upon the untried ocean of +existence, the lovers left the harbor of Messina, and moved forth with +their splendid convoy, upon the open sea. By day the galley of Berengaria +chased the flying shadows of the gallant Trenc-the-mere along the coast of +Greece, or followed in its rippling wake among the green isles of the +clustering Cyclades; by night, like sea-fowl folding their shining wings, +the vessels furled their snowy canvass, and with silver feet keeping time +to the waves, danced forward over the glassy floor of the blue +Mediterranean, like a charmed bride listening to the sound of pipe and +chalumeaux that accompanied the spontaneous verse with which the royal +troubadour wooed her willing ear.</p> + +<p>The treacherous calm that had smiled upon the commencement of their +voyage, at length began to yield to the changeful moods of the stormy +equinox, which like a cruel sportsman, toyed with the hopes and fears of +its helpless prey. Clouds and sunshine hurried alternately across the face +of the sky. Fitful gusts of wind tossed the waves in air or plucked the +shrouds of the ships and darted away, wailing and moaning among the +waters. Then fell a calm—and then—with maddening roar the congregated +floods summoned their embattled strength to meet the mustering winds, +that, loosened from their caves, burst upon the sea with terrific power.</p> + +<p>The females crept trembling to their couches, dizzy with pain and faint +with fear. The sickness of Berengaria increased to that state of +insensibility in which the body, palsied with agony, has only power to +assist the mind in shaping all outward circumstances into visions of +horror.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> She was again in the cell of the alchemist; saw lurid flames, +heard deafening explosions, with unearthly shrieks and groans proceeding +from myriads of fiends that thronged round her with ominous words and +gibing leer. She felt herself irresistibly borne on, on, with a speed ever +accelerated, and that defied all rescue, and with all there was an +appalling sense of falling, down, down, down, into interminable depths.</p> + +<p>The fantasy sometimes changed from herself, but always to her dearer self. +Richard contending with mighty but ineffectual struggles against +inexorable Genii, was hurried through the unfathomable waters before her, +the fatal ring gleaming through all their hideous forms upon her aching +sight; and the confused din of strange sounds that whirled through her +giddy brain could never drown the endless vibrations of the whispered +words,</p> + +<p class="poem">“’Twill thwart his wish and break his troth,<br /> +Betray him to his direst foe,<br /> +And drown him in the sea.”</p> + +<p>The capricious winds at length sounded a truce between the contending +elements. The baffled clouds, like a retiring enemy, discharging +occasional arrows from their exhausted quivers, hurried away in wild +confusion, while the triumphant sea, its vexed surface still agitated by +the tremendous conflict, murmured a sullen roar of proud defiance.</p> + +<p>The Princess of Navarre, relieved from the thraldom of imaginary horrors, +became aware of the actual peril which the fleet had encountered. It was +in vain that the anxious attendants interposed, she persisted in being +conducted to the deck, whence with longing eyes she gazed in every +direction for the bark of her lover. Not a vessel was in sight. A wild +waste of waters mocked her anxious scrutiny. Her own galley was so far +disabled, that it was with much toiling and rowing, the mariners brought +it into Limousa, the capital of Cyprus, and no sooner had they cast +anchor, than Isaac Comnenus, the lord of the island, assailed the stranger +bark with so much violence, that they were forced to row<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> again with all +speed into the offing. While the ship lay thus tossing at the mercy of +the waves, dismantled fragments of shattered wrecks floated by, the broken +masts and spars contending with the waters, like lost mariners struggling +for life.</p> + +<p>While Berengaria gave way to the harrowing conviction that the +Trenc-the-mere, with its precious freight, had foundered in the storm, +Richard, whose ship had been driven into Rhodes, was collecting his +scattered fleet and scouring the sea for his lost treasure. Arrived off +Cyprus, he beheld the royal galley, and learning that it had been driven +from the harbor by the pitiless despot, he landed in great wrath, and sent +a message to Isaac, suggesting the propriety of calling his subjects from +the work of plundering the wrecks to the exercise of the rites of +hospitality.</p> + +<p>The arrogant Cypriot answered that, “whatever goods the sea threw upon his +island, he should take without leave asked of any one.” “By Jesu, Heaven’s +king, they shall be bought full dear,” retorted Richard, and seizing his +battle-axe, he led his crusaders to the rescue, and soon drove the +self-styled emperor, with his myrmidons, to the mountains. Without loss of +time, Richard pursued him thither, and guided by the heron of burnished +gold that gleamed from the imperial pavilion, penetrated the camp in the +darkness, made a great slaughter of the enemy, and brought away all the +treasure; Isaac again escaping with much difficulty. Two beautiful Arab +steeds, Fanuelle and Layard, fell to the lot of the conqueror.</p> + +<p class="poem">“In the world was not their peer,<br /> +Dromedary nor destrère.”</p> + +<p>With this magnificent booty King Richard returned, and taking possession +of his enemies’ capital, made signals for the entrance of the galley that +had so long kept unwilling quarantine without the port. Berengaria, almost +overcome with fatigue and fear, and fluttered with joy, was lifted on +shore by the strong arms of the conquering Cœur de Lion. As he assisted +her trembling steps towards the palace, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> Cypriot of beggarly appearance +threw himself on his knees before them, and presented to their astonished +eyes the talismanic ring! Richard felt his gentle burden lean more heavily +upon his arm, and saw in her colorless face, that all her apprehensions +were reawakened. Gently whispering her words of encouragement, he turned +to the stranger, and bursting into a hearty laugh, exclaimed, “Ha! knave, +where got’st thou the bauble? Hast news of my chancellor?” The mendicant +replied, that a number of bodies had floated upon the beach, and that from +the hand of one he had drawn this ring, which he brought to the English +monarch in the hope of ransoming his wife and family, who had been taken +prisoners. Richard, rejoiced at the recovery of the valued jewel, readily +granted the request of the petitioner, adding as a bounty, a broad piece +of gold. Slipping the signet upon his finger, he turned to his fair +charge, saying, “Cheer thee, sweet-heart, thy ring has accomplished its +destiny. The poor chancellor is ‘drowned in the sea,’ and thou mayest +henceforth look upon it with favor, for to-day it shall <i>consummate</i> my +‘dearest wish,’ since the good bishop now waits to crown thee Richard’s +queen.”</p> + +<p>Relieved, that the ring, after all, boded no evil to Richard, and +reassured by his words, Berengaria yielded to the sweet emotions that +crowded upon her heart, and joyfully permitted him to conduct her into the +presence of the archbishop, who, with the knights and nobles, awaited +their coming. “And there,” according to an ancient writer, “in the joyous +month of May, 1191, in the flourishing and spacious isle of Cyprus, +celebrated as the very abode of the goddess of love, did King Richard +solemnly take to wife his beloved lady Berengaria.” The allied crusaders, +with the consent of the Cypriots, insisted that Richard should be crowned +King of Cyprus, and a double coronal of gems and Fleur-de-lis, was placed +upon the head of the bride, as Queen of Cyprus and of England. The +daughter of Isaac came soon after to crave the grace of the new +sovereigns,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> and the father, resigning his dominions, was bound in silver +chains, and presented a captive to Berengaria.</p> + +<p>It was now early summer, and the fleet of Richard, refitted and +refreighted from the rich harbors of Cyprus, sailed once more for Acre. As +they approached the bay, they descried a large ship laden to the water’s +edge, and despatched a light vessel to inquire whither she was bound, and +what was her cargo. They were answered by an interpreter, that she came +from Apulia, and was laden with provision for the French army. Perceiving +only one man, they insisted on seeing the rest of the crew. Suddenly a +multitude of Saracens appeared upon deck, and replied by a general shout +of defiance. Immediately Richard gave orders to board the stranger. The +officers of the light-armed galleys felt some hesitation in assailing the +lofty sides of the Turkish vessel. “I will crucify all my soldiers if she +escape,” cried Plantagenet. His men, dreading more their sovereign’s wrath +than all the arrows of the enemy, bent to the oars with all their +strength, and drove the sharp beaks of their galleys into the sides of the +foe. After a short contest the Infidels surrendered, and the English found +upon the prize great quantities of provision, barrels of Greek fire, arms, +and treasures of gold and silver, which they had hardly unloaded when the +vessel, scuttled by its despairing crew, sank like lead in the mighty +waters.</p> + +<p>Elated by this important capture, the Christians proceeded on their way. +Just without the port of Acre they were met by a spy, who reported that +the harbor was rendered inaccessible by a vast chain of iron, which the +Saracens had stretched across the entrance. This formidable obstacle lent +new vigor to Richard’s arm. Selecting the largest and strongest galley in +the fleet, he filled it with the stoutest rowers, took his station on the +bows of the vessel, ordered it to be directed against the middle of the +chain, and watching the moment of utmost tension, struck it so violently +with his battle-axe, that it gave way, and the whole fleet passed +triumphantly into the harbor.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER VI.</p> + +<p class="center">SELECTED FROM THE CHRONICLE OF VINSAUF, 1191.</p> + +<p>“On the Saturday before the festival of the blessed Apostle Barnabas, in +the Pentecost week, King Richard landed at Acre with his retinue, and the +earth was shaken by the acclamations of the exulting Christians. The +people testified their joy by shouts of welcome, and the clang of +trumpets; the day was kept as a jubilee, and universal gladness reigned +around, on account of the arrival of the king, long wished-for by all +nations. The Turks, on the other hand, were terrified and cast down by his +coming, for they perceived that all egress and return would be at an end, +in consequence of the multitude of the king’s galleys. The two kings +conducted each other from the port, and paid one another the most +obsequious attention. Then King Richard retired to the tent, previously +prepared for him, and, forthwith, entered into arrangements about the +siege; for it was his most anxious care to find out by what means, +artifice, and machines they could capture the city without loss of time.</p> + +<p>“No pen can sufficiently describe the joy of the people on the king’s +arrival, nor tongue detail it. The very calmness of the night was thought +to smile upon them with a purer air; the trumpets clanged, horns sounded, +and the shrill intonations of the pipe, and the deeper notes of the +timbrel and harp, struck upon the ear; and soothing symphonies were heard, +like various voices blended in one; and there was not a man who did not, +after his own fashion, indulge in joy and praise; either singing popular +ballads to testify the gladness of his heart, or reciting the deeds of the +ancients, stimulating by their example the spirit of the moderns. Some +drank wine from costly cups, to the health of the singers; while others +mixing together, high and low, passed the night in constant dances.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>“And their joy was heightened by the subjugation of the island of Cypruss, +by King Richard; a place so useful and necessary to them, and one which +would be of the utmost service to the army. As a further proof of the +exultation of their hearts, and to illume the darkness of the night, wax +torches, and flaming lights sparkled in profusion, so that night seemed to +be usurped by the brightness of the day, and the Turks thought the whole +valley was on fire.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER VII.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Out upon the fool! Go speak thy comforts<br /> +To spirits tame and abject as thyself;<br /> +They make me mad!”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">Baillie.</span></span></td></tr></table> + +<p>From the port of Acre, the great plain of Esdraelon stretches east to the +Lake of Gennesareth, dividing the country into two parts. This plain has +been the Aceldama of the nations that have warred in Palestine. There the +stars in their courses fought against Sisera, there Saul and his sons fled +and fell down slain before the Philistines, there the good King Josiah was +conquered by the Egyptians, and there the Christians and Moslems with +deadly enmity contended for the sovereignty of the Holy Land. The city of +Acre was the possession of the Infidels. Around it the besiegers, gathered +out of every nation in Europe, lay in countless multitudes; splendid +pavilions, gorgeous ensigns, glittering weapons, and armorial cognizances +of every hue and form that individual fancy and national peculiarity could +suggest, studding the plain, with all the varied colors that light weaves +upon the changing texture of autumn foliage. Beyond the beleaguering +forces were encamped the sons of Islam, Turks, Tartars, Egyptians, and +Bedouins, covering mountains, valleys, hills, and plains, with white and +shining tents, while the black banner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> of Saladin floated above all in +proud defiance of the crimson standard of the cross. The arrival of the +English increased the camp of the crusaders, so that it stretched in a +semicircle round Acre, from sea to sea, precluding all intercourse between +the Soldan and the city, while the Pisans with their light galleys cut off +all supplies by sea.</p> + +<p>Richard with the money he had brought from Cyprus, liberally rewarded the +valor of the soldiers and diffused new courage among the troops. The King +of England on the coast of Palestine, did not acknowledge himself the +vassal of the King of France. In the council of the chiefs he had equal, +if not greater influence, and in matters of general interest the rival +sovereigns were usually found upon opposite sides. Sybilla, wife of Guy de +Lusignan, was dead. Conrad of Montserrat, Prince of Tyre, having married +her sister Isabella, claimed the ideal crown of Jerusalem. Philip +supported the pretensions of Conrad, while Richard lent his powerful aid +to Lusignan. The Genoese and Templars sided with Philip, the Pisans and +Hospitallers with Richard. Philip strove to seduce the vassals of Richard +in right of his suzerainship, and offered three pieces of gold a month to +each of the Norman knights that would join his standard, while Richard, +more wealthy and less parsimonious, offered four pieces to such French +feudatories as would be induced to fight under the banner of England.</p> + +<p>These factions destroyed the unanimity so essential to success, and +embarrassed every enterprise. In this posture of affairs, both monarchs +were attacked with the fever incident to the climate, and thus though the +garrison of Acre were suffering from famine, the besiegers were not in a +condition to press their advantage.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>King Richard lay tossing upon his couch, consumed with fever and +impatience, and scarcely enduring the gentle endeavors of his beloved +queen to win him from the vexing thoughts that disturbed his repose. +“Drink, my lord,” said Berengaria, presenting him a cooling draught, “and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +compose thyself to rest. The leech saith that sleep is the best medicine +for these Syrian maladies.”</p> + +<p>“Talk of sleep to the steed that hears the war trump, but speak not of +rest and quiet to Richard while the banner of Islam floats in sight of the +Christian camp. But for this cursed fever I should have stood beside the +noble Alberic, and my gallant Knights of the Blue Thong on the walls of +Acre.”</p> + +<p>Berengaria repressed an involuntary shudder. “Nay then, must I thank God +for the fever, since else, we had this night to bewail not the loss of the +French count alone, but the destruction of the bulwark of Christendom.”</p> + +<p>“Thou reasonest like a woman, as thou art,” said Richard, in a petulant +tone. “Thinkest thou the English curtel axe no better weapon than a +Gascon’s spear?”</p> + +<p>“My woman’s reason follows the fears of my woman’s heart,” said the queen, +her eyes filling with tears, “and teaches me were Richard gone, both +Palestine and Berengaria would lie at the mercy of the French king.”</p> + +<p>“By my halidome thou speakest truth,” said Richard, tossing uneasily upon +his side. “Therefore it chafes me to lie here inactive, lest perchance the +crafty Philip first plant his standard upon the towers of Acre.”</p> + +<p>Feeling her utter inability to select topics in which the irascible +monarch would not find causes of irritation, Berengaria summoned his +favorite Blondel with the lute. But scarcely had Richard consented to +listen to a Provençal chanson when the Earl of Salisbury entered.</p> + +<p>“Ha! Longespee,” exclaimed the monarch, “thou hast tidings from the +leaders of the christian host.”</p> + +<p>At the first entrance of Richard’s warlike brother Berengaria had retired +so as to be invisible to her lord, and motioned to silence. Hastily +returning Richard’s salutation, William conferred apart for a few moments +with the queen and Joanna.</p> + +<p>“The malady increases,” said she, in much agitation. “Chafe him not with +ill tidings, I do beseech thee. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>Already the fever burns to the verge of +madness. Life depends upon his repose.”</p> + +<p>“What whisper ye?” exclaimed Cœur de Lion, startling them by his +energy. “I tell you I will know all. Longsword, shamest thou the blood of +the Plantagenet by counselling with women and leeches? Speak, man, I +command thee.”</p> + +<p>Not daring farther to irritate the imperious invalid, the son of Rosamond +came forward and stated that the Turks, perceiving the christian army very +much dejected at the loss of Count Alberic and his scaling party, had sent +to beg a truce of eight days, promising at the same time, if the Soldan +did not send them speedy assistance, to give up the city, on condition +that all the Turks might be allowed to depart with their arms and +property. In consequence of the severe indisposition of Richard, the +chiefs had deemed it prudent not to disturb him with these matters; and +hence the King of France and the Duke of Austria had taken the +responsibility of returning a favorable answer to the proposition.</p> + +<p>“By my father’s soul,” exclaimed Richard, “the son of France is more +craven than I deemed. To give up the prize when just within our grasp is +not to be thought of. Send the ambassadors to me. They shall find that +Cœur de Lion will not barter glory for a deserted city. Go,” added he, +observing the hesitation of Longsword, “and venture not into my presence +again without the envoys.”</p> + +<p>“But the leech said—” interposed Berengaria. “The curse of sweet Jesus +upon the leech! Am I to be subject to nurses, dosed with physic, and +soothed with lullabys, like a muling child? Away! or my chamberlain shall +enforce thy absence,” said he, darting his first angry glance at his +trembling queen.</p> + +<p>Finding all remonstrance vain, the discomfited females yielded to his +impetuosity, only obtaining for themselves the grace of being present at +the interview. Ill as he was, the monarch was clothed in his robes of +state; and with a cheek glowing with fever and eyes sparkling with +unwonted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> brilliancy, was supported by cushions upon a settle, hastily +arranged to answer the purpose of a throne. Scarcely were these +preliminaries arranged, when the chamberlain ushered in Longsword with the +envoys. The swarthy Egyptian Mestoc, with his splendid caftan and white +turban, particularly attracted the admiration of the silent females, and +seemed to exercise a fascinating power upon Elsiebede, who perused his +countenance as though she discerned in it the familiar features of a +friend.</p> + +<p>The anger which Richard had testified towards his attendants, was modified +into a haughty courtesy as he conversed with the noble Saracens. He cut +off at once all parley concerning the proposition for permitting the Turks +to leave the city without ransom, but he graciously accorded his assent to +the truce. Berengaria observed with terror that though Caracois exhibited +as lively an interest in the negotiations as the gravity of the Turks ever +allowed, Mestoc seemed more occupied in scanning the person of the +monarch, and regarded with wonder and curiosity the signet that glittered +upon his finger.</p> + +<p>The conference was scarcely over, when Richard sank back pale and +exhausted from his recent exertion, and the leech being speedily summoned, +insisted that the king should be left alone with him for the remainder of +the night. Preparing a sleeping draught, and almost forcing it down the +throat of his refractory patient, he moved the light into the anteroom of +the tent, and giving the chamberlain strict orders not to admit any one, +upon whatever pretext, sat down to watch the effect of his remedies. After +a few uneasy tossings and muttered ejaculations of vexation and disquiet, +the monarch sank into a heavy slumber, broken only by occasional +imprecations against the Infidels, whom he battled in sleep with an +animosity that would have done credit to his waking vengeance.</p> + +<p>As the twilight deepened into darkness, the coolness of the Syrian evening +shed the grateful dew of slumber upon the weary eyelids of those who had +answered the constant demands of the royal invalid, and brought the happy +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>oblivion of rest to those who had engaged in the more warlike duties of +the arblast and mangonel. The sounds of life gradually decreased, and a +profound silence reigned throughout the christian camp uninterrupted, save +by the tread of the patrol who took his weary round upon the outposts, +like the sentinel of a beleaguered city.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>In her protracted efforts to quiet the sobbing queen, Elsiebede learned a +curious and inexplicable fact, namely, that a greater draft is made upon +the patience and energy of the nurse by the over-excited feelings of the +sensitive wife, than by the real wants of the sick man himself. Thus the +leech had long been dozing upon his watch, ere the anxious Moorish girl +had found it possible to leave the bedside of her mistress. At length the +incessant calls upon her sympathy subsided into sighs which gradually +relaxed into the regular breathing of healthy slumber, and the impatient +attendant stealing noiselessly from the apartment sought among the +attendants for the wily Salaman.</p> + +<p>“Awake, Salaman,” she whispered, softly. The black instantly arose, +without salutation or remark, and stood before her rolling his eyes in +perfect self-possession, as though to repel the suspicion that a person of +his active vigilance could have been detected in the weakness of slumber. +Laying her finger upon her lip, Elsiebede led the way among sleeping +guards to the little enclosure in front of the tent. “Bring me,” said she, +“the signet-ring from the hand of the king.” Salaman, who had long labored +under the hallucination that no feat could be beyond his ability, looked +absolutely sober at this unheard-of proposition, ejaculating, “It is to +put my head into the lion’s mouth!” but instantly recovering his +self-complacency, he added, “Nothing can be easier. Remain here till I +come.” Skilfully avoiding the tent ropes, he wormed himself under the +folds of the pavilion into the outer apartment, where the chamberlain and +guard were snoring in melodious concert, and carefully lifting the curtain +entered the royal presence. But through the darkness that reigned, he +could not readily discern the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> precise location of the monarch’s couch. +Creeping stealthily over the floor, he first laid his hand upon the foot +of the physician, which with an instinctive kick warned him of his +dangerous vicinity. Finally, as his eyes became accustomed to the +darkness, he discovered the sparkle of the jewel upon the hand of the +monarch, hanging over the side of the bed. To withdraw the ring from the +somewhat attenuated finger was the work of a moment, but the touch, +however slight, was sufficient to disturb the slumbering lion. “Ha! the +foul fiend!” ejaculated the dreamer, clutching the woolly hair of the +negro. “The talisman is safe—cheer—thee—Berengaria—” Inarticulate +sounds followed, which finally died away in silence; when Salaman, with +practised caution, extricated his head from the lion’s paw, and effected +his retreat by the same stealthy and tedious process. Elsiebede awaited +his coming with torturing impatience. Grasping the ring, she muffled her +face in the veil usually worn by eastern females, and bidding him follow +her took her way towards the city. The moon, just dipping its silver rim +in the Mediterranean with its parting beam, threw the lengthened shadow of +the patrol full across their way. Cowering behind the awning of a tent +they paused breathless and terrified, while the sentinel, turning his face +towards Jerusalem, shouted above their heads in a tone rendered clear and +startling by the stillness of the midnight, “Help! Help! Help for the Holy +Sepulchre!” The adjacent sentinel took up the cry, repeating the words to +his neighbor, who passed the watchword on, till “Help! Help! Help for the +Holy Sepulchre!” echoed in all the languages of Europe, smote upon the ear +of every sleeper in the christian camp. When the sounds died away in the +distance, the patrol continued his round. The terror of Elsiebede afforded +infinite amusement to Salaman, whose irrepressible laughter added to her +fears of being discovered, and increased her trepidation.</p> + +<p>After this adventure they pursued their course with renewed speed, and +arrived without molestation at the outpost, where the guard challenged +their advance. Elsiebede<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> presented the monarch’s signet saying, “Delay +not our errand,” and the guard muttering, “There is ever some woman’s +prank in the light head of the queen,” suffered them to pass. As they took +their solitary way between the camp and the walls of Acre, Salaman +ventured to inquire, “Whither goest thou, Elsiebede?”</p> + +<p>“I scarce know,” replied the girl, in a husky voice, “but this evening +there came before King Richard, one who looked upon me with my mother’s +eyes; and as he left the pavilion, he whispered me in the language of the +Gyptianos, ‘Meet me when the moon sets, at the tower of Maledictum.’”</p> + +<p>“This way lieth the tower,” said Salaman, drawing her to the right. They +now approached the black and frowning walls of Acre, and turning an angle +came close upon a small party of Turks sleeping upon the earth, and were +challenged in the Moorish tongue. Salaman readily answered in the same +language. Mestoc immediately advanced, and taking the hand of Elsiebede +led her apart, and a long and earnest conversation ensued.</p> + +<p>When she returned to Salaman, tears were on her cheek, and hiding her face +in her veil, with no other explanation than, “He is the brother of my +mother,” she led the way back to the royal tent. “Haste thee,” said she, +thrusting the ring into his hand. “Should the prince awake, we are lost.” +Salaman sped on his errand, and repeated his perilous adventure with +success. Not daring, however, to place the ring upon the monarch’s finger, +he laid it upon the covering near his hand, and effected a retreat, as far +as the anteroom, where he unluckily stumbled against the settle on which +rested the guard. The chamberlain instantly started to his feet, and +Salaman quick as thought overturned the light, and escaped into the +sleeping apartment of the common attendants, but here his progress was +arrested by a half-awakened soldier, who seized his ankle and held him +fast. Hither as soon as the lamp could be relighted, he was pursued by the +chamberlain, but such was the confusion, betwixt the muttering of those +unwilling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> to be disturbed, and the blunders of those who fancied +themselves broad awake, such was the cursing of devil, Turk and Infidel, +that no one had the faintest idea of what had happened. Scarcely had the +chamberlain fixed his eyes upon the real culprit, when with the angry and +important air of a responsible person, most unceremoniously wakened, +Elsiebede entered, and advancing straight to Salaman, seized and began to +shake him with the greatest violence, thus freeing him from the grasp of +the guard. “Waken, minion,” said she, “waken, I say. What gambols art thou +playing again in thy sleep? I warrant me, thou hast an unquiet conscience. +My lady will send thee from her service, if thou dost not confess thy +sins, and rest in peace.” The black rubbed his eyes, and stumbling about +like one but half awake, succeeded in gaining his pallet, and joyfully +ensconced himself beneath the covering.</p> + +<p>“Thou seest,” said Elsiebede, turning to the chamberlain, “the knave hath +a trick of sleep-walking. Order these that they may remain quiet, for I +would not that my mistress should be disturbed.” Thus saying, she quitted +the apartment.</p> + +<p>“A trick of walking, he certainly hath,” grumbled the chamberlain, “but +whether sleeping or waking, misdoubts me. The misshapen unbeliever can +bring no good to a christian household.”</p> + +<p>In the royal tent, there was still greater clamor. The monarch roused by +the first unlucky step of Salaman, and finding himself in darkness, +vociferated loudly for a light; but gaining no answer waxed wroth, and +seizing the medicine cup as the readiest missile, hurled it in the +direction of the snoring physician. The silver coming in contact with the +skull of the doctor, animated him to a remarkable degree; betwixt the +darkness and the pain, he plunged about the room without knowing for what +intent, till he fell prostrate across the couch of the king, who mistaking +him for an invading Turk, beat him terribly with the pillows; and roaring +for sword, spear and battle-axe, in the name<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> of all the saints in the +calendar, defied him to mortal combat.</p> + +<p>At this juncture the chamberlain returned with the light, and seeing the +king thus inflicting summary justice upon the leech, despite his own +vexation burst into a hearty laugh, in which Richard, having already +expended the superabundance of his choler, as soon as he comprehended the +state of the case, joined with the greatest glee. The doctor meanwhile +failed to see the point of the joke, and rubbing his head, declared with +professional authority that nothing could be worse for the patient than +such immoderate exercise and laughter. Picking up the cup, with a rueful +countenance he mixed a fresh potion, which the facetious monarch drank to +his health, and so composed himself again to rest.</p> + +<p>Cœur de Lion received his ring when it was found upon the floor, +without any sign of surprise, and readily accounted for its loss, saying, +“Our royal signet is scarcely safe upon this emaciated hand, especially +since we are liable to do battle for Christendom without gauntlet or +sword.” The castigation which he had given the doctor put him in such high +good humor, that he swallowed the necessary nostrums with great facility, +and the worthy leech fully appreciating this part of the joke availed +himself of the king’s unwonted condescension, to administer those nauseous +restoratives which the monarch had before obstinately refused.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER VIII.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Ah, never shall the land forget<br /> +How gushed the life-blood of the brave,<br /> +Gushed warm with hope and courage yet<br /> +Upon the soil they fought to save.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">Bryant.</span></span></td></tr></table> + +<p>The eight days’ truce was over, and Philip, recovered from his illness, +again led the assault to the walls of Acre. Richard, also slowly +convalescing, was borne to the scene of conflict, where he directed the +operations of his warlike engines, offering a reward for every stone the +soldiers dislodged from the tower Maledictum. The French had a machine of +great power which they called “Bad neighbor,” and the Turks, on their +side, opposed to it a similar one named “Bad brother.” These engines were +plied day and night, and the tower became the scene of every variety of +fierce attack and resolute defence, both by single combat and united +effort. One morning a gigantic Turk, wearing the armor of Count Alberic, +showed himself upon the wall in an attitude of defiance, when Richard, who +had yielded to the representations of the chiefs, so far as to refrain +from personal encounter, seized an arblast and sent an arrow winged with +death to the heart of the Infidel. The exasperated Turks ran together to +avenge his fall. The Christians met them with equal alacrity, and a +slaughter ensued which continued till the darkness of night separated the +combatants.</p> + +<p>The Christians had commenced undermining the tower, and had proceeded to +some distance under the wall, when they encountered a party of Turks who +were mining for egress in the opposite direction. The noise of the digging +and the uncertain light had prevented each from discovering the other, +till the earth, suddenly giving way between them, the foes stood face to +face, mattocks and shovels in hand. But when the astonished Turks saw that +they had thus <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>assisted the Christians to enter the city, they fled with +great precipitation, and at once closed up the entrance. That night a part +of the tower Maledictum fell, and the Saracens perceiving that all further +resistance would be vain, offered conditions of peace. They agreed to give +up the city of Acre with all the treasures contained in it, both in money, +arms, and clothing, to pay over two hundred thousand Saracenic talents, +and restore the true cross which had been taken by the Moslems in the +battle of Tiberias. After much debate the council of chiefs acceded to +these proposals, and all the Paynim noblemen in the city were given up as +hostages till the conditions should be fulfilled. The preliminaries +arranged, the gates were thrown open, and the Turks with grave but +cheerful countenance and undaunted demeanor passed out of the city through +the Christian camp towards Tiberias.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">SELECTED FROM VINESAUF.</p> + +<p>“At last when all the Turks had departed, the Christians with the two +kings at their head, entered the city without opposition through the open +gates with dances and joy, and loud vociferations, glorifying God, and +giving Him thanks, because he had magnified His mercy to them, and had +visited them and redeemed His people. Then the banners and various +standards of the two kings were raised on the walls and towers, and the +city was equally divided between them. They also made a proportionate +division of the arms and provisions they found; and the whole number of +captives being reckoned, was divided by lot. The noble Caracois, and a +large number fell to the lot of the King of France; and King Richard had +for his portion Mestoc and the remainder. Moreover, the King of France had +for his share the noble palace of the Templars, with all its +appurtenances; and King Richard had the royal palace, to which he sent the +queens with their damsels and handmaids; thus each obtained his portion in +peace. The army was distributed through the city, and after the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>protracted contest of so long a siege, gave themselves indulgence, and +refreshed themselves with the rest they needed.”</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>No sooner were the Crusaders settled in the city than new troubles arose. +Leopold, Duke of Austria, being a relative of Isaac Comnenus, who had +joined the Templars, insisted that the Cypriot lady should be transferred +to his custody; but Berengaria having become tenderly attached to her, +refused to give her up. The quarrel ran high, and the exasperated Richard, +in a moment of wrath, tore down the banner of Austria from the walls of +Acre. This indignity gave rise to a mortal enmity, which hindered the arms +and embarrassed the counsels of the croises during the whole campaign. The +Christians, however, repaired the shattered walls and dwellings of the +city, the clergy rebuilt and consecrated the altars, and the army watching +for the fulfilment of Saladin’s promises, rested from their fatigues in +the enjoyment of security and luxury. Before the expiration of the period +granted for the redemption of the hostages, Philip Augustus, feigning +illness, but in reality suffering with a consuming jealousy of the +superiority of his rival, declared his intention of returning to Europe. +The chiefs assembled in council protested against this unworthy desertion +of the common cause, since Saladin, depressed by the fall of Acre, was in +no situation to contest their route to Jerusalem. When Richard heard of +Philip’s determination, he outdid himself in the curses and maledictions +he called down upon the recreant prince, and peremptorily refused to hold +any communication upon the subject: but at last having expended the +violence of his anger, he compromised by giving his consent to the measure +on condition that the Duke of Burgundy and a large part of the French +should remain in Syria, and that Philip should make oath to leave the +realm of England unmolested, till forty days after Richard should himself +return to his dominions. The French monarch then left Acre amidst the +hisses and imprecations of the spectators. He stopped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> at Tyre, and +resigning to Conrad his claim upon the conquered city, and the ransom of +the Turkish captives, sailed for Europe. The term fixed for the redemption +of the hostages had well nigh expired, and still Saladin protested his +inability to find the true cross, and under different pretexts excused +himself from redeeming the prisoners.</p> + +<p>The palace of the Emir in Acre, with its sheltered verandahs, cooling +fountains, and richly cultivated gardens afforded a delightful residence +for the household of Cœur de Lion. Elsiebede, in whom it revived the +recollections of her childhood in the Alhambra, revelled in luxuries, each +of which was endeared by happy associations.</p> + +<p>A safe retreat being thus provided for his tender charge, Richard, +intending as soon as practicable to commence his route to Jerusalem, +ordered the petrarias, mangonels, and other warlike engines to be packed +for transportation. He also despatched messengers to Conrad, Prince of +Tyre, requiring him to repair with his hostages and army to Acre, to +receive his share of the ransom, and to be ready to march against the +Infidels. The marquis refused; declaring that he dared not venture into +Richard’s presence, and that if the true cross were ever recovered, he was +to receive half of it for the King of France, and until that time he +should not give up the hostages.</p> + +<p>A longer period having elapsed than that which had been assigned for the +treaty, the council of chiefs was called to deliberate upon the fate of +the captives. To leave three thousand prisoners without a sufficient +guard, would be to surrender the city again to the Turks. To attempt to +convey them with the army would be an inconceivable burden, attended with +infinite danger. To provision such a multitude, whether in the city or +camp, would be an intolerable tax upon the rapidly exhausting finances; +and to set them free would be to add that number of active warriors to the +ranks of their vigilant foe, and so to defeat the very end of the +expedition. It was therefore determined that the hostages, on the +following day, should be led forth upon an adjacent hill, and executed for +the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>discomfiture of the Mohammedans, and the edification of all true +Christians.</p> + +<p>The noble Mestoc, considered as one of the most important and valuable of +the hostages, received distinguishing marks of favor. He was lodged +according to his rank, and enjoyed a freedom beyond that extended to the +other prisoners, and thus Elsiebede obtained frequent interviews without +giving rise to a suspicion of the relationship between them.</p> + +<p>On the evening of the council of the chiefs, Salaman had managed, by means +best known to himself, to hear all that passed, which he faithfully +reported to Elsiebede.</p> + +<p>The following night, as Mestoc was quietly reposing unconscious of the +fate that menaced the Turkish prisoners, he was surprised by a visit from +his niece, who, informing him of the purposes of the Christians, besought +him to make his escape in a disguise she had prepared for the purpose.</p> + +<p>The noble Egyptian refused, but moved by her pleadings, said to her, +“Hadst thou a messenger by whom I might transmit a token to the +Soldan—but no, the gray of night already foretelleth the dawn. It is too +late. Had the Soldan valued the poor services of his servant, he had not +left him to die by the hand of a christian dog. Allah be praised, Death is +the key that opens the gate of Paradise.”</p> + +<p>Finding further importunity vain, Elsiebede with many tears took her +departure, revolving in her mind other methods of procuring a release.</p> + +<p>At early morning, the prisoners were conducted in mournful procession +through the gates of the city, by a great multitude of the most devout and +warlike Christians, who, according to a contemporary writer, “marched +forward with delight to retaliate with the assent of Divine Grace, by +taking revenge upon those who had destroyed so many of the Christians with +missiles, bows, and arbalests.”</p> + +<p>A report from an unknown source was in circulation among the soldiers, +that fresh promises of ransom had been received from Saladin, and that if +the execution could be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> delayed till evening, messengers would arrive with +the treasure. By this artifice the chief emirs were preserved till long +past noon. But no sign of rescue then appearing, those who looked for the +downfall of Mohammedanism by the utter annihilation of its followers, +caused the work of vengeance to proceed.</p> + +<p>The calm indifference with which the Turks regarded the terrific +preparations for their execution, elicited even the admiration of the +Christians. It was not in the heart of a chivalrous knight like Richard, +to look unmoved upon the destruction of his brave and gallant foes. “By +the holy saints,” exclaimed he, “this is a hangman’s work. It were enough +to tempt the sword of a Christian knight from its scabbard, to see yon +lion-hearted warriors slaughtered like a parcel of silly sheep held in the +butcher’s shambles. Wore they but the cross upon their shoulders, I would +sooner reckon them among my followers than the stupid boors of Austria or +the tilting squires of France. Longsword, summon our good bishop of +Salisbury, with the symbols of our holy religion. Peradventure, Divine +Grace may turn the hearts of these brave men to the acknowledgment of the +true faith.”</p> + +<p>In obedience to the order of the king, the bishop came forward, and +holding up the cross, proclaimed life and liberty to all those who would +renounce their heathen superstitions, and reverence the holy symbol. Not a +voice replied to the offer of pardon, and as the priest, followed by the +executioner, like the destroying angel of the passover, moved among the +ranks of the doomed and presented the crucifix, each man answering, “God +is God and Mahomet is his prophet,” bent his head to the fatal stroke, +till of the whole number the noble Mestoc alone remained. King Richard +regarded him with a troubled look, as the priest approached, and +involuntarily raised his hand to stay the blow. The executioner paused; +and the soldiers gazing in silent wonder, turned their eyes doubtfully +from their sovereign to his captive, who stood unmoved among the headless +bodies of the heroic band, that had with him defended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> the city to the +last extremity, and that now lay stretched around him, the bleeding +holocaust upon the altar of a strange faith.</p> + +<p>The death-like silence that prevailed was broken by the faint sound of a +trumpet, and at a distance was seen the flutter of a truce flag borne by a +herald riding at full speed. The messenger advanced to the field of blood, +hastened to the royal presence and presented a letter. The king cutting +the silk with his sword, rapidly ran his eye over the contents, and then +advancing, frankly extended his hand to the rescued Mestoc, saying, “Thy +Soldan has at length fulfilled the conditions of thy ransom. I grieve that +he so little valued the lives of thy brave companions. His tardy measures +forced me upon an evil work. Heaven grant that one day I may, upon his own +person, be able to avenge their death.” Then, ordering the squires to +prepare the Cypriot horses, he held the stirrup while the gallant Emir, +with the same grave and tranquil air, that had characterized him through +the whole of that eventful day, mounted Lyard, and himself vaulting upon +the saddle of the beautiful Fanuelle, led the way to the palace.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">EXTRACT FROM VINESAUF.</p> + +<p>“On the morrow, therefore, of St. Bartholomew, being Sunday, the army was +drawn up, early in the morning, to advance along the sea-coast, in the +name of the Lord. Oh! what fine soldiers they were! You might there see a +chosen company of virtuous and brave youth, whose equals it would have +been difficult to meet with, bright armor and pennons, with their +glittering emblazoning; banners of various forms; lances with gleaming +points; shining helmets, and coats of mail; an army well regulated in the +camp, and terrible to the foe! King Richard commanded the van, and kept +the foremost guard. The Normans and English defended the standard, the +Duke of Burgundy and the French brought up the rear, and by their tardy +movements and long delay incurred severe loss. The army<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> marched from the +seashore, which was on its right, and the Turks watched its movements from +the heights on its left. On a sudden the clouds grew dark, the sky was +troubled, when the army arrived at the narrow roads impassable for the +provision wagons; here, owing to the narrowness of the way, the order of +march was thrown into confusion, and they advanced in extended line, and +without discipline. The Saracens, observing this, poured down suddenly +upon the pack-horses and loaded wagons, slew both horses and men in a +moment, and plundered a great deal of the baggage, boldly charging and +dispersing those who opposed them, as far as the seashore. Then there took +place a fierce and obstinate conflict; each fought for his life. Oh, how +dreadfully were our men then pressed! for the darts and arrows thrown at +them broke the heads, arms and other limbs, of our horsemen, so that they +bent, stunned to their saddle-bows; but having quickly regained their +spirits, and resumed their strength, and thirsting for vengeance, like a +lioness when her whelps are stolen, they charged the enemy and broke +through them like a net. Then you might have seen the horses with their +saddles displaced, the Turks fleeing and returning, and the battle raging +fiercer than before; the one side labored to crush, the other to repel; +both exerted their strength with the utmost fury, till King Richard +hearing that the rear was put into great confusion, rode at full gallop to +their assistance, cutting down the Turks right and left like lightning +with his sword. And quickly, as of yore the Philistines fled from +Maccabeus, so were the Turks now routed, and so did they fly from the face +of King Richard and make for the mountains; but some of them remained +amongst us, having lost their heads.”</p> + +<p>This extract is a fac-simile of all the chances and changes that occurred +to the Christians on their passage from Acre to Jaffa.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER IX.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“He that hath nature in him, must be grateful;<br /> +’Tis the Creator’s primary great law,<br /> +That links the chain of beings to each other.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>At Jaffa a new contention arose. The French barons, fatigued with marching +and fruitless skirmishing, advocated the policy of remaining a time in the +city and rebuilding its fortifications; while Plantagenet, anxious to +press his advantage, was desirous of proceeding to Ascalon. The soldiers +remembering with regret the “loaves and fishes” of Acre, inclined to the +counsel of the Duke of Burgundy, and Richard was forced to submit his +better judgment to the unanimous voice of his followers.</p> + +<p>It was in vain that the king urged the soldiers to a rapid completion of +the works. The summer faded into autumn, and the fortifications were still +incomplete. The Moslems began to collect in the vicinity of Jaffa, and all +parties of Christians, whether of foraging or falconry, were subject to +frequent surprise and attack. On one occasion, a party of Templars fell +into an ambuscade of the Turks, and Richard, hearing of their danger, +rushed out with a few troops to their assistance. The conflict was +dreadful. Hordes of Infidels fell upon the little band, who, struggling in +the midst of their foes, with great loss carved their way to the city. On +their return, William Longsword remonstrated with the monarch for this +useless exposure of life, to which the generous Cœur de Lion, changing +color with indignation, replied, “Richard Plantagenet knows not the +prudence that weighs safety against glory, and for the rest it is the +office of a king to defend his subjects, and the business of a crusader to +destroy the enemies of the cross.”</p> + +<p>The defences of Jaffa being complete, Richard prepared to prosecute the +war with vigor. Leaving the city with a small garrison, he led his troops +as far as Ramula, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> made their camp on the bloody field where Stephen, +Earl of Blois, received his mortal wound. A winter of extraordinary +inclemency aggravated their hardships. The winds tore up the tents, and +the rain spoiled the provisions, and rusted the arms. Through the hovering +myriads of Saracens the Christians pressed their way almost in sight of +Jerusalem. Richard was animated by the most ardent expectation. But the +Templars, Hospitallers and Pisans, represented the impossibility of +capturing the city, with their army in its present condition, the +impracticability of garrisoning it against the Turks in the neighborhood, +and the certainty that the soldiers as soon as the sepulchre was +recovered, would return to Europe, leaving the rest of Palestine in the +hands of the Infidels. Influenced by these unanswerable arguments, the +disappointed king gave orders to fall back upon Ramula, and continued to +retrograde with his murmuring and discontented army to Ascalon, a city of +great consequence, being the link between the Turks in Jerusalem, and the +Turks in Egypt. The pains and perils of this backward march eclipsed all +former sufferings, and when the dismantled walls of Ascalon at length +received them, Famine stared upon them with her hollow eyes, and Faction +with its sharpened fangs tore asunder the remaining cords that bound +together the wasted body of the croises. The Duke of Burgundy deserted the +standard of Richard, part of the French soldiers retired to Jaffa, others +to Acre, and others to Tyre; and while the proudest nobles and the most +dignified of the clergy were employed like the meanest vassals, in +repairing the ruined fortifications, Leopold wrapped in haughty +selfishness surveyed the works with contemptuous sneers, and remarked, +“The father of Austria was neither a carpenter nor a mason.”</p> + +<p>The Turkish Soldan aware of the distress of his enemies, considered the +war as nearly at an end, and dismissed a portion of his troops. He even +extended the courtesies of civilized life to the valiant Richard, +furnished his table with Damascene pears, peaches, and other delicacies, +and with a liberal hand supplied the snow of Lebanon to cool his wines.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>The chief emirs who, attracted by curiosity or admiration, visited the +court of the British Lion, returned with the most exaggerated accounts of +the urbanity and prowess of the gallant “Melech Ric.”</p> + +<p>One morning, at an hour somewhat earlier than his usual levee, Richard was +surprised by a visit from Mestoc, accompanied by a female closely veiled. +“Welcome, my noble Moor,” exclaimed the king, as the Saracen advanced and +bowed with the ceremonious obeisance of eastern courtesy. “Heaven bless +the chance that hath brought thee hither. Next to a trusty friend, +Plantagenet holds in honor a worthy foe.”</p> + +<p>The Saracen gravely replied, “The Melech Ric wrongs the errand of his +servant, if he discern not in his ransomed captive, one whom he hath made +his friend.”</p> + +<p>“I doubt not the truth of thy saying,” replied the king, “since reason and +experience teach that ingratitude is incompatible with true courage.”</p> + +<p>“The chief of the Egyptians is, indeed, thy friend,” continued Mestoc; +“but were he twice thy foe, he brings a passport to the heart of the king, +for ‘from the place of the beloved, a zephyr hath blown, and thou seest +one whose presence is as the breath of the heliotrope.’” Turning to his +companion, he lifted her veil, and disclosed the features of Elsiebede.</p> + +<p>“Elsiebede!” exclaimed the monarch, in astonishment and alarm. “What of my +queen? of Joanna? of England?”</p> + +<p>“My royal mistress is in health,” replied Elsiebede, “and by this token,” +handing him a casket, “commendeth her love to her absent lord: and peace +resteth upon the household.”</p> + +<p>“And wherefore comest thou hither? and why under such convoy?” inquired +Richard.</p> + +<p>“The errand of my mistress required a faithful messenger; and the chief +will explain the mystery of my coming,” replied the girl.</p> + +<p>With a puzzled look, Richard turned to Mestoc. “It is,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> perhaps, unknown +to the prince of the west,” said the chieftain, “that this damsel, +Elsiebede, is the daughter of my sister.”</p> + +<p>“How?” exclaimed Richard, gazing with astonishment upon the Moorish girl. +“Our fair queen has long blinded our eyes to other beauty, or we should +have seen what the most careless observer could not fail to note, that she +has the countenance and bearing of a princess.”</p> + +<p>“The family of the Prophet (blessed be he),” said Mestoc, his swarthy +cheek reddening with a touch of pride, “boasts not a more noble origin, +than the Gyptianos slave of the Frankish queen.”</p> + +<p>“But by what means hath she discovered herself to thee in this strange +land?” inquired Richard.</p> + +<p>“What saith the proverb?” replied the Saracen. “‘The heart thrills at the +sound of the kinsman’s voice.’ When the Melech Ric gave audience to the +ambassadors of Saladin, the ring upon his finger, once the talisman of our +tribe, arrested my gaze; but the maiden’s eyes, brighter than the jewel, +moved me to speak to her in the Egyptian tongue. She comprehended my +words, and met me that night at the tower Maledictum, where I learned her +history and made her acquainted with her kindred. She visited me in +prison, and when I refused to fly, despatched Salaman to the Sultan to beg +my life. For the rest, thou knowest that I thank the brave leader of the +Franks no less than the timely ransom for my rescue. Before leaving the +camp of the Latins I gave the zealous Ethiope a passport, commanding all +true Mussulmans to bring him wherever found, safe to my presence. When, +therefore, thy queen, distressed by the enemies in thine own household, +sought for means to communicate with thee, Salaman conducted Elsiebede to +my tent; and I have hasted to convey her to my deliverer. For what saith +the proverb? ‘In the sky it is written, on the pages of the air, he who +doeth kind actions will experience the like.’ Notwithstanding, let the +damsel, I pray thee, depart with me; in the tent of my women she shall +have careful attendance. If thou wouldst confer with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> her, the cunning +Ysop knows her place of rest.” Richard assented, and the Saracens +withdrew.</p> + +<p>The letters from the queen contained intelligence of the most startling +character. The Genoese and Pisans, rivals for the carrying trade of the +East, had made Acre their seaport, and to give dignity to their commercial +animosities had espoused, the one the party of Conrad, the other that of +Guy de Lusignan. Their feuds had kept the residents of the city in a +constant state of apprehension, and Berengaria entreated her lord to +return to Acre, or to cause her immediately to be transported to Jaffa. In +the same package were despatches from England, of a nature equally +alarming. No sooner had Philip reached Italy than he applied to Pope +Celestine for a dispensation from his oath to leave Richard’s domains in +quiet. When that request was denied, he proceeded in a covert manner to +detach Prince John from his allegiance, promised him Alice in marriage, +and offered to make him lord of all Richard’s possessions in France. The +prompt measures of Queen Eleanor had in some degree counteracted this +design. Forbidding John, under the penalty of a mother’s curse, to invade +his brother’s rights, she conveyed the hapless Alice to the strong castle +of Rouen, where she subjected her to an imprisonment more rigorous than +she had herself suffered in Winchester. The principal barons had leagued +with John, or against him, and the whole realm was in a state of ferment.</p> + +<p>The political troubles of England, the treachery of the French king, the +solicitude of his beautiful queen, and the dubious prospects of the +crusade, raised a tumult of agitating thoughts in the mind of the king, +and he passed the night in a state of sleepless excitement. Scarcely +waiting for the dawn, he summoned Salaman and despatched him for Mestoc. +Impelled by the pressing exigencies of the case, he intrusted the generous +foe with a knowledge of the embarrassments of his position, and entreated +his good offices in bringing about an accommodation with Saladin, +stipulating only for the possession of Jerusalem and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> restoration of +the true cross. The Saracen undertook the commission, and after three days +returned with the answer. With the stateliness of eastern formality the +Mussulman declared his strong desire of peace, and his admiration of the +courage and abilities of Plantagenet; but he asserted that he could never +resign Jerusalem, since the sacred city was as dear to the Moslem as the +Christian world, and that the principles of his religion forbade his +conniving at idolatry by permitting the worship of a piece of wood. +Thwarted in this negotiation, Richard again employed Mestoc to propose a +consolidation of the Christian and Mohammedan interests by the +establishment of a government at Jerusalem, partly European and partly +Asiatic, which should secure to the pilgrims free access to the Holy +Sepulchre, and feudal rights to all Christians who should choose to settle +in Palestine. Mestoc returned from this embassy accompanied by a young +Emir named Saphadin, a brother of the Turkish emperor. The overture of +Cœur de Lion had been favorably received by the sagacious Saladin, but +foreseeing that a stronger bond than a political alliance would be +necessary to bind the two nations together, he had added to the articles +the proposition of a union between his brother and the fair sister of +Melech Ric. Saphadin was also commissioned to conduct the English king and +his followers in safety to Acre.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER X.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“A pen—to register; a key,—<br /> +That winds through secret wards;<br /> +Are well assigned to Memory,<br /> +By allegoric bards.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>When Richard arrived at Acre, he found affairs in the greatest confusion. +The dissensions between the rival parties had terminated in open +hostilities, more pressing messages urging his return had arrived from +England, and he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> was forced to the conclusion that without some concession +on his part, the whole crusade would prove an entire failure. The military +abilities of Guy, were inferior to those of Conrad. Richard thus found it +easy to satisfy his claim by bestowing upon him the rich and beautiful +island of Cyprus, while he conciliated the Genoese, by consenting to the +coronation of the Marquis of Tyre.</p> + +<p>Matters being thus accommodated between the jealous mercenaries, the mind +of the king recurred to the original project of identifying the interests +of the east and west, by uniting the heir of the thousand tribes, with the +daughter of Henry Plantagenet. But Joanna, less susceptible of romantic +enthusiasm than her mother, steadfastly rejected the offer of her Paynim +lover, and the bishop of Salisbury, with other zealous priests sustained +her decision, and Cœur de Lion overborne by their clamor, was forced to +relinquish his cherished project. As some slight compensation to the +disappointed Saphadin, he conferred upon him the honor of knighthood, and +dismissed him with the strongest expressions of favor. Cœur de Lion +then despatched a band of nobles to bring Conrad, the newly elected king, +with all due honor to Acre.</p> + +<p>Delighted with his splendid prospects, Conrad ordered magnificent +preparations to be made for the ceremony of coronation, and gave himself +up to the most extravagant joy. But returning one day from an +entertainment given by the bishop, he was suddenly seized and stabbed by +two assassins, followers of the Old Man of the Mountain.</p> + +<p>His sudden death threw affairs again into confusion. The French who were +encamped outside of Tyre, to the number of ten thousand, called upon the +widow to give up the city for the service of King Philip. This she +steadily refused to do; declaring that her lord had commanded her with his +dying breath to resign it to no one but Richard, or whosoever should be +elected King of Palestine. The French at once commenced hostilities, and +the siege of the city had been some time in progress, when Count Henry of +Champagne arrived in the camp. He was one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> of the most powerful vassals of +the King of France; his mother was the half-sister both of Richard and +Philip; his father had twice visited the Holy Land, and he was himself +faithful to the interest of the crusade, and a general favorite among the +warriors. The French leaders besought him to accept the crown of the +kingdom, marry the widow of the marquis, and heal the dissensions that +embarrassed the movements of the croises. Richard’s consent to this +measure was easily obtained. The nuptials were solemnized with royal +magnificence, and the new king immediately published an edict, calling +upon all his subjects to arm for the ensuing campaign, and join the +English forces at Acre. Before they were ready to set out for the final +conquest of the Holy City, fresh accounts were received from England of +the increasing power of Prince John, and the treachery of Philip Augustus, +but Richard disregarding these pressing calls, determined to strike one +more blow for the Holy Sepulchre. Hymns and thanksgiving testified the +popular joy, and so sanguine were the soldiers of the speedy +accomplishment of their wishes, that they carried with them only a month’s +provisions. When they reached Bethlehem, the heats of summer had already +commenced, and Richard began to feel that his force was not sufficient to +encounter the hardships of the siege, and keep up communication with the +stores upon the coast. It was therefore agreed that a council should be +held, consisting of twenty persons; five Templars, five Hospitallers, five +French nobles, and five native Christians of Syria, to decide upon the +measures to be adopted. They ascertained that the Turks had destroyed all +the cisterns within two miles of the city, that the waters of Siloa would +be insufficient for the use of the army, and as the siege was therefore +utterly impracticable, they gave it as their unanimous opinion that the +most eligible plan, would be to proceed direct against Babylon. The French +stoutly opposed this project, declaring that they would march nowhere else +than to the siege of Jerusalem. The debate grew so warm that the Duke of +Burgundy <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>withdrew his forces from the main body of the army, and took up +a separate position.</p> + +<p>Harassed by conjectures concerning the condition of his English subjects, +discouraged at the disaffection of his soldiers, grieved at the sight of +sufferings which he could not alleviate, and mortified with the prospect +of a final failure of his enterprise, Richard strolled from the camp to +the brow of an adjacent eminence. Occupied by sad and gloomy meditations, +he walked, with his eyes fixed on the ground, unaware of the extensive +prospect that spread out before him, nor was he conscious of +companionship, till William Longsword taking his arm, disturbed his revery +by saying, “This way, sire, from yonder point can be seen where the +setting sun gilds the towers of Jerusalem.” Instinctively the lion-hearted +monarch raised his broad shield to shut out the view, while tears forced +themselves from his manly eyes. “Nay, my brother,” said he, “since God +forbids to my unworthy arm the redemption of his Holy Sepulchre, I may not +bless myself with a sight of his sacred city.” He turned away, and +silently retraced his steps.</p> + +<p>That night as he lay tossing upon his couch unable to sleep, he was +surprised by a stealthy visit from Salaman. The officious black had gained +permission of Mestoc to conduct the king to the cell of a hermit, who +dwelt in one of the rocky caves with which the wilderness of Judea +abounds. The devout man, whose venerable countenance and solemn appearance +gave a strong guaranty for his truth, received the king with the deepest +respect, and declared to him that a long time ago he had concealed a piece +of the Holy Cross, in order to preserve it until Palestine should be +rescued from the Infidels. He stated that Saladin had often pressed him +with the most searching inquiries concerning it, but he had faithfully +guarded the secret, and to the King of England he now committed the +precious relic, for the adoration of those brave men who had so valiantly +fought in defence of the Christian faith. Reverently wrapping it in a +cloth of gold, Richard conveyed it to the camp, and the following<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> day the +whole army were permitted to press their lips upon the sacred wood.</p> + +<p>The troops had then orders to retire towards Jaffa, but civil rancor and +fierce dissensions prevailed to such an extent among the forces, that but +little discipline or order could be preserved. When they arrived before +the place, they found it closely besieged by the Saracens, and on the +point of surrender. The conflict which ensued was the most hotly contested +of any that occurred during the Third Crusade. Richard performed prodigies +of valor. His battle-axe gleamed everywhere in the van of the fight, +opening for his followers bloody paths through the centre of the Turkish +divisions. The gallant Fanuelle, plowing her way through the serried +ranks, bore him proudly on, while the arrows and javelins of the Saracens, +rattled idly upon his iron vest, till at length a fallen foe, pierced with +a spear the breast of his favorite, and amid the exulting yells of the +barbarians, horse and rider fell to the ground. Instantly starting to his +feet, he drew his sword, and continued the combat undaunted as before. The +generous Saphadin, who from a distance had watched the prowess of the +valiant European, despatched a groom to his rescue with a splendid Arabian +barb. Remounting, Richard continued the contest till the going down of the +sun, when darkness separated the combatants. Jaffa was rescued, and the +joy of this signal victory in some measure compensated the English for +their bitter disappointment in abandoning Jerusalem. On reviewing his +troops, Richard saw from their diminished numbers the utter hopelessness +of attempting any further conquest, and this sad conviction strengthened +the motives which determined his return to Europe. His late success gave +him the vantage-ground in soliciting an honorable peace with the Soldan, +who, now that Richard was preparing to depart, was better able to estimate +candidly, and appreciate fairly the knightly qualities and heroic courage +that had distinguished his career in the Holy Land.</p> + +<p>The Emperor Saladin and Richard Plantagenet, each<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> with a brilliant train +of attendants, met near Mount Tabor, to confer upon the momentous +interests that clustered round the Holy City, and to arrange a protracted +truce. The preliminaries occupied some days. The Saracens insisted upon +the destruction of the fort of Ascalon, the Christians negotiated for the +restoration of Jerusalem. It was at last settled, that Joppa and Tyre, and +the country between them should be ceded to Henry, Count of Champagne, +that Ascalon should be dismantled, and that the Christians should have +free access to the Holy Sepulchre without molestation or tribute. The +presence of Mestoc and Saphadin contributed not a little to the harmonious +adjustment of these intricate affairs. The treaty was to remain in force +three years, three months, three weeks, three days, and three hours, a +number of mysterious sanctity with the people of the East, and a space +which Richard thought sufficient for him to compose the factions in +England, and return to complete the conquest of Palestine.</p> + +<p>Since her expedition to Jaffa, Elsiebede had remained in care of her +uncle; and Richard was now informed that Saphadin, disappointed in his +suit with the lady Joanna, had transferred his affections to the +bewitching Gyptianos. The crosses which Cœur de Lion had borne in the +crusade had somewhat moderated the imperiousness of his temper, and taught +him the policy of a seeming acquiescence in inevitable necessity; and thus +though vividly impressed with an anticipation of Berengaria’s frowns, he +gracefully acceded to the request of Mestoc, and bestowed the Moorish girl +and her swarthy attendant upon his noble friend.</p> + +<p>The Soldan had arranged the pavilion of the christian monarch with the +utmost magnificence, at the southern extremity of the encampment, while +his own sable tent had been pitched opposite on the north. Near the close +of a bright Syrian day, as Richard sat listening to the strains with which +Blondel beguiled the tedium of the listless hours, his chamberlain entered +to announce the emperor. The illustrious Soldan came without the usual +attendants<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> of his rank, and Richard surprised and not ill-pleased by +this mark of friendly familiarity, received him with the frank cordiality +characteristic of his nature. The face of the noble Kurd wore a +seriousness that seemed the result of thought rather than the habitual +gravity of his nation and religion, and Richard, with instinctive +delicacy, dismissed the minstrel, and waited in silent wonder for the +communication of his honored guest. But what was his surprise when the +gifted Saracen, instead of employing the common Lingua Franca, addressed +him easily and fluently in the liquid Provençal. “The Melech Ric,” said +he, “wonders to hear his mother-tongue in a foreign land, but not stranger +to thee than to me are my words. Forty and three times have the +constellations described their circles in the heavens since my lip assayed +this language; but thy presence has been to my heart like the beams of the +rising sun that causes the statue of Memnon to speak.”</p> + +<p>Astonishment prevented reply; but every feature of Cœur de Lion evinced +the intensest curiosity. “Know then,” said Saladin, answering the mute +interrogation, “that as the warmth of our Eastern clime flushes the grape +with a deeper hue than the temperate north, so it earlier awakens and +strengthens the passions in the human breast. Hence was it that though but +a youth I saw and loved a beautiful daughter of Frangistan. Her eyes—God +said to them, Be—and they were, affecting my heart with the potency of +wine. Her voice—it made me forget the spirits that stand about the throne +of Allah (blessed be his name), and had not the Prophet ordained that she +should suddenly be torn from me, I might have become a convert to the +faith of the Nazarene.”</p> + +<p>“Would to heaven thou hadst!” ejaculated Richard, “for Godfrey of Boulogne +could not more worthily fill the throne of Jerusalem.”</p> + +<p>Without appearing to note the enthusiasm of Richard, the Saracen slowly +unfastened the scarf that bound his caftan, and exhibited the embroidered +cross of Aquitaine.</p> + +<p>“Thou art a Christian in thy secret heart,” said Richard,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> starting up at +the sight and grasping the hand of the Soldan. “It solves the mystery of +thy victories. I knew that no unbaptized Infidel could have so prevailed +against the armies of the Lord.”</p> + +<p>“Nay,” said the Mussulman, smiling gravely, “think not the prince of the +thousand tribes worships a symbol as do the Franks, though for the memory +of her whose slender fingers wrought the emblem, I have sometimes spared +the lives of those whom our laws hold accursed—but there is no God but +one God, and Mohammed is his Prophet.”</p> + +<p>Somewhat abashed Richard sat holding the scarf in his hand and murmuring +half aloud, “The Provençal tongue; the cross of Aquitaine; a daughter of +Frangistan.” Then raising his eyes he said, with a look of painful +embarrassment, “Noble Saladin, thy generous interest in the English +crusader is sufficiently explained. Destroy not, I pray thee, the +gratitude of the son of Eleanor by alluding to the follies of the mother.”</p> + +<p>“Nay,” said Saladin, satisfied that he had correctly interpreted the +hereditary peculiarities, which his observant eye had detected in Richard, +“the name of the beloved is secure from reproach; but my memory still +looks upon her as she was, and I would fain teach my imagination to regard +her as she is. Dwells she in the trembling tent of age? or has the angel +Azrael drawn around her silent couch the curtain of perpetual night?”</p> + +<p>“She lives,” returns Richard, proudly, “regent of my noble realm. +Thousands receive benefits from her hands, which as thy poet saith, ‘are +the keys of the supplies of Providence.’”</p> + +<p>“I am content,” replied the Saracen. “For the rest, hitherto, I have kept +my secret in a house with a lock, whose key is lost, and whose door is +sealed. So let it be henceforth between us. The peace of Allah rest upon +Melech Ric, and may he die among his kindred.” As he arose to leave the +tent the voice of the muezzein was heard through the camp calling, “To +prayer, to prayer.” The noble chief paused upon the threshold, and turning +his face<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> toward Mecca, bowed his forehead to the dust, and reverently +repeated the Mohammedan blessing.</p> + +<p>Early on the subsequent day, the Latins prepared for departure, and there +remained only the last formalities of ratifying the treaty. As the two +monarchs, disdaining the common obligation of an oath, advanced to the +centre of that fair and flowery meadow, and extended their hands above the +parchment, they seemed the representatives of Mohammedan superstition and +Christian enthusiasm, and a prophetic eye might have read in the +appearance of these leaders of the belligerent powers, that for a century +had caused the earth to tremble beneath their tread, the character and the +destiny of the nations which they represented. The form and countenance of +the Saracen, erect and calm, but lithe and wary, with a certain air of +majesty and repose, indicated a consciousness of the decay of youthful +vigor, but a sense of compensation however in the resources of wisdom and +skill laid up in the storehouse of experience, for the necessities of +declining years. In the compact and muscular frame, and sparkling eyes of +Richard, were expressed that reckless spirit of pursuit, that ardor of +passion, enthusiasm of love, romance, and religion, that steady +self-reliance, born of conscious strength and indomitable will, which +characterized the growing nations of Europe, and finally gave the dominion +of the world to the Anglo-Saxon race. Grasping each other’s hands, these +two exponents of Oriental tactics and European chivalry mutually pledged +their faith to the treaty, and parted less like deadly foes, than faithful +friends, who hoped to meet again.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER XI.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td><span style="margin-left: 4em;">“He that can endure</span><br /> +To follow with allegiance a fallen lord,<br /> +Doth conquer him that did his master conquer,<br /> +And earns a place i’ the story.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>On his arrival at Acre, Richard learned that the friends of Conrad accused +him as the instigator of the assassination, and that reports had been +conveyed to Europe impeaching his honor as a king, and his fame as a +warrior. Deeming it unsafe to attempt the passage in the Trenc-the-mere, +he committed Berengaria and her ladies again to the care of Stephen de +Turnham and his faithful Blondel, and saw them safely embarked for +Navarre, Sept. 29, 1192. The following month, having provided for the safe +return of the soldiers and pilgrims who had accompanied him on his +fruitless expedition, he himself last of all, in the disguise of a +Templar, sailed from the port of Acre. As the rocky heights of Lebanon and +the lofty summit of Carmel faded from his view, he stretched his hands +towards the receding shores, and while tears streamed from his eyes, +prayed aloud, “Oh Holy Land, I commend thee to God; and, if his heavenly +grace shall grant me so long to live, I trust that I shall return +according to his good pleasure, and set thee free from all thine enemies.”</p> + +<p>The voyage proved more disastrous than was common, even in those days of +unpractised navigation. Many of the English vessels were wrecked upon the +shores of Africa, others fortunately reached friendly ports whence the +warriors returned by land to Britain. Six weeks after his departure from +Acre, the vessel of Richard encountered a pirate ship off the coast of +Barbary. Learning from the commander that his misfortunes had become +known, and that the French lords were prepared to seize him as soon as he +should land in Marseilles, he determined, as his ship<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> was already +unseaworthy, to pass up the Adriatic, and make his way through Germany. +Landing not far from Venice with six companions, he pursued his route to +the north. But news of the dispersion of his fleet had already reached +Germany, and orders had been issued, that all travellers should be closely +interrogated. His companions were arrested; but the monarch escaped, +attended only by a boy who understood the language of the country, and +conducted him to houses of entertainment, unfrequented by persons of rank. +Thus resting by day and travelling by night, they reached the borders of +the Danube. Secure in his disguise, the king began to enjoy the frank +hilarity and hearty cheer of the inn kitchen, and with a good nature +appropriate to his assumed character, assisted in the preparations for the +evening repast. A loitering spy observing a costly jewel upon the finger +of the pretended friar, at once reported the suspicious circumstance to +the governor. A company of soldiers were immediately despatched to arrest +him, the leader of which was an Austrian who had served under him in +Palestine. The house was searched, and the landlord subjected to a close +scrutiny concerning harboring a man of the description of the hunted +monarch. “There be no such person here,” indignantly exclaimed the boor, +“unless it be the Templar in the kitchen roasting fowls.” The officers +immediately followed the hint, and surprised the fictitious palmer with +the spit in his hand. The Austrian cavalier recognized, at once, the +herculean frame and ruddy countenance of the king. “It is he. Seize him,” +cried he to his minions. Notwithstanding a valiant resistance, Richard was +overborne by numbers and conveyed to the castle of Tenebreuse, where for +several months all trace of him was lost.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>Meanwhile the vessel containing the princesses arrived safely at Naples, +whence they journeyed to Rome. The enmity of Philip, and vague reports +concerning the shipwreck of her husband, so terrified Berengaria that she +remained here under the protection of the pope till the ensuing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> spring. +During the carnival, the services of the royal ladies were in requisition +for a brilliant masquerade. The affair, involving an uncommon call for +bijouterie, the queen found no little amusement in searching the shops of +the jewellers in pursuit of appropriate decorations. On one of these +excursions her attention was attracted by the appearance of a boy clad in +mean apparel who was offering a valuable jewel for sale. The eagerness and +suspicion with which the shopman regarded it excited her curiosity, and +stepping forward she recognized the signet ring of Richard. Hastily +purchasing the precious talisman she ordered the youth to follow her, +intending to question him further concerning his master; but when she +reached her apartments, he had disappeared. She sent messengers in every +direction, and caused the most searching inquiries to be made, but all in +vain; he was nowhere to be found. Her anxiety for the fate of Richard, +found vent in fruitless exertions and floods of tears. The mysterious +circumstances reawakened all her superstitious apprehensions. She was +convinced that the fatal ring which she had so foolishly given and so +weakly allowed him to retain, had finally accomplished his prediction, +“betrayed him to his direst foe, or drowned him in the sea.” At one moment +she bewailed him as dead, at the next upbraided her friends for neglecting +to deliver him from the dungeon in which she was positive the Duke of +Austria had confined him. Blondel, whose devotion to his royal friend +equalled her own, set off at once under the character of a wandering +minstrel in search of his master.</p> + +<p>At length the pope, moved by Berengaria’s distress, placed her under the +escort of Count Raimond of Toulouse, the hero of the tournament, who, with +a strong guard, conducted the queens across the country to Navarre. The +valiant Raimond soon found it an easier and pleasanter task to soothe the +mind of the lovely Joanna, than to listen to the unavailing complaints of +the despairing Berengaria, and so resigned did he become to his grateful +duties, that before they reached the end of their journey he had become<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> a +candidate for the office during life of sympathizer and protector.</p> + +<p>In the joy of welcoming her youngest daughter, Queen Eleanor forgot her +hereditary enmity to her cousin of Toulouse, and Count Raimond received +the hand of Joanna with the resignation of the contested claim to that +splendid fief, which had so long filled the south of France with strife +and bloodshed. Deprived of the society of the tranquil and considerate +Joanna, Berengaria was more than ever lonely and disconsolate, and the +death of her father, Sancho the Wise, not long after, added another weight +to the sorrow that oppressed her.</p> + +<p>Eleanor’s detention of the Princess Alice had drawn upon Normandy a fierce +invasion by Philip Augustus, and the noble domain might have fallen a prey +to his rapacity had not Sancho the Strong, moved by the pleadings of his +sister, traversed France with a choice band of knights, and compelled his +grasping sovereign to abandon the siege of Rouen.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>Meantime the faithful Blondel traverses many a weary league in search of +the lion-hearted king. His harp gives him ready entrance to the castles of +the great and the cottages of the lowly. Warriors mingle their rude voices +with the chorus of his soul-stirring tensons, and light-hearted maidens +weep pitying tears at the sound of his tender <i>plaintes</i>. Stern jailers, +like the Furies that guarded the lost Eurydice, leave their dismal +avocations, and “listening crowd the sweet musician’s side.” The lyre of +Orpheus draws back the rusty bolts and opens wide the ponderous doors, and +many a hapless prisoner is charmed with the strains of light and love that +for years had only visited his dreams.</p> + +<p>But Richard is not among the minstrels; his voice echoes not in the chorus +of the warriors; his sad complaint is not heard among the wail of the +captives. The troubadour turns away disappointed from each new trial, but +restless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> affection prompts him to repeated endeavors, and ephemeral +hopes continually lead him on.</p> + +<p>He wanders along the banks of the Danube, he sits beneath the dark shadow +of the Tenebreuse, from whose portals no ransomed captive has ever yet +come forth to the free light of day. He assays his most thrilling strains, +but the guards, insensible as the granite effigies that frown upon him +from the lofty turrets, remain unmoved. He throws down his lyre in +despair, and hot tears gush from his eyes. The image of Berengaria floats +before him, her cheek flushed with hope, and her eyes sparkling with love. +He sees her leaning enchanted from the vessel’s side, listening to the +voice of her royal lover, while the wind with fairy fingers sweeps a wild +symphony through the straining cordage of the gallant Trenc-the-mere. With +the recollections come the long-forgotten emotions of that blissful +season. Instinctively his hand grasps the harp; his spirit kindles with +the inspiration; a melodious prelude rings out upon the still air, and he +sings,</p> + +<p class="poem">“Your beauty, lady fair,<br /> +None views without delight;<br /> +But still so cold an air<br /> +No passion can excite.<br /> +Yet this I patient see,<br /> +While all are shunn’d like me.”</p> + +<p>Is it the voice of the warder mingling with his own in the concluding +strain, or has his rapt fancy taught the echoes to mock his impatience +with the loved tones of the royal troubadour? He pauses—’Tis neither +memory nor fancy. From the lonely turret and the closely barred casements +pours a liquid strain, and his fond ear drinks again the clear tones that +answered to his own, when in harmonious rivalry each sought the rich +reward of Berengaria’s smile.</p> + +<p class="poem">“No nymph my heart can wound,<br /> +If favors she divide,<br /> +And smile on all around,<br /> +Unwilling to decide:<br /> +I’d rather hatred bear<br /> +Than love with other share.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>It is the voice of Plantagenet!! The song, the tune are his! He lives! He +may yet be ransomed.</p> + +<p>A rough hand is laid upon the shoulder of the minstrel, and a surly voice +bids him, Begone! He departs without question or reply. He courts no +danger; for on his safety depends the life of his friend. The listless +stroll of the harper is exchanged for the quick firm pace of one who +hastes to the accomplishment of a worthy purpose. He avoids the populous +cities, and tarries not in the smiling villages. He reaches the +sea-coast—he finds a vessel—he lands in England—he obtains audience of +the queen regent. She who subscribes herself “Eleanora, by the <i>wrath</i> of +God Queen of England,” makes all Europe ring with the infamy of those +princes who have combined to keep her son in chains. The power of the pope +is implored, the mercy of the holy mother is invoked. The Emperor Henry +VI. requires the royal prisoner at the hands of Leopold. Richard is +brought before the diet at Worms, to answer for his crimes.</p> + +<p>He is accused of making an alliance with Tancred, of turning the arms of +the crusade against the christian King of Cyprus, of affronting the Duke +of Austria before Acre, of obstructing the progress of the croises by his +quarrels with the King of France, of assassinating the Marquis Conrad +Prince of Tyre, and of concluding a truce with Saladin and leaving +Jerusalem in the hands of the Saracen emperor.</p> + +<p>The noble Plantagenet arises in the majesty of his innocence and, “as the +lion shakes the dew-drops from his mane,” dispels the false accusations of +his enemies. The eloquence of truth carries irresistible conviction to the +hearts of the congregated princes. They exclaim loudly against the conduct +of the emperor, the pope threatens him with excommunication, and the +reluctant Henry is compelled from very shame to consent to the prisoner’s +release. But a heavy fine is required, and the monarch is remanded to his +captivity till the sum shall be paid. Every vassal in England and Normandy +is taxed for the ransom of his lord. The churches and monasteries melt +down their plate,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> the bishops, abbots, and nobles, contribute a portion +of their rent, the inferior clergy a tenth of their tithes, and Eleanor +conveys the treasure to Germany, and brings back her long lost-son!</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER XII.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Do you like letter-reading? If you do,<br /> +I have some twenty dozen very pretty ones:<br /> +Gay, sober, rapturous, solemn, <i>very true</i>,<br /> +And very lying, stupid ones, and witty ones.”</td></tr></table> + +<p class="center">LETTER FROM THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN TO RICHARD.</p> + +<p>“To Richard Plantagenet, by the grace of God, King of England, your poor +and unworthy servants of the Hospital of St. John, humbly set forth these +things. We remember when it pleased the great Richard to depart from +Palestine, leaving the Holy City still in the hands of the Moslems, that +he pledged the honor of a knight, to return when the troubles of his own +kingdom should be composed, and once more do battle in the cause of the +saints.</p> + +<p>“According to our poor ability we preserved the conditions of the treaty, +and the land had rest from war. The mighty sultan, Saladin, then kept his +goods in peace. But God has called him to the judgment to answer for his +crimes against the christian nations. His brother Saphadin usurps the +throne of Jerusalem, and his sons strive to rend the kingdom in pieces, +that each may take his share.</p> + +<p>“Now the Scripture saith expressly, ‘A house divided against itself shall +not stand,’ and the fulfilment thereof is shown in that which they begin +to do. A scarcity of food exhausts their forces, and it were easy for a +christian army, while they lie torn with faction and reduced by famine, to +march through the length and breadth of the land, and make the strong +places our own. But the forces of the military friars are insufficient for +the pious work; therefore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> we turn our eyes towards Europe, we fix our +regards upon the islands of the sea, and lift our hands to Heaven and pray +that the lion-hearted monarch, with his valiant knights, would once more +‘come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty.’ May God and his +saints incline your heart to the divine undertaking, and may the counsels +of the Lord prevail. Amen.</p> + +<p>“Written from Palestine <span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> 1195.”</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF CELESTIN III.</p> + +<p>“To the most Potent Sovereigns of Europe, to the princes, nobles, and +barons, who by the favor of God, hold authority over the dominions and +vassals of our Lord and Saviour—to the cardinals, bishops, prelates, and +other clergy that rule the Church of God, Pope Celestin III. called to be +the vicar of Christ, and in virtue of his office heir to the Apostolic +See, sendeth greeting.</p> + +<p>“My brethren, it hath been shown to us that Jerusalem, the city of the +Saviour’s life and passion, still lieth in the hands of the Moslems, that +the Infidels mock the rites of our holy religion even in the land where +the sacred mysteries were first instituted, and that the Christians of +Syria cry unto the brethren of the west for aid. Wherefore we command you +all to spread again the crimson standard of the cross, and march against +the persecutors of the faith. By the authority of the blessed St. Peter, +from whom we hold the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, whereby we open and +no man can shut; we shut, and no man can open; we ordain that all those +who in heart and truth obey this, our holy mandate, shall have claim to +those indulgences needful for the flesh, in this toilsome warfare; +absolution from those sins which they have heretofore committed, or shall +hereafter fall into:—and we set before them an abundance of the honors of +this life, and in the life to come life everlasting.</p> + +<p>“Given at Rome, under our hand and seal, this tenth day after Epiphany, in +the Year of Grace 1196.”</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">LETTER FROM ELSIEBEDE TO BERENGARIA.</p> + +<p>“Elsiebede to the most honored Queen Berengaria. My noble mistress will +pardon the wife of Saif Addin if she intrude upon her gracious attention +the story of the changes that have befallen one whom Allah (blessed be his +name) hath raised from the low estate of a servant, to the dignity of sole +wife of the monarch of the East. Though the voice of love charmed my ear, +and made my heart tremble with sweet delight, yet tears overflowed my eyes +when it was told me I should look no more upon the face of her whose +fostering care had sustained my youth, and brought me to the land of my +kindred. My beloved lady and her valiant lord have departed for their own +land, but still I hear their names echoed from the base of Carmel, to +Damascus the garden of delights. The Arab horseman threatens his steed +with the weight of King Richard’s arm, the Saracen mother hushes her babe +with the fear of the Melech Ric, and blesses her daughter with the +benison, ‘Allah make thee fair as Berengaria.’ But ‘The strength of the +mighty and the charm of the lovely availeth naught, since death, the +terminator of delights, waiteth at the threshhold of every dwelling.’ +Scarce could the vessels that bore the croises have reached the shores of +Frangistan, when Disease, more potent than even the sword of the +lion-hearted Plantagenet, laid its hand upon Saladin the Powerful, the +Illustrious, and his life was consumed beneath its burning touch. Then the +black banner that awoke thy terrors at the first sight of Palestine, and +that so often like the wing of Azrael, waved over the fields of the slain, +by his last command, was rolled in the dust, and the shroud that was to +wrap his body in the grave, was borne aloft in the sight of his people, +while the imams and muezzins cried aloud with an exceeding bitter cry, +‘Behold all that remains to the mighty Saladin, the prince of the thousand +tribes, the vizier of Egypt, the conqueror of Syria, the Emperor of the +East. Behold oh man, and prepare to die!’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>“Until his death the virtuous Soldan had faithfully preserved the peace +made with the Melech Ric, and it was the wish of his brother, my lord Saif +Addin, upon whom the emirs and atabeks bestowed the kingdom of Syria, +still to keep faith and truce with the Christians, but as your holy +writing saith, ‘A man’s foes shall be they of his own household,’ even so +hath it happened unto my lord. The undutiful sons of Saladin have seized +Aleppo, Damascus, and Egypt. They have drawn the sword of battle, and our +land again groaneth under the miseries of war. From these things it +chanced that certain timid Christians, fearing again the renewal of all +those sufferings, from which they had rested during the space of three +years, called again on their brethren of Europe for aid. And there came a +great company of crusading Germans, brutal and blood-thirsty, to wrest the +territory of Palestine from the hands of the sovereign. When the Latins of +Acre saw what manner of men they were, they represented to them the +virtues and moderation of the noble Saif Addin, and entreated that the +Christians of the Holy Land should have space for negotiation and treaty, +before the commencement of hostilities. But they would not hear; and so +the cruel war was again begun.</p> + +<p>“Then my lord girding himself for the conflict, showed that the spirit of +Saladin survived in his brother. He advanced to the north to meet his +foes, and a terrible slaughter took place in the vale of Sidon. The +followers of the prophet were slain on every side, and the Latins also +were greatly discomfited, and took refuge in Tyre. A portion of the +Germans proceeded to Jaffa; thither Saif Addin pursued them, and after a +continued siege, took the city and put them all to the sword. On the same +night, Count Henry of Champagne, wearing the title, but not the crown of +the King of Jerusalem, was killed by a fall, and the Christians being thus +left without lord or ruler, concluded a peace with the Emperor. Isabella, +the widow of Count Henry, is again a wife, being taken in marriage by +Almeric, brother of Guy de Lusignan.</p> + +<p>“The prophet saith truly, ‘Though the storm rage <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>without, there may be +peace in the tent,’ and I dwell in safety within the sacred walls of +Jerusalem. Cohr Eddin, my first-born, already assays to bend the bow of +his father, and his infant brother nestling in my bosom, just lisps the +name of his warlike sire. Farewell. The blessing of her who was ready to +perish, rest upon thee and thine, and Allah make thee happy as Ayesha, the +best beloved wife of the prophet, on whom be peace.</p> + +<p>“Written from Jerusalem in the year of the Hegyra 576, according to the +era of the Franks, 1198.”</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>The <i>Fourth Crusade</i>, which the French monarch regarded with indifference, +and which the King of England despised as being the enterprise of his +German enemies, ended thus without advantage or glory to Christendom. The +hostilities which had been engendered in the Holy Land, continued to vex +and agitate Europe long after the causes had ceased to operate. The +Emperor Henry VI. died of poison administered by his wife Constance, and +the pope prohibited his interment until the hundred and fifty thousand +marks which he had received for Richard’s ransom, should be paid over into +the treasury of the Holy See.</p> + +<p>Insignificant wars exciting the baser passions of human nature and +developing few of its nobler qualities, occupied the remaining years of +the two great rivals, Richard Plantagenet and Philip Augustus. The +Princess Alice was at last surrendered to her brother, and at the mature +age of thirty-five, with a tarnished reputation and a splendid dower, was +given in marriage to the Count of Aumerle. Richard spent scarce four +months of his reign in England, and Berengaria never visited the island. +They resided upon his ducal estates in Normandy, or passed their time in +Anjou and Aquitaine. It was at the siege of the castle of Chaluz, in the +latter province, that Richard met his death. A peasant plowing in the +field, pretended that he had discovered a wondrous cave, in which were +concealed golden statues, and vases of precious stones, of unrivalled +beauty and value. “The lively imagination of the king, heated by the +splendid fictions of Arabian romance,” led<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> him at once to credit the +report, and determined him upon securing the enchanted treasure. He +immediately summoned the baron to give up to him as feudal lord, a share +of the rich prize. The Castellan declared that nothing had been found but +a pot of Roman coins which were at his service. The impetuous monarch +could not be satisfied with this explanation of the affair, and +immediately commenced a siege. He was pierced by an arrow from the walls, +and the wound though not mortal was so inflamed by the unskilfulness of +the physician, and the king’s impatience under treatment, as to cause his +death. Queen Eleanora was at this time in England; but Berengaria attended +him in his last moments, and forgetting the years of neglect, and the +ebullitions of ill temper that had poisoned her domestic happiness, +watched and wept over him with the tenderest care.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had he breathed his last, when Joanna, Countess of Toulouse, +arrived in Aquitaine. She had come to entreat the assistance of the +monarch against the haughty barons who had taken up arms against her +husband. But when she looked upon the kingly form of her beloved brother +stretched in the stillness of death; when she saw that the dull, cold eye +kindled not as of yore at the recitative of her wrongs; and when she +lifted the powerless hand ever ready for her defence, her long-tried +courage gave way and she sank fainting by his side. The weight of this new +grief, added to her former afflictions, pressed upon her enfeebled frame, +and on the third day she expired, entreating Berengaria to bury her with +her brother Richard. The sorrowing queen conveyed the royal remains of her +husband and sister for interment to the stately abbey of Fontevraud, and +laid them in the tomb of their father Henry II., and within a few short +weeks after paid the last tribute of affection to her sweet sister +Blanche, wife of Thibaut, Count of Champagne.</p> + +<p>The world was now a desert to Berengaria. She retired to her dower estate +of Orleans, where she founded the noble abbey of L’Espan, and passed the +remainder of her life in acts of charity and beneficence.</p> + + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p> +<h2>ISABELLA.</h2> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img05.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Isabella of Angoulême.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER I.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“The lady I love will soon be a bride,<br /> +With a diadem on her brow;<br /> +Oh why did she flatter my boyish pride,<br /> +She’s going to leave me now.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>It is a marvel to those unacquainted with the philosophy of navigation, +that ships may sail with equal speed in opposite directions, under the +impelling force of the same breeze: and it is often an equal paradox with +casual observers of mental phenomena, that individuals may contribute as +really to the success of an enterprise by the law of repulsion as by the +more obvious exercise of voluntary influence. Thus Isabella of Angoulême, +who was perhaps as little occupied with plans military or religious, as +any beauty that counted warriors among her conquests could well be, as +effectually impelled a noble knight and leader to undertake the Holy War, +as did Adela, Countess of Blois, whose whole heart was in the work.</p> + +<p>Isabella was the only child and heiress of the Count of Angoulême. Her +mother was of the family of Courteney, the first lords of Edessa. In very +early youth Isabella had been betrothed to Hugh X. de Lusignan, the +Marcher or guardian of the northern border of Aquitaine. The little bride +dwelt at the castle of her lord, flattered and caressed by every vassal +who hoped to win the favor of his master, while the gallant Hugh, surnamed +le Brun, watched over her interests, and directed her education with the +care of a man anticipating full fruition in the ripened charms and +unrivalled attractions of one who looked upon him as her future husband.</p> + +<p>Count Hugh as a distinguished peer of France, had been summoned to form +one of the splendid cortege which Philip<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> Augustus despatched into Spain, +to bring home the fair Blanche of Castile, the bride of his son Prince +Louis. During his absence the parents of Isabella sent messengers to the +castle of Valence, to request their daughter’s presence on the occasion of +a high festival in Angoulême. The beautiful fiancée of Count Hugh was +required to recognize King John of England, as the sovereign of Aquitaine, +and feudal lord of the province of Angoumois.</p> + +<p>Dressed in a simple robe of white, with her hair parted <i>à la vierge</i> upon +the brow, and confined only by the golden coronet designating her rank, +she advanced with a timid step through the assembly, and kneeling at the +feet of the king, placed her tiny hands in his, while with a trembling +voice she pronounced the oath of homage. The first peep which the fair +child gained of the great world in this brilliant assembly, where she was +made to act so conspicuous a part, intoxicated her youthful imagination; +and the effect of her artless simplicity on the heart of the dissolute +monarch, already sated with the adulation of court beauties, was such as +one feels in turning from a crowded vase of gaudy exotics, to contemplate +the sweetness of the native violet. Hence was it that Isabella, though +scarcely fifteen, entered into all the schemes of her parents, for +preventing her return to the castle of her betrothed, and without +opposition, gave her hand to a man who had been for ten years engaged in +an ineffectual struggle against the canons of the church, for the +possession of his beautiful cousin, Avisa, whom he had married on the day +of Richard’s coronation. Now smitten with the charms of Isabella, John +submitted at once to his spiritual fathers, and the archbishop of Bordeaux +having convoked a synod to consider the matter with the assent of the +bishops of Poitou, declared that no impediment existed to their marriage. +The nuptials were, therefore, celebrated at Bordeaux, in August, 1200.</p> + +<p>Enraged at the loss of his bride, on his return from Castile, the valiant +Count Hugh challenged the royal felon to mortal combat; but the worthless +king despising the resentment of the outraged lover, sailed with Isabella +in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> triumph to England, where they passed the winter in a continual round +of feasting and voluptuousness. Thwarted in the usual method of redress, +Count Hugh had recourse to the pope, the acknowledged lord of both +potentate and peer. Innocent III. at once fulminated his thunders against +the lawless prince; but as the lands, if not the person of the heiress of +Aquitaine, were the property of King John as her lord paramount, not even +the Church could unbind the mystic links of feudal tenure that barred the +rights of Count Lusignan.</p> + +<p>Disappointed in his hopes of vengeance in this quarter, the count became +suddenly impressed with the right of young Arthur of Bretagne, to the +throne of England, and being joined by the men of Anjou and Maine, he +suddenly laid siege to the castle of Mirabel, where Queen Eleanor, then +entering her eightieth year, had taken up her summer residence. The son of +Geoffrey entered readily into the plot, for he had little cause to love +the grandmother, who had advocated the setting aside his claims in favor +of those of his uncle; and it was the intention of Count Hugh to capture +the aged queen, and exchange her for his lost spouse.</p> + +<p>In an age when decent people were expected to break their fast at the +early hour of five, King John was surprised at his midday breakfast by a +messenger, summoning him to his mother’s rescue. Rising hastily in +terrible wrath, and swearing a horrid oath, he overset the table with his +foot, and leaving his bride to console herself as she could, set off +immediately for Aquitaine. Arrived before the castle of Mirabel, he gave +fierce battle to his enemies. The contest was very brief, and victory for +once alighted upon the banners of John. The unfortunate Count Hugh, and +the still more unfortunate Arthur, with twenty-four barons of Poitou were +taken prisoners, and chained hand and foot, were placed in tumbril carts +and drawn after the Conqueror wherever he went. The barons, by the orders +of King John, were starved to death in the dungeons of Corfe castle. The +fate of the hapless Arthur was never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> clearly known. Many circumstances +make it probable that he died by the hand of his uncle; and the twelve +peers of France convened to inquire into his fate, branded John as a +murderer, and declared the fief of Normandy a forfeit to the crown. Thus +was this important province restored to the dominion of France, after +having been in the possession of the descendants of Rollo nearly three +centuries.</p> + +<p>The only male heir now remaining to the House of Plantagenet, was the +recreant John; and Queen Eleanor looking forward with fearful foreboding +to the destruction of her race, sought an asylum in the convent of +Fontevraud, where she died the following year.</p> + +<p>The unhappy lover of Isabella dragged on a weary existence in the donjon +of Bristol castle, and the heart of the queen, already wounded by the +cruelty of John, and touched with pity for the sufferings of Lusignan, +began to recount in the ear of her imagination the tender devotion of her +first love, and to contrast her miserable, though splendid destiny with +the peace and happiness she enjoyed in the castle of Valence.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>The controlling spirit of the thirteenth century was Innocent III. “Since +Gregory the Seventh’s time the pope had claimed the empire of the world, +and taken upon himself the responsibility of its future state. Raised to a +towering height, he but saw the more clearly the perils by which he was +environed. He occupied the spire of the prodigious edifice of Christianity +in the middle age, that cathedral of human kind, and sat soaring in the +clouds on the apex of the cross, as when from the spire of Strasburg the +view takes in forty towns and villages on the banks of the Rhine.” From +this eminence Pope Innocent surveyed the politics of Europe, and put forth +his mandates to bring the power and wealth of the nations into the +treasury of the church. No measures had ever been adopted which combined +so effectually to move the passions of an ardent age, in a direction +indicated by papal authority, as the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>expeditions to the Holy Land. Louis +and Philip of France and Henry of England had taxed their subjects for the +benefit of the crusade. Pope Innocent went a step farther, and gave a new +character to the sacred wars by imposing a similar tax upon the clergy. +The eloquent pontiff described the ruin of Jerusalem, the triumphs of the +Moslems, and the disgrace of Christendom; and, like his predecessors, +promised redemption from sins and plenary indulgence to all who should +serve in Palestine.</p> + +<p>An ignorant priest, Fulk of Neuilly, took up the word of exhortation, and +with less piety than Peter the Hermit and greater zeal than St. Bernard, +itinerated through the cities and villages of France, publishing the +command of the successor of St. Peter.</p> + +<p>The situation of the principal monarchs was unfavorable to the pious +undertaking. The sovereignty of Germany was disputed by the rival houses +of Brunswick and Suabia, the memorable factions of the Guelphs and +Ghibelines. Philip Augustus was engaged in projects to wrest from the King +of England his transmarine dominions, and John was incapable of any +project beyond the narrow circle of his personal pleasures and +preferences.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding, therefore, the power of the pope and the fanaticism of +Fulk, the whole matter might have fallen through but for the lofty +enthusiasm of the descendants of Adela Countess of Blois. In every +expedition to the Holy Land, there had not lacked a representative from +the house of Champagne; and Thibaut, fourth Count of the name, was the +first to unfurl the crimson standard in the <i>Fifth Crusade</i>. The young +Thibaut held a grand tournament at Troyes, to which he invited all the +neighboring princes and knights for a trial in feats of derring-do. The +festivities of the day were nearly over, and the victors were exchanging +congratulations and commenting upon the well-won field, when the intrepid +Fulk appeared in the lists and challenged the warriors to enforce an +appeal to arms in the cause of Christendom. Geoffrey Villehardouin, the +marechal of Champagne, who held the post of honor as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> judge of the combat, +immediately gave place to the holy man, and the unbonneted chieftains drew +around and with respectful regard listened while the subtle priest, from +the temporary throne, descanted upon the sufferings of lost Palestina.</p> + +<p>Encouraged by the example of his ancestors, animated by the distinction +acquired by his elder brother as King of Jerusalem, fired with indignation +against the Infidel that claimed that brother’s crown, and stimulated by a +holy ambition to inscribe his own name upon the rolls of honored +pilgrimage, the noble Thibaut came forward, and drawing his sword, laid it +at the feet of the priest, who blessed and consecrated both it and him to +the cause of God. His cousin Louis Count of Blois and Chartres, +immediately advanced to his side and made a similar dedication. Then +followed his brother-in-law, Baldwin Count of Flanders, Matthew de +Montmorenci, Simon de Montfort, Geoffrey Villehardouin, and a host of +others, till the whole assembly becoming infected with the spirit of +enthusiasm, sprang to their feet, and drawing their swords, held them up +in the sight of heaven, and with unanimous voice vowed to engage in the +Holy War. This vow was subsequently repeated in the churches, ratified in +tournaments, and debated in public assemblies till, among the two thousand +and two hundred knights that owed homage to the peerage of Champagne, +scarce a man could be found willing to forfeit his share in the glorious +enterprise by remaining at home.</p> + +<p>As Sancho the Strong had died without children, Navarre acknowledged +Thibaut, the husband of Blanche, as king; and bands of hardy Gascons from +both sides of the Pyrenees flocked to his banners. The feudatories of the +other pilgrim warriors, animated by this glorious example, joined the +standards of their respective leaders, and crowds of prelates and barons +waited but the final arrangements for departure. The perils of the land +route to Jerusalem had been often tried. They were such as to intimidate +the bravest, and check the impetuosity of the most ardent.</p> + +<p>At the extremity of the Adriatic sea, the Venetians had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> found a shelter, +during the dark and stormy interval that succeeded the downfall of the +Roman Empire. There nestling in the sedgy banks of the islands that +clustered around the Rialto, Commerce, through a long period of +incubation, had nourished her venturesome brood, and now the white wings +of her full-fledged progeny, like the albatross, skimmed the surface of +the seas and found ready entrance to every harbor on the coast of the +Mediterranean.</p> + +<p>The Venetian republic had owed a nominal allegiance to the Greek empire, +but entering the field as a rival to the Genoese and Pisans for the +carrying-trade of Europe at the beginning of the crusades, she had +displayed from her towering masts the banner of the cross, while she +cultivated a friendly intercourse with the Infidels of every clime. To +this avaricious but neutral power the sacred militia determined to apply +for a passage to the Holy Land, and six deputies, at the head of whom was +Villehardouin, were despatched to the island city to settle the terms of +transportation.</p> + +<p>The ambassadors were received with distinction, and a general assembly was +convened to listen to their proposals. The stately chapel and place of St. +Mark was crowded with citizens. The doge and the grand council of ten sat +in solemn dignity while the marechal of Champagne unfolded thus the +purposes of the embassy.</p> + +<p>“Illustrious Venetians: the most noble and powerful barons of France have +sent us to you to entreat you in the name of God to have compassion on +Jerusalem which groans under the tyranny of the Turks, and to aid us on +this occasion in revenging the injury which has been done to your Lord and +Saviour. The peers of France have turned their eyes to you as the greatest +maritime power in Europe. They have commanded us to throw ourselves at +your feet, and never to change that supplicatory posture till you have +promised to aid them in recovering the Holy Land.” The eloquence of their +words and tears touched the hearts of the people. Cries of “We grant your +request,” sounded through the hall. The honored Doge <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>Dandolo, though more +than ninety years of age and nearly blind, consecrated what might remain +to him of life to the pious work, and multitudes imitated his +self-devotion. The treaty was concluded, transcribed on parchment, +attested with oaths and seals, and despatched to Rome for the approbation +of the pope. Villehardouin repaired to France with the news of the success +of his embassy. The gallant Thibaut sprang from his bed of sickness, +called for his war-horse, summoned his vassals, and declared his intention +to set off immediately upon the pilgrimage. The exertion was too great for +his feeble frame; he sank fainting in the arms of his attendants, and +expired in the act of distributing among his feudatories the money he had +designed for the Holy War. A new leader was then to be chosen, and the lot +finally fell upon Boniface of Montserrat, younger brother of the +celebrated Conrad, Marquis of Tyre.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER II.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“I’ll laugh and I’ll sing though my heart may bleed,<br /> +And join in the festive train,<br /> +And if I survive it I’ll mount my steed<br /> +And off to the wars again.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>In the spring of the year 1202, the crusaders being joined by numbers from +Italy and Germany, arrived at Venice. “On the Sunday before they were +ready for embarkation, a great multitude assembled in the place of St. +Mark. It was a high festival, and there were present the people of the +land, and most of the barons and pilgrims. Before high mass began, the +Doge of Venice, who was named Henry Dandolo, mounted the pulpit, and spoke +to the people, and said to them, ‘Signors, there have joined themselves to +you the best nation in the world, and for the greatest business that ever +men undertook; and I am an old man and a feeble and should be thinking of +rest, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> am frail and suffering of body. But I see that no one can order +and marshal you like I who am your lord. If you choose to grant to me to +take the sign of the cross, that I may guard you and instruct you, and +that my son may remain in my place to guard the land, I will go live or +die with you and the pilgrims.’ And when they heard him they all cried out +with one voice, ‘We beg you in God’s name to grant it, and to do it, and +to come with us.’ Then great pity took possession of the men of the land, +and of the pilgrims, and they shed many tears to think that this valiant +man had such great cause to remain, for he was an old man and had +beautiful eyes in his head, but saw not with them, having lost his sight +through a wound on the crown; exceeding great of heart was he. So he +descended from the pulpit and walked straight to the altar, and threw +himself upon his knees, pitifully weeping; and they sewed the cross on a +large cape of cotton, because he wished the people to see it. And the +Venetians began to take the cross in large numbers and in great plenty on +that day, until which very few had taken the cross. Our pilgrims were +moved with exceeding joy even to overflowing as regarded this new +crusader, on account of the sense and the prowess that were his. Thus the +doge took the cross as you have heard.” But by a singular circumstance the +expedition was diverted from its original design. Isaac Angelus, the +vicious and tyrannical Emperor of Constantinople, had been deposed by his +subjects, deprived of his eyesight, and cast into prison. His brother +Alexius was invested with the purple, and rejecting the name of Angelus, +assumed the royal appellation of the Comnenian race. Young Alexius, the +son of Isaac, was at this time twelve years of age. Escaping from the +guards of his uncle in the disguise of a common sailor, he found a refuge +in the island of Sicily. Thence he set off for Germany, having accepted an +invitation to reside with his sister Irene, wife of Philip of Suabia. +Passing through Italy, he found the flower of western chivalry assembled +at Venice ready for the crusade, and it immediately occurred to his young +and ardent mind that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> their invincible swords might be employed in his +father’s restoration. As he derived his birth in the female line both from +the house of Aquitaine and the royal race of Hugh Capet, he easily +interested the sympathy of the Franks, and as the Venetians had a long +arrear of debt and injury to liquidate with the Byzantine court, they +listened eagerly to the story of his wrongs, and decided to share the +honor of restoring the exiled monarch. The place of their destination +being thus changed, the crusaders with joyful haste embarked.</p> + +<p>“A similar armament, for ages, had not rode the Adriatic: it was composed +of one hundred and twenty flat-bottomed vessels, or <i>palanders</i>, for the +horses; two hundred and forty transports filled with men and arms; seventy +store-ships laden with provisions; and fifty stout galleys, well prepared +for the encounter of an enemy. While the wind was favorable, the sky +serene, and the water smooth, every eye was fixed with wonder and delight +on the scene of military and naval pomp which overspread the sea. The +shields of the knights and squires, at once an ornament and a defence, +were arranged on either side of the ships; the banners of the nations and +families were displayed from the stern; our modern artillery was supplied +by three hundred engines for casting stones and darts: the fatigues of the +way were cheered with the sounds of music; and the spirits of the +adventurers were raised by the mutual assurance, that forty thousand +Christian heroes were equal to the conquest of the world.” As they +penetrated through the Hellespont, the magnitude of their navy was +compressed in a narrow channel, and the face of the waters was darkened +with innumerable sails. They again expanded in the basin of the Propontis, +and traversed that placid sea, till they approached the European shore, at +the abbey of St. Stephen, three leagues to the west of Constantinople. As +they passed along, they gazed with admiration on the capital of the East, +or, as it should seem, of the earth; rising from her seven hills, and +towering over the continents of Europe and Asia. The swelling domes and +lofty spires of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> five hundred palaces and churches were gilded by the sun, +and reflected in the waters; the walls were crowded with soldiers and +spectators, whose numbers they beheld, of whose temper they were ignorant; +and each heart was chilled by the reflection, that, since the beginning of +the world, such an enterprise had never been undertaken by such a handful +of warriors. But the momentary apprehension was dispelled by hope and +valor; and “Every man,” says the Marechal of Champagne, “glanced his eye +on the sword or lance which he must speedily use in the glorious +conflict.” The Latins cast anchor before Chalcedon; the mariners only were +left in the vessels: the soldiers, horses, and arms were safely landed; +and, in the luxury of an imperial palace, the barons tasted the first +fruits of their success.</p> + +<p>From his dream of power Alexius was awakened by the rapid advance of the +Latins; and between vain presumption and absolute despondency no effectual +measures for defence were instituted. At length the strangers were waited +upon by a splendid embassy. The envoys were instructed to say that the +sovereign of the Romans, as Alexius pompously styled himself, was much +surprised at sight of this hostile armament. “If these pilgrims were +sincere in their vow for the deliverance of Jerusalem, his voice must +applaud, and his treasures should assist, their pious design; but should +they dare to invade the sanctuary of empire, their numbers, were they ten +times more considerable, should not protect them from his just +resentment.” The answer of the doge and barons was simple and magnanimous. +“In the cause of honor and justice,” they said, “we despise the usurper of +Greece, his threats and his offers. <i>Our</i> friendship and <i>his</i> allegiance +are due to the lawful heir, to the young prince, who is seated among us, +and his father, the Emperor Isaac, who has been deprived of his sceptre, +his freedom, and his eyes, by the crime of an ungrateful brother. Let that +brother confess his guilt and implore forgiveness, and we ourselves will +intercede, that he may be permitted to live in affluence and security. But +let him not insult us by a second message; our reply<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> will be made in arms +in the palace of Constantinople.” Ten days after, the crusaders prepared +themselves to attack the city. The navy of the Greek Empire consisted of +only twenty ships. The vessels of the republic sailed without opposition, +therefore, into the harbor, and the Croises, with cheerful zeal commenced +the siege of the largest city in the world. The Franks divided their army +into six battalions: Baldwin of Flanders led the vanguard with his bowmen, +the second, third, fourth and fifth divisions were commanded by his +brother Henry, the Counts of St. Paul, Blois, and Montmorenci, and the +rearguard of Tuscans, Lombards, and Genoese was headed by the Marquis of +Montserrat. So far from being able to surround the town, they were +scarcely sufficient to blockade one side; but before their squadrons could +couch their lances, the seventy thousand Greeks that had prepared for the +conflict vanished from sight. The Pisans and the Varangian guard, however, +defended the walls with extraordinary valor, and victory was for a long +time poised in the scales of doubt.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, on the side of the harbor the attack was successfully conducted +by the Venetians, who employed every resource known and practised before +the invention of gunpowder. The soldiers leapt from the vessels, planted +their scaling-ladders, and ascended the walls, while the large ships +slowly advancing, threw out grappling-irons and drawbridges, and thus +opened an airy way from the masts to the ramparts. In the midst of the +conflict, the venerable doge, clad in complete armor, stood aloft on the +prow of his galley; the great standard of St. Mark waved above his head, +while with threats, promises, and exhortations, he urged the rowers to +force his vessel upon shore. On a sudden, by an invisible hand, the banner +of the republic was fixed upon the walls. Twenty-five towers were stormed +and taken. The emperor made a vigorous effort to recover the lost +bulwarks, but Dandolo, with remorseless resolution, set fire to the +neighboring buildings, and thus secured the conquest so dearly won. The +discomfited Alexius, seeing all was lost, collected what treasure he could +carry, and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> the silence of the night, deserting his wife and people, +sought refuge in Thrace. In the morning the Latin chiefs were surprised by +a summons to attend the levee of Isaac, who, rescued from his dungeon, +robed in the long-lost purple, and seated upon the throne in the palace of +the Blaquernel, waited with impatience to embrace his son and reward his +generous deliverers.</p> + +<p>Four ambassadors, among whom was Villehardouin, the chronicler of these +events, were chosen to wait upon the rescued emperor. “The gates were +thrown open on their approach, the streets on both sides were lined with +the battle-axes of the Danish and English guard; the presence-chamber +glittered with gold and jewels, the false substitutes of virtue and power; +by the side of the blind Isaac, his wife was seated, the sister of the +King of Hungary: and by her appearance, the noble matrons of Greece were +drawn from their domestic retirement and mingled with the circle of +senators and soldiers.” The ambassadors with courteous respect +congratulated the monarch upon his restoration, and delicately presented +the stipulations of the young Alexius. These were, “the submission of the +Eastern empire to the pope, the succor of the Holy Land, and a present +contribution of two hundred thousand marks of silver.” “These conditions +are weighty,” was the emperor’s prudent reply: “they are hard to accept, +and difficult to perform. But no conditions can exceed the measure of your +services and deserts.”</p> + +<p>The ready submission of Isaac and the subjection of the Greek church to +the Roman pontiff, deeply offended his subtle and revengeful subjects, and +gave rise to so many plots and conspiracies, that the newly-restored +emperor prayed the crusaders to delay their departure till order was +re-established. To this they assented, but the odious taxes for rewarding +their services were collected with difficulty, and Isaac resorted to the +violent measure of robbing the churches of their gold and silver. +Occasions of dissension ripened into causes of hatred. A devastating fire +was attributed to the Latins, and in consequence desultory <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>encounters +took place, which resulted in open hostility. The feeble emperor died, it +is said, of fear; his cousin, a bold, unscrupulous villain, assumed the +imperial buskins, and seizing the young Alexius, put him to death.</p> + +<p>The crusaders at once determined to make war upon the usurper. +Constantinople, the empress of the East, the city that for nine centuries +had been deemed impregnable to mortal arm, was taken by storm. The right +of victory, untrammelled by promise or treaty, confiscated the public and +private wealth of the Greeks, and the hand of every Frank, according to +its size and strength, seized and appropriated the rich treasures of +silks, velvets, furs, gems, spices and movables which were scattered like +glittering baits through all the dwellings of that proud metropolis. When +the appetite for plunder was satisfied, order was instituted in the +distribution of spoils. Three churches were selected for depositories, and +the magnitude of the prize exceeded all experience or expectation. A sum +seven times greater than the annual revenue of England, fell to the lot of +the Franks. In the streets the French and Flemings clothed themselves and +their horses in painted robes and flowing head-dresses of fine linen. They +stripped the altars of their ornaments, converted the chalices into +drinking cups, and laded their beasts with wrought silver and gilt +carvings, which they tore down from the pulpits. In the cathedral of St. +Sophia, the veil of the sanctuary was rent in twain for the sake of its +golden fringe, and the altar, a monument of art and riches, was broken in +pieces and distributed among the captors.</p> + +<p>Having thus taken Constantinople and shared its treasures among +themselves, the next step was the regulation of their future possessions +and the election of an Emperor. Twelve deputies were appointed, six to +represent the interest of the Franks and six that of the Venetians; in the +name of his colleagues, the bishop of Soissons announced to the barons the +result of their deliberations in these words. “Ye have sworn to obey the +prince whom we should choose; by our unanimous suffrage, Baldwin Count of +Flanders and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> Hainault, is now your sovereign and the Emperor of the +East.” “Agreeably to the Byzantine custom, the barons and knights +immediately elevated their future lord upon a buckler and bore him into +the church of St. Sophia. When the pomp of magnificence and dignity was +prepared, the coronation took place. The papal legate threw the imperial +purple over Baldwin; the soldiers joined with the clergy in crying aloud, +‘He is worthy of reigning;’ and the splendor of conquest was mocked by the +Grecian ceremony, of presenting to the new sovereign a tuft of lighted +wool and a small vase filled with bones and dust, as emblems of the +perishableness of grandeur, and the brevity of life.”</p> + +<p>The splendid fiefs which the ambitious Adela had mapped out for the heroes +of the first crusade, now fell to the lot of her descendants in the +division of the Greek Empire. One was invested with the duchy of Nice; one +obtained a fair establishment on the banks of the Hebrus; and one, served +with the fastidious pomp and splendor of oriental luxury, shared the +throne of Baldwin, the successor of Constantine the Great.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER III.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“But I’ll hide in my breast every selfish care,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And flush my pale cheek with wine,</span><br /> +When smiles await the bridal pair,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I’ll hasten to give them mine.”</span></td></tr></table> + +<p>While the Eastern Croises were thus engaged in apportioning among +themselves, the rich domains of the Greek Empire, Simon de Montfort, who +had abandoned the expedition, when its destination was changed from +Jerusalem to Constantinople, was not less actively employed in a domestic +crusade, published by Innocent III., against the heretics of the south of +France. In the province of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>Toulouse, certain sects had arisen variously +known as Believers, Perfects, and Vaudois, but all rejecting some of the +tenets of Rome, and from the city of Albi, designated by the general name +Albigeois. In his misguided zeal, Innocent III. despatched three legates +to constrain these Albigeois to abjure their heresies and return to the +bosom of the church. He empowered them to employ for this purpose, “the +sword, water and fire, as these good monks should find it necessary to use +one or the other, or all three together for the greater glory of God.” +Though the Albigenses, like other Christians, professed the doctrines of +peace, they were somewhat infected with the warlike spirit of the age; +consequently becoming exasperated at the executions deemed necessary to +bring the lambs into the fold, they rose upon the missionaries, and stoned +one of them to death. The pope retaliated by proclaiming the usual +indulgence to those who should engage in the holy war, for exterminating +the heretics. Count Raimond VI., the husband of Joanna, immediately took +up arms in defence of his subjects, and against him Simon de Montfort +headed the army of the church. With him came a monk of great austerity, +afterwards St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominican order of friars, who +encouraged the soldiers in their work of blood. The city of Beziers long +held out against them. It was finally taken, the inhabitants given up to +slaughter, and when a difficulty arose about discriminating between the +heretics and the catholics, “Slay them all,” said Dominic, “the Lord will +know his own.” It is estimated that the number that perished was sixty +thousand. The war went on, characterized, as such wars always are, by the +atrocity of private murder, and wholesale butchery, till de Montfort led +his army to the siege of Toulouse. Count Raimond, beset on every side by +foes, applied to his brother-in-law, the King of England, to the King of +Arragon, whose sister he had married after the death of Joanna, and to +Philip Augustus his liege lord. The first engaged in domestic broils, and +the last involved in a contest with the pope, concerning the divorce of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>Ingeborge, could render him no assistance, but Don Pedro King of Arragon, +entered warmly into the contest and fell bravely fighting in the battle of +Muret.</p> + +<p>The count was at last compelled to conclude an ignominious peace with the +pope; and thus the forces of the church were victorious in the south of +France, as they were in the Greek Empire.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>To return to Isabella. The troubles with which King John had involved +himself by the murder of the young Duke of Bretagne, seemed destined never +to end. All Aquitaine had been in a state of revolt since the decease of +his mother and the captivity of Count Hugh, and his queen finally +persuaded him to trust to the magnanimity of her lover, for the peace of +his dominions in France.</p> + +<p>De Lusignan left England in 1206, and by his discretion and valor, soon +restored the revolted provinces to the sway of the line of Plantagenet. +The intolerance of the king next aroused the animosity of the English +barons, and to prevent a popular outbreak, he demanded their sons as +hostages, under the plausible pretext of requiring the services of the +youthful lords as pages for his queen, and companions of his infant son, +Henry.</p> + +<p>The Lady de Braose, when her children were demanded, imprudently replied, +“I will not surrender my boys to a king who murdered his own nephew.” The +unfortunate words were repeated to the malicious monarch, and measures for +vengeance immediately instituted.</p> + +<p>The Lord de Braose, with his wife and five innocent little ones, were +confined in Windsor castle and starved to death.</p> + +<p>While the husband of Isabella was thus alienating from himself the +affections of his subjects, he had the temerity to dare the colossal power +of Rome. A dispute arose as in the days of his father, concerning the +incumbent of the see of Canterbury. The pope had commanded the monks to +choose Cardinal Langton for their primate, without the ceremony of a writ +from the king. They complied, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> John sent one of his knights to expel +them from the convent and take possession of their revenues.</p> + +<p>The affair went on with admonitions from the spiritual father, and defiant +retorts from the refractory king, till Innocent III. laid an interdict +upon the realm. This terrible mandate at once covered the whole nation +with the garb and the gloom of mourning. The priests with pious reverence +stripped the altars of their ornaments, collected the crosses and relics, +took down the images and statues of saints and apostles, and laying them +upon the ground carefully covered them from the eyes of the profane.</p> + +<p>No matin chime awoke the pious to their devotions, no vesper bell summoned +the youths and maidens to unite in the evening hymn; no joyous peal +invited the happy throng to the nuptial ceremony, no solemn toll gathered +the sorrowing multitudes to the burial service. The bridegroom took the +hand of his bride and whispered his vows with boding fear, standing in the +churchyard, surrounded by the silent witnesses, whose very presence was a +terror. The father relinquished the dead body of his child to unhallowed +hands, that made for it an obscure and unconsecrated grave by the wayside; +the tender infant was not presented at the font for baptism, but received +the holy rite in the privacy of the monkish cell, and the dying man +partook of the last sacrament under circumstances that rendered still more +terrible the approach of death.</p> + +<p>Men neglected their usual avocations, feeling that the curse of God rested +upon them; children relinquished their amusements, subdued by the +mysterious fear that pervaded all ranks of society.</p> + +<p>But the tyrant John and his thoughtless queen felt no sympathy with the +afflictions of their people, no reverence for the ordinances of religion. +They made no concessions, they manifested no signs of repentance. Each was +engaged in the pursuit of pleasure, without regard to the other’s +feelings, or the laws of God. If the fickle and wounded affections of +Isabella wandered from her lord to some noble knight, who compassionated +her wrongs, her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> crime was made known only by the terrible vengeance which +her malignant husband inflicted upon her supposed lover; nor was she aware +that the suspicions of the king had been awakened till retiring to her +apartment at night, she beheld with horror the dead body of the nobleman, +suspended above her couch, the bloodshot eyes fixed upon her with a +ghastly stare, and the pale lips opened as if assaying to whisper in her +ear the secret of the dark tragedy. From this haunted chamber she was not +suffered to depart for long weary years. But though John thus manifested +his righteous horror of his wife’s dereliction from the path of rectitude, +he was himself unscrupulous in the perpetration of any species of +iniquity. Parsimonious and cruel to his beautiful queen, he lavished upon +his own person every extravagant indulgence; without honesty or honor. He +was a bad son, a bad subject, a bad husband, a bad father, and a bad +sovereign. The record of his thoughts is a disgrace to human nature, the +record of his deeds, a recapitulation of crimes.</p> + +<p>Finding his interdict of no avail, Innocent resorted to his most powerful +weapon. He excommunicated John, pronounced utter destruction upon his body +and soul, forbade all true Catholics to associate with him, absolved his +subjects from their oath of allegiance to him, commanded all orders of +religion to curse him, and exhorted all christian princes to assist in +dethroning him.</p> + +<p>Philip Augustus found this crusade far more to his taste than the one he +had before undertaken in the Holy Land, and Simon de Montfort having +enjoyed a short repose from his work of blood in Languedoc, stood ready to +enforce the authority of the church. To protect his transmarine dominions +from these powerful foes, John found it necessary to solicit an alliance +with his former rival Count Hugh de Lusignan, but the perverse bachelor +was conciliated only on condition that the queen should be liberated from +her irksome imprisonment, and that her eldest daughter, the Princess +Joanna, should be affianced to him as a compensation for the loss of the +mother. The necessity of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> case did not admit of debate or delay, and +the little princess was forthwith betrothed to her mature lover, and +consigned to the castle of Valence; where she occupied the apartments and +sported in the pleasance, that had formerly delighted the childhood of +Isabella. With his heart thus reassured, Count Hugh repulsed the army of +the French king, and kept the Poictevin border in peace.</p> + +<p>Philip Augustus disappointed in this attempt, prepared for the invasion of +England; but while his fleet waited in the ports of Normandy, the legate +Pandulph sought an interview with John, and terrifying him with the +prospect of certain ruin brought him to submit unconditionally to the +pope. The pusillanimous monarch was thus induced to pass a charter in +which he declared he had for his own sins and those of his family, +resigned England and Ireland to God, to St. Peter, and St. Paul, and to +Pope Innocent and his successors in the apostolic chair; agreeing to hold +those dominions as feudatories of the church of Rome by the annual payment +of a thousand marks. He consented to receive Langton for the primate, laid +his crown and sceptre at the feet of Pandulph, and kneeling down placed +his hand in those of that prelate, and swore fealty in the same manner as +a vassal did homage to his lord. The legate then revoked the sentence of +excommunication, placed the crown upon the head of John, pocketed the +first instalment of the tribute money, and returning to France informed +Philip that England was a part of the patrimony of St. Peter, and it would +be impious in any Christian prince to attack it.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>Isabella was residing with her children at Gloucester, when her inconstant +husband, smitten with the charms of Matilda the fair daughter of Lord Fitz +Walter, stormed the castle of her father, banished him from the kingdom, +and bore away the trembling girl to the fortress of London. There +confining her in one of the lofty turrets of the White tower he set +himself to win her affections; but the noble maiden spurned all his +overtures with virtuous indignation. When the hoary libertine found that +flattery and coercion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> were alike vain, his adoration changed to hate, and +the hapless lady fell a victim to poison. This crowning act of villainy +completed the exasperation of the English nobles, and a confederacy was +formed to resist farther aggressions upon their liberties. Cardinal +Langton, in searching the records of the monasteries, had found a copy of +the charter executed by Henry Beauclerk upon his marriage with Matilda the +Good.</p> + +<p>From this charter the primate drew up the bill of rights, which has become +world-renowned as the Magna Charta. At Runnymede between Windsor and +Staines the mail-clad barons met their guilty sovereign, and</p> + +<p class="poem"><span style="margin-left: 6em;">“There in happy hour</span><br /> +Made the fell tyrant feel his people’s power.”</p> + +<p>The signing of the great charter of English liberty was soon followed by +the death of King John, and the diplomatic talents of Isabella were called +into exercise to secure the vacant throne for her son Henry, then a boy of +only nine years of age. The diadem of his father having been lost in +Lincoln washes, and that of Edward the Confessor being in London, the +little prince was crowned with a gold throat collar that she had worn in +those happy days while the affianced bride of Count Hugh la Marche. Only a +small part of England at first owned the sway of Prince Henry, but the +nobles at length rallied around the young Plantagenet, and the valor and +wisdom of the protector Pembroke soon drove the invading French from the +island. No share in the government was committed into the hands of the +dowager queen, and before the first year of her widowhood had expired she +set out for her native city of Angoulême.</p> + +<p>As she passed through the provinces of France her attention was attracted +by groups of children, habited as pilgrims with scrip and staff, gathered +about the doors of churches, repeating pious ascriptions of praise or +tuning their infant voices to sacred hymns. Her curiosity was strongly +excited, and she questioned them concerning the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> motives that influenced +to so strange a proceeding. “Fair Solyma lies in ruins,” replied the +little fanatics, “and it may please God who out of the mouths of babes and +sucklings hath ordained strength, to redeem it by our feeble hands.” These +scenes occurred daily upon her route. In vain the queen employed argument +and entreaty, threats and promises to induce them to return to their +homes. They followed in the train of a company of monks who, with the +diabolical design of profiting by a crime then too common, were working +upon their superstitious hopes and fears to decoy them to the sea-coast, +where they might be shipped to Egypt and sold as slaves. Thirty thousand +misguided innocents were thus collected from Italy and Germany, and most +of them fell a sacrifice to the mercenary motives of those who traded in +the bodies and souls of men.</p> + +<p>When Isabella arrived at Angoulême, the valiant Lusignan was absent from +his territories, fighting under the banners of the cross, and her maternal +heart was allowed the solace of frequent intercourse with Joanna, the +little bride of her former lover.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER IV.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“I’ll hang my harp on the willow-tree,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And off to the wars again;</span><br /> +My peaceful home has no charms for me,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The battle-field no pain.”</span></td></tr></table> + +<p>Convinced by the crusade of the children that the spirit which had moved +the former expeditions to the Holy Land was still active in Europe, Pope +Innocent exclaiming, “While we sleep these children are awake,” determined +once more to arm the Christian world against the Moslem. The commands of +the Vatican calling upon men to exterminate the Infidel were hurled upon +every part of Europe.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> In a circular letter to sovereigns and clergy the +pope declared that the time had at last arrived when the most happy +results might be expected from a confederation of the Christian powers.</p> + +<p>Count la Marche was among the first to hear and obey the mandate of the +spiritual head. With the Duke of Nevers he commanded the French croises +that in 1215 sailed for Egypt, where he was actively engaged in the Holy +warfare when Isabella visited Valence. The siege of Damietta was carried +on with the usual atrocities. Tidings of the death of Saphadin weakened +the forces of the garrison, and Camel, younger son of Elsiebede, lord of +the fertile country of the Nile, was compelled to seek refuge in Arabia. +The first success of the crusaders was followed by disaster and discord; +and when after a siege of seventeen months Damietta was taken, they found +in pestilence and famine more terrible foes than in the sixty thousand +Moslems that had perished beneath their swords.</p> + +<p>Queen Isabella was seated in her former apartment in the castle of Valence +describing to her daughter the person of the young King of England and his +noble brother the Prince Richard, and painting to the imagination of the +child the charms of the infant Princess Isabella, when the horn of the +warder rang out shrill and clear on the evening air. The window of the +turret commanded the view of the drawbridge. From that window where, +eighteen years before, Isabella had watched with delight for the return of +her gay knightly lover, she now beheld with palpitating heart the advance +of a jaded, weary troop, at whose head rode one whose proud crest drooped +as though the inspiration of hope had ceased to animate the warrior-frame, +and the heart bereft of the blissful fervor of love no longer anticipated +the sweet guerdon of his lady’s smile. A tide of recollections swept over +her spirit; dizzy and faint she sank upon a seat in the embrasure of the +window, and veiled her agitation in the curtaining drapery. She heard his +tread upon the stair, no longer the elastic step that she had been wont to +welcome with the sportive gaiety of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> heart free from care; the door was +thrown open, her daughter with bounding footstep so like her own in former +days, flew to meet him as he entered. She saw the childish fingers unlace +the helmet, unbind the gorget, unbelt the sword, and lay aside the armor. +The form of the warrior was slightly bent, there were furrows upon the +sunburnt cheek, deep lines upon the noble brow, and threads of silver +among his dark locks. A heavy sigh was the first salutation of his little +bride. He drew the fair girl to him and pressed his lip upon her cheek, +but the anxious observer saw that the look and the smile were the +expression rather of paternal regard than of lover like fondness; they +were not such as had lighted up his countenance and kindled in his eyes +when with gleesome alacrity she had rendered him the same gentle service. +Her agitation subsided, and when the little Joanna took the hand of the +Count la Marche, and led him forward to present him to her mother, she +received his embarrassed greeting with the stately courtesy of a queen and +the dignity of a woman. The marvellous beauty that won for Isabella the +appellation of the “Helen of the middle ages” soon eclipsed the infant +graces of the princess, and reinstated her in the heart once all her own. +We accordingly find in the records of the year 1220, that “Isabella, Queen +Dowager of England, having before crossed the seas, took to her husband +her former spouse, the Count of Marche, in France, without leave of the +king, her son, or his council.”</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this romantic change in their relations, Joanna continued +to reside at the castle of Valence, under the care of the gallant count, +who remained her steady friend and protector. She was of infinite service +to her parents and her country. The English were greatly incensed at the +marriage of Isabella, and the council of the regency withheld her jointure +as the widow of John, and neither the representations nor threats of her +valiant husband could induce them to repair the wrong. A war soon after +occurred between England and Scotland, and Alexander II., the chivalric +descendant of Maude, declared that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> he could not trust the strength of a +political treaty without the bond of a union with the royal family of +England. King Henry therefore despatched a messenger with an affectionate +letter to his mother, demanding the restoration of his sister. Count la +Marche refused to resign the guardianship of his lovely step-daughter +until the dower of his wife should be restored. The young king had then +recourse to Pope Honorius III., traducing his mother and her husband in no +measured terms, and praying him to lay upon them the ban of +excommunication. By a process almost as tedious as the present “law’s +delays,” the pope investigated the affair, till Alexander becoming +impatient, Henry was glad to accommodate the matter by paying up the +arrears of his mother’s dower. The little princess was then sent to +England, and married to Alexander II., at York, 1221. She was a child of +angelic beauty and sweetness, and though only eleven years of age, had +thus twice stopped a cruel war. The English styled her Joan Makepeace.</p> + +<p>The domestic bliss of Count Hugh and Isabella was less exquisite than +might have been anticipated from the constancy of his love, and the +romantic revival of her attachment: nor did the birth and education of +eight beautiful children concentrate their affections or afford sufficient +scope for their ambitious aspirations. Differences constantly arose +between the King of France and her son Henry, and it was often the duty of +her husband to fight in behalf of Louis, his liege lord, against her +former subjects of Aquitaine. It was her sole study, therefore, to render +French Poitou independent of the King of France. She “was a queen,” she +said, “and she disdained to be the wife of a man who had to kneel before +another.” Causes of mortification on this point were constantly occurring. +Count la Marche sought to obviate the difficulty by allying his family +with the blood royal. He offered his eldest daughter in marriage to the +brother of the French king, but the prince refused her, and gave his hand +to Jane of Toulouse. On this occasion the king made his brother Count of +Poictiers, and thus it became necessary for Count<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> Hugh and his haughty +wife to fill the rôle of honor, and do homage to the young couple as their +suzerains. From this time forward the unfortunate count found that the +only way to secure domestic peace was to make perpetual war upon the +dominions of his sovereign. As a good soldier and a loyal knight who hangs +his hopes upon a woman’s smile, he perseveringly followed the dangerous +path till he was utterly dispossessed of castle and patrimony, feudatory +and vassal. There remained then no resource but to cast themselves upon +the charity of the good king. The repentant count first despatched his +eldest son to the camp of Louis, and encouraged by the gracious reception +of the youth, soon followed with the remainder of his family. The monarch +compassionated their miserable situation, and granted to his rebellious +subject three castles on the simple condition of his doing homage for them +to Alphonso, Count of Poictiers. After this humiliating concession, Count +Hugh was disposed to dwell in quietness: but the restless spirit of +Isabella was untamed by disaster. The life of King Louis was twice +attempted, and the assassins being seized and put to the torture, +confessed that they had been bribed to the inhuman deed by the dowager +Queen of England. Alarmed for the consequences, she fled for safety to the +abbey of Fontevraud, where, says a contemporary chronicler, “She was hid +in a secret chamber, and lived at her ease, though the Poictevins and +French considering her as the cause of the disastrous war with their king, +called her by no other name than Jezebel, instead of her rightful +appellation of Isabel.” Notwithstanding the disgrace and defeat that Count +Hugh had suffered, no sooner was the fair fame of his wife attacked than +he once more girded on his sword and appealed to arms to prove the +falsehood of the accusation upon the body of Prince Alphonso. Little +inclined to the fray, Alphonso declared contemptuously, that the Count la +Marche was so “treason-spotted” it would be disgrace to fight with him. +Young Hugh, the son of Isabella, then threw down the gage in defence of +his mother’s reputation, but the cowardly prince again <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>declined, alleging +that the infamy of the family rendered the young knight unworthy so +distinguished an honor.</p> + +<p>The last interview between Hugh de Lusignan, Count la Marche, and Isabella +of Angoulême, ex-Queen of England, took place in the general reception +room in the convent of Fontevraud. The dishonored noble sought his wife to +acquaint her with the ruin of all their worldly prospects and the stain +upon their knightly escutcheon. The last tones that he heard from those +lips that once breathed tenderness and love were words of indignant +upbraiding and heart-broken despair. All his attempts at consolation were +repulsed with cruel scorn. She tore herself violently from his last fond +embrace, sought again the secret chamber and assumed the veil, and for +three years sister Felice, most inaptly so named, was distinguished among +the nuns by her lengthened penances and multiplied prayers.</p> + +<p>The land of his nativity no longer possessed any attractions for the +bereaved and disappointed count. All the associations of his youth became +sources of painful reflection, and anxious to escape from the scenes where +every familiar object was but a monument of a buried hope, he determined +to share the crusade which St. Louis was preparing against the Infidel. He +fell, covered with wounds and glory in one of the eastern battles, +fighting beside his old antagonist Alphonso Count of Poictiers.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span></p> +<h2>VIOLANTE.</h2> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span></p> + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER I.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“’Twas but for a moment—and yet in that time<br /> +She crowded the impressions of many an hour:<br /> +Her eye had a glow, like the sun of her clime,<br /> +Which waked every feeling at once into flower!”</td></tr></table> + +<p>The fall of Constantinople had not been without its effect upon eastern +politics. The christian Prince of Antioch acknowledged the feudal +superiority of Baldwin, the new Emperor, and Saphadin, the Sultan of +Syria, justly apprehended that an easy and ready communication being thus +opened with Europe through the Greek Empire, the splendid conquest might +result in the carrying out of the original plan upon Palestine. To avert +this danger, he repaired to Antioch to conclude, if possible, a treaty for +six years’ peace with the Christians. The sons of Elsiebede were permitted +to accompany the army of their father on his most distant expeditions; and +through the enlightened policy of Saphadin, or Saif Addin, during his +absence, contrary to the usual Oriental observances, the Moorish European +filled the office of regent of Jerusalem. Under her benign administration +the pilgrims had access to the holy places, and protection in the practice +of all the rites of Christianity. Salaman, whose self-complacency and +curiosity gave him a benevolent interest in all matters pertaining to +politics, humanity, or religion, was the usual medium of communication +between the empress and those who had occasion to solicit favors from her +hand. He was the Mercury to convey safe conducts, the Apollo to usher +petitioners into her presence.</p> + +<p>The garb of the pilgrim had consequently become to her a familiar sight, +and it was therefore without surprise that she saw her attendant enter +with a toil-worn man leaning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> upon a palmer’s staff. Her beneficence to +the Christians, and her affability towards all her dependents had made her +a frequent listener to the tales of pilgrims, and intent upon her own +thoughts she heard with an abstracted air the story of the mendicant, till +he uttered the name of Richard. Instantly she was all attention.</p> + +<p>The old man had been the confessor of Henry II., but won by the cordial +frankness and generous impulses of Cœur de Lion, he availed himself of +every opportunity afforded by his intimacy with Henry to forward the +interests of the young prince. The king had confided to the priest, as his +spiritual father, his attachment to the fair and frail Alice of France; +and the monk had betrayed the secret of the confessional to Prince +Richard. By a law of Henry I., all priests guilty of this crime were +condemned to perpetual wandering, and Richard, in his first agony and +remorse, at the death of his father, caused the penalty to be strictly +enforced. The poor monk, therefore, had for nearly twenty years practised +a weary pilgrimage from one holy place to another, resting in monasteries, +walking unshod before shrines of peculiar sanctity, and kneeling or +watching in every cave or hermitage where the hallowed remains of a saint +might be supposed to avail for his absolution. Pursued thus by the furies +of remorse, and the curses of the church, he had visited the shrines of +St. Wulstan, St. Dunstan, St. Thomas of Canterbury, St. James of +Compostella, the crucifix of Lucca, the congregated Saints at Rome, the +cave of St. Cyprian in Africa, and had now come to pray God to release his +soul at the church of the Holy Sepulchre.</p> + +<p>At the mention of St. James of Compostella, Elsiebede seemed agitated, and +when the monk ceased his story, she anxiously inquired whether in his +travels through Spain, he had rested in Pampeluna.</p> + +<p>“I tarried there some days,” returned the pilgrim, “but it is several +years since, and but for a strange circumstance it might have faded from +my memory; for he who thinks ever upon his own sins has little leisure to +study that which pleases or benefits others.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>“Relate to me this circumstance,” cried Elsiebede, eagerly.</p> + +<p>“As I knelt at high mass,” resumed the priest, “a noble lady, closely +veiled, bowed at the altar by my side. When the solemn ceremony was over, +and she rose to depart, an attendant whispered me to follow. She led the +way to her oratory in the palace of the king, where she showed me that she +was the widow of my deceased lord, Richard Cœur de Lion.”</p> + +<p>“My dear lady Berengaria,” exclaimed Elsiebede, the tears falling from her +eyes like rain.</p> + +<p>“It was, indeed, that honored queen,” said the pilgrim; “who learning that +I had loved and served the noblest prince in Christendom, sent for me to +confess the follies of her past life, and to entreat me to perform for her +in Palestine certain vows which she had made during the long and painful +imprisonment of her royal husband. It was her purpose to expiate her own +sins by a life of voluntary penitence and devotion in the convent of +L’Espan: but before retiring from the world, she desired to make one more +effort for the people of God in the Holy Land. She made me acquainted, +therefore, most noble lady, with thy former estate in her household, and +how God had exalted thee to be the spouse of a prince and ruler, as he did +afore-time the royal Esther, who came to be Queen of Persia. She bade me +remind thee of the kindness that had been shown thee, when thou wert a +stranger in a strange land, and she commendeth her love to thee by this +precious jewel, that thou mayest look upon it, and show mercy to those who +are ready to perish for the faith of our holy church.” With a pious +precision that mocked the impatience of Elsiebede, he drew from his scrip +a small reliquary which he slowly unclasped, and taking thence the magic +ring, around which clustered so many associations, presented it to the +sultana. Salaman, who had lost not a motion nor a word of the pilgrim, at +sight of the ring, forgot the respectful observance that had been enforced +since his residence at the eastern court, pressed forward and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> gazed upon +the precious talisman. The emotions of Elsiebede precluded utterance, and +the monk waited her reply in silence, till Salaman comprehending her +wishes in the matter, accompanied the pilgrim to the house of the +patriarch, and made the necessary arrangements for the performance of his +vows.</p> + +<p>The gratitude of Elsiebede for the return of her long-loved, long-lost +treasure, bringing before her as it did, the image of her widowed +mistress, and the tender sympathy, which years of intimacy had engendered, +warmed her heart still more to the Christians, and she studied to +inculcate in the minds of her children, an amicable disposition towards +the Latin inhabitants of Palestine.</p> + +<p>The sister of Sybilla, Isabella, firstly, widow of Conrad, secondly, widow +of Henry, Count of Champagne, and thirdly, widow of Almeric of Lusignan, +the twelfth King of Jerusalem, at last died, leaving her proud pretensions +and her disputed possessions to Mary, her daughter by Conrad. Alice, her +daughter by Henry, was married to Hugh of Lusignan, the son of her last +husband, and had been already proclaimed Queen of Cyprus. The claim of +Mary, therefore, to the throne of Jerusalem was undisputed, and as +Palestine was at that time without lord or ruler worthy to sway the ideal +sceptre that cost so much blood and treasure, the Bishop of Acre, and the +Lord of Cesarea were deputed by the christian knights to wait upon Philip +Augustus, King of France, and demand of him a husband for the young +princess.</p> + +<p>While the potentates of Palestine and Europe were thus occupied in the +benevolent enterprise of procuring her a husband, the orphan, Mary, dwelt +quietly at Acre; and it occurred to the politic Saif-Eddin, that a union +between the young princess and his eldest son, Cohr-Eddin, might cement a +peace between Syria and Palestine. The ambitious youth became very much +interested in the affair, and readily entered into his parent’s plan for +his aggrandizement.</p> + +<p>The magnificent embassy despatched by the Emperor of the East, to demand +the hand of the fair heiress for his son,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> set out from Damascus loaded +with most rare and costly gifts. Cohr-Eddin, with the enthusiasm of a +lover, determined to exercise the liberty of the European princes and gain +an interview with his intended bride. Before setting out he received from +his mother a fragment of the true cross, and thus armed with what he +thought would render him irresistible to the christian maiden, he rode +gaily along at the head of the splendid cavalcade, beguiling the way in +converse with a celebrated Howadji, learned in the precepts of the Koran, +and in the gorgeous and metaphorical fictions of eastern poetry.</p> + +<p>In the desert, as in the sea, the eye takes in a vast circle without +obstruction from forest or dwelling: the scouts on the second day, +therefore, easily discerned, far in the rear, a solitary horseman upon a +fleet Arabian barb. He did not, however, join the troop, but passing it to +the north, disappeared in the distance ere conjecture had settled upon his +identity, or the cause of his sudden apparition.</p> + +<p>When the hour for evening prayers arrived, on the last day of the journey, +the cortêge turned aside into a small grove of palms, and sought +refreshment by a fountain, which threw up its clear waters, and with +untiring voice, warbled its perpetual hymn. The breath of the evening was +scented by the odor of the sorrowful nyctanthes, and as they entered, they +observed that the place had been rendered sacred by the burial of one +whose marble tomb, destitute of name or inscription, was shaded by the +tender leaves of the sensitive mimosa.</p> + +<p>The repast being over, the story-loving Saracens gathered around the +Howadji, who continued to unfold the stores of his learning, descanting +upon the beauties of the place, and the influences of the stars, that, +like the generations of the earth, follow each other in solemn procession, +through the heavens; and drawing from his memory gems of poetry +appropriate to the time and occasion. Thus said he:—</p> + +<p class="poem">“Open thine eyes to consider the Narcissus,<br /> +Thou wouldst say it is the circle of the Pleiades around the sun;<br /> +Yet since the Rose has removed the veil from before her cheek,<br /> +The Narcissus has become all eyes to gaze upon her.”<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span><br /> +“The Violet has felt humbled and concealed her head under the purple mantle that covers her;<br /> +One would say that the verdure has formed beneath her feet inviting unto prayer.”<br /> +<br /> +“Yet as the sun among the stars, and the rose among the flowers of the garden,<br /> +So is the Beloved to the partial eyes of the lover.”</p> + +<p>A voice singing or chanting in the Persian, seemed to reply from the +precincts of the tomb:—</p> + +<p class="poem">“Child of Adam, heir of worldly glory, let not Hope deceive thee,<br /> +For I passed an undistinguished grave in the midst of a garden,<br /> +And the narcissus, and the rose, and the violet clustered round it,<br /> +And the star-like anemone shed its red light upon it.<br /> +And I said, whose tomb is this?<br /> +And the soil answered,<br /> +Be respectful, for this is the resting-place of a lover.”<br /> +<br /> +“So I said, God keep thee, oh! victim of love,<br /> +For thou hast fallen beneath the simoom of passion,<br /> +Or perished with the mildew of disappointment.”</p> + +<p>The voice ceased—the company waited in silence for the renewal of the +song: but the nightingale alone took up the strain, and the spreading of +the tents and the sweet slumber that falls upon the weary, effaced the +remembrance of the mysterious serenade from the minds of all but +Cohr-Eddin. A superstitious fear weighed upon the spirit of the lover, and +haunted his imagination. It was destiny warning him of disappointment, it +was a rival triumphing in his chagrin; in either case it argued ill for +the success of his suit, and robbed him of his rest.</p> + +<p>When they set forward the following morning, they again caught a glimpse +of the unknown cavalier, spurring on before them, and a messenger, mounted +on the fleetest steed of the party, was despatched to overtake the +stranger, and learn his purpose. The mission was unsuccessful, and the +affair was passed over in silence.</p> + +<p>The embassy was received with great distinction by the christian lords in +charge of Acre. The advantages of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> proposed alliance were such as +carried conviction to the most obtuse minds. The ardor of the lover, +enforced by his presence, and by an animation unusual to the formal +Orientals, gave to the Templars the strongest hopes of being able to make +their own terms with the Sultan, and they eagerly advocated the propriety +of a betrothal between the parties, before the messengers could return +from Europe with the husband provided by the French king.</p> + +<p>But as the Princess Mary had been made fully aware of the importance of +her hand to Christendom, and as her imagination might have been captivated +by the glowing descriptions of the western knight who should lay his +honors at her feet, the affair was considered of too delicate a character +to admit of their interference: they concluded, therefore, to leave the +lover to plead his own cause with the proud queen.</p> + +<p>As Cohr-Eddin was conducted to the hall of audience, he encountered an +individual, whose person seemed familiar, but whose face was studiously +concealed, and who evidently sought to escape observation. When he entered +the royal presence the lady appeared agitated, and despite her efforts at +self-control tears forced themselves from her eyes, yet the unpropitious +omen at the same time gave such a subdued and tender expression to her +lustrous beauty, that the young Moslem acknowledged at once the power of +her charms. But neither the stately courtesy, nor the florid flatteries of +eastern compliment, nor the rich presents which he laid at her feet, nor +the tempting offer of the crown matrimonial of Syria, nor even the piece +of sacred wood which he brought to back his suit, had power to move the +heart of the christian maiden. She steadfastly plead her engagement to +abide by the arrangements of her ambassadors. The penetrating Saracen +perceived, however, that it was the state of her affections, and not her +principles that made his case utterly hopeless. He could not escape the +suspicion that the mysterious horseman was in some way connected with his +disappointment; but as he could not learn the name or rank of his rival, +his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> wounded pride had not the usual alleviation of meditated revenge.</p> + +<p>On his return to Damascus, he found that during his absence a division of +the Empire had been determined upon; that his younger brother had been +made Sultan of Egypt, while to himself was committed the sovereignty of +Syria and Palestine.</p> + +<p>Affairs were in this posture when Jean de Brienne, the nobleman designated +by Philip Augustus, with a train of three hundred knights arrived at Acre. +The next day he received the hand of Mary in marriage, and shortly +afterwards was crowned King of Jerusalem.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER II.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>——“Death grinned horribly<br /> +A ghastly smile.”——</td></tr></table> + +<p>A few years of unsuccessful conflict with the politic and warlike +Saphadin, sufficed to acquaint the new king with the condition of affairs +in Palestine. He displayed his valor in many a fierce encounter, and saved +his states from utter annihilation, but he foresaw the approaching ruin of +the holy cause, and wrote a letter to the pope, stating that the kingdom +of Jerusalem consisted only of two or three towns, which by a vigorous +action on the part of his foes, might be wrested from him at any moment.</p> + +<p>Innocent III. answered by a circular letter, calling on all the sovereigns +and clergy of Christendom, to seek a crown of glory in the sacred wars of +Palestine; and by an epistle to Saphadin, in which he reminded the +powerful Infidel, that the Holy Land was in the possession of the +Mussulmans, not on account of their virtues, but the sins of the +Christians. The anger of Heaven, however, he said, was tempered with +mercy, and the time was at hand when that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> mercy would be shown in an +especial manner, and he finished by exhorting the Sultan to resign +peacefully, a country which was a source of more inconvenience than profit +to the Moslems.</p> + +<p>As the dignified Saracen made no overtures of capitulation, the pope found +it necessary to put this boasted mercy to the proof, and the <i>Sixth +Crusade</i> was accordingly preached in every church of Europe. A general +council was held in the palace of the Lateran, <span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> 1215, for the +important but dissimilar purposes of crowning Frederic II. grandson of +Frederic Barbarossa, and for chastising vice in its various forms and +condemning heresy in all its phases, and also for the sake of inducing +princes and people to join the expedition to the Holy Land.</p> + +<p>“There were present the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Jerusalem, the +ambassador of the Patriarch of Antioch, seventy-four metropolitan +primates, and three hundred and forty bishops. The abbots and friars +numbered eight hundred, but the representatives of the higher clergy could +not be calculated. The Emperor of Constantinople, the Kings of France, +England, Hungary, Jerusalem, Arragon, and the sovereigns of many other +countries, were represented in the assembly.”</p> + +<p>After the general interests of the church had been considered and the +heretics summarily given over to all the miseries of this life, and the +pains of that to come, war against the Saracens, was declared to be the +most sacred duty of the European world. The usual privileges and +indulgences were accorded to the pilgrims, all tournaments during the +three years appointed for the crusade, were prohibited, and universal +peace was decreed, to all christian kingdoms for the same period. Frederic +II. was crowned on condition of joining the expedition.</p> + +<p>The troubadours again took down their harps, and the voice of song echoing +through castle and hall aroused the enthusiasm of youth, and awoke the +slumbering energies of age. The pontiff himself declared his intention of +visiting the Holy Land, and the warriors said one to another,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> “Let us +spread our sacred banners and pass the seas; let us impress upon our +bodies the sign of the cross; let us restore Christ to his inheritance, +and by our deeds of arms merit the admiration of men, and the approbation +of Heaven.”</p> + +<p>This crusade is divided into three parts. The expedition of Andrew II. +King of Hungary; the war in Egypt, led by the Pope’s legate and King Jean; +and the campaign of the Emperor Frederic II., the first two divisions with +their multiplied and sanguinary events, shaping the destiny and affecting +the fortunes of Violante, the infant daughter of John de Brienne and Mary, +King and Queen of Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>Not long after Philip Augustus furnished from his dominions so wise and +noble a knight to protect the rights of Mary and Jerusalem, he was called +upon to exercise again his royal prerogative of match-maker and king-maker +by deputies from Constantinople.</p> + +<p>The first Latin sovereign of the Greek Empire, Baldwin of Flanders, left +his crown to his brother Henry. This prince dying without children, the +next heir was his sister Yolande, widow of a French noble, and +mother-in-law to Andrew II. King of Hungary. But the sceptre of empire in +Constantinople, as well as in Jerusalem, could be swayed only by the firm +hand of a warrior, and the deputies besought Philip Augustus to provide at +once a husband for Yolande, and an emperor for the throne of the Cæsars. +The choice fell upon Peter Courtenay, cousin of the French king. The +bridegroom—monarch elect, was conducted by a noble retinue to the Court +of Hungary, where the marriage ceremony was performed by the successor of +Innocent, Pope Honorius III. King Andrew then, in setting off for the +crusade, accompanied the bridal party, dignified by the presence of the +sovereign pontiff to the gates of Constantinople, where he witnessed the +august ceremony of investing the monarch with the imperial purple, and saw +the pope place the diadem of the East upon the head of his royal +father-in-law. From Constantinople the Hungarian leader sailed for Cyprus, +where he was admitted to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> an audience, with Hugh and Alice, king and queen +of that island and thence with favorable winds passed over the Levant, and +landed in safety at Acre.</p> + +<p>This city was at that time the metropolis of the Holy Land, and in the +palace formerly occupied by the queens Berengaria and Joanna, the stern +western warriors knelt and did homage to Violante, the young Princess of +Palestine. Saphadin had retired from the constant toils of royalty, and +blessed with the respect of his people, and the sweet affection of +Elsiebede, resided in security at Damascus.</p> + +<p>Cohr-Eddin, the reigning monarch, unprepared for the sudden invasion of +his territories, was unable to call together his scattered tribes in +sufficient force to hazard a general battle with the croises. The King of +Hungary therefore led his army unmolested across “that ancient river, the +river Kishon,” over the plain of Jezreel, to the valley of the Jordan. +They bathed in the sacred river; made the pilgrimage of the lake +Gennesareth; visited the scenes made sacred by the miracles of the +Saviour, and returned to Acre.</p> + +<p>On the mount of Transfiguration the Saracens had built and fortified a +tower of exceeding strength, and the soldiers, anxious to achieve +something worthy the expedition, clamored to be led to the siege of this +fortress; but hordes of armed Mussulmans were every day crowding to the +vicinity, and the restless Andrew, afraid to undertake anything further, +resolved on a return to Europe.</p> + +<p>Neither the entreaties nor threats of the Latin Christians, who had +received him with hospitality, and exhausted their supplies in his +entertainment, could persuade him to venture a blow for Palestine. Taking +with him most of his soldiers, he returned through the Greek Empire, +collecting relics from every holy place on his route, having so +impoverished his kingdom by the expenses of the expedition, that it did +not for years recover its pristine state. Thus ended the first division of +the Sixth Crusade.</p> + +<p>Still the Latins of Palestine were not left destitute. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> Duke of +Austria remained with a company of German crusaders, and the next year, +when a reinforcement arrived, King Jean de Brienne with the Templars and +Hospitallers, decided to transfer the seat of war to the dominions of +Melech Camel, the youngest son of Saphadin and Elsiebede. Damietta was +considered the key of Egypt, and thither the crusaders sailed in the month +of May, <span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> 1216. A gallant band, selected from every nation in the army, +led the assault against the citadel on St. Bartholomew’s day. The garrison +defended themselves with valor, but finally capitulated, and the rest of +the city was looked upon as an easy conquest.</p> + +<p>It was at this time that the Counts La Marche and Nevers arrived at the +head of the French division of the crusade, but notwithstanding this new +importation of knightly valor, the siege of Damietta went on but slowly. +The legate of the pope advanced a claim to the office of +commander-in-chief in right of his spiritual superiority; the Syrian +Christians rallied around their King Jean de Brienne, and the French would +yield obedience to none but their native leaders. Thus the captured castle +of Damietta became a very Babel, from the confusion of tongues. Seventeen +months were passed in furious attacks and idle skirmishes. The Saracens +fought many well-contested battles with the Christians in their camp, but +the issue of most of these conflicts was disastrous to the Moslems.</p> + +<p>While the valiant Melech Camel was thus engaged in the gallant defence of +his dominions, the death of Saif-Eddin deprived him of the counsels and +assistance of the most successful chieftain that ever ruled the East.</p> + +<p>When the news of the sad event reached Egypt, the subjects of the Sultan +withdrew from their allegiance and joined the standard of a young Emir who +attempted to make the sufferings of his country the means of his own +aggrandizement. Melech Camel, obliged to escape for safety, fled over to +Arabia, and thence directed his course toward Syria. Passing through +El-akof, or territory of the winding sands, he came to the valley of +Kadesh, where he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> descried a caravan encamped for the night. In doubt +whether the convoy was guarded by the tributaries of his brother, or by a +hostile tribe of Bedouins, he cautiously approached the well around which +tethered horses and mules were browsing upon the scanty herbage, and +multitudes of camels were lying in quiet repose. White tents like a +setting of pearls around a central diamond encircled a silken pavilion of +unrivalled magnificence, on the top of which gleamed a silver crescent, at +once the symbol of the Moslem faith, and the reflection of its bright +archetype in the sky. The watch-fires burned low, and no sounds of life +broke the profound silence that reigned throughout the extended realm of +night. Dismounting and throwing the rein of his steed across his arm, to +be prepared for any emergency, he advanced stealthily to the entrance of +the circle. As he lifted the awning a small, dark, misshapen figure, like +the fabled genii that guard the treasures of the East, rose up before him, +and one glance at the ugly but welcome visage of Salaman assured him that +he was among friends. The intelligence which he received from the faithful +black, was even more gratifying than his appearance. The caravan was laden +with provisions for the suffering soldiers in Egypt. Elsiebede herself +occupied the royal pavilion, and Cohr Eddin was levying forces to come to +the rescue of Damietta. Salaman led the way to a tent where, after +listening to these satisfactory details, the fugitive monarch was left to +the enjoyment of a repose to which he had long been stranger.</p> + +<p>The meeting between Elsiebede and her favorite and unfortunate son, was of +the most tender character. She acquainted him with the particulars of his +father’s death, and of the affairs that disturbed the peace of the empire. +When Cohr-Eddin, returning from his unsuccessful suit to the heiress of +Jerusalem, found that his brother had been sent to Egypt, he was confirmed +in the suspicion that his rival was no other than Melech Camel. He +recalled the figure of the solitary horseman, the voice at the tomb, and +the disguised stranger, and, incensed at the thought that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> his brother had +supplanted him in the affections of the princess, he determined to pursue +him to his new dominions and take summary vengeance upon him. To soothe +the irritated and jealous feelings of Cohr-Eddin, Elsiebede had been under +the necessity of revealing the secret which her younger son had confided +to her on the eve of his departure for Egypt, namely, his early attachment +for Mary formed during a residence at the Latin court, the hope he had +cherished of uniting the kingdoms by a union with the object of his +affections, and the struggle it had cost him to relinquish those +pretensions. Cohr-Eddin, less noble than his brother, could scarcely be +brought to credit the assertion that Camel’s visit to Acre had originated +in a desire to leave Mary free to accept his proposals, but as it was then +the festival of the Ramadan, in which it is not permitted for the faithful +to make war upon each other, the execution of his revenge was necessarily +delayed, and before the expiration of the sacred period, his presence was +required upon the frontiers of his kingdom to repel the irruption of the +Mongols.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>The timely relief afforded by the stores of the caravan, and the warlike +fame and forces of his brother, soon reinstated Camel in his possessions; +but their united efforts were insufficient to drive the Christians from +Egypt. Before leaving Palestine, Cohr-Eddin apprehensive that his own +territories might be garrisoned against him, destroyed the wall of +Jerusalem, and broke down its defences with the exception of the tower of +David, and the temple of the sepulchre; and after many gallant battles, +deeming it impossible to raise the siege of Damietta, he proposed to the +Crusaders peace. The Moslems, he said, would give up the piece of the true +cross, release all the Christian prisoners in Syria and Egypt, rebuild the +walls of Jerusalem, and relinquish the sacred city to its Latin king, John +de Brienne.</p> + +<p>The French and the Germans hailed with joy the prospect of a speedy +termination of the war; but the fanatical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> devotees of the church, the +Templars, legates, and bishops were deaf to the counsels of moderation, +and it was decided to pursue the siege with vigor.</p> + +<p>Damietta was taken; but with such determined valor had the Moslems +defended their city, that of the population, which, at the commencement of +the siege, consisted of seventy thousand souls, scarce three thousand upon +the day of final attack appeared upon the ramparts. A gate was forced, and +the warriors of the cross rushed forward to commence the work of plunder. +They met neither a resistant nor a suppliant enemy. The awful silence +struck a chill upon their souls. They passed along the deserted streets. +The waysides were strewn with dead bodies in every state of putrescence. +They entered the dwellings. In every room ghastly corpses, with visages +shrunken by famine or bloated by pestilence, glared upon them. Turk and +Mameluke, Copt and Arab, master and servant, rich and poor, were heaped in +undistinguished masses, the dying with the dead. Infants appealing in vain +to the pulseless breasts of famished mothers, lifted their feeble cries +for sustenance; dogs ran about the streets, and pestilential effluvia rose +like an exhalation from the vast charnel-house, whose appalling stillness +the Christians had invaded with songs of triumph and rejoicing. They had +overcome the Moslems, but they found the conqueror Death seated on the +throne of dominion. Awe-struck and abashed they fled from before the +presence of the King of Terrors, gladly granting life and liberty to the +surviving Moslems, on condition of their performing the horrid and +melancholy task of cleansing the city from the remains of their relatives +and friends.</p> + +<p>The way into Palestine was now open, and King Jean proposed to the +victorious Christians to march immediately thither; but the legate of the +pope insisted that the complete conquest of Egypt should first be +effected. His arrogance overruled wiser counsels, and it was resolved to +pursue Melech Camel to Cairo. The croises accordingly advanced on the +eastern bank of the Nile, till their progress<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> was arrested by the canal +of Ashmoun, on the south side of which the forces of Islam were stationed. +Every emir of Syria had sent assistance to Melech, and the Latins were +prevented from leaving their position, till the period of the annual +influx of the Nile, when the Mussulmans opened their sluices, inundated +their enemy’s camp, cut off all communication with the sea-coast, and +enclosed them like fish in a net. The tents and baggage were swept away; +the provisions spoiled, the terrible scourge that had destroyed the +inhabitants of Damietta, appeared in the camp, and the humbled Christians +made overtures of peace, promising to evacuate Egypt, on condition of +being permitted to return in safety to Acre. The generous Melech Camel +acceded to this proposal. Hostages were exchanged for the performance of +the treaty, and the noble King of Jerusalem, together with his wife and +their daughter, Violante, were among the number.</p> + +<p>The Sultan of Egypt received his guests with distinguished honor, and +provided for their princely entertainment in Cairo. As the sympathetic +Latin chief took leave of his suffering followers, tears overflowed his +manly cheeks. “Why do you weep?” exclaimed the compassionate sultan. “I +have cause to weep,” returned the king, “the people whom God has given to +my charge, are perishing amidst the waters, dying with hunger, or falling +a prey to the pestilence.” “Despair not,” replied the noble Melech, “for +what saith the proverb? ‘To everything there is an end,’ therefore, mourn +not, for misfortunes shall find a termination.” He turned to his soldiers, +and gave orders that the granaries of Egypt should be opened for their +suffering foes.</p> + +<p>As the royal hostages approached the palace of the Sultan, they were +preceded by troops of vassals, called apparitors, who, sword in hand and +with great clamor, led them through narrow and winding passages, where at +every gate cohorts of armed Ethiopians, bowed with their faces in the dust +before the Sultan, and welcomed his triumphant return, with the harsh +dissonance of the Saracen drum,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> and the shrill tones of the Syrian pipe. +They entered next upon a broader space open to the clear light of day, +where were galleries wainscoted with gold, and ornamented with marble +pillars and sculptured images of the old Egyptian deities; and paved with +mosaics of colored stone. There were basins filled with limpid waters, +which glided in shining streams over rocks arranged to resemble the +ravines and grottoes of the wilderness. The branches of the olive, +pomegranate and fig were loaded with fruit, and the place resounded with +the warbling of birds of varied and gorgeous plumage; while through vistas +pleasantly opening to them as they passed, the eye caught glimpses of +artificial forests in which bounded the silver-footed antelope, and the +bright-eyed gazelle, with multitudes of graceful and beautiful animals, +“Such as painters imagine in the wantonness of their art, such as poetic +fancies describe, such as we see in dreams, and such as are found only in +the lands of the Orient and the South.” The open court turned upon a +corridor, and at the entrance beneath a crystal floor, there rolled a +clear stream through which the glittering gold fish sported, and the +mottled trout pursued the shining insects with restless avidity. The +little Violante unpractised in the deceits of art, lifted her robe and +stepped daintily upon the glassy surface, as if to lave her tiny feet in +the translucent waters. Finding that the firm basis yielded not to the +tread, she passed on with a puzzled look of surprise and pleasure, till +her attention was attracted by the sound of a multitude of voices, and +melodious harpings with which the satellites of the ante-chamber greeted +their approach. Bands of Mamelukes dressed in robes of the greatest +magnificence, prostrated themselves thrice before their Sultan, and then +raised their feathery wands to bar the progress of the train to the inner +court of the harem. The gates rolled back upon their golden hinges, and a +troop of maidens fair as the houries, approached to receive the christian +females, while the Sultan with the king and his knights turned away from +the closing gates, like lost spirits banished from the bowers of Elysium.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span>Welcomed by the inmates of the seraglio, the royal ladies were conducted +to baths, where all sense of fatigue was lost in the plastic embrace of +the fragrant waters; after which reclining upon couches they enjoyed +delicious repose, while their dark-eyed attendants plaited their hair +according to the eastern fashion, and apparelled them with the flowing and +graceful drapery of the Egyptian court. Thence they were ushered into a +refectory, where seated upon divans, they regaled themselves with a simple +collation of cakes and fruits, inhaling the balmy air redolent with +accumulated sweets, gathered from the fragrant gardens that bordered the +Nile. From the banquet room they passed to an apartment magnificently +adorned with all the appliances of Oriental luxury. Lofty windows admitted +the light, which, shaded by curtains of varied colors, was tempered to a +soft radiance that filled the apartment with an indefinable bloom. +Suddenly the silken partitions inwoven with pearls and gold in the midst +of the hall, were drawn aside, and Elsiebede, descending from a canopied +throne, and resigning the stately dignity of the queen, greeted her +European guests with the gracious familiarity that she had learned in the +household of Richard Cœur de Lion. Reclining upon cushions that offered +rest and inspired a soft languor, they listened to her sweet assurances of +favor uttered in the welcome language of Frangistan, or watched the airy +motions of sportive girls, who keeping time to the tinkling ornaments that +decorated their delicate limbs, sported before them in the joyous +evolutions of the dance. The unaffected grace of the little Violante, who +joined the performers, gave infinite delight to the almé or learned women, +who accompanied by the Syrian lute, sang verses in compliment to the +distinguished guests.</p> + +<p>Upon the evacuation of Egypt by the Christians, the volunteers returned to +Europe, and the Barons of Syria and the military orders retired to Acre. +The hostages being now at liberty, the king set off for Palestine, leaving +his wife and child to travel by the imperial caravan, under the safe +conduct of the Sultana. He found his kingdom in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> a distracted state. The +Templars were in effect the lords of Palestine, and a cessation of +hostilities with the Infidels, was but a signal for the breaking out of +animosities between the rival Christians.</p> + +<p>Disheartened with the gloomy aspect of things, the disconsolate king sat +in his palace at Acre, devising schemes to mend his broken fortunes, each +one of which, upon mature consideration, he was forced to abandon as +hopeless and impracticable, when the chamberlain entered and presented a +letter. The epistle was from Elsiebede, and brought the melancholy +intelligence of the death of his beloved Mary, whose remains, preserved in +wax, and attended by her own christian maidens, had been brought to Acre +under the convoy of the fleet of Melech Camel. With the delicate +tenderness of one who had tasted grief, the Sultana dwelt upon the virtues +of the deceased queen, and consoled the bereaved husband with assurances +that her disease had been treated by the most learned leeches of the royal +household, and her last hours been blest with the attendance of a +christian priest, and the performance of the rites enjoined by the +christian faith. Concerning the orphan, Violante, she continued, “Let the +damsel, I pray thee, abide with me, that I may show kindness unto her for +her mother’s sake. She shall have the nurture of a princess in the house +of the Egyptian, for God hath made her unto me as Moses to the daughter of +Pharaoh. The angel of the storm rideth upon the sea, while the winter +remaineth, but when the queen of the flowers shall ascend her throne of +enamelled foliage, thou mayest require her, and she shall come to thee, by +the blessing of Allah (whose name be exalted), and by the blessing also of +thy prophet Jesus, in whom thou trustest.”</p> + +<p>The burial-ground of Acre was crowded with christian graves. The best and +noblest of the brave sons of the West, champions and martyrs of the cross, +had there gained worthy sepulture; but it was meet that the Queen of +<i>Jerusalem</i> should find her last resting-place among the ancient kings of +that time-honored metropolis. By the favor of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>Cohr-Eddin permission was +gained to convey her body thither; mass was said for her soul in the +church of the Holy Sepulchre; her grave was made in the valley of +Jehoshaphat; and Christian and Saracen stood together in reverent silence, +while the Patriarch of Jerusalem committed “Earth to earth, and dust to +dust,” to wait the morning of the resurrection.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER III.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“The death of those distinguished by their station,<br /> +But by their virtue more, awakes the mind<br /> +To solemn dread, and strikes a saddening awe.”</td></tr></table> + +<p>When the loss of Damietta and the evacuation of Egypt was known at Rome, +Pope Honorius III. reproached the emperor, Frederic II. with being the +cause of the signal failure of the christian arms in the East, and +threatened him with excommunication if he did not immediately fulfil his +vow, by leading his armies against the Infidel. This insolence roused the +indignation of the prince, and excited him to hostility. He proceeded to +claim the kingdom of the two Sicilies, in right of his mother, Constance, +and marching thither, drove out the partisans of the Holy See, established +bishops of his own choosing in the vacant benefices, and even threatened +to plunder Rome. Honorius discovering that he had involved himself in +strife with a powerful enemy, wrote a conciliatory letter to the emperor, +saying, “I exhort you, my dear son, to recall to your recollection, that +you are the protector of the Roman Church; do not forget what you owe to +that good mother, and take pity on her daughter, the church of the East, +which extends towards you her arms, like an unfortunate, who has no longer +any hope but in you.”</p> + +<p>Frederic, too much occupied in his plans for adding Italy to the German +Empire, to undertake a distant expedition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> that afforded so little +prospect of an increase of patrimony or glory, was, notwithstanding, +willing to avail himself of the popular enthusiasm. He professed his +intention to obey the mandate of the holy father, and prepared for the +pious work, by causing his son Henry to be crowned King of the Romans, and +by adding the imperial to the kingly diadem upon his own head, 1220. It is +even probable that the subjugation of Italy, and the assertion of the +rights of the temporal against the spiritual power, might have prevented +Frederic from ever attempting anything for Palestine, had not the +sagacious pontiff found an irresistible ally in the beautiful Violante, +Queen of Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>Wearied of endeavoring to convert his marital rights to the sovereignty of +Jerusalem, into actual and firm dominion, Jean de Brienne listened to the +suggestions of the Roman legate, that his claims to the nominal crown +might be transferred with the hand of his daughter to some powerful prince +of Europe.</p> + +<p>Accompanied by the patriarch of Jerusalem, Jean de Brienne sailed for +Egypt on his route to Italy. Melech Camel received his guests with a +pompous distinction calculated to impress them with the security and +prosperity of his government; and Violante, whose sojourn with Elsiebede +had been protracted to several years, welcomed her father with the timid +reserve consequent upon the harem-like seclusion in which she had been +nurtured. Her dress was Oriental, both in richness of material and +peculiarity of costume. She returned the king’s embrace gracefully and +affectionately, but when the patriarch fixed his admiring eyes upon her, +she instantly concealed her blushing countenance behind the folds of her +veil, and the prelate observed that though the prayers she repeated in her +agitation, were such as the church prescribed, she held in her hand an +“Implement of praise,” or Moslem rosary, of thrice three and thirty +precious stones, and that she involuntarily mingled with her more orthodox +devotions, “Ya Alla khalick, ya Alla kareem.” He would fain have relieved +her of the Infidel charm, but the spoiled princess resisted his pious +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>endeavor, and sought refuge from his remonstrances in the female +apartments of the palace.</p> + +<p>The stay of Jean de Brienne in Egypt was marked by an event of great +consequence, both to the Christians and Mussulmans. The health of +Elsiebede had long been declining; and in the maturity of years, passed in +benevolent efforts to harmonize the discordant interests of those among +whom she dwelt a stranger and a sovereign, she sank to her rest. Violante +wept bitterly at the loss of her patron and friend, but the Moorish +maidens, to whom she had rendered herself inexpressibly dear, were not +permitted by their law to indulge in expressions of sorrow, though an +involuntary tear accompanied the consolatory words with which they +addressed Melech Camel: “Alla wills it. May the blessing of the +All-merciful rest upon thee.”</p> + +<p>Violante had so long dwelt in the house of Elsiebede, that the +distinctions of faith were forgotten, and she was allowed to mingle with +the mourning-train that carried the body to the burial: but King Jean de +Brienne and the patriarch of Jerusalem were prohibited from profaning the +sacred ceremony by their presence.</p> + +<p>The serene dawn of an Eastern morning was gilding the domes and minarets +of Cairo, as the body of Elsiebede was carried forth to the mosque, to be +prepared, according to the faith of her fathers, for its final home. As +the bearers entered the door, the congregation repeated in solemn cadence, +“Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds, the most merciful, the king of +the day of judgment. Thee do we worship, and of thee do we beg assistance. +Direct us in the right way, in the way of those to whom thou hast been +gracious; not of those against whom thou art incensed, nor of those who go +astray.”</p> + +<p>The imam then stood up and called upon one and another to testify +concerning the life of the illustrious dead; and each vied with the other +in recounting her acts of beneficence and piety, till the priest concluded +with, “She was more glorious than the four perfect women who dwell in the +bowers of the blest. She was more bountiful than <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>Fatima; she had the +virtue of Kadijah; she was more constant than Asia; she had the purity of Mary.”</p> + +<p>Wrapped in fine linen impregnated with spices and perfumes, and laid in a +coffin of cypress, the remains were then carried to the place of +interment, where a crowd of females who were not permitted to enter the +mosque, sat closely veiled upon the ground in the utmost abandonment of +silent sorrow. Others embraced the pillars that ornamented the graves, and +cried out, “A leaf hath withered on the tree of life, a new guest cometh +to the City of the Silent.”</p> + +<p>The body was preceded by a noble Moor, who bore upon his head a box of +cendal wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Arrived at the grave, the bearers +set down the bier, and the imam called upon all to join him in prayer. +Scarcely had the air ceased to vibrate with their voices, when the +muezzins, placing frankincense in golden censers, touched it with burning +coals, and a fragrant cloud laden with the breath of their petitions, +seemed to float away towards heaven. The imam standing at the head of the +grave, opened the cendal box, and taking thence the leaves of the Koran, +distributed them among the people, and all began to read in a low +recitative chant, the words of the holy book, “By the brightness of the +morning; and by the night, when it groweth dark; thy Lord hath not +forsaken thee, neither doth he hate thee. Verily the life to come shall be +better for thee than the present life; and thy Lord shall give thee a +reward wherewith thou shalt be well pleased. Did not he find thee an +orphan, and hath he not taken care of thee? And did he not find thee +wandering in error, and hath he not guided thee into the truth? And did he +not find thee needy, and hath he not enriched thee? Wherefore declare the +goodness of thy Lord.” The coffin was deposited in the ground, and every +friend and every bystander cast a portion of dust upon it, until the grave +was filled. The imam then called out to the loved one, “Oh Elsiebede! +daughter of Eve, say that God is thy God, say that Mohammed is the prophet +of God.” He paused a moment as if listening for her response, and then +continued, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>“Certainly thou hast acknowledged God for thy God, Islamism +for thy religion, Mohammed for thy prophet, the Koran for thy priest, the +sanctuary of Mecca for thy Kibla, and the faithful for thy brethren.” He +turned to the congregation, and spreading forth his hands repeated the +benediction, “Oh Lord pour patience on us, and cause us all to die +Moslems.”</p> + +<p>Melech Camel, as chief of the household, then approached, and planted a +sprig of cypress on the right and on the left of the grave, and each +friend and relative performed the same sad duty, and then all standing +together with their hands stretched out above the resting-place of the +beloved Sultana, repeated the portion of the sacred writings appointed for +the closing service: “By the sun and its rising brightness—by the moon +when she followeth him—by the day when he showeth his splendor—by the +night when it covereth him with darkness—by the heaven and him who built +it—by the earth and him who spread it forth—by the witness and the +witnessed—by the soul and him who completely formed it, and inspired into +the same its faculty of distinguishing and power of choosing wickedness +and piety—now is he who hath possessed the same happy—”</p> + +<p>The procession then slowly and sadly departed from the hallowed precincts, +and none marked the bowed and wasted figure of Salaman leaning upon the +broken turf that hid from his dimmed and aged eyes the face of his only +friend. His attachment for Elsiebede had been such as is common to animals +remarkable for sagacity and fidelity, and the range of his intellect +introducing him to no personal aspirings, all his thoughts had been +concentrated in the one idea of serving his mistress. He had shared her +confidence and favor in weal and in woe, and followed her fortunes with a +zeal and industry that engrossed all his powers. Now that she was no more, +there remained for him neither aim nor purpose, neither hope nor desire. +Without a country, without a religion, he had worshipped Mass with the +Christians, and repeated the Creed with the Moslems; but since Elsiebede<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> +had entered upon an untried state, his desire to insure to her every +possible good, led him, at great personal inconvenience, to procure an +ebony cross, that if she failed of the Mohammedan paradise, she might, +through its influence, gain an entrance into the Christian’s heaven. With +a feeble hand that scarce obeyed the promptings of his generous affection, +the faithful black hollowed a place for the venerated symbol, and with +great difficulty planted it firmly at the head of the grave. The pious +task accomplished, he knelt to repeat a christian prayer which they had +learned together in the household of Berengaria. The familiar words +overwhelmed him in a tide of long-forgotten reminiscences, and he fell +prostrate upon the mound.</p> + +<p>The following morning Violante obtained permission to accompany the +maidens to the burial ground, and assist in garlanding the grave of the +Sultana. At the sight of the silent worshipper they hushed their voices, +but he heeded not their approach. The princess ventured to lift the hand +that rested upon the cross. It was stiff and cold. She drew aside her veil +and gazed upon his face. The faithful Salaman had expired upon the grave +of Elsiebede.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER IV.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Her lot is on you—silent tears to weep,<br /> +And patient smiles to wear through suffering’s hour<br /> +And sumless riches from Affection’s deep,<br /> +To pour on broken reeds—a wasted shower!<br /> +And to make idols, and to find them clay,<br /> +And to bewail that worship—therefore pray!”</td></tr></table> + +<p>Violante, the eastern beauty, whose hand held the keys of all the seaports +of the Levant—the sceptre of the Latin kingdom of Palestine, and the +diadem of Jerusalem—and whose voice alone could pronounce the magic +“Sesame” that should open the gates of commerce, and pour the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> treasures +of Sheba, and Dedan, and Ophir into the coffers of the church, created a +great sensation in Europe.</p> + +<p>The titular king, John de Brienne, was ready to resign all the real or +fancied good that might appertain to his daughter’s dominions, in favor of +any candidate whom the pope should select as her future husband; and the +presumptive queen, whose eastern preferences led her still to retain the +timid reserve in which she had been educated, was not supposed to have any +choice in the matter. The wily pontiff desirous to bind the Ghibelline +faction like a victim to the horns of the altar, proposed a union between +the son of the Emperor Frederic, and the daughter of John de Brienne. The +young prince was delighted with his brilliant prospects, and readily +assured the legate of the pope, that his sword should be ready at all +times and in all places to execute the decrees of the church.</p> + +<p>Since her arrival at Rome, Violante had lived in almost utter solitude, +mourning for the girlish sports that had given wings to the flying hours +in the palace of Cairo, and weeping at the remembrance of the constant +beneficence and tender counsels of the good Queen Elsiebede. She received +the advances of the royal heir of Hohenstaufen with an embarrassment that +might portend either success or failure to his suit. He repeated his +visits, and at each interview made desperate efforts to impress her with a +sense of his devotion and to win in return some token of her regard; but +his self-felicitations reached no farther than a general conviction, that +she was very beautiful and very bashful. John de Brienne represented to +his daughter the necessity of fixing the affections of the young king. She +listened with respectful silence, and interposed no objections to the +arrangements making for her future happiness. The nuptials were to be +celebrated on the occasion of a high festival, at Ferentino, and the +emperor with the chief dignitaries of his court was to grace the splendid +ceremony. The week before the appointed day, Frederic arrived in Italy, +and prompted by curiosity, sought an interview with his prospective +daughter. Violante received the majestic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> emperor with the same maiden +coyness that had characterized her interviews with her lover; but +Frederic, whose ardent fancy was captivated by the fascinating Oriental, +was not to be baffled by her shyness. After attempting an indifferent +conversation, in the French language, he changed his tactics, and +modulating his voice to the low, deep tones of the Arabic, spoke to her of +her former life, of her mother, of her future home. Suddenly the +countenance of the delighted girl became radiant with animation, the +eloquent blood mounted to her cheek, her eyes dilated with joy, and the +admiring monarch listened in mute surprise, while in the graceful and +poetical language of the East she narrated the particulars of her sojourn +at Cairo, and described the games and sports she had enjoyed in the +company of the Moorish maidens. She showed him her jewel rosary, with its +pendant charm, the talisman of the Gyptianos, the last gift of Elsiebede; +but when she essayed to speak of the virtues of the sultana, tender +recollections crowded so fast upon her, that her lips refused their +office, and gushing tears alone finished her tale of gratitude and love. +Her royal auditor soothed her agitation with assurances of sympathy and +kindness, and on leaving the apartment, was flattered by her urgent +request, that he would visit her again. Engagements of this sort, the +amatory monarch seldom failed to fulfil. Each interview increased the +charm, and deepened her affection; and before the expiration of the week, +he waited upon the pope to apprize his holiness, that Violante had +rejected the son, in favor of the father. The pontiff, well pleased with +the turn affairs had taken, interposed but one condition, and Frederic +having solemnly promised to undertake the crusade within two years, took +the place of Henry at the altar, and espoused the heiress of Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>Pleased with his lovely acquisition, and occupied with the affairs of his +realm, Frederic delayed under various pretexts the fulfilment of his vow, +and neither the expostulations of pope nor peer had any influence upon his +purposes, till he learned that Honorius had entered into a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> league with +his son Henry, the disappointed bridegroom, and instigated the cities of +Lombardy to revolt. Alarmed at the disaffection of his subjects, Frederic +renewed his promise, and went so far as to consign his kingdom to the +protection of the church, during his absence. The death of the pope, in +1227, afforded him another temporary respite.</p> + +<p>He had, however, in this change of pontiffs, as little matter of +congratulation, as the fox in the fable: Gregory IX. proving a more +voracious and intolerant scourge, than his predecessor. After making +arrangements to prosecute the designs of Honorius upon the Albigenses, the +new pope published the eastern crusade, and called upon Frederic to set +out without loss of time.</p> + +<p>The lovely Violante was drooping in her European home. The harsh and +guttural language of the Germans, offended her ear, their rude and +unpolished manners presented an effectual barrier to the light and +graceful amusements, which she sought to introduce in her court, and her +delicate frame chilled by the severity of a climate to which she was +unaccustomed, shrank from every exposure. She pined to revel once more, in +the bland and balmy airs that sweep the fragrance from Hermon, and to be +served with the courteous reserve, and graceful observances which she had +enjoyed in the harem of Cairo. Her only hope of returning to her native +land, was in the fulfilment of her husband’s vow; but finding that her +mild entreaties served only to irritate his imperious temper, she +refrained to press the subject, and confined her anxieties to her own +breast.</p> + +<p>While the lovely exotic was thus withering under the blighting influence +of the uncongenial atmosphere of the north, Jean de Brienne visited the +German court. Alarmed at his daughter’s pale and wasted appearance, he +regarded her with a tender sympathy, such as he had never before +manifested towards her; and the heart-broken queen poured out her sorrows +before him, and entreated him to take her back to Palestine. The sweet +pensiveness so like the expression of her mother’s countenance, and which +had already become habitual to her youthful features touched a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> secret +chord in his heart, and the thought that Frederic had squandered the +wealth of her affection, and repulsed her winning caresses with coldness +and contempt, roused his indignation. He expostulated with the monarch in +no measured terms. The emperor admitted, that he had won the affections of +Violante, by his apparent interest in the Holy Land, and gained her hand +by a promise to restore to her, her rightful inheritance; but he +sneeringly insinuated, that these courteous condescensions, were the +fanciful gages staked by all lovers, which as husbands they were not bound +to redeem. He laid down the proposition that oaths in religion, politics, +and love were but means to an end, only binding, in so far as they +accorded with the convenience of those who made them. He cited examples of +the clergy, with the pope at their head, who wedding the church, and +professing to live alone for her interests, made her the means of their +own aggrandizement, the pander of their base passions; the policy of +kings, who, receiving the sceptre of dominion for the ostensible purpose, +of securing peace and happiness to their subjects, pursued their own +pleasure, without regard to civil commotion or discord; and he illustrated +his theory by multiplied instances in the domestic life of the sovereigns +of Europe, who, for the gratification of personal pique, put away those +whom they had promised to love and cherish to the end of life. Violante +listened to this discourse like one who for the first time comprehends the +solution of a problem, that has long taxed the ingenuity and embarrassed +the reason. His sentiments explained the mystery in his manner, the +discrepancy between his professions and performances, and like the spear +of Ithuriel, dispelled at once the illusion of her fancy, and made him +assume before her his own proper character. She fixed her large dark eyes +upon his countenance, as though striving to recall the image she had +worshipped there. She saw only the arrogant sneer of skepticism, and the +smile of selfish exultation. Her sensitive heart recoiled with horror at +the prospect of the cheerless future, which in one fearful moment passed +like a vision<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> before her, and with a piercing cry she fell fainting to +the floor. The husband calmly summoned the maids as he left the apartment, +while the father, with a heart distracted between pity and anger, tenderly +lifted her lifeless form and conveyed her to a couch.</p> + +<p>Robert, the second son of Peter Courtenay and Yoland, succeeded his father +upon the throne of Constantinople. An inglorious reign of seven years left +the empire in a distracted state, and an early death transferred the crown +to his infant son Baldwin. The barons of the Greek Empire felt the +necessity of placing the sceptre in the hands of a man and a hero; and +messengers were despatched to the veteran King of Jerusalem, to beg him to +accept the imperial purple, and become the father of the young prince, by +bestowing upon him the hand of his second daughter in marriage. The +position and authority of Jean de Brienne as the Emperor of +Constantinople, gave him power to punish Frederic’s baseness, and he +speedily signified to the emperor, that the might of his sword, backed by +the strength of the Greek forces, was now ready to enforce the decrees of +the pope.</p> + +<p>Frederic, finding that he could no longer with any safety defer his +pilgrimage, ordered a general rendezvous of his troops at Brundusium +preparatory for departure. Before however the appointed time for sailing +had arrived, a pestilence broke out in the camp, numbers died and greater +numbers deserted, and the emperor himself, after having embarked and +remained at sea three days, returned, declaring that his health would not +admit of his taking the voyage. Exulting in the fortunate circumstance +that had released him from the dreaded expedition, he hastened his march +to Germany.</p> + +<p>As he entered his palace, he was struck by the grave and serious manner +with which his retainers, usually so enthusiastic, received him. An +ominous gloom reigned in the court, and as with lordly tread he passed +through the long corridors, he felt that his step was breaking the silence +of death. In the anteroom of the queen’s apartment, he found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> her maidens +indulging in the utmost expressions of grief. The feeble wail of an infant +smote upon his ear, and striding through the hushed and darkened chamber, +he sought the couch of the neglected Violante. That couch was a bier. +Those lips, upon whose sportive accents he had hung with exquisite though +momentary rapture, were forever dumb. Those features, that had kindled +with a glow of love at his every word of tenderness, were now settled in +their last calm repose.</p> + +<p>Poor Violante! Thy pilgrimage was brief. The first sweet stage of +childhood scarcely passed, Fancy led thy willing footsteps through the +Elysian fields of Love, and robed the object of thy young affections with +a halo of purity and truth.—The life-long experience of woman—the +indefinable slight and wrong that press home upon her, the bitter sense of +utter helplessness and dependence, the inexplicable woe of the primeval +curse,—crowded into the little span of a few short months, brought thee +early to the sepulchre,—seventeen summers, and a winter whose rigor +congealed the very fountain of thy life,—to hope, to love, to give thy +life to another, and die.—Such is thy history, beautiful Violante, Queen +of Jerusalem, Empress of Germany, Heroine of the Sixth Crusade.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span></p> +<h2>ELEANORA.</h2> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span></p> + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER I.</p> + +<p class="center">THE PARENTS OF EDWARD I.</p> + +<p>Of all the royal suitors that ever stooped to woo the love of woman, Henry +III. son of John Lackland and Isabella of Angoulême, appears to have been +the most luckless and unfortunate. He first fixed his affections upon the +Princess of Scotland, who was dissuaded from listening to his suit, by her +brother’s assurance that the king was a squint-eyed fool, deceitful, +perjured, more faint-hearted than a woman, and utterly unfit for the +company of any fair and noble lady.</p> + +<p>Disappointed in Scotland, the monarch next offered his hand to the heiress +of Brittany, but the rugged Bretons, too well remembering the cruelty of +his father, to their beloved Prince Arthur, returned a haughty refusal.</p> + +<p>He then proposed to confer the honor of his alliance upon a daughter of +Austria, but the fair descendant of Leopold inherited all her +grandfather’s enmity to the princely house of Plantagenet, and rejected +his addresses with disdain.</p> + +<p>The Duke of Bohemia, to whom he next applied, civilly answered that his +child was already plighted to another, and it was not until Henry reached +the mature age of thirty that he received a favorable response to his +matrimonial proposal; and when at last the marriage contract was signed +between himself and Joanna, daughter of Alice of France, the roving +affections of this royal Cœlebs were beguiled from their allegiance by +the sweet strains of the youthful poetess of Provence.</p> + +<p>Eleanor la Belle, second daughter of Count Berenger, perhaps the youngest +female writer on record, attracted the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> attention of the fickle King of +England, by a poem which she composed on the conquest of Ireland.</p> + +<p>Dazzled by her genius and personal charms, Henry’s vows to Joanna were +forgotten, and his ambassadors received orders to break off the +negotiations, while his obliging counsellors recommended a union with the +very lady he so ardently admired.</p> + +<p>His habitual covetousness intruded however into the courtship, and had +well-nigh subjected him to a sixth disappointment. He intrusted his +seneschal to demand twenty thousand marks as the dower of Eleanor, but +privately empowering him to lessen the sum if necessary to fifteen, ten, +seven, five or three thousand. He quite disgusted the haughty count her +father, by his sordid bargaining, and at last wrote in great terror, to +conclude the marriage forthwith, either with money or without, but at all +events to secure the lady for him and conduct her safely to England +without delay.</p> + +<p>In the splendid festivities with which Henry welcomed his young bride to +London, and in the preparation of her coronation robes, he displayed a +taste for lavish expenditure altogether inconsistent with the state of his +finances, and in ridiculous contrast to his former penuriousness.</p> + +<p>Like his father the greatest fop in Europe, but not like him content with +the adornment of his own person, he issued the most liberal orders for +apparelling the royal household in satin, velvet, cloth of gold and +ermine, expending in the queen’s jewelry alone a sum not less than one +hundred and fifty thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>About the same time he bestowed his sister Isabella upon the Imperial +widower Frederic II., and personally designated every article of her +sumptuous wardrobe.</p> + +<p>It was on this occasion that he first learned how imperative a check a +sturdy British Parliament may be on the lawless extravagance of a king; +for when he petitioned the Lords for a relief from his pecuniary +difficulties, they told him they had amply supplied funds both for his +marriage and that of the empress, and as he had wasted the money<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> he might +defray the expenses of his wedding as best he could.</p> + +<p>It would be difficult to say whether the king, the queen, or the royal +relations, proved the greatest scourges to Britain during the long and +impotent reign of Henry III.</p> + +<p>One of Eleanor’s uncles became prime minister; to another was given the +rich Earldom of Warrenne, and a third was made Archbishop of Canterbury, +and numerous young lady friends of the romantic queen were imported from +Provence and married to the king’s wealthy wards.</p> + +<p>Henry’s mother, not content with sending over all her younger children to +be provided for by the impoverished monarch, involved him in a war with +Louis IX., which ended disastrously for the English arms, in the loss of a +great part of the rich southern fiefs and the military chests and costly +ornaments of the king’s chapel.</p> + +<p>Henry’s ambition for his children brought still greater difficulties upon +the realm. His eldest son, Edward, was appointed viceroy of the disputed +possessions in Aquitaine, and being too young to discharge his important +trusts with discretion, so mismanaged affairs as greatly to increase the +discontent of his father’s French subjects.</p> + +<p>His eldest daughter Margaret, married to her cousin Alexander III., the +young King of Scotland, was taken prisoner by Sir John Baliol, and +subjected to the most rigorous confinement, thus making it necessary for +Henry to undertake a Northern campaign for the rescue of his child.</p> + +<p>But his second son, Edmund, proved more expensive to the British nation, +and innocently did more to project the civil war than any other member of +the royal family; for the pope, having conferred the crown of Sicily upon +the young prince, the delighted father eagerly engaged in a prospective +war, and promised to defray the whole expense of substantiating the claim.</p> + +<p>Again the barons resisted the onerous tax which this new attempt at family +aggrandizement would impose upon them, and the first subsidy was raised +from the benefices of the church only by the exercise of spiritual +authority.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> When the ambitious king had exhausted all his resources, the +pontiff coolly transferred the coveted crown to Charles d’Anjou, brother +to the King of France, leaving poor Henry to cancel his debt with the +lords of exchequer as best he might, getting to himself in the eyes of his +subjects little glory and great loss.</p> + +<p>Such was the character, the political and the social position of the +parents of Edward I., who commenced about the middle of the thirteenth +century to take an active part in the affairs of Europe.</p> + +<p>A splendid concourse were gathered in the spacious palace of the old +temple at Paris, <span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> 1254. The royal families of England and France were +convened on terms of cordiality and kindness, such as they had never +enjoyed since the day when Normandy was wrested from the descendants of +Charlemagne. The banquet was given in honor of Edward, the heir-apparent +of England, and his sweet young bride, Eleanora of Castile. In the place +of honor sat the good St. Louis King of France, on his right, Henry III. +of England, and on his left, the King of Navarre, the royal descendant of +Thibaut of Champagne, and Blanche the sister of Berengaria. At this +magnificent entertainment, Beatrice the Countess of Provence enjoyed a +reunion with her beautiful daughters, their noble husbands and blooming +offspring. The eldest, Margaret, was the wife of Louis IX., Eleanor, of +Henry III., Beatrice, of Charles d’Anjou, and Sancha, of Richard of +Cornwall, King of the Romans.</p> + +<p>But the queen of this Feast of kings, the fair young Infanta, around whom +were gathered the nobility of a Continent, though but a child of scarce +ten years, concentrated in herself more romantic associations and excited +higher hopes than any of the crowned heads present. Her brother Alphonso +X., the astronomer, was the most learned prince in Europe, and neither +priest or peer could boast that devotion to the arts, or that success in +scientific discoveries that characterized the King of Castile, surnamed +<i>Il Sabio</i>, the wise. Her mother Joanna, had been the affianced bride of +her royal father-in-law Henry III., had been rejected for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> the more poetic +daughter of the Count of Provence; and her grandmother, Alice of France, +had been refused by the gallant King Richard, in favor of Berengaria of +Navarre. Her brother Alphonso, and her husband’s uncle, Richard of +Cornwall, were candidates for the crown of the German Empire, in +opposition to the rights of Conrad, son of Frederic and Violante, and her +husband, a graceful youth of fifteen, who had received the honors of +knighthood at his wedding tournament, was heir to the goodly realm of +England and the beautiful provinces of Southern France.</p> + +<p>The tourney, the banquet, and the procession, had marked their progress +from Burgos, in Spain, to the Parisian court. At Bordeaux, King Henry +expended 300,000 marks on their marriage feast, a sum, at that time so +extravagant, that when reproached for it, he exclaimed in a dolorous tone, +“Oh! pour la tête de Dieu, say no more of it, lest men should stand amazed +at the relation thereof.” At Chartres, the palace once occupied by Count +Stephen and Adela, was ornamented with the most brilliant decorations to +honor their presence. St. Louis advanced to meet, and escort them to +Paris. The cavalcade consisted of one thousand mounted knights in full +armor, each with some lady by his side, upon a steed whose broidered +housings rivalled the richness of the flowing habiliments of the fair +rider, while a splendid train of carriages, sumpter mules, and grooms, and +vassals completed the magnificent retinue.</p> + +<p>The nuptial festival with its usual accompaniments of hunting, hawking, +and holiday sports, continued through eight days, and a brilliant cortêge +attended the bridal party to the coast of France, on their departure for +England. The passage was rough and gloomy, and the fleet that conveyed +Eleanora to her new home encountered a storm upon the Channel, and +approached the harbor under the cover of a fog so dense, that the white +cliffs of Dover were entirely veiled from sight.</p> + +<p>The child queen, terrified at the profound darkness, strove to silence her +own agonizing apprehensions, by repeating those words of sacred writ, +which she supposed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> exercised some mysterious influence upon the elements. +Suddenly a terrible crash made the ship groan through all its timbers. +Piercing shrieks from without told a tale of horrors, and the echoing +screams within rendered it impossible to ascertain the nature or extent of +the danger. At length it was found, that the royal vessel had in the +darkness encountered and sunk a small bark, supposed to be a fishing +smack, that had been driven out to sea by the wind.</p> + +<p>Prince Edward immediately ordered the small boat to be lowered, and +despite the entreaties of his parents and little bride, sprang into it, in +hope of rescuing the perishing crew.</p> + +<p>Alarmed for his safety, Eleanora added to the anxieties of her parents, by +hastening to the deck, where leaning from the vessel’s side, she scanned +with intensest gaze the narrow circle of waters illuminated by the lights +of the ship. A brave sailor, buffeting the waves with powerful arm, +escaped the eddies made by the sinking craft, and grasping the rope which +was flung to his assistance, sprang up to the vessel’s side. Another +object soon after appeared rising and sinking upon the crest of the +billow. Now it seemed but the sparkling foam, and now it lay white and +motionless in the dark trough of the sea. At length it floated beyond the +line of light, and seemed lost in the impenetrable gloom, but not till the +prince had fixed his eye upon it, and ordered his rowers to pull in the +direction of its disappearance. One moment of agonizing suspense, and the +heir of England again appeared nearing the vessel, carefully folding a +motionless form in his arms; the sailors plied the windlass, and the boat +with its crew was safely received on board.</p> + +<p>Scarcely heeding the curious inquiries of those who gathered around him, +the prince made his way to the cabin and deposited the precious burden +upon a couch. The dripping coverings were speedily removed, and delight, +admiration, and pity, were instantly excited in the hearts of the +spectators, at the sight of a lovely child, apparently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> less than two +years of age. Eleanora watched the resuscitation of the little stranger, +with anxious tenderness. She chafed its dimpled hands in her own, and +strove to recall animation by soft kisses and gentle caresses. As vital +warmth gradually returned, and the faint hue of life glowed on the pallid +cheek, the suffering one opened her blue eyes, and whispering some +indistinct words, among which they could distinguish only “Eva,” sank +again into unconsciousness.</p> + +<p>The clothing of the little foundling was such as indicated rank and +wealth, and a bracelet of Eastern manufacture, clasped upon her tiny arm, +excited much wonder and curiosity among the queens and their attendants. +The prince had found the infant lashed to an oar with a scarf of exquisite +embroidery. There seemed to be also an armorial design upon it, but the +green shamrock, with a rose of Sharon, was a device which none present +could decipher. The rescued sailor stated that the lost ship was a +coasting vessel, and that, in an Irish harbor, they had taken on board a +lady and child; but, as he had only seen them at the time of their +embarkation, he could give no farther account of them.</p> + +<p>The partiality which Eleanora manifested to the orphan, thus suddenly +bereft of every friend, gained for it a home in the bosom of the royal +family, and at the castle of Guilford, where her father-in-law established +her with much state, she passed many pleasant hours in the care of her +tender charge. The little Eva added to her infantile charms a disposition +of invincible sweetness, relieved by a sportive wilfulness that elicited a +constant interest, not unmixed with anxiety, lest a heart so warm might +become a prey to influences against which no caution or admonition could +shield her. She could give no account of her parentage or home; but +sometimes spoke of her mamma, and birds and flowers, as though her +childish memory retained associations that linked her thoughts with +pleasant walks and tender care. Her perceptions were exceedingly quick, +but her best resolutions were often evanescent, and she lacked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> a +steadiness of purpose in the pursuit of the studies to which Eleanora +invited her attention. An appeal to her heart never failed to induce +immediate repentance for any fault, and she was altogether the most +winning, but vexatious pupil, that ever engaged the affections of a queen. +But the accomplishments of Eleanora herself were not complete, and in 1256 +she was again conveyed to Bordeaux, for the purpose of receiving +instruction from masters better qualified to conduct her education. At her +earnest request, Eva was permitted to accompany her.</p> + +<p>Her young husband was meanwhile engaged perfecting himself in every +knightly accomplishment, “haunting tournaments,” and carrying off the +prizes from all competitors, with a skill and grace that gave him a +renown, not inferior to that of his great uncle Richard Cœur de Lion. +At Paris, he formed an intimacy with the Sire de Joinville, companion of +St. Louis in the seventh crusade, and he listened to the account of +affairs in the East with an interest that inflamed his young and ardent +imagination. The Lord de Joinville, high seneschal of Champagne, was one +of the most erudite and affable nobles of the thirteenth century, and it +was an agreeable occupation for the experienced soldier, to enlighten the +mind of the young prince with an account of the customs and manners of the +East, and the state of the Latin kingdom in Jerusalem, which had so much +influenced the politics of Europe.</p> + +<p>After the return of Frederic, Gregory IX. excommunicated him for declining +to combat the enemy of God; but so long had been the contest between the +emperor and the pontiff, and so divided were the minds of men upon the +rights of the cause, that the clergy published the sentence with many +explanatory clauses, that greatly modified its effect. A curé at Paris, +instead of reading the bull from the pulpit in the usual form, said to his +parishioners, “You know, my brethren, that I am ordered to fulminate an +excommunication against Frederic. I know not the motive. All that I know +is, that there has been a quarrel between that prince and the pope. God +alone knows who is right.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> I excommunicate him who has injured the other; +and I absolve the sufferer.”</p> + +<p>Frederic, in revenge, employed his Saracen troops, of which he commanded +not a few, in southern Italy, to ravage the dominions of the church, and +convinced all his subjects of the wisdom of his former refusals, by taxing +them heavily for the expenses of the expedition on which he determined to +embark. Finding that Frederic was thus placing himself in a posture to +enlist the sympathies of Christendom, the pope prohibited his undertaking +the Holy War till he should be relieved from ecclesiastical censure. The +emperor notwithstanding sailed directly for Acre, and was received with +great joy by the Christians. The next ships from Europe brought letters +from the pontiff to the patriarch, repeating the sentence of +excommunication, forbidding the Templars and Hospitallers to fight under +the banner of the son of perdition.</p> + +<p>In this state of embarrassment, Frederic found his military operations +limited to the suburbs of Acre; and dwelling in the palace, and gazing on +the scenes which Violante had so often and so eloquently portrayed, his +mind reverted, with a touch of remorseful tenderness, to the enthusiasm +with which she had anticipated a return to her eastern home. The rapture +with which she had dwelt upon the virtues of the Empress Elsiebede, and +her noble son Melech Camel, inspired him with the thought that he might +avail himself of the generous friendship entertained for his much injured +wife, to further his own plans in Palestine. Acting upon this selfish +policy, he opened negotiations with the Sultan of Egypt, now heir to all +Saphadin’s dominions by the death of Cohr-Eddin. The Saracen emperor lent +a gracious ear to the overtures of the successor of Jean de Brienne, and a +truce of ten years was concluded between the belligerent powers.</p> + +<p>Jerusalem, Joppa, Bethlehem and Nazareth, with their appendages, were +restored to the Latins. The Holy Sepulchre was also ceded, and both +Christians and Mussulmans, were guaranteed the right to worship in the +sacred edifice,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> known to the former as the temple of Solomon, and to the +latter as the mosque of Omar. The Emperor repaired to Jerusalem, but no +hosannahs welcomed his approach. The patriarch forbade the celebration of +all religious ceremonies during his stay, and no prelate could be induced +to place upon his brow accursed, the crown of Godfrey of Boulogne. +Frederic, notwithstanding, advanced to the church of the Sepulchre, took +the crown from the altar, placed it upon his own head, and then listened +with great apparent satisfaction, to a laudatory oration, pronounced by +one of his German followers. Thus the memory of the gentle and loving +Violante, more powerful than the heroic frenzy of King Richard, or the +misguided devotion of the military orders, established the kingdom of +Palestine, once more upon a firm basis, and gave the sceptre into the +hands of one able to defend its rights.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER II.</p> + +<p class="center">DE JOINVILLE’S STORY OF THE SEVENTH CRUSADE</p> + +<p>These particulars de Joinville faithfully narrated, at various times, to +Prince Edward, who was an indefatigable listener to whatever pertained to +feats of chivalry and arms.—But he dwelt with far greater circumlocution +and precision upon the events of the Seventh Crusade, in which he was +personally engaged with Louis IX.</p> + +<p>“You must know, gracious prince,” said the good knight, in the quaint +language of the times, “that though the Christians in Asia had possession +of the holy places, by the treaty with Melech Camel, the mildew of discord +continually blighted all their plans for the improvement of the state, and +as soon as the truce had expired, the Saracens again fell upon them in +their weakened condition, and slaughtered great multitudes of pilgrims. +For this cause<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> it was, that Gregory IX. called again upon the devout +children of the church, to take arms against the Infidels.”</p> + +<p>“I remember,” replied Edward, “the departure of my uncle Richard of +Cornwall, and the valiant Longsword, with their knights, and retainers for +Palestine, and I have heard that his very name was a terror to the +Saracens, inasmuch as they mistook him for the great Richard Cœur de +Lion. God willing, Sire de Joinville, the name of Edward shall one day, +frighten his enemies as well.”</p> + +<p>To this De Joinville gravely replied, “Thou wouldst do well to remember +that which the good King Louis said, when, to secure the tranquillity of +his subjects, he relinquished so great a portion of his territory to thy +royal sire: I would rather be like our Lord, who giveth freely to all, +than like the conquerors of the earth who have made to themselves enemies +in grasping the rights of others!”</p> + +<p>“In sooth,” replied Edward, “the sentiment savoreth more of the saint than +of the king,” a little piqued that his ambitious tendencies elicited no +warmer approbation.</p> + +<p>“And yet,” returned de Joinville, “King Louis is the greatest monarch in +Europe, and often by his wise counsel accommodates those differences which +involve other countries in bloodshed. He has, thou knowest well, already +composed the dissensions between thy father and his haughty +brother-in-law, Earl Leicester.”</p> + +<p>“Aye, verily,” returned Edward, his eyes flashing with the presentiment of +vengeance, “this good sword shall one day teach the misproud earl better +manners.—Had my father, less of those meek virtues which thou prizest so +highly, he would never have ratified the statutes of Oxford, and made +England the prey of Simon de Montfort’s rapacity.”</p> + +<p>“The poor inhabitants of Albi and Carcassonne, albeit many of them, I fear +me, were miserable heretics, teach their children to curse the name even +more bitterly,” answered de Joinville, “than thou dost.”</p> + +<p>“He who slaughters women and children,” answered Edward, with proud +disdain, “even though it be by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> commands of the church, stains his +fair fame more deeply than his sword. To my poor wit it seems good sire, +that this crusade against our own vassals in happy France, bears a hue far +different from the wars in Palestine.”</p> + +<p>“So thought my good lord,” returned de Joinville, “for though his soul +loveth peace, his conscience was often unquiet with the thought of the +sufferings of the Christians, who, pressed by the Turks, cried out for +aid, and yet he knew not how he might leave his people for a foreign war. +At length his doubts were resolved on this wise.—Being grievously ill at +Paris, his soul as it were departed from his body. He saw standing before +him Count Raimond of Toulouse, who, being in the torment of purgatory, +cried out, ‘Oh! that I had employed my people in chasing the children of +Satan from the Holy Land, then would they not have had leisure to have +devised those heresies by which they have destroyed both their souls and +bodies in hell.’ When the soul of the king returned, he heard those who +had nursed him speaking together, and one would have covered his face with +a cloth, thinking that all was over, but another (so God willed it) +declared continually that he was alive. Then he opened his eyes and looked +upon them, and he desired one of them to bring him the crucifix, and he +swore upon it that if God should please restore him to health, he would, +in person, undertake the Holy War. In like manner as the king put on the +cross, so did his three brothers, Robert, Count d’Artois, Alphonzo, Count +de Poitiers, and Charles, Count d’Anjou, the venerable Hugh le Brun, Count +le Marche and his sons, with many others of rank and dignity, and many +lords whom Simon de Montfort had deprived of their patrimony in Languedoc, +and many others who had fought against the heretics. Thus did the pious +king make the Holy War the means of expiation and of universal +reconcilement. But so wise was he withal, and so careful of his people, +that he thought also to make the expedition the foundation of a great +colony in Egypt. Thus many of the transports were laden with spades, +pitch-forks, plows, and other implements<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> for the tilling of the ground, +together with seeds of various kinds, for the better prospering of the new +state. You must know, before the king left the realm, he summoned all the +barons to Paris, and there made them renew their homage and swear loyalty +to his children, should any unfortunate event happen to himself during +this expedition.</p> + +<p>“Magnificent dresses were on this occasion bestowed upon all the +courtiers, and the next day the cavaliers were surprised to find, that to +every cloak a splendid gold cross had been affixed by the art of the +goldsmith, thereby intimating the king’s desire that they should join him +in the Crusade.</p> + +<p>“It was in the month of August that we embarked at the rock Marseilles, +and the priest and clerks standing round the king, sang the beautiful +hymn, ‘Veni Creator,’ from the beginning to the end. While they were +singing, the mariners set their sails in the name of God, and soon, with a +favorable wind, the coast disappeared from our view, and we saw nothing +but the sea and sky. We landed first at Cyprus, where we made a long stay, +waiting for Count Alphonzo, who headed the reserve. Here ambassadors from +all nations came to pay their court to the French monarch. The great Chan +of Tartary paid him many fine compliments, and bade his servants say that +their master was ready to assist him in delivering Jerusalem from the +hands of the Saracens. The King of France sent likewise to the Chan a +tent, in the form of a chapel, of fine scarlet cloth, embroidered on the +inside with the mysteries of our faith. Two black monks had charge of it, +and were also instructed to exhort the Tartars, and show them how they +ought to put their belief in God.”</p> + +<p>“Are not the Tartars of the same race as the Turks?” inquired Edward, with +great curiosity.</p> + +<p>“I understand not well the genealogy of the people of the East,” replied +de Joinville, “but I consider Tartary as a general name for a vast +country, whence have issued, at various times, certain tribes called +Scythians, Hungarians, Turks, and Mongols, which have overrun the fertile +provinces that skirt the Mediterranean.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span>The prince, feeling greatly enlightened at this comprehensive answer, +listened respectfully while de Joinville resumed. “There came also +ambassadors from the Christians of Constantinople, Armenia and Syria. +Envoys likewise from the ‘Old Man of the Mountain,’ of whom there runs so +many strange stories. King Louis also formed a league with the leader of +the Mongols against the two great popes of Islamism, the Sultans of Cairo +and Bagdad. From Cyprus we sailed to Damietta, which King Louis attacked +sword in hand. The Infidels, by the favor of God, were put to the worse, +and the city fell into our hands. We found great spoil in Damietta, and +were comfortably lodged there. But the king’s officers, instead of +well-treating the merchants, who would have supplied the army with +provisions, hired out to them stalls and workmen, at so dear a rate, that +they departed from us, which was a great evil and loss. Barons and knights +began to give sumptuous banquets, one to the other; the commonalty also +gave themselves up to all kinds of dissipation, which lasted until the day +we set forward toward Cairo, on the route formerly travelled by Jean de +Brienne. We were stopped at Mansourah many days by a branch of the Nile, +where it was necessary to construct a dyke, and there they assailed us +with the Greek fire, by which we were in great danger of perishing. This +fire was in appearance like a great tun, and its tail was of the length of +a long spear, and the noise which it made was like thunder, and it seemed +a great dragon of fire flying through the air, giving such light by its +flame, that we saw in our camp as clearly as in broad day; and when it +fell upon a knight in armor, it penetrated through the scales thereof, and +burned to the very bone. Thus our army suffered greatly, and were +prevented from making farther progress.</p> + +<p>“The king called his barons to council, and it was concluded to return to +Damietta. But so many of our army had fallen sick, that it was necessary +to make preparations to embark upon the Nile. The king himself suffered +greatly with the pestilence, and our march was stopped by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> Saracens, +who lay in wait for us upon the banks of the river, and as the prince +would not desert his people, we were all made prisoners together. After we +had suffered many things, both in body and spirit, the Sultan, who had +been recently elected by the Mamelukes, agreed to accept as ransom for the +captives, the city of Damietta and the sum of 500,000 livres. When the +Sultan found that King Louis complied with the first demand without +striving to drive a bargain, ‘Go and tell him from me,’ he said, ‘that I +retract one-fifth of the sum, because I have found him both generous and +liberal.’</p> + +<p>“After the affair was concluded, my royal master empowered me to accompany +the envoys to Damietta, and to receive from Queen Margaret the money for +the ransom. When I came to the palace where the queen was lodged, I found +her apartment guarded by an aged knight, whom, when she heard of her royal +husband’s captivity, she had caused to take oath that, should the Saracens +enter the town, he would himself put an end to her life before they could +seize her person. My royal mistress received me graciously, and gave me +the money which the king had commanded, and she also bade me look upon the +son she had borne to Louis during his absence, that I might assure him of +their health and comfort. The misfortunes that had attended our arms +caused us to quit Egypt; and, sailing at once for Acre, we were received +with great joy by the Christians of the East. We employed ourselves in +restoring the fortifications of the principal towns, but the monarch, +through dejection at the failure of his enterprise, returned to France +without making a pilgrimage to the holy places.”</p> + +<p>“By my faith,” replied the young prince, “it were a matter of surprise +that such well-appointed expeditions should suffer such total loss. +Methinks a good soldier should never sheathe his sword till the hour of +victory.”</p> + +<p>De Joinville regarded the inexperienced youth with a benevolent smile, +remarking only, that caution and prudence are virtues as essential to a +ruler, as courage and prowess.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER III.</p> + +<p class="center">THE RELICS BROUGHT FROM CONSTANTINOPLE.</p> + +<p>The young bride Eleanora, in her residence at Bordeaux, had formed the +acquaintance of Guy de Lusignan, second son of the ex-queen Isabella and +Count Hugh le Marche, and through his kindly attentions she had been +apprized of the events that agitated England. She learned that her royal +parents had been under the necessity of taking up their residence in the +Tower of London, almost in the condition of state prisoners, and that her +gallant husband had exchanged the sports of a knight for “the game of +kings.” Anxious for his safety, and desirous to assist in the release of +the royal family, or share their captivity, she besought Count Guy to +conduct her thither. He represented the danger of such a proceeding, and +strove by every argument to induce her to remain in France, but in vain. +The traits of character, that subsequently made her the heroine, already +developed in unchanging affection, and invincible firmness, overbore all +opposition, and with a retinue scarcely suitable for her rank, and +insufficient for her protection in case of attack, she set off for +England.</p> + +<p>They reached the island without accident, and had approached in sight of +London, when the great bell of St. Paul’s startled them with its hurried +peal, and they almost instantly found themselves surrounded by an +infuriated mob. The simplicity of their attire shielded them from +observation, and they passed some time unmolested among the crowd, but the +vindictive shouts of the multitude, crying, “Down with the Jews! down with +the followers of the virago of Provence!” so alarmed the little Eva, that +she was unable to keep her seat upon the pillion of the knight who had her +in charge, and Sir Guy at length obtained for them a shelter in an humble +tenement upon the banks of the Thames.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span>From the window of the cottage, they beheld the terrible massacre that +characterized the first popular outbreak against the government of Henry +III. The harmless Jews were dragged from their houses and mercilessly +slaughtered, amidst protestations of innocence, and heart-rending cries +for pity, while the furniture of their dwellings, and valuables of every +kind, were hurled into the streets, and distributed among the crowd. A +venerable man, Ben Abraham, of majestic demeanor, was pursued to the door +of the house in which the royal fugitives had taken refuge.</p> + +<p>Count Guy in his agitation sprang to bar the entrance, but the young queen +with readier tact removed the bolt, and throwing open an opposite door, +motioned all the armed retainers to retire. Scarcely had the helpless old +man crossed the threshold, when the mob with demoniac cries, rushed in +after him, and the leader seizing him by his long white beard, severed his +head from his body, and held it up a grim and ghastly spectacle for the +plaudits of his followers. The terrified Eva, clinging close to Eleanora, +shrunk behind the open door, and the queen controlling her own agitation, +placed her hand over the child’s mouth to repress her screams, while the +murderers dragging the bleeding corpse upon the pavement, began to search +the body for gold. Down the street rolled the tide of blood. Mad yells of +vengeance and frantic cries of terror mingled on the air, and swept away +toward the river.</p> + +<p>Now the roar seemed advancing and now retreating, when a barge loosing +from the tower stairs, drew the concourse in that direction. It was the +Queen of Henry III. with her children, seeking to escape to Windsor +castle, where Prince Edward was quartered with his troops. Cries of “Drown +the Witch! Down with the Witch! No favor to foreigners! Death to the +Italians!” rent the air. The mob tore up the paving stones, stripped the +tiles from the houses, plundered butchers’ shambles, and hucksters’ shops, +and a shower of deadly missiles rained upon the river. The boat approached +the bridge, at the west end of which thousands of fierce eyes glared for +its appearance,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> and thousands of bloody hands were raised for its +destruction. At this moment the figure of an armed knight, of lofty +stature, appeared upon the bridge. Forcing his way through the mob, he +shouted to the sailors as the boat was about to shoot the arch, “Back! +Bear back!! upon your lives!!! Return to the tower!!!!” The frightened +boatmen turned at the critical moment, and the knight, by the prowess of +his single arm, diverted the attack to himself, till the queen was again +sheltered by the walls of the fortress.</p> + +<p>Roar upon roar again swelled through the streets. The crowd hurried on in +search of prey, swaying to and fro, like trees in a tempest. Again the +feeble walls that sheltered the fair Castilian, felt the terrible presence +of demons in human form. The sight of a French attendant again raised the +cry of “Death to foreigners,” and madly they rushed to the onslaught. But +the strange knight was already at the door, and backed by Guy de Lusignan +and the retainers, for some hours kept the infuriated multitude at bay, +but at every moment the crowd became denser, the cries more terrific, and +Eleanora drawing the little Eva to her bosom, and surrounded by her own +maidens, and the females of the household, was striving to recall the +prayers for the dying, when a distant shout of rescue swelled upon the +breeze. The shrill blast of a trumpet confirmed the uncertain hope, and +the defiant threats of the multitude began to give place to the howlings +of baffled rage. On came the tramp of horsemen, the clangor of armor; +louder roared the din of the fight; not now the sounds of falling +dwellings, flying missiles, and female shrieks, but the ringing clash of +Damascus steel, and the regular tramp of mounted horsemen. The warlike +shout of “Edward to the rescue,” “Give way to the prince,” drove on the +motley mass like sands before the desert wind, and scattered them through +all the lanes and alleys of the vast metropolis. At the sound of her +husband’s name, Eleanora sprang from her knees and rushed to the door-way, +where she beheld, advancing at the head of the troops, taller than all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> +his compeers, more firmly seated upon his noble destriar, and more +gracefully managing the rein and wielding the sword, her long-absent lord. +He raised his vizor, as he paused to return the salutation of his uncle, +De Lusignan, and his fine, manly features, radiant with pleasure, and +flushed with triumph, his fair hair curling round his helmet, made him +appear to Eleanora, more brave and beautiful than a hero of romance. But +the eye that “kindled in war, now melted in love” at the unexpected +apparition of his bride, who with tearful eyes gazed upon him, uncertain +whether her presence would more embarrass or pleasure him. It was not, +however, in the heart of a chivalric prince to frown upon any distressed +damsel, much less upon the beautiful young being, whose fair face, the +sensitive index of every emotion, now paled with fear, now flushed with +joy, seemed each moment changing to a lovelier hue, while she awaited his +approach in doubt as to the greeting she should receive from her lord. The +generous prince hastily dismounting, and clasping her in his arms, +tenderly reassured her with words of affectionate welcome, not however, +without a gentle upbraiding, that she had not tarried at Dover till he had +been able, with a retinue befitting her rank, himself to escort her to +Windsor. The little Eva, meanwhile, had found a safe asylum in the arms of +the stranger knight, and, through the bars of his vizor, obtained a +glimpse of eyes, whose color and expression she never forgot, and listened +to words that made a lasting impression upon her mind.</p> + +<p>Prince Edward found it necessary to establish his mother and queen, with +the ladies and attendants, under a strong guard, at Bristol castle, where +they remained during a part of that stormy period, consequent upon +Leicester’s rebellion. Restricted to the narrow enjoyments which the +castle walls afforded, and to the society of the few knights who had them +in charge, the royal ladies found their chief entertainment in the +volatile spirits, and restless gaiety of the orphan Eva. No caution nor +command could prevent her mingling with the dependents, and listening to +and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> relating to her mistress every flying report that reached the castle. +But so gentle was her temper, and so ready her submission, that it was +impossible to be seriously offended with her, and her light footsteps and +joyous laugh were equally welcome in the royal apartments, and in the +servants’ kitchen. The maids of honor, who were the most frequent victims +of her pranks, surnamed her, “Dame Madcap,” while her cordial interest in +inferiors caused the retainers to dub her with the equally appropriate +soubriquet of “Little Sunbeam.”</p> + +<p>One day, the Princess Eleanora, passing the hall of audience, was +surprised by hearing shouts of irrepressible laughter. Suspecting that her +protegée was engaged in some frolic, she cautiously opened the door and +stood an unobserved spectator. Every piece of furniture capable of being +moved, had been torn from its mooring, and placed in some fantastic +position. The arras had been stripped from the walls, and hung in +grotesque festoons at the farther extremity of the room, above and around +a throne, ornamented with every article of embroidered velvet and silk +brocade, that the royal wardrobe afforded, on which was seated her Madcap +majesty, bedecked and bedizened with all sorts of holiday finery, while +every maid and retainer, not on duty, was passing before her, and +repeating the oath of fealty in giggling succession. The fair queen, +meanwhile, diversified her state duties by lecturing her new subjects upon +the indecorum of such ill-timed levity. The princess, in doubt what notice +to take of the affair, prudently withdrew, but not till Eva had caught +sight of her retreating figure, whereon, she assured her vassals, that +they had all been guilty of high treason, and that, no doubt, the Don Jon, +or some other Spanish cavalier would soon have them in close keeping.</p> + +<p>When Eva again appeared in the presence of the princess, she fell on her +knees and begged pardon with an air of mock humility that changed +Eleanora’s frowns to smiles in spite of herself, though she felt it +necessary to remonstrate with her upon the oft-reiterated subject of her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span>undignified familiarity with dependents. “I was but acting the queen, +your majesty, and would be glad of more exalted subjects,” said she, +archly, in extenuation of her fault. “Royalty is but a pageant, and I +shall doubtless exercise the prerogative of a sovereign, when it is proved +that the wicked little Eva de la Mer is heiress of the gallant Strongbow.”</p> + +<p>“Thou, Queen of Ireland!” exclaimed Eleanora. “Who has put this foolish +conceit into thy young head? Thou must beware, sweet one, of these odd +fancies. Rememberest thou not the words of the confessor, that the pomps +and vanities of the world lead the soul astray?”</p> + +<p>Tears filled the blue eyes of Eva, but instantly dashing them away with +spirit, she exclaimed, “And why not I a queen! ’Tis sure I would be a +better sovereign than most. They should not say as they do of our liege, +King Henry, that I robbed my subjects to make presents to my favorites.”</p> + +<p>“Eva, Eva,” gravely rejoined the princess, “the Scripture saith we should +not speak evil of dignities.” But Eva was in the vein, and her volubility +was not to be silenced.</p> + +<p>“I would not be a queen,” exclaimed she, “for then I should have none to +love me or to tell me the truth.”</p> + +<p>“None to love thee!” replied Eleanora. “Do not the people love her +gracious majesty, my royal mother?”</p> + +<p>“Thou shouldst hear what all men say of her,” exclaimed the child, almost +frightened at her own audacity.</p> + +<p>“And what do men say?” inquired Eleanora, her curiosity getting the better +of her judgment.</p> + +<p>“They say,” continued Eva, “that all the troubles in England are owing to +the queen and her relations. That King Henry took the marriage portion of +his sister Isabella to furnish the decorations for the coronation; and +thou knowest well, my lady, that she hath nine garlands for her hair, +besides a great gold crown most glorious with gems.”</p> + +<p>“In sooth,” returned the princess, “thou knowest more than I of the +queen’s wardrobe. But how learnedst thou these things?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span>“Her maidens, who love her none too well, tell me everything.”</p> + +<p>“And dost thou encourage them in evil speaking of their mistress, by +listening to their idle tales?”</p> + +<p>“Nay, I told them they were sinners, and that the father of evil would +surely get them; but they only laughed, and said, in that case, I should +certainly bear them company.”</p> + +<p>Eleanora, looking gravely, said, “I fear my darling is learning sad ways, +and I must henceforth keep her always by my side.”</p> + +<p>Eva threw her arms around the princess, and pillowing her fair cheek upon +her bosom, whispered, “Let not my noble mistress omit this punishment, for +in her presence ’tis easy to be good.” There was a pause of some minutes, +when the child gently resumed, “My lady will one day be a queen, shall Eva +then speak only the words of adulation, such as the false dames d’honneur +employ in the presence of her majesty? I heard them whispering low +concerning the queen’s gold, and the extortions and exactions she had +brought upon the people, and when she inquired what they whispered, they +turned it with some fine compliment. I sought to tell her of the +falsehood, but the ladies would not give me entrance to her apartment. I +will tell thee, for thou art wise and mayest perchance warn her of her +false friends. What first caught my ear was the name of my lord, Prince +Edward. They said that when he was a lad of eight years, his royal father +brought him forth with his brother Edmund and his sisters Margaret and +Beatrice, and had them all weighed up like the calves at the butchers, and +then scattered their weight in coin among the ragged beggar children that +stood in the court below, laughing at the screams of the royal babies.”</p> + +<p>“Eva! Eva! How couldst thou listen to such vain parlance?”</p> + +<p>“Oh! my lady, this is not the half of the vile things they told. They said +that when the king had oppressed the people till he could wring no more +money from them, he broke up his court, and then, to avoid the expense of +keeping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> his family, he invited himself with his retinue to the castles of +the nobles, and after being feasted right royally, he begged gifts at his +departure, telling them it was a greater charity to bestow alms upon him +than upon any beggar in the realm.”</p> + +<p>“Eva! darling! no more of this,” said Eleanora, in a decided tone. “I will +give thee for thy penance three paternosters and a creed. Repair to my +oriel, and let me hear thee prate no more.”</p> + +<p>Eva received so much spiritual benefit from her devotions in the oratory, +that the next day she was permitted to go where she pleased, and her first +works of supererogation were distributed among those who had participated +in her offence. Accordingly, the princess found her robed in the +chaplain’s gown, and receiving the confessions of those who had assisted +at her coronation the previous day, in which capacity she exhibited a +wonderful facility in prompting treacherous memories and callous +consciences. In the midst of the scene, a sharp blast from the warder’s +horn startled the merry group. In times of public calamity, every +unexpected event seems fraught with a fearful interest. Each vassal +hurried to his post, and the females hastened away, while Eva, dropping +her sacred character, ran with all speed to reconnoitre from the +arrow-slit of the turret. The portcullis was raised, the sound of hoofs +was heard upon the drawbridge, and the next moment a messenger, toil worn +and travel-stained, dashed into the court. The tidings which he brought +were of the most important character. King Henry, apparently on the most +friendly terms with Leicester, was, in reality, a prisoner in his castle, +and subject to the will of the earl. Prince Edward was rapidly preparing +for war with the rebel barons, and, deeming the royal ladies unsafe in +England, had sent to bid them haste with all speed to the court of the +good King of France. Straining her eyes to command a view beyond the +castle walls, Eva discerned a band of huntsmen lingering in the skirts of +an adjoining wood, but in the bustle of departure,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> she could not find +opportunity to communicate the suspicious circumstance to any in +authority.</p> + +<p>Apparelled in the utmost haste, the parties set forth, and slacked not +their riding till they reached the port. There seemed to be a great crowd +in the vicinity, of sailors, boatmen, clowns, in cartmen’s frocks, and +occasionally a man in armor. Eva fancied that she discerned among them the +huntsmen of the wood, and her fears were confirmed when a moment after the +royal train were completely environed by the band. But so adroitly was the +manœuvre effected, that the fugitives had scarcely time to feel +themselves prisoners, when a troop of Leicester’s men appeared in the +distance, and they comprehended that, but for the timely interposition of +these unknown friends, their retreat would have been cut off. As the +vessel receded from shore, swords were drawn, and a fierce contest ensued +between the huntsmen and the soldiers, and Eva recognized in the leader of +their defenders the figure of the tall knight who had rescued them at +London bridge.</p> + +<p>At the court of Queen Margaret, the exiled princesses received a cordial +welcome, and the piety of Eleanora was strengthened by intercourse with +the good St. Louis: while Eva’s vivacity soon made her a favorite with the +ladies of the French court. The unaffected piety of the saintly monarch +was scarcely a fit subject for the humor which Eva exercised without +discrimination, upon the grave and gay. But many of the superstitious +observances of the church, ridiculous in themselves, excited her native +merriment; nor could all the penances of the confessor restrict the +playful license of her tongue.</p> + +<p>The Latin dynasty of Constantinople was now tottering to its fall. The +young Greek emperor Baldwin, deprived of the counsels of his +father-in-law, Jean de Brienne (who had taken the habit of St. Francis, +and died on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem), was exposed to the attacks of +every disaffected noble that chose to rebel against him. He had made every +possible concession to avoid open warfare with his enemies, and had +suffered every conceivable <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span>inconvenience from utter poverty. He had given +his niece in marriage to a Turkish emir, and ratified a treaty with a +haughty pagan by tasting his blood. He demolished vacant houses in +Constantinople for winter fuel, stripped the lead from the churches for +the daily expense of his family; mortgaged his father’s estates in France +to increase the public revenue; and pawned the heir of the purple at +Venice, as security for a debt. One only treasure yet remained, the Holy +Crown of Thorns; but piety forbade him to make merchandise of that which +all Christendom regarded with such superstitious veneration. It was +therefore determined to present the precious bauble to the most honorable +prince in Europe, and rely upon his pious gratitude to make suitable +return. A wooden box conveyed the inestimable relic to France. It was +opened in the presence of the nobility, discovering within a silver shrine +in which was preserved the monument of the Passion, enclosed in a golden +vase. St. Louis, with all his court, made a pilgrimage to Troyes, to +receive the precious deposit. And the devout monarch, barefoot, and +without other clothing than a simple tunic, carried it in triumph through +the streets of Paris, and placed it in La Sainte Chapelle, which he +prepared for the purpose. This solemn ceremony roused all the mirthfulness +of Eva, nor could the habitual reverence of Eleanora so far prevail over +her good sense, as to prevent some slight misgivings concerning the +authenticity of the various and multiplied relics that then formed so +lucrative a branch of commerce.</p> + +<p>“I warrant me,” said the madcap, Eva, to the maidens, “we shall all of us +be compelled to kneel upon the cold pavement before that prickly emblem, +as a punishment for our many transgressions.” Shocked at her impiety, yet +inwardly amused, the merry party mingled their reproaches with encouraging +peals of laughter.</p> + +<p>“No doubt,” continued she, “it will cure all diseases, at least it has +humbled the holy king like St. Paul’s thorn in the flesh. For me, though I +strove to wear a devout face, I could not help laughing at the sight of +his royal shins.” The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> volatile French ladies, who had experienced very +much the same sensation, joined in the merriment. “I hear,” said Eva, “we +are to have another procession of the same kind ere long, and mayhaps they +will require us to transport the holy relic in the same flimsy guise. +Thou, Felice, who art so jealous of Sir Francis d’Essai’s attentions to +me, shall carry the cross. And the sharp-witted Beatrice shall bear the +lance. Thou, Caliste, who hearest all and sayest naught, shall wear the +sponge, and as for me, I shall take the rod of Moses and smite your rocky +hearts, till the waters of repentance flow forth.” “Hush! hush!” exclaimed +the damsels, “her majesty approaches.”</p> + +<p>Scarcely were their countenances composed to the approved pattern of court +propriety, and their eyes fixed upon their embroidery, when Queen Margaret +entered, and, in her serenely gracious manner, informed them that his +highness, the Emperor Baldwin, had presented another invaluable gift to +her royal husband, and she counselled them, by fasting and prayer, to put +themselves in readiness to join the court in a procession to deposit the +sacred relic in St. Chapelle. While each maiden dropped her head with +apparent assent, but in reality to conceal her smiles brought up by the +prospective realization of Eva’s panorama, the facile girl devoutly +crossed herself, and with a demure look replied, “We have heard of the +noble Courtenay’s munificence, and have endeavored, according to our poor +ability, to prepare our minds for the solemn duty.” No sooner had the +queen departed, than in a tone of mock gravity, she exhorted them to be +diligent in their worship, for now she thought of it, she resolved to +smile upon the young Squire Courtenay, who had besought her to embroider a +shamrock upon his pennon. Winning him, she should doubtless one day share +the imperial purple, in which case she should reclaim those sacred +treasures, and they would then be under the necessity of making a +pilgrimage to Constantinople, for as Baldwin’s last heir was in pawn, the +crown would doubtless descend to the younger branches of his house.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER IV.</p> + +<p class="center">THE ESCAPE.</p> + +<p>In the court of France, the royal princesses received constant +intelligence of the progress of the struggle between the English barons +and the king, or rather, between Simon de Montfort and Prince Edward, who +headed the opposite factions. Their hopes were raised by accounts of the +gallant conduct of the young prince, and by the disaffection that arose +between the confederate barons, but sudden misery overwhelmed them, when, +after several years of torturing suspense, Wm. de Valence arrived at +Paris, bringing news of the death of Guy de Lusignan, in the disastrous +action at Lewes, and the captivity of King Henry and his gallant son.</p> + +<p>Queen Eleanor immediately determined to proceed to England, and her +daughter-in-law Eleanora insisted upon accompanying her. Young de +Courtenay, who had recently received the honors of knighthood, from his +royal master, and Sir Francis, who had enlisted as his rival for the +smiles of Eva, now a beautiful girl of fifteen, begged permission to join +the escort, with a band of armed retainers. They landed at Plymouth, and +lay concealed for some time in the wilds of Devonshire, while the gallant +knights, Sir Henry and Sir Francis, scoured the country in all directions, +for information concerning the captive princes. They learned that the +royal army had retreated to Bristol castle, under the command of seven +knights, who had reared seven banners on the walls, and with determined +valor held out against Leicester, and that the princes were confined in +Kenilworth castle. The difficulty of communicating with the prisoners +exercised the ingenuity of the little council for many days, but every +plan involved danger, both to themselves and to the royal cause.</p> + +<p>Eleanora, whose clear sense and unwavering reliance on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> a higher power, +led her to a practical demonstration of the sentiment, “To hope the best +is pious, brave, and wise,” was the life and soul of every arrangement, +and the soother of those fainter spirits, who were ready to yield, to +despair at every sign of failure. Their residence was in a little hamlet +of the better class of peasants, faithful to the interests of the king. A +deep forest extended on the west to a great distance, and in those wilds, +spite of all caution, Eva delighted to ramble. One day she had been so +long absent that even Eleanora, becoming alarmed, despatched her attendant +in quest of her, and herself joined the search. As she passed along +through the glades of the deep wood, her attention was arrested by the +sight of a pretty boy, lying asleep beneath the shade of a spreading oak, +whose dress from his embroidered shoes, to the ruby that fastened the +plume in his velvet cap, was of the most exquisite beauty, and taste. The +page was clad in a hunting suit of “Lincoln green,” slashed with cloth of +gold, that gleamed from the mossy bank upon which he rested, as though the +sunshine had fallen and lingered there. A crimson baldric curiously +wrought with strange devices, lay across his breast, a sword with +burnished sheath, was suspended from his belt. As Eleanora approached, and +gazed upon the sleeping boy, she thought she had never beheld so lovely a +youth, and an instinctive desire rose up in her heart, to enroll him in +her service.</p> + +<p>“Wake, pretty one,” said she, softly touching his cheek, “wake, and go +with me.” The youth started and gazed upon her, and a flush of surprise +and pleasure suffused his countenance. “Whose page art thou?” said +Eleanora, “and how hast thou wandered into this wild?”</p> + +<p>“Noble lady,” returned the boy, casting down his eyes with modest +hesitation, “my hawk hath gone astray, and I sought him till aweary, I +fell asleep.”</p> + +<p>“Thy friends have left thee in the greenwood,” returned the princess, “and +thou may’st not find them. Wilt go with me, and I will give thee gold and +benison, and if thou art loyal, an errand worthy thy knightly ambition.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span>“Nay, treason may be loyal, or loyalty treason, in these troublous times,” +said the boy. “One says follow my lord of Leicester, another, draw thy +sword for the good Prince Edward.”</p> + +<p>“And if I say, draw thy sword for the good Prince Edward, wilt follow me?”</p> + +<p>The youth replied evasively, “I love my lady, and I may not engage in +other service, till I bring her proud bird back to the perch.”</p> + +<p>Something in his earnest tone arrested the attention of the princess, and +scanning the countenance of the youth with more curious scrutiny, she +marked the rosy hue in his cheek, and the tear trembling in his blue eye, +and exclaimed,</p> + +<p>“Eva! Eva!! How is this?”</p> + +<p>“Nay, an thou knowest me, I will e’en venture on thy knightly errand,” +said the blushing girl, falling on her knees, and repeating the oath of +fealty, rapidly as possible to hide her emotions.</p> + +<p>“Rise,” said the princess, with all the sternness she could command, “and +tell me whence this disguise.”</p> + +<p>“I know not, lady, more than thou, save this. Scarce a week since, I met +in this wood the tall knight who hath so nobly defended us, and +yesternight I braved the fear of thy frown, and came to this +trysting-place. He hath concerted a plan for the liberation of my royal +master, and brought me this disguise, which must be sufficient, since it +so long baffled thy quick discernment. Accident has betrayed me, else it +had not rested with my lady, whether Eva should trust the stranger, and +aid in restoring the proud bird of England to his royal perch.” Eleanora +paused one moment, while her mind, ever clearest and most active in +emergency, poised between the possibility of danger to her favorite, and +rescue to her lord.</p> + +<p>“The knight has twice preserved our lives, he must be bold and true, and +heaven hath raised him up for our deliverance, since God conceals us from +our enemies, and reveals our lurking-place to him. It were treason to +doubt this divine Providence, since it would imply neither trust<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> in man, +nor faith in God. Go, Eva,” said the princess, her eyes filling with +tears, as she pressed her to her bosom, and imprinted a warm kiss upon her +cheek. “Heaven will protect and prosper thee, and my noble Edward know how +to reward thy devotion.” She stood gazing fondly on her in silence, while +Eva’s color went and came as though she essayed, what yet she feared, to +utter. At length she stammered forth, “My lady will send Sir Francis with +his band to guard the fords of the Exe till my return.”</p> + +<p>“Sir Francis,” reiterated the queen, in a tone of surprise; “methought Sir +Henry were more agreeable escort.”</p> + +<p>Eva tried to hide her crimson blushes beneath her delicate fingers, as she +whispered, “If my mistress please, I would that Sir Henry should be +ignorant of this unmaidenly disguise.”</p> + +<p>“Thou lovest Sir Henry, then?” said Eleanora.</p> + +<p>“Nay, lady, I know not that,” replied Eva; “but there is something in him +that commands my regard despite my will, and I would not needlessly +forfeit his esteem.”</p> + +<p>“I will answer for thee, sweet,” replied the princess. “Sir Francis shall +go according to thy wish. But must I leave thee here alone and +unprotected?”</p> + +<p>“The monarch of the forest spreads his broad arm for my protection, and +thou shalt envy my repose, in my sylvan eyrie,” replied Eva, lightly +springing into a fantastic seat, formed by the twisted branches of a +gnarled oak, and completely concealed by the foliage. Firmly ensconced in +her rustic lodge, she leaned forward and whispered a gentle farewell, as +the princess, bearing in her mind a vision of a bright face, peeping out +from among the green leaves, turned and rapidly retraced her steps to the +hamlet.</p> + +<p>That night Sir Francis set out with his train, and as two maidens +accompanied the band, one wearing the dress of Eva, her absence excited no +suspicion.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the sprite remained in her place of concealment, till the +gathering shadows of the trees stretched stealthily across the glade the +appointed signal for the gathering of the outlawed bands. The tall knight +soon <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span>appeared, and, lifting her gently from the tree, placed her on a +beautiful Spanish jennet, and smilingly handing her an ivory whistle, +terminating in a silver cross, bade her summon her satyrs. She placed it +to her lips, and blew a shrill call, and forthwith from the leafy bosom of +every bush and shrub there issued a huntsman, clad in forest green, and +carrying only such weapons as were used in the chase. The knight gave them +hasty directions for the different points of rendezvous, at which they +were to watch the safety of the young squire, warned them against those +places where they would be most likely to encounter the malcontents, and +then mounting the noble steed that stood pawing the turf in impatience by +his side, and laying his hand upon the rein, recalled Eva to herself, by +saying, with emphasis, “Sir Launfal, we must away, or morning will dawn +ere we cross the fords of Exe.”</p> + +<p>They rode at a brisk pace for some time in silence, the mind of each being +too much occupied for words.</p> + +<p>The knight at length spoke abruptly. “Thou hast a turn for adventure, +pretty page, and I’ll warrant me, ready tongue, but how dost thou think to +gain speech with Prince Edward?”</p> + +<p>“Nay, that I leave with thee,” returned Eva, “since I know neither the +place to which I am bound, nor the duty I am to perform.”</p> + +<p>“And that I scarce know myself,” replied the knight. “The lady Maud +Mortimer has the swiftest courser in all England, a coal-black Arabian, +brought by Richard of Cornwall as a gift to her ladyship, on his return +from the Holy Land. My Lord Mortimer is a partisan of Leicester, but is +somewhat cooled in his devotion to the proud earl, from an affront +received since the battle of Lewes. The lady, therefore, to be revenged, +has volunteered her steed for the escape of Edward. There riseth, however, +another difficulty. The prince is constantly surrounded with guards, so +that no stranger may accost him. My merry men have beset the castle in +every kind of disguise, but to no purpose. Of late, the prince rides forth +of a morning,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> closely attended, and I have brought thee, hoping that thy +woman’s wit may effect more than all our dull brains have yet +accomplished.”</p> + +<p>As the captive prince, sick with hope deferred, languidly mounted his +horse and rode forth upon his monotonous round, he was surprised by the +appearance of a saucy-looking page, who mingled carelessly among the +attendants, and challenged the younger squires to test the speed of their +horses.</p> + +<p>“And who art thou, pert boy?” inquired the captain of the guard.</p> + +<p>“Who but the squire to my Lord de Mortimer? Thou must be learned in +heraldry an thou knowest not the device of the noble earl,” replied the +page, with an air of nonchalance that easily satisfied his interrogator, +and eager of sport the whole party joined in the race. They were thus led +far beyond their usual limits. But the prince, whose heart was sad, +evinced little interest in the animated scene till the page, loudly +entreating him to put his steed to the mettle, found opportunity at +intervals to whisper, “To-morrow when the horses of the guards are blown, +seek the copse by the Hazel Glen.” As if disgusted with the familiarity of +the page, the prince slowly turned away, but not till he had exchanged a +glance of intelligence with his new friend.</p> + +<p>The following morning the gallant Sir Launfal stood in the copse holding +the reins of his own palfrey, and the steed of Lady Mortimer, till he was +faint and weary. The expected hour for Edward’s arrival had long passed, +and notwithstanding his effort to appear the brave squire he personated, +it must be confessed he felt very like a timid girl, whose active +imagination peopled the wood with a thousand unknown dangers. He turned +the whistle nervously in his fingers, and almost essayed to try its magic +powers in summoning around him the brave outlaws who waited his bidding, +when the welcome sound of advancing hoofs reassured him, and a moment +after the prince dashed into the thicket.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span>“Keep to the highway till we meet at the cross-roads,” said the page, +resigning the rein into his hand.</p> + +<p>The shouts of the pursuers were already on the air, as the prince vaulted +into the saddle and took the direction indicated. Striking into a bridle +path, Sir Launfal reached the cross-roads just as the prince appeared, and +together they rode gaily on towards Bristol. The pursuers soon after +gained the same point, where they encountered a woodman, jogging on slowly +after two loaded mules, of whom they inquired concerning the fugitive.</p> + +<p>“He be’s gone yonder,” replied the boor, pointing in the direction +opposite to the one which the prince had taken, where upon an eminence +appeared an armed force. The baffled guards, fearing that the conspiracy +might have been more extensive than they had anticipated, made the best of +their way back to Kenilworth.</p> + +<p>“And who art thou, my pretty page?” inquired Edward, “that hast so +dexterously redeemed thy prince, and whither dost thou conduct me?”</p> + +<p>“I wear the badge of Mortimer,” replied Sir Launfal. “The Lady Maude is +the constant friend of thy royal mother.”</p> + +<p>“Canst tell me aught of the movements of the rebel barons, or the fate of +my brave knights?”</p> + +<p>“Nay, my giddy brain recks little of politics or war,” returned the boy, +“but there are can give thee tidings.”</p> + +<p>A moment after they turned an angle in the road, and the boy putting the +whistle to his mouth sounded a sharp note, and a party of huntsmen, +apparently in quest of game, darted across the path, while one shouted, as +if to his companions, “To the right, the game lies by the Hermit’s Cross.” +The page immediately turned his palfrey, motioning to silence, and led off +into the path through the wood, and after several hours’ hard riding +arrived at the appointed place of rendezvous.</p> + +<p>At the foot of a large wooden cross, weather-stained and somewhat decayed, +sat a monk, closely robed in gown and cowl, who rose at their approach, +saying in a low voice,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span> “The benison of our Lady of Walsingham rest upon +you;” and with great strides conducted them deeper and deeper into the +wood, till they came to a hunter’s lodge, which, though much in ruins, +gave signs of having been recently repaired, with some view to the rank +and comfort of those who were to occupy it.</p> + +<p>The prince made light of the trifling inconveniences to which they were +subjected, remarking, “A soldier has little choice of resting-place.” But +poor Eva, wearied almost to death from the unaccustomed fatigues of the +day, now that the stimulus of excitement was over, had leisure to think of +her own situation; and scarcely able to restrain her tears, crept silently +to her couch of fern, and beneath the russet covering, soon slept from +very exhaustion. The prince and the monk meanwhile conferred apart in low +tones, concerting measures for present and future security.</p> + +<p>“Gloucester is with us,” said the priest, “and Sir Roger de Mortimer has a +party of picked men on the road to Evesham. My band have charge of every +ford and pass between this and Hereford. The scouts report that +Leicester’s men are much wasted by their long residence on the Welsh +frontier, and my jolly fellows are this night engaged in breaking down the +bridges across the Severn. For we churchmen have a fancy, that baptism is +necessary to wash away the sins of rebels.”</p> + +<p>“I fear not all the rites of the Church can absolve the black-hearted +traitor,” returned Edward, with great asperity. “But proceed with thy +news.”</p> + +<p>“The country is beset with Leicester’s spies,” continued the monk, “else +had I been less guarded in my communications with thee. Bands of men are +daily mustering in every direction, making the high-roads unsafe for +honest travellers like myself.”</p> + +<p>“Thou wilt join our forces with the brethren of thy chapter,” suggested +the prince.</p> + +<p>“Our chapter are somewhat too much tinctured with heresy to hail the +ascendency of the odious De Montforts,” replied the monk; “thou mayst, +therefore, depend upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> their most earnest intercessions in thy behalf. +But for me, I must restore pretty one,” nodding his head significantly +towards the spot where Eva lay asleep, “to his mistress. It is a matter, +not of selfish interest alone, that the loyal page be restored unharmed.”</p> + +<p>“Thou art right,” returned Edward. “I would not that the charming boy +should lose one raven curl for me, though he hath risked his freedom and, +perhaps, his life to save me.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER V.</p> + +<p class="center">THE DETERMINATION.</p> + +<p>After the battle of Evesham, in which Edward entirely overthrew the party +of the rebel barons, and re-established Henry’s throne, Eleanora resided +alternately in the palace of Savoy and at Windsor castle. The care of her +three beautiful children occupied much of her attention, and in their +nurture the streams of her affection deepened and widened, until they +embraced all who came within the sphere of her influence. The now +charming, but still volatile, Eva occasioned her infinite anxiety.</p> + +<p>Since the day when Sir Francis had received her from the tall knight, at +the ford of the Exe, he had held her by the two-fold cord of obligation +and the possession of a secret; and from the first moment he discovered +that she was sensitive upon the subject, he had not ceased to use his +power to his own advantage. She was thus obliged to treat him with a favor +which he ill deserved; yet such was the natural transparency of her +character, that her real sentiments so often betrayed themselves, as to +keep him in a constant state of irritation.</p> + +<p>Sir Henry de Courtenay, whose sincere and ardent nature gave him little +taste for mysteries, could not brook the inconsistencies that constantly +presented themselves in her manner, and determining that his hand should +never be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> bestowed where there was not the basis of confidence, withdrew +himself from the sphere of her attractions. Eva grieved at his departure, +but it was in vain that the princess represented, that the readiest escape +from her difficulties was a courageous and candid confession of the truth.</p> + +<p>Eva “did not care if he could be piqued by such trifles, as her smiling +upon Sir Francis, when she heartily wished him among the Turks, he might +e’en seek his fortune elsewhere. And for the matter of that, who could +tell that it was desirable for the heiress of Strongbow to marry a simple +knight.” But these heroics usually ended in violent fits of weeping, and +profound regrets that she had ever forfeited the confidence of De +Courtenay.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Edward began to feel the languor of inglorious ease, and as his +dreams of ambition returned upon him, his thoughts reverted again and +again to the unsolved problem that had exercised the political +mathematicians of Europe for nearly two centuries. Could a permanent +christian kingdom be founded in Palestine? All the blood which the French +had shed, and all the wise counsel that Louis lavished in the Seventh +Crusade, had failed to erect the necessary defence, or compose the +disorders that oppressed the Syrian Christians. Nor were the Mussulman +lords of Syria in much better condition. The noble dynasty of Saphadin had +fallen a prey to the ruthless Mamelukes, and a blood-stained revolution in +Egypt had placed the fierce Almalek Bibers on the throne. An excuse was +not wanting for the invasion of Palestine, and the holy places were again +bathed in the blood of their gallant defenders. The military orders were +nearly annihilated, and the country was ravaged with fire and sword, +almost to the very walls of Acre.</p> + +<p>About this time an event, no ways connected with the East, turned Edward’s +attention to the adoption of the cross. He had challenged Sir Francis to a +game of chess. In the midst of the play, from an impulse unaccountable to +himself, he rose and sauntered towards the embroidery frame, to relate to +Eva his adventure with the page whose <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span>ingenuity had once saved his life. +Sir Francis, curious to enjoy her artful evasions, followed him; and a +moment after, the centre stone of the groined ceiling fell with a terrible +crash on the very spot where they had been sitting.</p> + +<p>This almost miraculous preservation induced the prince to believe that he +was destined to perform some great service for God. It recalled to his +mind the benizon of our Lady at Walsingham, and, accompanied by Eleanora +and a goodly train, he set off the following day to offer on her shrine at +Norfolk an altar-cloth of gold brocade, and to crave her protection upon +the expedition that he now seriously meditated.</p> + +<p>“Eva,” said the princess, very gravely, when they sat one day alone, “thou +knowest my lord contemplates a pilgrimage.”</p> + +<p>“The saints preserve us!” said Eva. “Are there not holy places enough in +England, but my lord must risk his life upon the sea, and encounter the +black Infidels whose very presence is a terror?”</p> + +<p>“’Tis not alone to visit the holy places,” replied Eleanora, “though that +were a work well worthy knightly daring; but to redeem our christian +brethren from the power of their foes, and to establish the kingdom of +Christ, in the land where He died for his people.”</p> + +<p>“And have not the holiest men and the bravest warriors in Europe, from +Peter the Hermit to Fulk of Neuilly, and from Godfrey of Boulogne to the +good St. Louis, all attempted it and failed? My lord, I warrant me, has +been reading the tales of the romancers, or been deceived by the cunning +manifestos of the pope,” returned Eva.</p> + +<p>“Eva, dear one, when shall I teach thee to treat with respect those in +authority.”</p> + +<p>“I know that I am wrong,” said Eva, “but why does not his Holiness take +the cross himself, if he considers it such a pious work?”</p> + +<p>“And if the Sovereign Pontiff be one of those who say and do not, the +Scriptures still require us to obey those who sit in Moses’ seat,” replied +the queen.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span>“Thy goodness reproveth me beyond thy words. I would that I could be +always truthful and pure as thou,” said Eva.</p> + +<p>“Nay,” returned the queen, “I do but repeat that which the confessor this +morning told me.”</p> + +<p>“Forgive my irreverent prating,” replied the maiden, “but it seemeth +strange to me that one, who lacks the grace of christian charity himself, +should dictate the devotions of my lady who is love itself.”</p> + +<p>“Ah! partial one,” returned the princess, “hadst thou lived in Beziers, +St. Dominick would have had thy head for thy heresy. But seriously, my +Eva, thy praises humble me, for methinks had my life really exhibited +those graces for which thy partial fondness gives me credit, I might ere +this have taught thy restless spirit the composure which trust in God +always gives.”</p> + +<p>Alarmed by the grave tone of her mistress, and anxious to conceal the +emotions that welled up in her heart, Eva replied, with assumed gaiety, +“Nay, what canst thou expect from a sea-sprite? Surely I must rise and +fall like my native element.”</p> + +<p>“Ah! darling, this is that which hath so often forced home upon me the +thought I would not willingly apply to thee, ‘Unstable as water, thou +shalt not excel.’ And this it is makes me solicitous to gain thy candid +ear while I unfold my husband’s plans.” Tears rolled over the fair girl’s +cheeks, but she remained perfectly silent. “Sir Warrenne Bassingbourn, +whose noble heart thou knowest well, hath demanded thee of Edward, being +pleased to say that thy fair hand would be sufficient guerdon for his +gallant conduct in the wars. My royal father will give thee fitting dowry, +and I would see my sweet friend well bestowed with some worthy protector +before I embark upon that voyage from which I may never return.”</p> + +<p>“Thou embark for Palestine!” exclaimed Eva, forgetting her own brilliant +prospects in the contemplation of her lady’s purpose. “Bethink thee, my +most honored mistress, of all the perils that beset thy course.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span>“I have counted them over, one by one,” replied the princess, calmly.</p> + +<p>“Thou hast thought of the dangers of the sea, perhaps, but rememberest +thou the dreadful pestilence?—the horrors that Queen Margaret told?—how +the leeches cut away the gums and cheeks of the sufferers, that they might +swallow a drop of water to ease their torments?”</p> + +<p>“I remember all—I have considered well,” returned the princess. “And this +also do I know, that nothing ought to part those whom God hath joined; and +the way to heaven is as near, if not nearer, from Syria as from England, +or my native Spain.”</p> + +<p>“Then I go with thee,” said Eva, throwing herself at the feet of Eleanora, +and pressing her lips upon her hand, “for if God hath not joined me to +thee, he hath left me alone in the world. Thou hast been to me more than +Naomi, and I shall not fail to thee in the duty of Ruth. Where thou goest +I will go, where thou diest I will die, and there will I be buried. Thy +people shall be my people, and thy God my God. The poor, lone Eva, whose +mother lieth in the deep, deep sea, and whose father is perchance a +wanderer or an outlaw, shall no more strive to veil the sadness of her +orphan heart by the false smiles and assumed gaiety that grieve her +truest, only friend. Henceforth I will learn the lesson thou hast, with +such gentle patience and sweet example, ever strove to teach me.”</p> + +<p>Eleanora mingled her tears with those of the impassioned maiden, and, +anxious to end the painful scene, said, “Thou shalt go with me, love, to +danger, and perhaps to death, since such is thine election; but what +answer shall Edward return to Sir Warrenne Bassingbourn?”</p> + +<p>“Let my lord assure Sir Warrenne,” said she, rising proudly, “that Eva de +la Mer is not insensible of the honor he intends, but that she will never +add the shamrock to a knight’s escutcheon, till she knows by what title +she claims the emblem.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER VI.</p> + +<p class="center">THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN.</p> + +<p>The benevolent Louis could not rest in the palace of Vincennes while the +Mamelukes were slaughtering the Christians, or destroying their souls by +forcing them to renounce their faith. In his protracted devotions in the +Sainte Chapelle, he fancied he heard the groans of the dying in Palestine, +and his soul was stirred for their relief. He convened the barons in the +great hall of the Louvre, and entered bearing the holy crown of thorns. He +took the cross in their presence, and made his sons and brothers take it, +and after those no one dared refuse. Especially did he exert himself to +gain the concurrence of the English. Edward joyfully assented to the +proposal, and Eleanora, with her female train, departed in the spring of +1270 for Bordeaux, where she superintended the preparations for the +crusade campaign. Thither Edward followed her when his own arrangements +were complete. From Bordeaux they sailed for Sicily, where they remained +the winter, and where they heard the melancholy intelligence of the death +of King Louis, who had advanced as far as Tunis on his way to Egypt. With +his last breath, the sainted king whispered the name that was set as a +seal upon his heart. “Oh! Jerusalem! Jerusalem!” His brother, Charles +d’Anjou, King of Sicily, attempted to dissuade Edward from prosecuting the +expedition. But the noble prince, striking his hand upon his breast, +exclaimed, with energy, “Sangue de Dieu! if all should desert me, I would +redeem Acre if only attended by my groom.”</p> + +<p>When Edward turned the prow of his vessel up the Mediterranean, Acre was +in a state of closer siege than it had formerly been, at the advent of +Richard Cœur de Lion. But now it was the Mussulmans who lay encamped +around its walls, and the Christians who feebly defended it from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span> their +fierce attack. The fate of the principality of Antioch was closely +connected with that of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>The family of Bohemond, the first sovereign, who married Constantia, +daughter of Phillip I., King of France, had reigned there in unbroken +succession nearly to the period of the last Crusade—though the State was +tributary to Frederic II. and to his son Conrad. The last king was made a +knight by St. Louis. When the Egyptians commenced their conquests in +Syria, Antioch surrendered without even the formality of a siege, and thus +the link between the Greek Empire and Palestine was sundered, and all +prospect of aid from that quarter entirely cut off.</p> + +<p>In Acre were assembled the last remains of all the Christian +principalities of the East; the descendants of the heroes who, under +Godfrey of Boulogne, took up their residence there; the remnants of the +military friars who had so long and so strenuously battled for the +ascendency of the “Hospital” and the “Temple” no less than for the +redemption of the Holy Sepulchre; and all the proselytes who, through +years of missionary efforts, had been gathered from the Pagan world. But +the defenceless were more numerous than the defenders, and the factions +which divided their councils would have ripened into treachery and ended +in ruin, had it not been for the presence of Sir Henry Courtenay. From the +day of his estrangement from Eva, he had bestowed his devotion upon those +objects which he thought best calculated to fill the void in his heart. At +the first news of the disasters in Palestine, he had assembled all the +partisans and vassals of the noble house of Courtenay, and, furnishing +them from his own purse, rallied them around the standard <i>or torteaux</i>, +and led them to the rescue of their eastern brethren. He reached the city +at the critical moment when, wearied with the strife, the Templars had +begun to negotiate with Melech Bendocar upon the terms of a capitulation. +His courteous and noble bearing harmonized the jarring spirits, and his +ardent valor inspired them with new hopes, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span> enabled them to maintain +the last stronghold in Palestine, till the arrival of Edward.</p> + +<p>The knowledge that a Plantagenet had come to lift the dishonored banner of +the cross from the dust, spread terror and dismay among the ranks of the +Moslem, the Sultan of Egypt fled from the city of Acre, all the Latins in +Palestine crowded round the standard of the English prince, and Edward +found himself at the head of seven thousand veteran soldiers. With this +force he made an expedition to Nazareth, which he besieged with the most +determined valor. In the fight, Edward was unhorsed, and might have +perished in the mêlée, had not Henry Courtenay relinquished his own steed +for his master’s use. The gallant youth then took his station by the side +of a tall knight, whose falchion gleamed in the front of the battle like +the sword of Azrael. They were the first to mount the scaling-ladders and +drive the Moslem from the walls. Nazareth was thus, by one decisive blow, +added to the dominions of Christendom.</p> + +<p>But the wing of victory was paralyzed by the scorching sun of Syria. +Edward was prostrated by the acclimating fever that wasted the energies of +Richard Cœur de Lion, and in the palace of Acre he longed, in vain, for +the cooling draughts of iced sherbet, that the courteous Saladin had +bestowed upon his royal predecessor. Sir Francis d’Essai had followed the +fortunes of Edward, or rather of Eva, to Palestine, hoping to win the +favor of his lady’s smiles. The sight of de Courtenay roused all his +former jealousy, and the cordial manner of Eva towards his rival almost +drove him to desperation. Various circumstances had excited an +apprehension in Edward’s mind, that the count was seeking to make common +cause with the Arabs, but as no tangible proof of treasonable practices +appeared, the suspicion passed away.</p> + +<p>The illness of the monarch continuing, Eleanora determined to make a +pilgrimage to the Jordan, to pray at the shrine of St. John for her +husband’s recovery, and, at his own earnest solicitations, Sir Francis was +permitted to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span>conduct the party. Eleanora afterwards remembered that he +rode most of the way in close attendance upon Eva, and seemed engaged in +earnest conversation, though several muttered oaths gave her the +impression that the colloquy was not so satisfactory as he could have +wished. They accomplished their pilgrimage safely, and commenced their +return, when, stopping to refresh themselves in a small grove near Mount +Tabor, a band of mounted Saracens fell upon them. There was a fierce +struggle, and, for a few moments, the gleaming of swords and the flash of +scimeters seemed to menace instant destruction. Both the assailants and +defenders were scattered through the wood, and a few of the frantic +females attempted flight. The Moslems at length retreated, but when the +princess summoned her retainers to set forward, neither Sir Francis nor +Eva could be found.</p> + +<p>Alarmed for the safety of her lovely companion, Eleanora caused the +vicinity to be searched in every direction. Her palfrey was discovered +idly cropping the grass, but all trace of its fair rider was lost. With a +bursting heart the princess gave orders to proceed with all haste to Acre, +that scouts in greater numbers might be sent in quest of the lost jewel.</p> + +<p>The state of Edward’s health was such, that it was not deemed advisable to +acquaint him with the melancholy result of their pious enterprise. But de +Courtenay at once comprehended the plot. Such a mêlée, without bloodshed, +proved no hostile intention on the part of the Arabs, and there could be +no doubt that Sir Francis was the instigator of the attack, and the +possession of Eva, its object. His impatience to set off for her rescue +did not prevent him from taking every precaution, both for the safety of +Acre, and the success of his expedition. Eleanora, whose characteristic +self-possession had left her at liberty to observe, described with the +most scrupulous exactness the circumstances of the fray, and each trifling +peculiarity in the appearance of the robbers.</p> + +<p>Fortified with this intelligence, he set off at once, with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> select +party, and a few hours after leaving Acre, was unexpectedly joined by the +tall knight, and a reinforcement of converted <i>Pullani</i>. From him he +learned that the Arabs had taken the direction of Mt. Lebanon, and from +his knowledge of the Assassin band, his heart sunk within him, at the +thought of what might have been the fate of his lovely Eva. In his anxiety +for her rescue, all her faults were forgotten, and he only remembered the +gentle kindness that characterized every action, and the nameless charm, +that made her friends as numerous as her acquaintances. Prompted by these +considerations, they spurred forward, stopping only to refresh their +wearied steeds, till they began to wind among the rocky passes of Mt. +Lebanon.</p> + +<p>The tall knight seemed perfectly familiar with the locality, and guided +the pursuers directly to the tower, called The Vulture’s Nest, which was +the chief residence of the Old Man of the Mountain. There seemed to be an +intelligence between the tall knight and all the marabouts who guarded the +entrance to this “Castle Dangerous.” Leaving their followers, the two +leaders advanced, and the knight presenting a piece of shrivelled +parchment to an Arab, who filled the office of porter, they were ushered +into a long hall, at the door of which stood a swarthy Turk, partly +leaning upon an immense battle-axe, the handle of which was stuck full of +daggers. The Sheik received them with an obsequiousness scarcely to be +expected from one of his bloody trade, and in answer to the knight’s eager +inquiries, motioned his attendant, and instantly that which had appeared a +solid masonry, rolled silently back, as if by magic, revealing an +apartment fitted up with every appliance of eastern magnificence. Before +they recovered from their surprise, voices were heard from the farther +extremity of the room, soft female pleading, and then the loud menacing +tones of passion.</p> + +<p>“Eva, thou shalt be mine! I swear it by all the fiends of hell. Nay, anger +me not by thy cold repulse. Thou art now beyond the protection of the +smooth-tongued de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> Courtenay.” He seized her arm as he spoke, and a +piercing shriek rang through the hall.</p> + +<p>“Traitor! viper! release thy hold,” exclaimed de Courtenay, springing +forward and receiving the fainting girl in his arms.</p> + +<p>“And who art thou, that darest to cross the purpose of D’Essai? By what +right dost thou interfere between me and my bride?”</p> + +<p>“By the right of a father,” said a deep, stern voice at his side, and the +tall knight advancing, tenderly clasped his unresisting daughter to his +heart, and stood by like one lost in a tide of long-repressed emotions, +while the two nobles fiercely drew their swords, and with deadly hatred, +each sought the life of his foe. But the Sheik interposed, reminding them, +that his castle walls were sacred, and that if his tributaries chose to +slay one another, they must seek the open field for the pastime. +Reluctantly, and with eyes that glared with baffled vengeance, the lords +sheathed their swords, and the tall knight, laying his daughter gently +upon a couch, spake a few words apart to the Sheik.</p> + +<p>The Old Man made a sign of assent, and instantly two Arabs sprang forward, +seized D’Essai, bound him with thongs, and conveyed him from the +apartment. Relieved of her fears, and reassured by the presence of a +father, for whose affection she had always pined, and a lover, on whom she +now contrived to smile in a way that completely satisfied his heart, Eva +declared herself impatient to set off immediately for Acre. The Sheik +pressed them to partake of some refreshments, and while Eva enjoyed a few +moments’ delicious conversation with her sire, a troop of slaves prepared +and set before them an entertainment that would have done honor to the +palace of a king. As the cavalcade set out, the tender heart of Eva was +pained to see Sir Francis placed upon the back of a mule, blindfolded, +with his face to the crupper, and his arms firmly pinioned to the body of +the Arab who had him in charge.</p> + +<p>“Thou seemest on excellent terms with the Sheik of the mountain, noble +Clare,” said de Courtenay, as they rode<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span> along. “Had I not a guarantee in +thy kindred,” said he glancing at Eva, “I should somewhat challenge the +familiarity that has given such success to our expedition.”</p> + +<p>“Nay, and that thou well mightst,” returned the Clare, “for the history of +mankind does not furnish the idea of so daring and desperate a band as +these assassins of Mt. Lebanon.”</p> + +<p>“Heaven save us!” exclaimed Eva, her lips white with fear. “From what +terrible fate have I been delivered! That vile Sir Francis declared that +he had snatched me from the hostile Arabs, and would bring me safe to +Acre, and that it was in pity for my fatigue he turned aside to a castle +of christian natives. It makes me shudder, even now, to think that I have +been in the presence of the man whose very name hath made me tremble, when +beyond the sea, in merrie England.”</p> + +<p>“Nay, love,” said her father, tenderly, “the Sheik owed thee no malice, +and might have rescued thee, had not Sir Francis been his tributary.”</p> + +<p>“They exact, then, toll and custom?” said Courtenay, inquiringly.</p> + +<p>“Thou sayest well <i>exact</i>,” replied the knight. “Didst not mark the +battle-axe of the rude seneschal? ’Tis said the Danish weapon once +belonged to the founder of the band, and each dagger stuck in the oaken +helve, inscribed with a sentence in a different dialect, is significantly +pointed against the prince or ruler who shall dare withhold tribute from +their chief. One of my ancestors, I reck not whom, once resided in the +vicinity of Croyland, and received from the venerable abbot the parchment +which thou sawest me use with such marvellous effect. My ancestor fought +in the first crusade under the Atheling, and, unlike most of his +companions, returned in safety, whence a tradition arose in the family +that the scroll was a charm.</p> + +<p>“On my setting out for the holy wars, I placed the heirloom in my +<i>aumonière</i>, and had nearly forgotten its existence, when a startling +circumstance recalled it to memory. My plan for the redemption of +Palestine (for I have not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> been without ambition) was the organization of +troops collected from the mixed races which are now an important part of +the population. I was warned at the outset that tribute would be demanded +by the chief of the assassins, but I steadily resisted every tax-gatherer +who presented his claims, till I awoke one morning in my tent, surrounded +by my faithful guard, and found a dagger stuck in the ground not two +fingers’ breadth from my head. I examined the inscription upon the weapon +and found it the same with that upon the scroll, and forthwith determined +to form the acquaintance of this rival chief. He respected my passport and +showed me the wonders of his habitation, which heaven grant I may never +see again. So perfect is the discipline of his followers, so invincible +their faith, that every word of their chief is a law. He led me up a lofty +tower, at each battlement of which stood two Fedavis. At a sign from him, +two of these devotees flung themselves from the tower, breaking their +bones, and scattering their brains upon the rock below. ‘If you wish it,’ +said the chief, ‘all these men shall do the same.’ But I had seen enough, +and I resolved from that hour never to tempt the enmity of the Old Man of +the Mountain.</p> + +<p>“I have ransomed yon traitor, at heavy cost, for I would that Edward +should know and punish his baseness. You are now beyond the reach of +danger. I may not enter Acre—the reasons shall be told ere long. +Farewell, my daughter, sweet image of thy sainted mother; guard my secret +safely till we meet again. Adieu.”</p> + +<p>He dashed the rowels into his steed, and was soon lost among the hills.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER VII.</p> + +<p>Meantime the palace of Acre had been witness of a fearful scene. Since the +fall of Nazareth the Emir of Joppa had opened negotiations with Edward, +professing a desire to become a christian convert. So eager was the king +for this happy consummation that he cherished the deceitful hope, held out +by the Infidel, and granted him every opportunity for gaining information +concerning the tenets and practices of the church.</p> + +<p>Letters and messages frequently passed between them, and so accustomed had +the English guards become to the brown haick and green turban of the +swarthy Mohammedan, who carried the despatches, that they gave him free +ingress to the city and admitted him to the palace, and even ushered him +into the king’s ante-chamber almost without question or suspicion.</p> + +<p>The day had been unusually sultry, even for the Syrian climate. The heat +of the atmosphere somewhat aggravated the symptoms of the disease from +which Edward was slowly recovering, and Eleanora had passed many weary +hours in vain endeavors to soothe his restlessness and induce repose.</p> + +<p>As the sun declined a cooling breeze sprang up from the sea, seeming to +the patient wife to bear healing on its wings, and the invalid, stretched +on his couch before the casement, began at length to yield to the soothing +influence of slumber, when the chamberlain entered to say that the +emissary from Joppa waited an audience.</p> + +<p>“Now have I no faith in the conversion of this Infidel,” said Eleanora, +with an impatience unusual to her gentle spirit, “since his messenger +disturbs my lord’s repose.”</p> + +<p>“Verily thou lackest thine accustomed charity,” replied Edward. “I had +thought to hear thee declare the conversion of this Saracen my crowning +glory in Palestine. But thou art weary, my love. Go to thy rest, thy long +vigils by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span> my side have already gathered the carnation from thy cheek.”</p> + +<p>“Yet, my lord—” interposed Eleanora.</p> + +<p>“Nay, nay,” said Edward, “disturb not thy sweet soul; perchance more than +my life depends upon the interview. I will straight dismiss the envoy, and +then thou canst entrust my slumbers to the care of the faithful Eva.”</p> + +<p>At the mention of Eva a new and not less painful train of associations was +awakened in the mind of Eleanora, and with a heavy sigh she withdrew as +the messenger entered.</p> + +<p>A moment after there were sounds as of a violent struggle and of the fall +of a heavy body, and Eleanora, who had lingered in the ante-chamber, +scarcely knowing why, rushed back into the apartment, followed by the +chamberlain and guards.</p> + +<p>The assassin lay upon the floor in the agonies of death, his head broken +by the oaken tressel from which she had just risen. Prostrate by his side +lay the prince, in a state of insensibility, the blood faintly oozing from +a wound in his arm. The princess comprehended at once the risk her husband +had incurred, and shuddered with apprehension at the thought of the danger +that yet might menace him; and while the attendants lifted him from the +floor, she tenderly raised his arm to her lips, and began to draw the +venom from the wound. But no sooner did Edward revive from his swoon, +than, forcibly thrusting her aside, he exclaimed, “Eleanora my life, +knowest thou not the dagger was poisoned?”</p> + +<p>“Even so, my lord,” said she, with steadfast composure, still firmly +persisting in her purpose, notwithstanding his constant remonstrance.</p> + +<p>The fearful intelligence of their leader’s peril spread with lightning +speed through the city, and self-sent messengers hurried in every +direction, and summoned leeches and priests to cure or shrive the dying +monarch. The Grand Master of the Temple, who was somewhat practised in the +habits of the assassins, appeared in the midst of the exciting scene, and +commending the timely application of Eleanora’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span> loving lips, bound up the +wound with a soft emollient, and prescribed for the princess an antidote +of sovereign efficacy.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had silence resumed her dominion in the palace, when the porter +was again aroused to admit de Courtenay and his rescued Eva. The traitor +D’Essai had been lodged in the tower of Maledictum, to wait Edward’s +pleasure concerning him; and Eva, her heart overflowing with rapture in +the assurance of Sir Henry’s restored confidence, and the security of a +father’s love, passed the livelong night with Eleanora, in that free +communion of soul which generous natures experience when the gushings of a +common emotion overleap the barriers of conventionalism and formality.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>Edward was himself again. The steady ray of reason had subdued the fevered +gleam of his eye, and the ruddy hue of health replaced the pallor of +wasting sickness upon his cheek. His athletic frame had wrestled with +disease, and come off conqueror over weakness and pain; and as he assumed +his seat of judgment, clad in his warlike panoply, the royal Plantagenet +“looked every inch a king.” The great church of Acre was thrown open, and +knights in brilliant armor, and Templars and Hospitallers in the +habiliments of their orders, bishops and priests in their sacred robes, +and vassals in their holiday array, crowded up the long aisles, and filled +the spacious choir, as though eager to witness some splendid ceremonial. +But instead of gorgeous decorations, wainscot and window draped with black +diffused a funereal gloom, and the solemn reverberation of the tolling +bell seemed to sound a requiem over the grave of Hope.</p> + +<p>Sir Francis d’Essai had been tried in a council of his peers, and found +guilty of treason to religion and knightly devoir; and this day, the +anniversary of his admission to the rank of knighthood, his companions in +arms, the vassals whom he despised, and all those actuated by curiosity or +enmity, were assembled to witness his <i>degradation</i>. Eva shuddered at the +terrible doom of her former lover, and de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span> Courtenay, with instinctive +delicacy, had obtained permission to absent himself from the scene on a +visit to the Holy Sepulchre. As king-of-arms, and first in rank, it was +the duty of Edward to preside over this fearful ceremony, which, by the +true and loyal, was regarded as more terrible than death itself.</p> + +<p>At the first stroke of the great bell, the pursuivants, having robed Sir +Francis for the last time in his knightly habiliments, conducted him from +the <i>Cursed Tower</i> toward the church. As they entered the door, the +doleful peal sank in silence, and, after one awful moment, his +fellow-knights, with broken voices, began to chant the burial service.</p> + +<p>An elevated stage, hung with black, had been erected in the centre of the +nave, and upon this the pursuivants, whose business it was to divest him +of every outward insignia of courage and truth, placed the culprit, in +full view of all the vast concourse.</p> + +<p>When the chanting ceased, Prince Edward spoke in a voice that thrilled to +every heart, “Sir Francis d’Essai! thou who didst receive the sword of +knighthood from the hand of the good St. Louis, dost stand before us this +day attaint of treason to thy God, thy truth, and the lady of thy love. +Wherefore thy peers have willed that the order of knighthood, by the which +thou hast received all the honor and worship upon thy body, <i>be brought to +nought</i>, and thy state be undone, and thou be driven forth outcast and +dishonored according to thy base deserts.” Instantly the brazen tongue +from the belfry ratified the fiat, and announced the hour of doom. At the +word, the squire with trembling hand removed the helmet, the defence of +disloyal eyes, revealing the pale and haggard countenance of the recreant +knight, and the choir resumed the mournful dirge. Then each pursuivant +advanced in his order to the performance of his unwelcome duty. One by one +the knightly trappings of D’Essai were torn from his body, and as cuirass, +greaves, brassarts, and gauntlets rang upon the pavements, the heralds +exclaimed, “Behold the harness of a miscreant!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span>Trembling and bent beneath the weight of shame, the craven stood, while +they smote the golden spurs from his heels, and brake his dishonored sword +above his head, and the terrible requiem wailed over the perished emblems +of his former innocence.</p> + +<p>The Grand Master of the Templars then entered upon the stage, bearing a +silver basin filled with tepid water, and the herald, holding it up, +exclaimed, “By what name call men the knight before us?”</p> + +<p>The pursuivants answered, “The name which was given him in baptism,—the +name by which his father was known,—the name confirmed to him in chivalry +is Sir Francis d’Essai.”</p> + +<p>The heralds again replied, “Falsehood sits upon his tongue and rules in +his heart; he is miscreant, traitor, and Infidel.”</p> + +<p>Immediately the Grand Master, in imitation of baptism, dashed the water in +his face, saying, “Henceforth be thou called by thy right name, Traitor!”</p> + +<p>Then the heralds rang out a shrill note upon the trumpets, expressive of +the demand, “What shall be done with the false-hearted knave?” Prince +Edward in his majesty arose, and in a voice agitated with a sense of the +awful penalty, replied, “Let him with dishonor and shame be banished from +the kingdom of Christ—Let his brethren curse him, and let not the angels +of God intercede for him.”</p> + +<p>Immediately each knight drew his sword, and presenting its gleaming point +against the now defenceless D’Essai, crowded him down the steps to the +altar, where the pursuivants seized him, and forced him into his coffin, +and placed him on the bier, and the attendant priests completed the +burial-service over his polluted name and perjured soul. At a sign from +the king, the bearers took up the bier, and all the vast congregation +followed in sad procession, to the city-gates, where they thrust him out, +a thing accursed, while the great bell from the lofty tower of the +cathedral told the tale of his infamy in tones of terrible significance, +“Gone—gone—gone—virtue, faith, and truth;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span> +lost—lost—lost—honor, fame, and love.” From Carmel’s hoary height to Tabor’s sacred top, each +hallowed hill and vale reverberated the awful knell, “Gone and lost—lost +and gone”—and the breeze that swept the plain of Esdraelon caught up +the dismal echo, and seemed hurrying across the Mediterranean to whisper +to the chivalry of Europe the dreadful story of his <i>degradation</i>.</p> + +<p>Stung by the weight of woe that had fallen upon him, the miserable D’Essai +rose and gazed across the plain. An arid waste spread out before him like +the prospect of his own dreary future, blackened and desolate by the reign +of evil passions.</p> + +<p>Life, what had it been to him? A feverish dream, a burning thirst, a +restless, unsatisfied desire! Virtue—honor—truth—idle words, their +solemn mockery yet rang in his ears. He ran—he flew—anywhere, anywhere +to flee the haunting thoughts that trooped like fiends upon his track.</p> + +<p>He neared the banks of the river, its cooling waters rolling on in their +eternal channel, promised to allay his fever and bury his dishonored name +in oblivion. He plunged in—that ancient river swept him away, the river +Kishon, and as he sank to rise no more, a deep voice exclaimed, “So perish +thine enemies, O Lord!” It was the voice of Dermot de la Clare, who, +passing southward at the head of his troop, from the opposite bank became +an involuntary witness of the frantic suicide.</p> + +<p>The week following the ceremony last described, Eva entered the apartment +of Eleanora, each fair feature radiant with pleasure, bearing in her hand +a carrier-pigeon, whose fluttering heart betokened the weary length of way +that had tried the strength of its glossy pinions.</p> + +<p>“Whence hast thou the dove, and what is his errand?” exclaimed the +princess, equally eager for any intelligence that might affect the fate of +the East.</p> + +<p>“A Pullani brought it to the palace,” she replied, and hastily cutting the +silken thread, she detached a letter from beneath the wing of the bird. It +contained but these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span> words: “The Sultan of Egypt is hard pressed by the +Moslems. It is a favorable moment to commence negotiations.”</p> + +<p>The seal of the Shamrock was the only signature, but Eva well understood +that the Clare had been engaged in devising an honorable scheme to release +Edward from an expedition which could not result in glory to the christian +arms.</p> + +<p>The prince had now been fourteen months in the Holy Land. His army, never +sufficient to allow of his undertaking any military enterprise of +importance, was reduced by sickness, want and desertion, and he therefore +gladly accepted the hint of his unknown friend, and despatched de +Courtenay to Egypt with proposals of peace.</p> + +<p>It was a glad errand to the knight, though the timid and (she could not +conceal it) loving Eva warned him most strenuously against the artifices +of the Sultan, Al Malek al Dhaker Rokneddin Abulfeth Bibers al Alai al +Bendokdari al Saheli, whose name, at least, she said, was <i>legion</i>.</p> + +<p>“And were he the prince of darkness himself, the love of my guardian Eva +would protect me against his wiles,” gallantly returned the count.</p> + +<p>“Alas!” said Eva, humbly, “thou little knowest the broken reed on which +thou leanest. My weak will mocks my bravest resolutions, and makes me feel +the need of a firmer spirit for my guide.”</p> + +<p>“Heaven grant that I may one day receive the grateful office,” returned +her lover.</p> + +<p>“Heaven help me become worthy of thy noble devotion,” said Eva, +remembering with regret the cruel test to which she had subjected his +generous affection.</p> + +<p>De Courtenay found little difficulty in settling the terms of a ten years’ +truce with the formidable Mameluke; for the Sultan had far greater reason +to fear his Moslem than his Christian foes.</p> + +<p>There was no occasion for the farther sojourn of the English in Palestine; +and Edward, having accomplished nothing more than his great-uncle, and +leaving a reputation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span> scarcely inferior to Cœur de Lion, departed with +his retinue for Europe.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the peaceful termination of the expedition, this crusade, +the last of the chivalrous offspring of Feudalism and Enthusiasm, like its +elder brethren, found a premature grave in darkness and gloom.</p> + +<p>The son of St. Louis, Philip the Hardy, returning from Tunis, deposited +five coffins in the crypts of St. Denis. They contained the remains of his +sainted father, Louis IX., of his brother Tristan, of his brother-in-law, +Thibaut, descendant of Adela, of his beloved queen and their infant son. +Weak and dying himself, he was almost the only heir of his royal family. +The ambitious Charles d’Anjou, the rival and the murderer of Corradino, +grandson of Frederic and Violante, plundered the stranded vessels of the +returning crusaders, and thus enriched his kingdom of Sicily, by the great +shipwreck of the empire and the church.</p> + +<p>Death, too, had been busy in the palace of Windsor. The two beautiful +children of Edward and Eleanora had been laid in the tomb, and their +grandfather, Henry III., with their aunt Margaret, Queen of Scotland, soon +followed them to the great charnel-house of England, Westminster Abbey. +The melancholy tidings of these repeated bereavements met the royal pair +in Sicily, and cast a pall over the land to which they had anticipated a +triumphant return.</p> + +<p>The great problem of the conquest of Palestine was not yet solved to the +mind of Edward, but the progress of the age trammelled his powers and +limited his ambitious aspirations. The orders of knighthood, exhausted by +the repeated drafts made upon their forces, by these eastern expeditions, +began to decline in the scale of power; and the lower ranks, finding new +avenues to wealth in productive labor and commerce, began the great battle +with military organizations and hereditary aristocracy, which has been +going on with increased advantage to the working classes from the middle +ages to the present glorious era.</p> + +<p>Gregory X. made some feeble attempts to rouse Europe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> once more for the +redemption of the Holy Sepulchre, but his earnest appeal received no +response from the sovereigns of Christendom, and within three years the +last strain of the great anthem “Hierosolyma liberati” that began with the +swelling tones of mustering warriors and sounded on through two centuries +in the soul-stirring harmonies of jubilante peans, alternating with the +mournful measures of funeral dirges, ended in a last sad refrain over the +diminished remnants of the military orders, who, in a vain defence of +Acre, dyed the sands of Syria with their blood.</p> + +<p>From Sicily the royal crusaders proceeded to Rome, where they were +cordially welcomed and splendidly entertained by Pope Gregory X., who, +having long filled the office of confessor in their household, had been +recalled from the Holy Land, to occupy the chair of St. Peter.</p> + +<p>In the train of the King of England was his cousin, Henry, son of Richard +of Cornwall, a gallant young noble who had led the detachment that opposed +the band of Leicester, and, by his warlike prowess, greatly contributed to +the successful issue of the sanguinary conflict at Evesham. His zeal and +loyalty during this doubtful period, commended him to the confidence of +Edward, and he had still more endeared himself to his royal patron, by his +ardor in battling against the Infidels, and his brilliant achievements at +the siege of Nazareth.</p> + +<p>The young Henry was the affianced husband of the Princess Mary, in +consequence of which, Eleanora had admitted him to an intimacy, and +evinced for him an affection almost equal to that enjoyed by the royal +children themselves.</p> + +<p>During the stay of the king at Rome, the devoted Henry obtained permission +to make a pilgrimage to a celebrated shrine near Naples, for the +consecration of sundry relics which he had collected in Palestine. As he +knelt at the foot of the altar and closed his eyes in prayer, he was not +aware of the entrance of his mortal enemy, Guy de Montfort, son of the +Earl of Leicester. With stealthy tread the assassin approached, bent over +the suppliant youth, and exclaiming, “Die! murderer of my father!” thrust +his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span> sword into the heart, beating warm with life and hope, and sprinkled +the holy relics with the blood of another martyr. With a vengeful frown of +satisfied hate, he wiped the sword, returned it to its scabbard, and +strode from the church. One of his knights, fit follower of such a master, +inquired as he rejoined his troop,</p> + +<p>“What has my lord Guy de Montfort done?”</p> + +<p>“Taken vengeance,” was the fiendish reply.</p> + +<p>“How so?” rejoined the knight. “Was not your father, the great Leicester, +dragged a public spectacle, by the hair of the head through the streets of +Evesham?”</p> + +<p>Without a word the demon turned to his yet more malignant triumph, and +seizing the victim, whose pale lips yet moved with the instinct of prayer, +dragged him from the attendants, who were vainly striving to staunch the +life-blood welling from the wound, to the public place, and left him a +ghastly spectacle to the horror-stricken crowd.</p> + +<p>It was now necessary for the murderers to think of self-defence. The +English retainers of Earl Henry had raised the cry of revenge, and the +Italian populace excited by the fearful tragedy that had been enacted in +the very presence of the virgin and child, began to run together and join +the parties of attack or defence. The train of de Montfort immediately +raised the shout of, “d’Anjou! Down with the Ghibelines!” and when the +armed forces of the Duke Charles rode into the midst of the throng to +investigate the cause of the tumult, Sir Guy joined their ranks, and +departed for Naples under their escort.</p> + +<p>Tidings of this melancholy event were soon carried to Rome, and Edward +immediately appealed to the pope for justice upon the murderer. Gregory, +who feared to offend Edward, and who was almost equally alarmed at the +prospect of a rupture with the tyrant of Sicily, had recourse to various +ingenious methods of delay. Finding however that the King of England had +determined to postpone the obsequies of his noble relative, until a curse +was pronounced upon the assassin, he was forced to the exercise of +ecclesiastical measures.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span>Clothed in his pontifical robes, Gregory X. entered the church at +Orvietto, and proceeding to the high altar, took the bible in his hand, +and, after setting before the awestruck assembly the guilt of the culprit, +proceeded thus to fulminate his anathema against the assassin.</p> + +<p>“For the murder of Henry of Germany, slain before the shrine of St. Mary, +in the face of day, we lay upon Guy de Montfort the curse of our Holy +Church. In virtue of the authority bestowed upon us as the successor of +St. Peter, we do pronounce him excommunicate, and alien to all the +privileges and consolations which our blessed religion affords. We permit +every one to seize him—we order the governors of provinces to arrest +him—we place under interdict all who shall render him an asylum—we +prohibit all Christians from lending him aid, and we dispense his vassals +from all oaths of fidelity they have made to him; may none of the +blessings of this holy book descend upon him, and may all the curses +contained therein, cleave unto him;” and he dashed the bible to the +ground.</p> + +<p>Lifting the waxen taper, he continued, “Let the light of life be withdrawn +from him, and let his soul sink in <i>eternal night</i>.” With the word he +threw the candle upon the pavement, and instantly every light in the +church was extinguished, and amid the gloom, the trembling congregation +heard the voice of the pontiff, ringing out full and clear, “I curse him +by book, by candle, and by bell.” A solemn toll proclaimed the +malediction, and amid the darkness and the silence, the multitude crept +one by one from the church, as though fearful of being implicated in the +terrible denunciation.</p> + +<p>Edward, having thus placed his cousin under the ban of the church, +disdained to persecute him with farther vengeance, and taking an amicable +leave of the pontiff continued his route to France. Learning that England +was quiet under the regency of the queen-mother, he improved the +opportunity to make the tour of his southern dominions, and, in gallant +sports and knightly adventures passed several months upon the continent.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span>Edward and Eleanora arrived in England, August 2d, 1273. The English +welcomed their return with the greatest exultation. Both houses of +parliament assembled to do honor to their entrance into London, and the +streets were hung with garlands of flowers and festoons of silk; while the +wealthy inhabitants, showered gold and silver on the royal retinue as they +passed.</p> + +<p>Preparations were made for their coronation on a scale of magnificence +hitherto unrivalled. Fourteen days were spent in erecting booths for the +accommodation of the populace, and temporary kitchens for the purpose of +roasting oxen, sheep, and fowls, and preparing cakes and pastry, for the +expected banquet. Hogsheads of Bordeaux wine, and pipes of good stout +English ale, were ranged at convenient intervals, and flagon-masters +appointed to deal them out to the thirsty crowds.</p> + +<p>The night before the expected ceremony, the presumptive king and queen +were indulging in reminiscences of the early days of their married life, +and comparing those troublous times, with the splendid future that seemed +to stretch in bright perspective before them.</p> + +<p>“Methinks, sweet life,” said Edward, tenderly taking her hand, “those days +when thou dwelt a fugitive in the wilds of Devonshire, and I languished +within the walls of Kenilworth, gave little promise of our present +peaceful state.”</p> + +<p>“True, my lord, yet had I not dwelt in the humble hamlet, I might never +have known the pure loyalty of English hearts.”</p> + +<p>“By our Lady, thou hast a better alchemy than thy clerkly brother, the +Castilian monarch, for his science finds only <i>gold</i> in everything, while +thy diviner art finds <i>good</i> in all, and loyalty in outlaws.”</p> + +<p>“I remember me,” replied Eleanora, with an arch smile, “there was a +gallant outlaw, in whom my woman’s heart discerned every noble and +knightly quality. But small credit can I claim for my science, since it +was the alchemy of love that revealed his virtues.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span>“No other alchemy hath e’er found good in man, and, sinner as I am, I +might fear the judgment of thy purity, did not the same sweet charity that +discovers undeveloped virtues transmute even errors into promises of good. +To-morrow, God willing, it will be in Edward’s power to constitute +Eleanora the dispenser of bounty. Whom would she first delight to honor?”</p> + +<p>“Since the prince of outlaws puts it in my power,” said Eleanora, with a +look of grateful affection, “I would e’en reward those bold foresters who +delivered my Edward from the enemies that sought his life.”</p> + +<p>“Thou sayest well, dearest,” replied Edward, “and now that thou remindest +me of my escape from thraldom, I pray our Lady of Walsingham aid me to +discharge an obligation that hath long laid heavy on my conscience. +Yesternight, methought I saw, among the yeomen busy in the preparations +for the approaching pageant, the tall outlaw, who, in his gown and cowl, +one moment gave me priestly benizon, and the next, advised me of +Leicester’s movements, with the sagacity of a practised warrior. Such +length of limb and strength of arm, once seen, does not escape my memory; +and, if my eye deceive me not, ’twas he, with Courtenay, who led the +assault at Nazareth; and furthermore, it runneth in my mind, that I have +seen him elsewhere and in other guise.”</p> + +<p>“Mayhap it was the tall knight who defended Eleanora at the Jews’ +massacre, till thy arrival dispersed the rabble mob,” returned the queen.</p> + +<p>“By the soul of St. Bartholomew thou divinest well,” said the king; “and, +since thou knowest the monk, perhaps thou canst give me tidings concerning +the shrewd-witted boy, who managed to gain speech with me, when all my +partisans had failed. So fair a squire must, ere this, have earned the +spurs of knighthood; and much would it pleasure me, to lay the accolade +upon his shoulder, in return for his dextrous plotting. That the lad +pertained not to the household of Mortimer, I knew right well; but whether +he were a retainer of the bold outlaw who organized<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span> the royal forces, or +some young noble whose love of adventure set him upon the work, I could +never yet decide.”</p> + +<p>“And if he were retainer of the outlaw?” said Eleanora, inquiringly.</p> + +<p>“My gratitude should none the less reward the service of one who risked +his life for mine,” replied the king.</p> + +<p>A smile of satisfaction beamed on the countenance of Eleanora, and opening +her gypsire, and taking thence the small ivory whistle, she despatched an +attendant with the token to Eva.</p> + +<p>Shortly after, the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of an +attendant, who announced that a page from Lady Mortimer craved an audience +of his majesty.</p> + +<p>“Let him be at once admitted,” said Edward, casting a significant glance +at Eleanora.</p> + +<p>The door was thrown open, and the beautiful boy, whose image at that +moment filled the mind of the king, entered with trembling step, and +proceeding straight to the monarch, knelt at his feet, and with clasped +hands began to plead earnestly for the pardon of the banished Earl Dermot +de la Clare.</p> + +<p>“How is this?” exclaimed Edward, gazing with astonishment, first upon the +kneeling page, and then upon his wife. “How is this? by the Holy Rood, my +heart misgives me, thou art witch as well as alchemist. Here is the +identical page I have vainly sought for nine long years, conjured up by +the magic of an ivory whistle.”</p> + +<p>“Earl Dermot de la Clare!” said he to Eva, lifting the boy tenderly from +his knees, “why has the banished outlaw sought thy fair lips to plead his +cause? Let himself present his claims to our clemency, and we will promise +justice for ourself, and perchance a better guerdon from our loving +spouse, who would ever have mercy rejoice above judgment.</p> + +<p>“And thou, sweet dove,” said he, gazing admiringly upon the doubting Eva, +“‘who wearest the badge of Mortimer,’ and whose ‘giddy brain recks not of +politics,’ <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span>demandest manor and lordship for an outlawed man! Didst crave +it for thyself, not twice the boon could make me say thee nay.”</p> + +<p>“’Tis for myself I crave the boon, royal liege,” said Eva, falling again +upon her knees. “Dermot de la Clare is the sire of thy poor orphan +charge.”</p> + +<p>“Thy sire!” exclaimed the prince, greatly moved. “How knowest thou this?”</p> + +<p>“First, by the story of the rescued sailor, who was one of the band with +which my father thought to regain possession of his fief, when the act of +attainder had branded him an outlaw. He it was with the cartman’s frock, +who waited our coming at the cross-road on the memorable day of my lord’s +escape. Next, by the shamrock, the ancient cognizance of the house of +Strongbow, and by the rose of Sharon, which my mother wrought upon the +scarf in memory of her husband’s pilgrimage. But Eva finds the strongest +proof in the promptings of her heart; for from the day since she rested in +his arms at London bridge, to the time when he drew her from the Vulture’s +Nest at Mount Lebanon, she hath trusted in his love, and obeyed his +bidding, with such confidence as none but a father could inspire.”</p> + +<p>“Thy eloquence hath proved thy cause,” said the king, raising her and +seating her by his side; “and were I a needy knight, requiring royal +favor, I’d bribe thy pleading eyes to back my suit, and never fear +denial.”</p> + +<p>Eva essayed to stammer forth her thanks, but tears choked her utterance, +and Eleanora, pitying her confusion, reassured her with playful allusions +to her childish aspirations for the sovereignty of Ireland.</p> + +<p>“I fear me,” said Edward, gazing upon her varying color with admiration, +“that to reward all my subjects and vassals, according to their merit, +will exhaust my exchequer. The audacity of these benefactors exceeds all +belief! It was but this morning that one more bold than his fellows +demanded the fairest flower of our court as a recompense for his knightly +service in the eastern campaign.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span>The conscious Eva looked imploringly at her mistress, who graciously +accorded her permission to depart, while Edward continued his raillery.</p> + +<p>“I referred the gallant unto thee, love,” said he, “for he must be a brave +man who dares transfer the possessions of his wife.”</p> + +<p>“To the marriage of de Courtenay with our beautiful ward,” returned the +queen, “there riseth but one objection. From the similarity of her name, +she ever fancied herself the heiress of the former King of Leinster, and +hath cultivated a taste for decorations befitting royalty. I fear me that +Sir Henry, being but the younger branch of his house, will scarce be able +to maintain a state suited to her desires.”</p> + +<p>“God grant she have not the ambition of Earl Strigul, else might we find +it necessary to do battle for our fief of Ireland,” said Edward.</p> + +<p>“Nay, from the ambition of Eva, thou hast nought to fear; her heart would +incline her rather to bestow benefices upon her friends, than to hoard +treasures for herself. Therefore it is that I desire for her worthy +alliance and princely dower,” returned the queen.</p> + +<p>“Thou hast it in thy power, best one, to obviate thine own objections and +to bless the loyal hamlet that protected thy seclusion, by giving them so +gracious a mistress.”</p> + +<p>Tears of gratitude filled the eyes of the queen, as looking affectionately +upon her husband she replied, “How lost were Eleanora to the love of God +did she not daily thank Him for making her the wife of one who finds his +own happiness in promoting the welfare of his subjects.”</p> + +<p>“Not all his subjects regard him with thy partial fondness,” said the +king. “Our brother, Alexander of Scotland, has refused to renew the oath +of homage, which his ancestor made to Henry II. for his crown, and will +attend our coronation only as kingly guest; while the bold Llewellyn +refuses to set foot in London.”</p> + +<p>“The troublous period through which the realm so lately passed, pleads +their best excuse for these unjust suspicions,” suggested the queen. “When +the wisdom and magnanimity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span> of my Edward shall become known, they will +learn to trust their interest in his hands with the confidence of +vassals.”</p> + +<p>“Thou would’st fain persuade me,” said Edward, laughing, “that I may love +my enemies.”</p> + +<p>“I would persuade thee,” said Eleanora, with a smile of confident +affection, “to make thine enemies thy friends. Suspicion ever breeds +hatred. There be many warm, true hearts in England, at this hour, who, +having followed the fortunes of Leicester, for what they deemed the public +good, are withheld by fear, from uttering the shout of loyalty.”</p> + +<p>“And how would’st thou purpose that I should bind them to their +allegiance?” said Edward, curiously.</p> + +<p>“By the same rule that our blessed Lord restored this fallen world,” +returned the queen, timidly. “He declareth his love toward us, even while +we are sinners, and thus we learn to confide in Him.”</p> + +<p>“Verily, there seems truth in what thou sayest,” said the king, +thoughtfully; “but it were a thing unheard of—for a ruler to illustrate +the principles of forgiveness, and place his kingdom at the mercy of +traitors.”</p> + +<p>“The good St. Louis,” urged Eleanora, almost fearful of pressing the +matter too far, “leaned ever to the side of mercy; and no king of France +hath enjoyed a more peaceful or glorious reign.”</p> + +<p>“It shall be as thou sayest,” said Edward, after a pause, during which he +gazed upon her pleading countenance, whose every feature mirrored the +intense interest of her heart in the welfare of their subjects, and the +honor of her lord. “It shall be as thou sayest. Heaven cannot suffer me to +err in this matter, since it hath sent an angel for my counsellor.” Then +resuming his accustomed tone of affectionate pleasantry, he added, “Thou +think’st it well, dearest, for a warrior like myself to perform some work +of supererogation, to cancel the sins into which my love of power may yet +lead me. But small merit may I claim for my clemency, since it were not in +the nature of man to withstand the sweet earnestness with which thou dost +enforce thy gentle counsels.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER VIII.</p> + +<p class="center">THE CORONATION.</p> + +<p>Nearly a century had elapsed since an occasion like the present had called +together the different ranks and orders of the English population. Native +Britons, Saxons, Danes and Normans, hereditary enemies, had, by years of +unavoidable intercourse, and by a community of interests, been fused into +one mass, and now vied with each other in manifesting their loyalty to a +king in whose veins mingled the several streams of the great Scandinavian +race. The independent Franklin, the stout yeoman from the country, and the +rich citizen and industrious artisan, the curious vassal, the stately +knight, and lordly baron, alike instinct with love for feasting and +holiday show, hastened to witness the ceremony.</p> + +<p>The coronation of John had been unpopular, both from the well known +malevolence of his disposition and the rival claims of his injured nephew. +That of Henry III. took place in a remote part of the kingdom, when a +portion of the island was in the possession of the French, and the minds +of the people were distracted between a fear of foreigners and a +detestation of the reigning family. Not a man in the realm, therefore, +could remember so grand a spectacle as the coronation of Edward and the +beautiful Eleanora of Castile.</p> + +<p>When the crown was placed upon their heads by the Archbishop of +Canterbury, a murmur of joy arose from the assembled throngs; but when the +herald stood forth and proclaimed an <i>indemnity</i> to all those who had been +engaged in the civil commotions of the former reign, and the repeal of the +cruel statutes, that had made so many worthy citizens outlaws and aliens +in the sight of their English homes, the enraptured multitude made the +welkin ring with shouts of—Long live King Edward!—Long live our gracious +Queen Eleanora!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span>Tears dimmed the beautiful eyes of the gratified queen, for she read in +the enthusiastic acclamations with which the act of Indemnity was +received, an incontrovertible testimony to the wisdom of the course she +had so warmly advocated, and an earnest of the peace which this display of +her husband’s magnanimity would secure to his realm.</p> + +<p>Foremost among those who hailed his accession, Edward discerned the +commanding figure of the outlaw, who had so long and so successfully +eluded his search. No sooner was he seated upon his throne, than he +commissioned the lord-high seneschal to cause the mysterious personage to +approach. As he came forward, and knelt at the monarch’s feet, Eleanora +recognized the tall knight to whom she owed her own life and her husband’s +liberty, and heard him with more pleasure than surprise announced as +Dermot de la Clare.</p> + +<p>“Rise, noble Clare!” exclaimed Edward, “to thee thy monarch owes his life +and the security of his realm, and the honors and titles of thy house are +henceforth restored, to which we add the forfeited manors of Leicester, +not more a recompense for thy knightly service than a guerdon for the +sweet affection of thy lovely daughter.” Scarcely had Earl Dermot retired +among the nobles, who crowded around him with words of congratulation, +when the monarch summoned Henry de Courtenay, and, in consideration of his +services in the holy wars, created him Earl of Devon—whispering aside to +the conscious noble, “Our gracious queen, who excelleth in charity, will +give thee pity and dole of that which she hath in royal keeping, and for +which thou wilt doubtless be more grateful than for all the lands of which +we have this day made thee lord.”</p> + +<p>Other faithful vassals of the crown were rewarded, and then the joyous +multitude adjourned to the feasting and games, with which the day was +closed; and the marriage of Eva and Sir Henry, which took place the +following day, added another fête to the coronation festivities.</p> + +<p>Among the various disorders to which the kingdom had fallen a prey during +the weak and uncertain rule of Henry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span> III., none excited more universal +dissatisfaction, than the adulteration of the coin. As the Jews were the +principal money-lenders in the kingdom all embarrassments of this kind, +were by common consent attributed to their characteristic avarice.</p> + +<p>Edward’s crusade to the Holy Land, had not softened his prejudices towards +this people, who, more than the Infidels poured contempt upon the rites of +Christianity. In his zeal for the public welfare he proscribed the +obnoxious race and confiscated their estates to the crown, and banished no +less than fifteen thousand valuable inhabitants from the kingdom. +Notwithstanding these rigorous measures he still retained in his employ +certain of the hated sect to assist in the correction of the currency.</p> + +<p>The trivial circumstance of a change in the form of the penny gave rise to +some of the most important occurrences that transpired during his eventful +reign.</p> + +<p>The Welsh, deriving their ancestry from the early Britons, placed the most +implicit confidence in the prophecies of Merlin, which in an oracular +manner set forth the destiny of the nation. One of these half-forgotten +traditions, asserted that when the English penny should become round, a +prince, born in Wales, should be the acknowledged king of the whole +British island. No sooner, therefore, had the new coin begun to circulate +west of the Menai, than the bards commenced to ring their changes upon the +mysterious circumstance, and to inflate the minds of their countrymen with +the hopes of conquest. The successes of Llewellyn, their prince, in +reconquering all the territory that had been wrested from them by the +Normans, gave great encouragement to their ambition.</p> + +<p>Not availing himself of the act of indemnity the Welsh prince still +maintained his allegiance to the party of the Montforts, and was plotting +with the remaining adherents of that powerful faction for assistance from +France. To intercept these hostile communications, Edward ordered his +fleet into the channel under the command of Earl Dermot de la Clare, both +to testify a regard for the Irish noble, and a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span> confidence in his +abilities. De Courtenay was residing with his bride at Exeter, when he +received intelligence that the Earl of Clare was on his way to pay them a +visit, and the following day Eva welcomed her father to her new home. The +earl was accompanied by a lady whom he intrusted to his daughter’s care, +desiring that she might be kept in safety till Edward’s pleasure +concerning her should be known. At first the fair captive was +inconsolable, but she at length found some alleviation of her grief in +recounting her eventful history in the sympathizing ear of Eva, now +Marchioness of Devon. The Lady Eleanora was the only daughter of Simon de +Montfort, and inherited the firm and relentless characteristics of her +house, which the sedulous instructions of her mother Eleanor Plantagenet +had somewhat softened and subdued. Her brother Guy, having gained +absolution from the terrible malediction of the church, had sought to +carry out his plans of vengeance by making an alliance with the Welsh, and +to cement the treaty, he had consented to bestow his sister upon +Llewellyn, and the young lady was on her way to meet her bridegroom when +her vessel was intercepted, and herself made prisoner by Earl Clare. Her +position as the prospective Queen of Wales more than the enmity of her +brother, made her fear the severity of her cousin, the King of England, +but Eva assured her that the sentiments of Edward were characterized by +the most generous chivalry, and that no feelings of malice or revenge +could actuate him to any ungallant procedure against her. Notwithstanding +the confidence with which Eva made this asseveration, the fair bride of +Llewellyn listened with a faint smile of incredulity, and answered with a +sigh, “Ah! lady, the poor daughter of de Montfort covets thine ignorance +of the dark passions that rankle in the human breast!” “Thy fair young +face gives little evidence of experience in worldly ills,” returned Eva, +with some surprise. “Events, not years, confer experience,” replied Elin, +“and young as I am, I have marked cherished resentment ripen into deadly +enmity. The unjust aspersion of Henry III. wrought upon the mind of my +father,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span> till it well nigh ruined the broad realm of England. Thou canst +never know the bitter sorrow that weighed upon my mother’s heart during +all the cruel strife between her husband and her brother. I well +remember,” said the agitated girl, proceeding impetuously with her sad +reminiscences, “the fatal day of Evesham—how, chilled with fear at my +mother’s agony, I laid aside my childish sports and crept cowering to a +corner of her apartment in Kenilworth castle, while she paced the floor +beseeching heaven alternately to spare her husband and save her brother. +O! it was terrible,” added she, pressing her hands upon her eyes, while +the tears gushed between her fingers, “when my brother Guy rushed in with +the tidings of our father’s defeat and death, and took his awful oath of +vengeance.” “Speak not of it,” exclaimed Eva, shuddering in her turn at +the recollection of the murder of young Henry, and the subsequent anathema +pronounced upon Sir Guy. “It is little pleasure to recall these dreadful +scenes,” said Elin, gloomily, “but thou mayst learn from my brief history +how little hope I have in one who aspires to power or has aught to +revenge.” “But her gracious majesty Queen Eleanora,” said Eva, “will +delight to soothe thy sorrows, and the sweet companionship of her +daughters will win thee to happier thoughts.” “Nay, sweet lady, think me +not ungrateful that I cannot trust thy kind presages. Whether it be a +retribution, I know not, but since my grandsire’s crusade against the +Albigeois, evil has been the lot of our house. Hope, that seems ever to +light the pathway of the young, hath never smiled on me.” This despondency +continued to depress the mind of the captive during all the period of her +residence at Exeter, nor could Eva’s ingenuity in devising schemes for her +diversion, nor hopeful predictions concerning her future happiness with +Llewellyn lure her to happier thoughts. But the courteous manner of +Edward, when he came to receive his cousin and conduct her to Windsor, +confirmed these promises; and the unaffected kindness of Eleanora, while +it soothed her afflictions, had the effect to awaken some degree of +confidence in the mind of the despairing maiden.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span>The capture of his bride infuriated Llewellyn beyond all bounds, and led +him to invade England with the fiercest valor. His efforts were repulsed +by the gallant conduct of the troops under the command of the Earl of +Devon, and after four years of fruitless endeavor he consented to the +required homage, and came to Worcester to claim his bride.</p> + +<p>The cherishing sympathy of Eleanora had not been lost upon the heart of +her stricken ward, and these years of tranquillity, the first the orphan +Elin had enjoyed, so enhanced to her mind the blessings of peaceful +security that she steadfastly refused to fulfil her engagement with +Llewellyn, without his solemn pledge of continued amity to the English +nation. When the bridegroom finding all other expedients in vain consented +to the required homage, the King of England gave away his fair kinswoman +with his own hand, and Eleanora supported the bride at the altar and +presided at the nuptial feast with the affability and grace so peculiarly +her own. The Prince and Princess of Wales then accompanied their suzerains +to London and performed the stipulated ceremony, the Snowdon barons +looking on fiercely the while, with the air of warriors who were resigning +their ancient rights. This discontent gave rise to various murmurings. +They disdained the English bread, they were disgusted with the milk of +stall-fed kine, they detested the acridity of the London porter, and they +pined for the sparkling mead concocted from the honeyed sweets gathered +from their own breezy hills. They saw that their national costume and +dialect conferred an uncomfortable notoriety upon them, and they more than +suspected that they were the objects of jeering contempt. They therefore +endured with great impatience the protracted entertainments with which +Edward honored his guests, and finally left their uncomfortable quarters +murmuring with stifled imprecations, “We will never more visit Islington +except as conquerors.” The unremitting influence of Elin, notwithstanding, +counteracted the complaints of the malcontents, and Llewellyn religiously +maintained friendly relations with England during her brief life. This +interval of uninterrupted peace<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span> was employed by Eleanora in prompting her +husband to measures for the public good, and England long enjoyed through +the wise administration of her beneficent sovereign a respite from those +evils under which the nation had groaned since the Norman conquest. By a +royal patent Edward erected boroughs within the demesne lands and +conferred upon them liberty of trade, and profiting by the example of +Leicester, permitted them to send representatives to parliament, which was +the true epoch of the House of Commons—the first dawn of popular +government in England. The lower or more industrious orders of the state +were thus encouraged and protected, and an interest in the commonwealth +diffused through all the ranks of society.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER IX.</p> + +<p class="center">CONQUEST OF WALES.</p> + +<p>The death of Joanna, mother of Eleanora, leaving the domains of Ponthieu +and Aumerle, made it necessary for the king and queen to visit France, to +do homage to Philip the Bold for their new possessions. They passed +several months on the continent ordering the affairs of their +feudaltories, but their return was hastened by tidings of fresh +disturbances in Wales.</p> + +<p>On her arrival at Windsor her daughter, Joanna of Acre, presented the +queen with a letter which she said had been brought to the castle by a +strange-looking priest who refused for some time to give it into any hand +save that of Eleanora, but who was finally persuaded to intrust the +precious document to herself on her promise to deliver in person to her +mother. The letter was from Elin the Princess of Wales. It read as +follows:—“To my gracious sovereign Lady Eleanora of England the wife of +Llewellyn sendeth love and greeting.</p> + +<p>“I had hoped once more to see the face of my noble<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span> mistress, and to visit +the scenes hallowed by the first happy hours of my sad life. I had thought +to crave thy blessing on my lovely infant, for my lord had promised that +on the return of spring we should be conveyed to England, and this hath +cheered me through the weary hours of sickness and languishing when my +heart hath pined for the sweet communion which I sometimes enjoyed in the +castle at Windsor. But the hills are already changing under the softening +airs of spring, and my step is more feeble and my breath more faint, and I +no longer indulge the anticipation of thanking thy goodness for the +pleasant thoughts with which thy holy counsels hath blessed my memory. But +I am resigned to die! and I know that before the flowers come forth my sad +heart will find rest in the grave. One anxiety alone disturbs the serenity +of my few remaining days.</p> + +<p>“Already my little Guendoline returns her mother’s smile. Who will cherish +her infant years and guide her youthful footsteps to those fountains of +peace which the light of thine example hath so lately revealed to my +erring sight?</p> + +<p>“Struggling with weakness and pain, thy dying Elin pens this last earnest +prayer. Let the damsel abide with thee. Let her be nurtured in the +practice of those gentle virtues which her obdurate race have abjured.</p> + +<p>“Commend me to Edward, our sovereign, and those fair daughters that +cluster round thy board and gladden thy life with their smiles. Again let +me beg a place in thy heart for my orphan child, and oh! remember in thy +prayer the soul of the exile, who from thy lips first learned to hope in +the mercy of Heaven.”</p> + +<p>The letter bore the date of March, and it was now early June, and to +Eleanora’s anxious inquiries for further tidings concerning the lady Elin +and her child no answer could be given. The king however had better +sources of information. Scarcely was he recovered from the fatigue of +travel when the lords were summoned in council to deliberate upon the +petition of David and Rodric, brothers of Llewellyn, who had applied to +the English court for assistance.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span>From these barons Edward learned that the Welsh prince had violated the +promise made to his princess on her death-bed, of conveying their daughter +to the care of Eleanora, and that stimulated by the songs of the bards and +the long-smothered anger of the malcontent barons, he had resolved to +break his oath of allegiance to the King of England, and had dispossessed +his brothers of their inheritance as a punishment for their loyalty.</p> + +<p>The council decided to assist David and Rodric in the recovery of their +possessions, and Edward not displeased with the occasion of making an +absolute conquest of the country, advanced with his army into Wales.</p> + +<p>The English at first suffered some reverses, but in the great battle of +Builth, Llewellyn was slain, his forces put to flight, and the gold +coronet taken from his head was offered by Prince Alphonso at the shrine +of Edward the Confessor. But the war was not yet ended. Prince David now +claiming the title of king, as the heir of his brother, assumed the +command of the Welsh, and it needed the constant presence of Edward to +keep down the rebellious spirit of the people. The same steadfast +affection which had supported Eleanora during the tedious hours of her +anxious sojourn in the wilds of Devon, and that had prompted her to brave +the varied dangers of the Syrian campaign, led her now to follow her +lord’s fortunes through the rugged defiles and rocky fastnesses of the +Welsh mountains.</p> + +<p>For her security, Edward built and fortified the strong castle of +Caernarvon, which now, after the lapse of nearly six centuries, presents +the same external appearance as on the day when Queen Eleanora first +entered its stupendous gateway in company with her royal lord.</p> + +<p>The battlements with which the walls were defended, stand unchanged in +their hoary strength and grandeur, and the statue of Edward I., carved to +the life, still protects the entrance of the castle, and with its drawn +dagger, menaces the intruder who would venture within its guarded +precincts. The eagle tower yet nestles in the defences of the rocks, +though the royal fledglings have deserted the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span>comfortless eyrie of +Snowdon for the softer luxuries of Windsor Castle and Hampton Court, and +the oaken cradle of the second Edward, suspended by ring and staples from +carved supporters, yet occupies its little nook in the secluded chamber +where his infant eyes first opened on the light. Eleanora’s experience of +the conquering power of love, made her solicitous to employ a Welsh +attendant for her son, but such was the fear which her husband’s name had +inspired among the families of the fierce mountaineers that she was forced +to abandon the project till accident procured for the amiable queen the +domestic she needed not only, but threw into her hands the fate of Wales.</p> + +<p>From the irregular surface of their territory the Welsh were necessarily a +pastoral people, and their simple manner of life exposed them to certain +defeat when the conquest of their country was steadily and prudently +pursued by the well-trained warriors of England. But like the hardy sons +of all mountainous districts, the Welsh seemed to inhale the spirit of +liberty from the free breath of their native hills, and hunted as they +were from one retreat to another, they still rallied around their ancient +standard, and listened with rapture to predictions of their future +greatness. Edward followed them with untiring patience through rugged +defiles and rocky fastnesses till his heavy armed troops were ready to +sink with fatigue.</p> + +<p>Everywhere they found evidences of the straits to which the miserable +inhabitants were reduced. Deserted hamlets, abandoned fields, and +famishing animals, betokened the last extremity of suffering. It was just +at night-fall when they came suddenly upon a strong body posted within the +narrow precincts of a valley.</p> + +<p>The lowing of the herds that began to suffer from the want of forage, was +the first sound that attracted the attention of the English scouts, and by +a circuitous path the whole detachment were conducted to a position +commanding a full view of the enemy. The bivouac consisted of rude huts or +booths, constructed for shelter rather than <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span>defence, in and around which +sat barbarians in various attitudes of attention or repose.</p> + +<p>The watch-fires gleamed luridly upon the wild figures that circled around +them, with dark and frowning brows, while from the centre of the +encampment echoed the sounds of hoarse voices, accompanied by the martial +strains of music. The barbarous language made the song of the bards +incomprehensible to the English, but they divined its spirit from the +effect upon the rude auditors, who, at every pause in the agitating +refrain, sprang to their feet, struck their spears upon their shields, and +mingled their shrill voices in a responsive chorus of muttered vengeance.</p> + +<p>In the enthusiasm which the patriotic songs awakened, Edward read the +secret of the protracted resistance, and saw that the destruction of these +bards would insure his conquest. The trumpets were immediately ordered to +sound, and his army, wearied as they were, summoned their fainting +energies and rushed to the conflict.</p> + +<p>The Welsh, surprised in the midst of their fancied security, stood to +their arms, and fought with the courage of desperation, the exhilarating +strains of the bards rose to a shrill wail of agony, then sank in the +voiceless silence of death.</p> + +<p>This final strain of the national poetry, was the requiem of Welsh +liberty. King David made his escape through the defile of a mountain +followed by a few of his nobles, and the Earl of Devon, in attempting to +cut off his retreat, surprised and captured a company of frightened +females who had been lodged in the rocky fastness for greater security. +With knightly courtesy he extended to his helpless captives every delicate +attention that would soften the rigor of their fate.</p> + +<p>His sympathies were especially excited by the distress of a woman of an +appearance somewhat superior to her companions, who exhibited the greatest +solicitude for the safety of a child that, all unconscious of the tumult, +lay quietly sleeping in its cradle of twisted reeds.</p> + +<p>De Courtenay approached, anxious to relieve her fears,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span> when the nurse, +expecting to be torn from her tender charge, exclaimed, in barbarous +English, “Take not the princess from me! I promised the Lady Elin never to +resign her save to the hands of the good Queen of England.”</p> + +<p>“Comfort thee, good woman,” said the earl, kindly. “I will myself convey +thee, with the babe, to Caernarvon, where thou mayest discharge thy trust +by bestowing the little orphan with the royal friend of her mother.” +Consigning the other captives to the care of his knights, he gave the +nurse in charge to his groom, and himself carefully lifting the wicker +cradle with its lovely occupant to the horse before him, led the way +towards the castle.</p> + +<p>Eleanora received the daughter of Elin de Montfort with tears of tender +welcome, and lavished upon the child the same affection that she bestowed +upon her own infant Edward. The little cousins were nurtured together, and +the nurse soon became tenderly attached to both children, and conceived an +almost reverential devotion to the pious queen; and as Eleanora gave her +frequent opportunities for communion with the natives of the vicinity, she +lost no occasion of publishing the virtues of her mistress.</p> + +<p>She represented that Eleanora and little Edward were scarce inferior in +beauty to the Madonna and child, and that they were as good as they were +beautiful; and, she added, on her own responsibility, that since the queen +treated Guendoline with as much affection as though she were her own +daughter, there could be no doubt that she looked upon her as the future +bride of the young prince.</p> + +<p>Meantime, Edward had prospered in his military plans. David could never +collect an army sufficient to face the English in the field, being chased +from hill to hill, and hunted from one retreat to another, and was finally +betrayed to his enemy and sent to England.</p> + +<p>The Snowdon barons, deprived of their leader, and aware that their +princess Guendoline was in possession of the English king, and somewhat +mollified by the prognostication of her future greatness, at length obeyed +the summons of Edward to a conference at Caernarvon. The hardy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span> +mountaineers agreed to tender their final submission to him as lord +paramount, if he would appoint them a native Welshman for their prince, +who could speak neither Saxon nor French, for those barbarous languages +they declared they could never understand.</p> + +<p>Edward graciously acceded to the request, and the preliminaries being +arranged he brought from the eagle tower the little Edward, assuring them +that he was a native of Wales, could speak neither of the reprobated +tongues, and, under the tutelage of his lovely instructress Guendoline, +would doubtless soon become a proficient in Welsh. “The fierce +mountaineers little expected such a ruler. They had, however, no +alternative but submission, and with as good grace as they might, kissed +the tiny hand which was to sway their sceptre, and vowed fealty to the +babe of the faithful Eleanora.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER X.</p> + +<p class="center">THE ASTRONOMER AND THE JEW.</p> + +<p>Peace being thus happily established, King Edward transferred the +residence of his queen from the rugged strength of Caernarvon to the +magnificent refinements of Conway castle; where, surrounded by her ladies +and children, she enjoyed, for a brief period, a repose from anxiety and +care.</p> + +<p>Here seated in a chamber of state, whose windows of stained glass opened +upon a terrace, commanding a beautiful view of the varied landscape, +Eleanora passed her mornings, receiving those who were honored by being +present at her levée, while her tire-women combed and braided the long +silken tresses which shaded and adorned her serene and lovely features.</p> + +<p>This condescension of the queen, had a most gracious and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span> softening effect +upon the rude customs of the Welsh, and the first aspirations of this +semi-barbarous nation for christian refinement, date from the period in +which they felt the winning influence of her gentle manners.</p> + +<p>But though Eleanora was thus happy in her domestic relations, blessed in +the love of her subjects, and thrice blessed in the consciousness of +exercising her power for the happiness of others, she did not forget the +kindred ties that bound her to her native Spain.</p> + +<p>Indeed there seems to be this peculiarity, observable in the influence of +the gospel on the character, a paradox in philosophy, but a fact in +christian experience, that while it increases the intensity of the social +affections, it expands the heart to the remoter relations of life, +awakening a cordial response to the command, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor +as thyself.”</p> + +<p>For Eleanora to know that she could render assistance to another, was +sufficient motive to arouse her activity; and constant habit made that an +inspiring impulse, which had commenced in a rigid adherence to the +requisitions of duty. When she learned, therefore, that her beloved +brother Alphonso X. had been deposed by his undutiful son, Sancho, she +besought her heroic husband to undertake the difficult task of his +restoration.</p> + +<p>Edward, whose principles of government were of a very different character +from those of the royal philosopher, listened somewhat reluctantly to her +anxious pleadings, but at last consented to accompany her into Castile.</p> + +<p>The royal progress was one of the utmost pomp and splendor. Their cousin +Philip received them in Paris with the greatest distinction. They reposed +some months among the elegancies of Bordeaux, and thence journeyed across +the Pyrenees to Burgos.</p> + +<p>The brave Sancho welcomed them to his palace with unaffected pleasure, and +listened with easy good-humor to the questions and remonstrances of the +queen.</p> + +<p>“My father,” said he, “is happier in the retirement of his prison, than he +was ever in the administration of public<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span> affairs. In truth, he has for +these last years been so occupied with the motions of Mars and Jupiter, +that he has had little leisure to attend to the movements of his subjects, +and, but for what seemeth my undutiful interposition, our fair Castile +would have been one scene of anarchy and confusion.”</p> + +<p>“But if my brother desired the repose of private life, he had surely the +right to appoint his successor,” suggested Eleanora.</p> + +<p>“Nay, concerning that, men differ in opinion,” replied Sancho. “Our +ancestors, the Goths, confer the crown upon the second son, in preference +to the heirs of the elder brother, and by this right I reign.”</p> + +<p>“But by this right, thou takest from the prince all power,” returned the +queen.</p> + +<p>“And wherefore,” said Sancho, “should the word of a prince prevail against +the will of the people, whose interest no king has a right to sacrifice to +his ambition?”</p> + +<p>“Certes, there is great semblance of truth in what thou sayest,” added +Eleanora, thoughtfully; “and much I wonder me that, while some are born to +such high estate, others in heart possessed of noble feelings are doomed +to perpetual servitude. My poor brain has been ofttimes sadly puzzled in +this matter; but when I bethink me of the miseries fair England suffered +during the rebellion of Leicester, I content myself to believe the holy +writ, ‘The powers that be, are ordained of God.’”</p> + +<p>“Thy scripture well establishes my claim,” cried Sancho, laughing +heartily.</p> + +<p>Eleanora sighed. “Forgettest thou, brave Sancho,” said she, “that the God +who gave to thee the estate and rule of king, (since thou dost so wrest my +words to prove thy usurpation,) forgettest thou that <i>He</i> hath also +ordained, ‘Thou shalt honor thy father?’”</p> + +<p>“Nay, nay, my most gracious aunt, now thou accusest me beyond my desert. +The wise Alphonso is not restrained from his clerkly studies, but—”</p> + +<p>“He is in prison,” interrupted Eleanora.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span>“It is my care,” continued Sancho, “to grant him everything, but freedom +to disturb my kingdom. Jews and Arabs, his chosen friends, doctors of +Salerno and Salamanca, friars and priests, (though, sooth to say for them, +he careth little save as they bring him mouldy manuscripts from the +monasteries,) jugglers and mummers, a worthy retinue, have free access to +his presence. To-morrow thou mayest see the philosopher, surrounded by his +motley courtiers, and methinks thou wilt then pronounce him as do others, +either fool or madman.”</p> + +<p>King Edward, who from conversation with the nobles of Castile, no less +than with Sancho, had arrived at the same conclusion with his royal +nephew, made no efforts to release Alphonso from his confinement, but +gladly accepted an invitation to accompany the King of Castile on an +expedition against the Moors in southern Spain.</p> + +<p>During their absence Eleanora remained in Burgos, and devoted herself to +the care of her brother, for whose sanity she began to entertain serious +fears. Alphonso’s affection for his lovely sister so far prevailed over +his excitable temperament, that he permitted her to enter his apartments +at all hours without exhibiting any annoyance, and often turned aside from +his abstruse studies to indulge in reminiscences of their youthful sports, +and to satisfy her inquiries concerning his present pursuits.</p> + +<p>Eleanora possessed that genial spirit which discovers something of +interest in every occupation, and that exquisite tact which enabled her to +insinuate a truth, even while seeming not to contradict an error; and it +was soon apparent that, though the philosopher still uttered his +absurdities with great complacency,—his temper became more tranquil, and +his manners far more affable to all who approached him. The queen listened +patiently to his tedious explanations of the motions of the planets, and +exerted her utmost powers of perception to comprehend the diagrams which +he contended were illustrative of the whole theory of Nature, and the +great end and purpose of her solemn mysteries inscribed on the scroll of +the heavens, forming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span> an elder Scripture more authoritative than the +divine oracles themselves.</p> + +<p>“Thou seest, my sister,” said the enthusiast, “that our maturity like our +childhood is amused by fables: hence do the ignorant believe that this +great array of worlds was formed for the contemptible purpose of revolving +around our insignificant planet, and all the glittering circle of the +stars made to serve no better end than to enliven a winter night.”</p> + +<p>“In truth the doctrine savors much of the arrogance of man,” gently +returned the queen, “and reminds one of the false systems of a monarch who +considers his subjects but tributaries to his pleasure.”</p> + +<p>“False systems,” returned the astronomer, apparently unheeding the point +of her remark, “have disgraced the world in every age. Pythagoras +approached nearest the true idea, and yet was lost in the wilderness of +error.”</p> + +<p>“Heaven save us from a fate so evil,” solemnly ejaculated the queen.</p> + +<p>“The philosopher, who rejecting the dogmas of the church, listens to the +voice of Nature speaking to the ear of reason, is in no danger of error,” +said Alphonso pompously. “Thy Mosaic Testament asserts that God created +the heavens and the earth in six days; but they bear no marks of such +creation. Their course is eternal. And as for appointing the glorious sun +with no higher mission than to enlighten the earth, had the Almighty +called me to his counsel, I would have taught Him a wiser plan of +compassing day and night.”</p> + +<p>Shocked at his impiety, Eleanora calmly replied, “The Holy Word which thou +despisest, directs us to ‘prove all things.’ How canst thou sustain such +assertions?”</p> + +<p>Alphonso, pleased with what he considered her docility, lifted a small +globe, and placing it at a convenient distance from the lamp, caused it to +revolve upon its axis, making her observe that the regular vicissitudes of +light and darkness were produced without any change in the position of the +luminary.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span>“At what infinite expense,” said he, “would the lamp revolve around the +globe to produce only the same effect, and to furnish only one world with +light; while any number of globes might gyrate about the lamp without +loss, save an occasional eclipse.”</p> + +<p>Struck with the simplicity and evident truth of the illustration, Eleanora +gazed admiringly upon her brother, but scarcely had she essayed to frame +an answer, when the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of an +individual—the expression of whose countenance awoke a painful +association in her mind, although in vain she tasked her memory to decide +where or when she had before beheld him. His figure, though concealed by a +Spanish doublet, and slightly bent with age, had evidently been once tall +and commanding, and his swarthy countenance was illuminated by keen black +eyes, whose quick penetrating glance, seemed at once to fathom the +purposes, and divine the thoughts of those about him; and a long flowing +beard, somewhat inclining to gray, imparted an air of dignity to his whole +appearance. With a profound, though silent salutation to the royal pair, +he crossed the apartment, and carefully laying aside his cloak, quietly +seated himself at a side table covered with manuscripts, and commenced his +labors; while Alphonso answered the inquiring gaze of Eleanora, by +remarking, “’Tis our excellent Procida, my trusty Hebrew scribe.”</p> + +<p>“Hebrew or Arab,” said Eleanora, in a low tone, “I have seen that face +before.”</p> + +<p>At the sound of her voice the stranger looked up, while Eleanora placed +her hands before her eyes, as if to shut out some dreadful vision.</p> + +<p>“It cannot, cannot be,” she exclaimed, “but so looked the Jew, slain at my +feet on that dreadful day when I first entered London.”</p> + +<p>“My good Procida,” said Alphonso, misinterpreting her emotion, “I fear me +we must dispense with thy presence, since my sister is too good a +Christian to look upon a Jew, save with feelings of abhorrence.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span>The Jew arose. “Nay, my good brother,” said the queen, “forgive this +weakness. I would fain speak with thy friend.”</p> + +<p>Procida came forward and stood in respectful silence waiting her commands.</p> + +<p>“Hast ever been in London?” inquired she, earnestly regarding him.</p> + +<p>“My noble queen recalls not then the face of Raymond Lullius, who coined +<i>rose nobles</i> for her royal lord. She may, perhaps, remember the curiosity +of the young Prince Alphonso, whose little hand no doubt still bears the +scar of the melted metal he snatched from the crucible.”</p> + +<p>At the mention of her son, the mother’s tears began to flow. “My sweet +Alphonso sleeps in the tomb of his ancestors,” replied she, when she had +somewhat recovered her composure; “but I mind me of the accident, though +surely ’tis another scene that hath impressed thy features on my memory.”</p> + +<p>“Your majesty refers to the slaughter of the Jews,” returned Procida, in a +sorrowful tone, “and the victim slain at your feet was my aged father +Ben-Abraham. Of all my family I alone escaped, through the timely +interposition of the gallant Prince Edward.”</p> + +<p>“Ah! now I comprehend thy haste to serve my brother,” interrupted +Alphonso. “Thou must know, sweet sister mine,” said he, turning to the +queen, “that the secrets of our art are for the learned alone, but king as +I am, I found it impossible to prevent my worthy Procida from leaving my +court to aid the English sovereign in increasing his revenue by +transmuting mercury into gold.”</p> + +<p>“It is then true that metals can be thus transmuted,” said Eleanora, with +an incredulous smile.</p> + +<p>The alchemists exchanged glances of intelligence, but Alphonso, +remembering her ready appreciation of his astronomical theory, answered +Procida’s hesitating look, with “Nay, ’tis but for once—our sister is an +earnest seeker of truth, and if she comprehend will not betray our +secret.” Thus saying, Alphonso threw open a door and conducted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span> the queen, +followed by Procida, into a small laboratory filled with all the +mysterious appurtenances of his art. The learned doctor busied himself in +clearing a space in the centre of the apartment and arranging in a circle +sundry jars and a brazier, while the philosopher king, opening a cabinet, +took thence some dried and withered sea-weed, which he threw into the +brazier and kindled into a flame. The blazing kelp was soon reduced to +ashes, which Procida carefully gathered into an old empty crucible, and +set before the queen. Alphonso advancing took up the crucible, saying, +“What seest thou, my sister?”</p> + +<p>“A dull, gray powder,” she replied.</p> + +<p>He then placed a tube from one of the jars within the crucible, and +bidding her regard it attentively, submitted it to a chemical process +which she did not understand, repeating his question.</p> + +<p>“I now see,” replied Eleanora, with astonishment, “the dull powder +transformed into little shining globules like silver.”</p> + +<p>“Thou mayst take them in thine hand,” said the philosopher, after a pause; +“they will not harm thee.”</p> + +<p>With some timidity the wondering queen received the metallic drops, almost +fearing that her brother was a necromancer as the priests affirmed.</p> + +<p>“Canst judge if it be a metal?” said Alphonso, enjoying her confusion.</p> + +<p>“My sight and touch assure me of the fact. Yet whence—”</p> + +<p>“Is it not a miracle,” interrupted the philosopher, laughing, “more real +than thy fancied transubstantiation?”</p> + +<p>A frown gathered on the serene brow of the lovely queen—but commiserating +his impiety as sincerely as he pitied her ignorance, with forced gayety +she replied, “Nay, heaven works not miracles by the hands of such +unbelievers as thou. I fear me lest evil spirits have aided thee, as they +did the Egyptians with their enchantments;” and she handed the globules to +the philosopher.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span>“Keep them safely until the morrow,” said he, “they may form the basis of +another experiment.”</p> + +<p>As the Queen of England left the prison, Procida followed her and craved +an audience.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER XI.</p> + +<p class="center">THE JEWESS.</p> + +<p>The conference between the queen and Procida was not limited to one +audience. Day after day he sought her presence, under various +pretexts—some unimportant business, some message from Alphonso—and each +time he lingered as if anxious to prolong the interview; till at length +his strange manner convinced Eleanora that something more momentous than +philosophical researches detained him in Castile.</p> + +<p>When the mind is agitated upon any particular subject, fancy connects +every mysterious appearance with the prevailing thought; and the lovely +queen became impressed with the idea that some impending danger threatened +her royal brother.</p> + +<p>She therefore strove to win the confidence of Procida, and encouraged him +to confide his secret to her keeping.</p> + +<p>“Is there aught,” said she, “of interest to thyself or others in which I +can aid thee?” finding that his anxiety and hesitation seemed rather to +increase than diminish.</p> + +<p>“Most gracious sovereign,” returned Procida, apologetically, “the despised +outcasts of Israel have little hope to enlist the sympathies of Christians +in their behalf.”</p> + +<p>“Nay,” replied the queen, “thou forgettest that our gospel saith, God +hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth.”</p> + +<p>“And if <i>I</i> have forgotten it,” said Procida bitterly, “it is because the +practice of the church agreeth not with the precept.”</p> + +<p>“It is true,” returned Eleanora, with a sigh, “that our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span> lives exhibit +too little the holy influence of the faith we profess: but tell me, how +can the wife of Edward serve the alchemist?”</p> + +<p>“Noble queen,” said Procida, speaking earnestly and with great agitation, +“thou knowest not the peril in which thy generosity may involve thee.”</p> + +<p>“Speak, and fear not,” reiterated she, “Eleanora fears no evil in the +practice of kindness.”</p> + +<p>Fixing his keen eyes upon her face, as if to detect every emotion which +his words might awaken, the Jew replied bitterly, “Procida for his +attachment to the noble house of Swabia, is proscribed and hunted from +Sicily, his daughter, a Jewess, can scarce claim the protection of law; +and concealed as she is in the suburbs of Burgos, her beauty has already +attracted the curiosity of those from whom her father cannot defend her. +Did I dare claim so great a boon I would beg a place for her among thy +maidens.”</p> + +<p>Eleanora paused. The prejudice against the Jews was so intense as to +affect even her upright mind; and the scandal it might bring upon the +royal household to enroll an unbeliever among its inmates, startled her +apprehensions: but the father stood before her with the air of one who had +intrusted his last treasure to her keeping, and she could not find it in +her heart to crush his confidence in her generosity.</p> + +<p>“Bring thy daughter hither,” added she, thoughtfully, “with me she shall +be safe.”</p> + +<p>“The blessing of him that is ready to perish, rest upon thee,” said the +scholar, fervently, as he left her presence.</p> + +<p>When the Queen of England next visited the apartments of her brother, she +was accompanied by a young girl of such surpassing loveliness as to +attract the attention of the philosopher himself. Her features were of +that perfect form generally described as Grecian, while her dark hair and +soft black eyes, suggested the idea of a brunette; but the fairness of her +complexion and the brilliant color of her cheek, that varied with every +emotion, gave a character of exquisite delicacy and sensibility to her +countenance.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span>“Does thy realm of England abound in such comely damsels?” inquired +Alphonso, while Agnes blushed at the king’s encomium.</p> + +<p>“England may rival Spain in the beauty of her daughters,” answered +Eleanora, evasively. “My gentle Agnes is curious like her mistress to +learn the wonders of thy art: hence do we crave thine indulgence to pass +some weary hours of my lord’s absence among thy folios.”</p> + +<p>“Thou art ever welcome,” returned Alphonso, benignantly, “and this young +disciple shall receive the benefit of serving so good a mistress.”</p> + +<p>“I have pondered much,” said the queen, who had been for some time +attentively regarding the care-worn lineaments of his face, “upon thy +theory of the planets. The globe moved around the lamp because thou didst +bear it in thine hand. By what power is our Earth carried around the Sun?”</p> + +<p>“There is some invisible influence which retains it with its sister-orbs +in the eternal round, but the subtle essence has thus far eluded my +investigations,” replied Alphonso.</p> + +<p>“Thou believest then, my brother,” said Eleanora, in her gentlest tone, +“in a power whose existence thou canst not demonstrate by thy ‘Tables’ or +diograms?”</p> + +<p>“Verily, such a power is a matter of <i>necessity</i>,” returned the monarch.</p> + +<p>“And thy unlearned sister,” replied the queen, hesitating, “finds the same +<i>necessity</i> to believe in a God, whose existence she can demonstrate only +by the contemplation of his glorious works.”</p> + +<p>“It is well for the ignorant to repose in this idea,” replied Alphonso, +“and it may perchance restrain the wicked from his misdeeds, to believe +that an ever-present Intelligence regards his actions.”</p> + +<p>“And it may comfort the sorrowing,” said Eleanora, “to feel that this +Infinite Power can satisfy the needs of the human soul.”</p> + +<p>“Hast thou brought the metal I gave thee?” said Alphonso, abruptly +changing the conversation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span>“I have it in my gypsire,” said she, unclasping the bag and unfolding the +paper—“Lo! my brother, what a transformation is here,” exclaimed the +queen, in amazement. “Thy silver has again become ashes.”</p> + +<p>“Grieve not,” said the alchemist, with an air of superior wisdom, “Science +will achieve new wonders with these dull atoms.”</p> + +<p>He now placed the powder in the crucible as before, and taking from a +shelf what seemed a fragment of rock, pulverized it to a like powder, and +mingled both in the crucible, which he placed upon the brazier and +subjected it to a most intense heat.</p> + +<p>“What dost thou now observe?” said the alchemist.</p> + +<p>“A melted glowing mass of a ruby color,” said Eleanora, with great +interest.</p> + +<p>Taking a small rod in his hand he lifted the adhering particles, and drew +them into thin, fine hair, like threads of a shining whiteness, which he +presented to Agnes, saying, with a smile, “I will bestow these frail +crystals upon thee, fair one; perchance thou mayst preserve them in memory +of the mad philosopher.”</p> + +<p>Every day the Queen of England became more interested in the society of +her lovely ward, whose sprightliness was tempered by a sweetness, and a +delicate discrimination, that never gave offence. It was gratifying to +observe, in a fancy cultivated by the poetic legends of the South, and +stored with the splendid fictions of Arabian romance, an ardent love of +<i>truth</i>, and a strict adherence to its dictates; and Eleanora saw with +pleasure that her most playful and entertaining sallies, though sometimes +pointed at the peculiarities of those around her, never betrayed +ill-humor, nor degenerated into sarcasm. Her beauty and gayety forcibly +recalled the image of Eva; but the reliance which the obedient Jewess +inspired, was in strong contrast to the anxiety ever awakened by the +lovely, but volatile daughter of Clare.</p> + +<p>The charming Agnes not only amused the queen with her vivacity, but +afforded her a sense of repose, by her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span> amiable observance of every +admonition, and her evident desire to regard the wishes no less than the +positive commands of her royal benefactress, and especially did she win +the love of the mother by her graceful attentions to the infant Princess +Beatrice.</p> + +<p>While Agnes was actuated by the most dutiful affection to her father, she +seemed by a happy trustfulness to escape participation in that gloom and +care which daily deepened upon the clouded brow of the Sicilian.</p> + +<p>Desirous to relieve what she deemed his apprehensions for the future +welfare of his daughter, the queen took occasion, upon one of his visits, +to assure him of her increasing attachment to her lovely charge.</p> + +<p>“Thy generous interest in the despised exile softens my bitter fate,” said +he, “but could the unhappy Procida enlist the influence of England’s +gracious sovereign in the great project that preys upon his being, he +would feel that he had not lived in vain.”</p> + +<p>“My lord the king is ever ready to assist the unfortunate,” said Eleanora, +encouragingly, “and is free from those prejudices which embarrass weaker +minds. If thou deemest it proper to reveal thy secret, his queen will +herself endeavor to redress thy wrongs.”</p> + +<p>“Procida seeks not the redress of a personal affront, nor restoration to +his island home; my project is,” said the Sicilian, drawing near the +queen, and speaking in a low tone of terrible emphasis, “<i>revenge!</i>—death +to the infamous Charles d’Anjou!”</p> + +<p>The startled Eleanora essayed no reply, but gazed in mute terror at the +dark and malignant face of the conspirator.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” continued he, his tall figure dilating with long repressed and +cherished passion, “I will rouse all Europe with the wrongs of the noble +house of Suabia.”</p> + +<p>“I know,” said the queen, the words faintly struggling through her white +lips, “the woes inflicted upon our cousins of Suabia by the relentless +fury of the Guelphs, but I dare not assume the office of their judge. It +is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay it, saith the Lord.’”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span>“Aye, verily,” replied the Jew, fiercely, “but how does the Lord repay +vengeance? Is it not by the hand of man he brings retribution upon the +guilty? Did he not commission the sword to cut off the Canaanites, the +Midianites, the Assyrians, and those who vexed his people in every age? +Who can say he hath not inspired the heart, and nerved the arm of the +proscribed and outcast Jew to execute his wrath upon the proud tyrant of +Sicily?”</p> + +<p>“<i>Thou</i>,” inquired the queen. “By what title claimest <i>thou</i> allegiance to +that fallen house?”</p> + +<p>“I know,” said Procida, stung by her remark, “full well I know, that your +Holy Church denies to the son of Abraham all the tender ties that bind the +lord to his vassal, or the vassal to his lord. He may have neither house +nor land, he may not dwell in Jerusalem the city of his fathers, or be +buried in consecrated ground. His possessions become the spoil of the +tyrant, his innocent offspring the victims of brutal passion; and yet your +priests say,—Be meek—Be patient—Obey the precepts of that gospel which +we trample under foot.”</p> + +<p>He paused, struck by the compassionate gaze of Eleanora, who, for the +first time, comprehended the hopeless misery of the hapless race.</p> + +<p>“Thy pardon, noble queen,” said Procida, softened by her tender pity. +“Were there more like thee, ’twere easier for the Jew to embrace the faith +of the Nazarene. Thou didst inquire by what tie I followed the changing +fortunes of Hohenstaufen.” In a gentler tone he continued—</p> + +<p>“The Jew loves gold. Loves he aught else? Yea, to the death his friend. +The Emperor Frederic was free from the chains of superstition. Christian, +Saracen, or Jew, found equal favor in his eye, and learning and genius not +less than military prowess were rewarded with titles and lands.</p> + +<p>“Know me, then, royal lady, miserable and destitute as I appear, as +favorite physician of the emperor, created by him Count de Procida, lord +of the fairest island in the Bay of Naples.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER XII.</p> + +<p class="center">THE FATE OF THE HOUSE OF SUABIA.</p> + +<p>The soft climate of the south, and the rich and varied scenery upon the +banks of the Arlanzon, invited Eleanora to long walks in the suburbs of +Burgos: and she found the greatest delight in watching the changing +foliage, which announced the approach of the mellow autumn.</p> + +<p>Her recent interviews with the philosopher had given a new direction to +her thoughts. She experienced a pleasure before unknown in studying the +various aspects of nature, and contemplating the subtle arrangement by +which all these beautiful phenomena were produced. New proofs of an +All-creative Intelligence were daily forced upon her with peculiar +distinctness, and her mind was thus fortified against the cold, +insinuating doubts, with which her brother continually assailed her faith. +Often she became so lost in reflection as to be insensible to all external +circumstances, and her ladies, loosed from the restraints of court +etiquette, revelled in the unwonted freedom of these rural strolls. +Eleanora was often lured from her speculative abstraction by the sportive +gayety of their amusements, and she saw with benevolent pleasure the ready +tact with which the young Jewess avoided every inquiry that might lead to +a discovery of her nation or position, without in the least compromising +her truthfulness or transgressing the rules of courtesy.</p> + +<p>During one of these rambles, a mendicant of the order of St. Francis +approached the queen, and asked an alms. The smoothly-shaven chin of the +monk, closely clipped hair, and unsandalled feet, at first completely +imposed upon her credulity, but his voice at once betrayed Procida.</p> + +<p>With a troubled look she gave him a few <i>denier</i>, as if desirous to escape +all parley. But the monk lingered; and after a pause, hesitatingly +remarked in a low tone, “I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span> about to leave Burgos, and I would fain +confer with the queen before my departure.”</p> + +<p>“But wherefore the monkish habit? Has the Jew resolved to do penance for +his sins?” inquired Eleanora.</p> + +<p>“Nay,” replied Procida, evasively, “if my gracious mistress will grant me +an audience, I will unfold to her the purpose that hath moved me to this +disguise.”</p> + +<p>“I cannot tell,” replied the queen, with a tone of unwonted reproach, “if +it be desirable to entrust thy plans to my keeping, since I may not +encourage deceit, and I would not that thy Agnes, so innocent of guile, +should learn that her father, for some dark purpose, has assumed the garb +he abhors.”</p> + +<p>Tears glistened in the eyes of Procida, as he replied, “Thou sayest well +and wisely. The sweet child knoweth not more of the secret schemes of her +father, than do the angels of the dark deeds of fiends. But—”</p> + +<p>“I hear the voice of my maidens,” exclaimed the queen impatiently, “expose +not thyself to their observation.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Benedicite</i>,” murmured the counterfeit priest, turning away to avoid the +scrutiny of the approaching group.</p> + +<p>But Procida was so determined to secure the approbation of the queen, that +the following day he craved an audience at the palace.</p> + +<p>“My royal mistress,” said he, “must permit me once more, to plead the +rights of the illustrious house of Suabia, before I depart on my +pilgrimage, that if I never return, she may justify my acts in the eyes of +my daughter.”</p> + +<p>“Speak,” said Eleanora, moved by the sorrowful earnestness of his manner.</p> + +<p>“My royal master Frederic,” began the Jew, “had little cause to love the +church. Hated by the pope, for that with a strong arm he claimed his +hereditary possessions in Italy, he was excommunicated for refusing the +pilgrimage, and again cursed for fulfilling his vow; and had not the +honest pagan, Melech Camel, been more his friend than the christian troops +by whom he was surrounded, he would have perished by treason in the Holy +City itself.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span>“Freed from superstition, he looked upon all religions as formed to impose +upon the vulgar; and it was through his instructions, that I learned the +policy of conforming to the prejudices of mankind, and now avail myself of +the privileges of an order, who wander everywhere, and are everywhere well +received.</p> + +<p>“The emperor, like thy brother Alphonso, was a man of science. He opened +schools in Sicily, and maintained poor scholars from his own purse, and by +every means promoted the welfare of his subjects; but he could not escape +the toils spread around him by his great enemy the church.”</p> + +<p>As he said these words the queen beheld in his eyes the same vengeful fire +that once had before so startled and shocked her.</p> + +<p>“Thy pardon, sovereign lady,” said he, recollecting himself, “but the +wrongs of the master have well-nigh maddened the brain of the servant.</p> + +<p>“His own son Henry, wrought upon by the malicious representations of the +pope, revolted, and his beautiful boy Enzio, pined away his young life in +the prison of Bologna. The great Frederic died; and his wretched Procida +vowed to avenge him upon his murderers.” He paused a moment overcome by +his emotions, and then continued, “There yet remained Conrad and Manfred: +the former, only son of the Queen of Jerusalem, and the latter, +illegitimate offspring of a Saracen woman. Conrad passed into Italy to +claim his inheritance, only to be poisoned by the pope; while Manfred, +calling around him the friends of his mother, battled for his father’s +strongholds and treasures. He was brave, generous and noble. He would have +made peace even with his enemy, but the tyrant d’Anjou spurned his +overtures, and insultingly replied to the messenger, ‘Go tell the Sultan +of Nocera, that I desire war only, and this very day I will send him to +hell, or he shall send me to Paradise.’ He prepared for the conflict. As +he fastened on his helmet it twice slipped from his grasp. ‘It is the hand +of God,’ was his exclamation, and with a presentiment of his fall, he +hurried to the fight.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span> I stood by his side in the bloody battle of +Benevento, and we made a holocaust of our enemies; but a fatal spear +pierced his brain! The implacable d’Anjou would have the poor +excommunicated corpse remain unburied, but the French soldiers, less +barbarous than their master, brought each a stone, and so reared him a +tomb.”</p> + +<p>“Tell me no more horrors,” exclaimed the queen, with a look of painful +emotion.</p> + +<p>“Ah! lady,” said the artful Procida, sadly, satisfied that his recital had +so moved his royal auditor, “thou art grieved at the very <i>hearing</i> of +these atrocities, but bethink thee of the misery of the poor daughter of +Frederic, wife of the Duke of Saxony. When the family fell, the duke +repented of his alliance with the house of Suabia. From cold neglect and +scorn, he proceeded to violence—he brutally struck her. She, unhappy +woman, thinking he sought her life, endeavored to escape. The castle rose +upon a rock overhanging the Elbe. A faithful servant kept a boat upon the +river, and by a rope, she could let herself down the precipitous descent. +An agonizing thought stayed her footsteps. Her only son lay asleep in the +cradle. She would once more fold him to her breast. She would imprint her +last kiss upon his cheek. With a maddening pang she closed her teeth in +the tender flesh, and fled, pursued by the screams of her wounded child. +The treacherous rope eluded her grasp, and the frantic mother fell, +another victim from the doomed race of Hohenstaufen.</p> + +<p>“The little Corradino, who should have been King of Jerusalem, had also a +mother, tender and fond, who would fain have detained him from funereal +Italy, where all his family had found a sepulchre; but ere he attained the +age of manhood the Ghibelline cities called to him for aid, and no +entreaties could withhold the valiant youth. Accompanied by his dearest +friend, Frederic of Austria, and a band of knights, he passed the Alps to +claim his inheritance. There was a battle—there was a defeat—there was a +prisoner—The Vicar of Christ, showed he mercy? He wrote to d’Anjou, +‘Corradino’s life is Charles’s death.’ Judges<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span> were named, a strange and +unheard-of proceeding; but of these some defended Corradino, and the rest +remained silent. One alone, found him guilty, and began to read his +sentence upon the scaffold. But outraged nature asserted her rights, +d’Anjou’s own son-in-law leaped upon the scaffold and slew the inhuman +judge with one stroke of his sword, exclaiming, ‘’Tis not for a wretch +like thee to condemn to death so noble and gentle a lord.’ But the +execution proceeded. I stood among the spectators a shaven priest, +<i>honoring the decrees of the church</i>! I heard the piteous exclamation of +the hapless youth, ‘Oh my mother, what sad news will bring thee of thy +son.’ His eye caught mine, he slipped a ring from his finger, and threw it +into the crowd. I seized the precious jewel, and renewed my vow of +vengeance. The faithful Frederic of Austria stood by his side, and was the +first to receive the fatal stroke. Corradino caught the bleeding head, as +it fell, pressed his own upon the quivering lips, and perished like his +friend. ‘Lovely and pleasant in their lives, in death they were not +divided.’”</p> + +<p>Tears for a moment quenched the fire in the old man’s eyes, and Eleanora +wept in sympathy. “And Enzio—?” she said, mournfully.</p> + +<p>“Enzio yet languished in prison, the delicate boy, the idol of his +imperial father. I found my way to Bologna, gold bribed his guard. An +empty wine-cask was at hand, I enclosed him therein, and brought him +safely to the gates. A single lock of hair betrayed my secret. ‘Ha!’ +exclaimed the sentinel, ‘’tis only King Enzio has such beautiful fair +hair.’ I escaped with difficulty, but the boy was slain.”</p> + +<p>“Lives there not one of all the princely house?” inquired the queen.</p> + +<p>“Frederic the Bitten lives, the deadly enemy of his father, and the +daughter of Manfred is the wife of the Prince of Arragon. To her I carry +the ring. A Saracen servant of the emperor ascribes to it magic virtues. +It shall be the talisman to bind Europe in a league against the infamous +d’Anjou.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</a></span>“My brother! knows he of thy purpose?” inquired Eleanora, apprehensively.</p> + +<p>“I entered Castile to secure his assistance, and devoted myself to the +practice of alchemy, to gain his confidence; but the philosopher is too +intent upon the science of dull atoms to mingle in political strife.”</p> + +<p>“Thank heaven! that his studies keep him innocent of human blood,” +ejaculated the queen. “Wouldst ought with me?” inquired she, after a +pause, observing that the Jew remained silent with his eyes fixed upon +her.</p> + +<p>“Let my gracious queen pardon her servant, that he hath so long detained +her with his tale of horror. Something I would add concerning my sweet +Agnes. Call her not a Jewess. Her father hath long since abjured the +burdensome rites of Judaism, and her mother—’tis enough to say that she +resembled the Queen of England. Though I trust not in the pious fables of +the priests, they seemed to charm her gentle spirit into peace. Let Agnes, +therefore, I pray thee, be instructed in her mother’s faith.”</p> + +<p>“Thy wishes shall be strictly regarded,” replied Eleanora, “and may the +same peace thou covetest for thy daughter, yet find its way to thy own +unquiet breast.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER XIII.</p> + +<p class="center">TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.</p> + +<p>Each time the queen visited the laboratory of Alphonso, he made her +acquainted with some new fact in philosophy, or some new device of +alchemy, which awakened curiosity and gave rise to inquiry. The Spanish +king, having made some discoveries in advance of the age, had fallen into +the popular error of philosophers, that of repudiating all pre-established +doctrines and maxims. Having laid down the theory that matter was eternal, +and all external appearances the result of natural change, he was at +infinite pains<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</a></span> to account for all phenomena so as not to conflict with +this proposition. The unbiased mind of Eleanora often detected in his +assertions a vagueness of expression which passed for argument, but which +evidently imposed less upon his auditors than upon himself.</p> + +<p>“Nature,” said he, “arranges her work in circles: hence is the sky a dome, +the earth a convex ball, and each minute atom of a globular form. The +seasons roll their perpetual round, and as a ring hath neither beginning +nor end, so must the material universe be eternal. The acorn groweth into +the oak, and the oak again produceth the acorn; all outward manifestations +are but parts in the great universal machine.”</p> + +<p>Eleanora, who had been attentively regarding an ingenious invention of the +king’s, interrupted this tirade, by remarking, “A few months before I left +England, I visited the cell of friar Bacon, in Oxford. But I saw nothing +in his laboratory so curious and wonderful as this work of my brother’s.”</p> + +<p>The philosopher, flattered with the encomium, turned at once to exhibit +the design of the machine. She followed his explanation with the greatest +apparent interest; and when he had finished, replied, “In all these +curious arrangements, I trace the wisdom of my brother; and it is that +which gives me the greatest pleasure; and when I see the beneficent +purposes for which it is designed, I feel a deeper veneration for the mind +that could plan so skilfully.”</p> + +<p>She took a bunch of flowers from the hand of Agnes and approached the +king. “I have been observing,” said she, “the curious arrangement of these +frail leaves, five green supporters, five yellow petals, five slender +threads, and one central spire. I have gathered thousands of them in my +rambles, and the same perfect number is found in every one. It has led me +to inquire if Nature be not like my brother, a mathematician.”</p> + +<p>The workings of Alphonso’s face showed how closely the simple truth of +this proposition had driven home. “Nature,” said he, “is an active +principle, whose changes <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</a></span>neither add to, nor detract from, the original +matter of the universe. The metals,” continued he, seeing she was about to +respond, “the metals, my philosophical sister, form the basis of +everything. I have detected iron in human blood, and a lustrous substance +like that thou sawest in common ashes; hence do the alchemists believe +that gold, the most precious of all, is scattered through nature, as the +seeds of vegetation are scattered in earth, requiring only the proper +gases to develop it and make it abundant as the pebbles on the shore.”</p> + +<p>“And have these gases been able to effect the desirable changes?” inquired +the queen.</p> + +<p>“There are innumerable obstacles in the way of these momentous inquiries,” +said the enthusiast. “Nature resists intrusion into her arcana, and I +grieve to say, that we have not yet been able to bring about a definite +result. Science has achieved only the procuring of the gases, while there +remains still the nicer problem—to mix them in their right proportions, +at their proper temperatures; for the nascent metal is more delicate than +the embryo plant, and an excess of heat or cold destroys like frost or +blight.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, me!” said Eleanora, with a sigh; “before this great end be +accomplished I fear me my brother will have passed away, and then all this +toil and research will be lost.”</p> + +<p>“My sister,” said Alphonso, abandoning his labors and seating himself, +“thou hast unconsciously touched the thorn that rankles deepest in my +breast. In nature, nothing seems made in vain; even decay produces new +life, and man alone, the crowning work of all, seems made to no purpose.”</p> + +<p>“I have sometimes thought,” said Eleanora, as if answering her own +reflections, rather than replying to her brother’s remarks, “that man +might perhaps be made for the pleasure of a higher order of intelligence, +as the lower orders of creation seem formed for our gratification, and +that all our miseries spring from an attempt to thwart this plan.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</a></span>“If thy thought be not the true solution of man’s destiny, I know not what +end he serves in the great scheme of existence,” returned Alphonso, sadly; +“I have passed through various vicissitudes of life, from the greatness of +earthly state to the poverty of a prison, and I have derived more pleasure +from the achievements of science than from all my hereditary honors. And +yet even these do not satisfy the longings of my nature.”</p> + +<p>“The scripture teaches us, that the superior intelligences find delight in +benefitting mortals; and acting upon this hint the good have taught us, +that to be blest ourselves we must seek to bless others,” said Eleanora.</p> + +<p>“True,” replied the philosopher, breaking out once more into his old +enthusiasm, “I have sometimes found alleviation from the weariness of my +thoughts in the reflection, that the sciences in which I am engaged will +one day exercise a wider and more perfect control over the destiny of the +human race, than all the military orders backed by the sanction of +ecclesiastical decrees. Science will open the door to Art; and her +triumphant offspring, in a train of skillful inventions, shall pass on +through long ages, breaking down the stern barriers of kingdoms, and +uniting mankind in a common interest; war shall give place to useful +Labor, and Science abrogating labor in its turn, shall satisfy the wants +of the human race, accomplishing by a touch that which requires the might +of thousands. Men shall then have leisure to perform the rites that lift +the veil of Isis, and perhaps find means to <i>question</i> Nature even in the +innermost recesses of her temple.”</p> + +<p>“Oh! life! life!” said the philosopher, in an accent of despair, “why art +thou so brief? Why must I die without discovering the sublime agencies?”</p> + +<p>Eleanora waited in compassionate silence till her brother resumed in a +calmer tone, “Think me not mad, my sister. If the feeble attempts of an +imprisoned king, and a cloistered friar, can produce the wondrous results +of which thou hast been witness, what shall the end be, when men free to +pursue these investigations shall win the rich guerdon of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</a></span> fame and +pecuniary reward? Thou hast heard, perchance, of the magician Albertus +Magnus, who constructed a human figure, which performed the office of a +servant; and of the stupid priest Thomas Aquinas, who, alarmed by the +appearance of the automaton which opened the door and ushered him in with +ceremonious obeisance, destroyed with one blow the work of years.”</p> + +<p>“I can forgive his terror,” said Eleanora, “for I well remember my own +affright, when the brazen head contrived by Friar Bacon, rolled along on +the table towards me, and uttered ‘<i>pax vobiscum</i>’ with startling +distinctness.”</p> + +<p>“Albertus Magnus performed a still more astonishing work,” continued +Alphonso. “At a banquet which he gave in the garden of his cloister, in +the depth of winter, trees appeared covered with leaves and flowers, which +vanished as if by enchantment, when the guests rose to depart.”</p> + +<p>“By what means were these wonderful works produced?” said Eleanora, with +astonishment.</p> + +<p>“With the mode of this operation I am not familiar,” returned the +philosopher. “Doubtless by some of the powerful agents alchemy reveals to +its votaries.”</p> + +<p>“And what dost thou consider the chief agent in the universe?” said +Eleanora, with the air of one inquiring after truth.</p> + +<p>“Nature,” returned the philosopher, emphatically.</p> + +<p>“And will it pain my brother, if his unlearned sister call that great +agent, who brings the flowers and leaves upon the trees in their season, +by the name of God?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly, the name can affect nothing,” replied Alphonso; “and if thy +priest require it of thee, sin not against him, by a more liberal view.”</p> + +<p>“And if the ignorant mass, who cannot be enlightened by thy theories, are +restrained from vice by the thought that an Omniscient Being takes note of +their actions, would it be well to free them from the necessary monitor?” +inquired his sister.</p> + +<p>“It is doubtless well for man to be deterred from evil<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</a></span> by salutary fear, +till he rises to more exalted capabilities,” replied Alphonso.</p> + +<p>“And art willing,” suggested Eleanora, cautiously, “to administer to this +wholesome necessity until thy divine philosophy become sufficiently +perfected to renovate their character.”</p> + +<p>“What priestly scheme hast thou in hand?” said her brother, regarding her +with a look of mirthful curiosity.</p> + +<p>“Thou knowest how dearly I love the Castilian language,” returned the +queen, “and I would that my brother should perpetuate his fame by that +which will benefit his subjects. The sight of thy Jewish scribes, +suggested the thought that it would be easy for thee to procure the +translation of the Scriptures into our mother tongue.”</p> + +<p>The philosopher remained silent for a moment, and then answered, “knowest +thou the effect of the measures thou proposest?”</p> + +<p>“I conceive,” replied Eleanora, “that it will make thy people more +virtuous and happy, and,” added she, mindful of his foible, “prepare them +to receive all the additional light to which thy investigations may lead.”</p> + +<p>“There will be another effect, which, perhaps thou dost not anticipate,” +replied Alphonso. “It will overthrow the power of the priesthood; for as +now each man inquires of his confessor concerning his duty, he will, if +enabled to read the boasted oracles, claim the right to interpret for +himself. But thy experiment shall be tried, and now I bethink me, those +learned scribes which <i>our benevolent son Sancho</i> hath permitted us to +employ in transcribing the laws of Spain into the language of Castile, +shall be placed under thy direction for this important work.”</p> + +<p>Thus the object for which Eleanora had so long and so patiently prayed and +planned, progressed under the auspices of a man who affected to despise +the truths he yet condescended to propagate; and while the philosopher +gave critical attention to the correctness of the work, he found leisure +to complete his Astronomical tables, and to commence the first general +history of Spain.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</a></span></p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER XIV.</p> + +<p class="center">AN ACCIDENT.</p> + +<p>To the monotony of a winter which the absence of the gallant cavaliers had +rendered doubly tedious to the ladies of the royal household, succeeded a +balmy spring. The favorite haunt of Eleanora, by the side of a noisy +stream, which escaping from its icy chain among the hills, hurried away +through the ravine, leaping up to clasp the overhanging rock in its wild +embrace, and showering its silver spray upon the weeping boughs that +fringed its bank, was again carpeted with mossy green, and draped with the +bright garniture of May.</p> + +<p>The view from this romantic spot commanded upon the right the city of +Burgos, built upon the declivity of a hill, and on the left, a flowery +path leading along the bank of the stream, which it crossed by a +foot-bridge, wound up the cliff till it entered upon extensive plains that +stretched out to the west, and afforded rich pasturage for numerous flocks +which fed upon the luxuriant herbage.</p> + +<p>One sunny afternoon, Eleanora, becoming deeply absorbed in her brother’s +history of the reign of their father, Ferdinand the Holy, allowed the +maidens, protected by the squires and pages, to climb the prohibited +cliff, which, ever since it had begun to assume its summer garb, had been +a strong temptation to their footsteps. Occupied with her manuscript, she +was unconscious of the lapse of time, but an occasional sound of merry +voices, mingling harmoniously with the pleasant reflections that filled +her mind, inspired her with a feeling of security and peace. It was nearly +sunset when she finished her task, and the chill dews admonished her of +the lateness of the hour; but when she raised her eyes, not a human being +was within call. The sentinel page, presuming upon his mistress’ +abstraction, had strolled across the bridge and ascended the hill after +his companions, and the queen began to be alarmed lest the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[Pg 443]</a></span> giddy party +should defer their return till darkness had increased the danger of the +mountain path. She gazed in every direction, and listened intently to +every sound. The breeze rustled the branches, and the river gurgled on its +way, but all else was still. Suddenly she perceived on the extremity of +the cliff, the rocks of which sank sheer down to the water’s edge, her +maidens hurrying to the rescue of a lamb, that, having strayed from the +care of the shepherd, startled the echoes with its piteous cries. Agnes +was foremost, and as she tripped along unconscious of the abyss which the +pendant foliage concealed from her sight, and clasped the snowy foundling +to her lovely breast, her slight figure bathed in the bright gold of the +western sky seemed the impersonation of the angel of mercy. With a glad +shout of exultation she turned to exhibit her prize, when the treacherous +earth gave way beneath her feet, and with her fleecy burden she was +precipitated into the stream, nearly opposite the spot which the queen, +breathless with alarm, had just reached. Screams of helpless terror rent +the air. The squires ran each in a different direction, hoping to find +some point from which they could descend the cliff, while the poor girl +floated rapidly down the stream, rising and sinking with the swelling +waves. Quick as thought, Eleanora caught up a fallen branch that lay upon +the bank, and extended it for her rescue. The drowning Agnes seized it +with one hand, and the queen, with great exertion, had drawn her almost to +the shore, when the frail support gave way, and the mad waters again +enveloped her form. As she sank, the animal struggled from her grasp and +gained the bank.</p> + +<p>“Save her! Oh God in mercy save her!” exclaimed Eleanora, clasping her +hands in agony. At this moment a solitary pedestrian turning an angle in +the path, approached, and attracted by the cry of distress quickened his +pace. “There! there!” exclaimed the queen, pointing with a frantic gesture +to the spot where Agnes had disappeared. Without a word, the stranger +threw his staff and cloak upon the ground, and plunged into the stream. +But the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[Pg 444]</a></span>rapacious tide had borne her beyond his reach. On he swam, +buffeting the waves with a strong arm, now searching the depths, and now +scanning the ruffled surface, till finding every effort unavailing, he +paused amid the whirling eddies, as if irresolute to seek the shore or +continue the fruitless search. At this moment a small fair hand gleamed in +the water before him, vainly clasping the idle waves, as if reaching for +the broken reed that had so deceived its hope. He grasped the tiny hand in +his own, raised the sinking form, and, renerved by the joy of success, and +the shouts of those who approached in tumultuous haste, by a few strokes +of his powerful arm gained the shore. Every hand was extended for his +assistance; but the stranger heeded not the proffered aid, and kneeling +upon the velvet turf he pressed the senseless form in his arms, and +regarded the face that lay so fixed and still upon his breast, with a mute +anxiety that held his features almost as rigid as those on which he gazed. +While the balance thus trembles between life and death, every voice is +dumb and every breath suppressed. The queen hangs motionless over her +unconscious favorite, and the attendants stand chilled and paralyzed with +doubt and dread, till a sudden gleam of satisfaction irradiates the +stranger’s face, and a faint sigh heaves the bosom of Agnes. “My God, I +thank thee!” exclaims Eleanora, fervently, while every frame dilates with +a full deep inspiration of returning hope. But the stranger, with an +authoritative wave of his hand, repels all attempts to relieve him of his +lovely charge. Gently he disengages the long silken locks that cling +dripping to his arm, tenderly he raises her head to catch the breeze that +fans her pallid cheek, and ’tis not till returning life quivers in the +languid eyelids, that pressing his lips upon her snowy hand, he resigns +her to her royal mistress. At once the maidens crowded around, some +weeping and some laughing under the excess of the same emotion, eager to +assist in the resuscitation of their lovely friend; and the squires and +pages busied themselves in constructing a litter of boughs, upon which +Agnes was conveyed to the palace.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[Pg 445]</a></span>Meanwhile, the innocent cause of the catastrophe crept shivering to the +feet of the queen, who compassionately ordered one of the attendants to +carry it forward; and thus while the shades of evening stretched over the +landscape, the saddened party re-entered the streets of Burgos. In the +general confusion the strange deliverer had disappeared, and no one knew +the direction he had taken; but the ladies had not been so much occupied +with their anxiety, that they had failed to mark his noble figure and +princely bearing; and Eleanora remembered that his face was one of +peculiar beauty, though marked by a scar, conspicuous upon the right +cheek.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER XV.</p> + +<p class="center">FREDERIC THE BITTEN.</p> + +<p>The slight illness that followed the accident which had so nearly proved +fatal to the young Jewess, was attended by no dangerous symptoms, and the +maidens amused her convalescence with conjectures concerning her +mysterious deliverer. Their pleasantries acquired new zest, when they +discovered that a rosy blush, no less than an evasive reply, answered +their reiterated prediction that the stranger would one day return, no +longer a simple knight, but a noble lord, or powerful prince, and claim +the fair hand on which he imprinted his parting kiss. Thus the weeks wore +away, and the affair at length ceased to be the engrossing topic of +conversation: the inhabitants of the palace resumed their accustomed +employments, and indulged in their usual rambles.</p> + +<p>Eleanora received frequent despatches of the most satisfactory character +from her husband. The Christian arms had been everywhere successful +against the Moors, and the King of Arragon had added to his former +conquests, Majorca and Valencia, together with numerous castles and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[Pg 446]</a></span> +churches taken from the Infidels. Edward proposed to return by sea to +Bordeaux, where he appointed his queen to meet him within the following +month.</p> + +<p>But the tidings she received from Procida, through an ambassador that +craved a private audience, created a more agitating interest than even the +affairs of their own realm could awaken. At sight of the stranger, she +recognized the saviour of Agnes, and her first impulse was to thank him +for his generous exertions in behalf of her fair ward. But the grave +formality of his manner checked the graceful condescension. He seemed but +the bearer of a letter, and received her greeting merely as the messenger +of Procida, and presuming upon his avowed character, she proceeded to +peruse the despatch in his presence.</p> + +<p>The epistle from the Jew commenced abruptly without date. It acquainted +the queen with the rank and title of the bearer, “Frederic the Bitten,” +Duke of Saxony, grandson of the illustrious Emperor of Germany, and +commended him to her courtesy as the suitor of the young Agnes. Procida +alluded darkly to negotiations and plots, which he trusted would +accomplish the deliverance of his country, but towards the close of the +epistle, the <i>father</i> triumphed over the <i>conspirator</i>, and the +expressions of paternal love subdued the tone of vengeance to the accents +of tenderness and apprehension.</p> + +<p>“I was anxious my royal friend,” said he, “now that rugged winter has been +smoothed by a softer breath, I was anxious to write and to address thee +some grateful strain, as the first-fruits of the spring. But the mournful +news presages to me new storms; my songs sink into tears. In vain do the +heavens smile; in vain do the gardens and groves inspire me with +unseasonable joy, and the returning concert of the birds tempt me to +resume my own. I cannot behold with dry eyes the approaching desolation of +my kind nurse Sicily. Which shall I choose for her, the yoke, or honor? I +see that in the confusion of insurrection numbers of her innocent children +must perish. Shall I then leave her under the power of the tyrant? Shall +our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[Pg 447]</a></span> beautiful Palermo be defiled by strangers? Shall the powerful and +noble Messina rest in quiet with the foot of her oppressor on her neck; or +shall I, while feigning peace, organize a war, rousing Sicily and the +world to revenge? Revenge! at the word all thoughts of pity and tenderness +leave me. The concentrated rage of Etna seems warring in my bosom; it +heaves at sight of the miseries of my unhappy people. The island is full +of preparations against the Greeks: but, when the sword is drawn, shall it +not be buried in the breast of him who drains the life blood from his +helpless subjects?</p> + +<p>“But in that hour Procida may perish, and the King of Arragon fail to +restore the sister of Manfred to her ancient rights. There will then +remain of the house of Suabia only ‘Frederic the Bitten.’ If the daughter +of Procida favor his suit, detain him till the ‘<i>Ides of March</i>’ be +passed, for with Frederic, dies the last hope of the Hohenstaufen.”</p> + +<p>Eleanora closed the letter and pondered a moment upon its contents. In the +plan of Procida to detain Frederic from the approaching conflict in +Sicily, she most readily acquiesced, but the difficulty of managing so +delicate an affair became instantly apparent to her ready perception. +When, however, she adroitly endeavored to draw from the young duke his +knowledge of the purposes of Procida, her apprehension was relieved by +discovering that the affair had been planned in such a manner as to +require from her, neither entreaty nor subterfuge, since the wily Jew had +exacted a promise from the young noble, that he would spend a twelvemonth, +at the court of his cousin Edward, before he demanded the hand of Agnes in +marriage. Procida had not indeed, left the duke ignorant of his ultimate +purpose, but he had led him to look for its accomplishment at a much more +distant date than that designated in the letter, and Frederic consequently +feeling no anxiety for an immediate return to Sicily, readily accepted the +queen’s invitation to form part of the royal escort to Bordeaux.</p> + +<p>Eleanora in taking leave of her brother, was comforted with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[Pg 448]</a></span> the thought, +that he was occupied with a more healthful and profitable pursuit than +were the abstruse researches into the mysteries of nature, in which she +had found him engaged. She had also the satisfaction of knowing that the +deposed monarch had laid aside all his ambitious projects for empire, and +now busied his thoughts in calculating the immense advantage and glory +that would accrue to mankind from the Castilian literature he had in +preparation. The affectionate farewells were exchanged, and, accompanied +by her two beautiful children, Beatrice and Berengaria, her maidens and +the attendant squires, and a small band of Spanish cavaliers, among whom +rode the Duke of Saxony, she set off to meet her lord in Aquitaine. In the +genial society of the queen and her maidens, whose spirits were +exhilarated by the exercise and incidents of the journey, Frederic seemed +to breathe an atmosphere to which he had been unaccustomed, and which +served to enliven his habitual gravity, and develop the gentler qualities +of his naturally generous character. The maidens amused themselves with +constant allusions to the happy accomplishment of their prediction, and +the wit of the fair Agnes was sorely tested, in meeting and parrying their +playful attacks. The courteous attentions of the duke, were so impartially +distributed among the ladies, that not even jealousy itself could find +cause for complaint; yet it was only the voice of Agnes that had power to +rouse him from his frequent reveries, and when he spoke, his eye +instinctively turned to read in her countenance approbation or dissent. +Disciplined in the school of adversity, he manifested a strength and +severity of character, tempered by a pensive tenderness, which showed that +his mother’s wrongs had wrought in his heart a sentiment of sympathy for +the suffering which made him hesitate to involve his country in the +exterminating wars, that he foresaw would follow a renewal of the strife +between the Guelphs and Ghibellines; and though he felt an enthusiastic +admiration for the ardor and zeal of Procida, yet the unscrupulous Jew, +who studied the character of all he met with reference to their +availability in the approaching<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[Pg 449]</a></span> crisis, too accurately estimated the +probity and truth of the young noble, to attempt to engage him in the dark +plot for the overthrow of d’Anjou. Still he loved the duke, as the +descendant of his great patron, and honored him for those qualities, of +which he felt himself destitute; and thus it was with a feeling of joyful +security, rather than of pride at the princely alliance, that he consented +to bestow his only treasure upon the man, who least of all sympathised in +the one purpose of his life.</p> + +<p>The royal party arrived at Bordeaux a few days in advance of the King of +England, and during these hours of leisure, Frederic unfolded to the queen +the mystery of his first appearance in Burgos.</p> + +<p>Procida had entrusted him with despatches for the King of Arragon; and to +execute his commission with the more secresy, and at the same time to +enjoy the freedom of the mountain solitudes, he travelled without retinue +or insignia of rank. Thus he was leisurely pursuing his way along the bank +of the stream, communing pleasantly with his own thoughts, when the cries +of Eleanora attracted him, just in time to save Agnes from a watery grave. +Time had so developed her loveliness that at first he failed to recognize +in the fair being before him, the beautiful child he had been accustomed +to admire in her father’s castle of Prochyta; but when the first flush of +returning life glowed upon her countenance, his admiration became lost in +a deeper emotion, and from that hour he determined to lay the ducal +coronet of Saxony at the feet of the beautiful daughter of Sicily.</p> + +<p>The return of the royal family was an era in the annals of English +prosperity, from the number of valuables imported from Spain. In the +catalogue of the queen’s plate, mention is made of a crystal fork, the +parting gift of her brother Alphonso, from which the first idea of these +articles of table luxury was derived: but the lamb, which had so nearly +cost the life of Agnes, proved a benefit to the nation, whose value can +never be estimated; and the shepherd of Cotswold to this day, has reason +to bless the queen, who bestowed the cherished pet in an English fold.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[Pg 450]</a></span>During his southern campaign, King Edward had contracted an alliance +between his eldest daughter Eleanora, and Alphonso, the young Prince of +Arragon. The next sister, Joanna of Acre, who most of all resembled her +mother in beauty and strength of character, was about the same time, +married to the first peer of the realm, Gilbert the red Earl of +Gloucester, and the third daughter wedded to John, the Duke of Brabant. At +these nuptials the queen presented a golden cup of benison to each of the +brides, inscribed with appropriate passages of Holy Writ; and though, in +consequence of Frederic’s promise to her father, the betrothment between +himself and Agnes could not then take place, Eleanora bestowed upon her +lovely ward a similar gift, bearing these words, “Thou hast been unto me +as a daughter.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">CHAPTER XVI.</p> + +<p class="center">LETTER FROM PROCIDA TO DON PEDRO, KING OF ARRAGON.</p> + +<p>* * * * * * * “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, ‘<i>Conquer +these impossibilities, and the fleet of Arragon is ready to substantiate +the claim of the daughter of Manfred to the throne of Sicily</i>.’ Goaded by +the mocking promise, the mendicant wanders in Sicily. Now, companion of +the tax-gatherer, he wrings the last drachmè 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[Pg 451]</a></span> 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 <i>shepherd</i> or a <i>herdsman</i>, 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 <i>traveller</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>* * * * * * “A vessel sails from Brundusium, the mariners, hardy +Calabrians, spread their sails and bend to their oars with patient +purpose; but there is <i>one</i> 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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[Pg 452]</a></span> Greek Emperor refuse his aid—<i>he</i> +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 +<i>Fifth Crusade</i>! The Greek exclaims in despair, ‘I know not what to do.’ +‘Give me money,’ replies the <i>mariner</i>, ‘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.</p> + +<p>“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, ‘<i>The impossibilities are conquered</i>,’ and thou art bound by +the very vow of thine unbelief to ‘<i>substantiate the claim of the daughter +of Manfred to the throne of Sicily</i>.’”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[Pg 453]</a></span> 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 <i>fête</i> with +busy alacrity, while the foreigners, made apprehensive by the gathering +multitudes, come armed to assist in garlanding the very church of God.</p> + +<p>At sunset a bride and bridegroom go forth, attended by all the inhabitants +of the city, both men and women, up the beautiful hill Monréale, 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 Monréale. 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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[Pg 454]</a></span>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 +<i>Sicilian Vespers</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[Pg 455]</a></span> 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,</p> + +<p class="poem">“The North wind sobs where Margaret sleeps,<br /> +And still in tears of blood her memory Scotland steeps.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[Pg 456]</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>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 +“<i>La chere reine</i>,” 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.</p> + +<p>An English writer, in a tribute to her memory, thus enumerates her +virtues, “To our nation she was a loving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[Pg 457]</a></span> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[Pg 458]</a></span></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[Pg 459]</a></span></p> +<h2>NOTES.</h2> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[Pg 460]</a></span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[Pg 461]</a></span></p> +<p class="title">NOTES.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note A.—<a href="#Page_19">Page 19.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The Lady Matilda.</i>”—Hlafdigé, 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.—<i>Queens of England</i>, p. 24.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note B.—<a href="#Page_19">Page 19.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Woden and Thor.</i>”—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.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note C.—<a href="#Page_20">Page 20.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The Royal Children.</i>”—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 <i>Queens of England</i>, p. +33-82.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note D.—<a href="#Page_20">Page 20.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The Mora.</i>”—While the fleet destined to invade the Island waited in the +port for a favorable wind, William<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[Pg 462]</a></span> 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.—<i>Queens of England</i>, p. 40.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note E.—<a href="#Page_21">Page 21.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>William the Conqueror</i>” 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.—<i>Michelet’s History of France</i>, p. 193.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note F.—<a href="#Page_21">Page 21.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Edgar Atheling.</i>”—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.—<i>Hume</i>, p. 115.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note G.—<a href="#Page_22">Page 22.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The one keeping strict lenten fast.</i>”—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 <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[Pg 463]</a></span>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.—<i>Hume</i>, vol. 1, p. 184.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note H.—<a href="#Page_22">Page 22.</a></span></p> + +<p>The celebrated Bayeaux tapestry, distinguished by the name of the <i>Duke of +Normandy’s toilette</i>, 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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[Pg 464]</a></span> 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.—<i>Queens of England</i>, vol. 1, p. 54.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note I.—<a href="#Page_23">Page 23.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Cicely, the betrothed of Harold.</i>”—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.—<i>Queens of England</i>, vol. 1, p. 35.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note J.—<a href="#Page_24">Page 24.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Condemned her former lover.</i>”—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.—<i>Ellis’s History of Thornbury Castle.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note K.—<a href="#Page_25">Page 25.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The terrible Vikings.</i>”—Sea kings among the Danes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[Pg 465]</a></span> 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.—<i>See Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note L.—<a href="#Page_27">Page 27.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The Danes confided much in the Fylga or Guardian Spirit.</i>”—They have +certain Priestesses named Morthwyrtha, or worshippers of the dead.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note M.—<a href="#Page_29">Page 29.</a></span></p> + +<p>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.—<i>Hume’s History of England</i>, vol. 1.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note N.—<a href="#Page_29">Page 29.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The laying waste of Hampshire.</i>”—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, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[Pg 466]</a></span>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.—<i>History of England</i>, vol. 1, p. 214.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note O.—<a href="#Page_29">Page 29.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Odious Danegelt, and still more odious Couvrefeu.</i>”—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.—<i>Queens of England</i>, vol. 1, p. 57.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note P.—<a href="#Page_30">Page 30.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Lanfranc will absolve thee from thy oath.</i>”—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.—<i>See Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note Q.—<a href="#Page_41">Page 41.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Adela stood again in the old Abbey of Fescamp.</i>”—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.—<i>Queens of England</i>, vol. 1, p. 63.</p> + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[Pg 467]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note R.—<a href="#Page_36">Page 36.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>A maiden’s needle wounds less deeply than a warrior’s sword.</i>”—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.—<i>Queens of England</i>, vol. 1, p. 71.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note S.—<a href="#Page_37">Page 37.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Accolade.</i>”—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.—<i>Mill’s History of +Chivalry</i>, p. 28.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note T.—<a href="#Page_48">Page 48.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The Saxon Secretary Ingulphus.</i>”—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—<i>See +Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note U.—<a href="#Page_47">Page 47.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>I craved a portion of the Holy dust.</i>”—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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[Pg 468]</a></span> cure of a young man who +had some of the dust of the Holy City suspended in a bag over his +bed.—<i>Mill’s Crusades</i>, p. 14.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note V.—<a href="#Page_47">Page 47.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Pilgrim, and Palmer.</i>”—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.—<i>Mill’s +Crusades</i>, p. 14.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note W.—<a href="#Page_48">Page 48.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Joined the Archbishop.</i>”—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.—<i>History of Crusades</i>, p. 17.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note X.—<a href="#Page_49">Page 49.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The Gog and Magog of sacred writ.</i>”—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.—<i>Gibbon’s Rome</i>, vol. 5, p. 411.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note Y.—<a href="#Page_50">Page 50.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Battle Abbey.</i>”—William laid the foundation of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[Pg 469]</a></span> 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.—<i>Queens of +England</i>, vol. 1, p. 50.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note Z.—<a href="#Page_51">Page 51.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Did not that for his own sins.</i>”—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.—<i>Gibbon’s Rome</i>, vol. 5, p. +58.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note AA.—<a href="#Page_53">Page 53.</a></span></p> + +<p>The story of the noble Magyar is taken from early travels in Palestine.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note BB.—<a href="#Page_60">Page 60.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The assassin band of Mount Lebanon.</i>”—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.—<i>See Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note CC.—<a href="#Page_68">Page 68.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Thou shouldst have been King.</i>”—His eldest son, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[Pg 470]</a></span>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.—<i>Queens of England</i>, vol. 1, p. 85.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note DD.—<a href="#Page_69">Page 69.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Our uncle Odo hates Lanfranc.</i>”—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.—<i>Hume’s History of England</i>, vol. 1, p. 221.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note EE.—<a href="#Page_71">Page 71.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Siege of St. Michael’s Mount.</i>”—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?”—<i>Hume’s England</i>, vol. 1.</p> + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[Pg 471]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note FF.—<a href="#Page_73">Page 73.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Crowds followed the steps of the monk.</i>”—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.—<i>Michelet</i>, p. 209.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note GG.—<a href="#Page_78">Page 78.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Deus Vult.</i>”—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!”—<i>History of the Popes</i>, p. 384.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note HH.—<a href="#Page_79">Page 79.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Stitch the red cross.</i>”—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.—<i>Michelet</i>, p. 210.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note II.—<a href="#Page_82">Page 82.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Walter the Penniless.</i>”—Sixty thousand were conducted by the Hermit. +Walter the Penniless led fifteen thousand footmen, followed by a fanatic +named Godeschal, whose <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[Pg 472]</a></span>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.—<i>Gibbon’s Rome</i>, vol. 5, p. +553.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note JJ.—<a href="#Page_84">Page 84.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Inquire if that be Jerusalem.</i>”—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.—<i>Mill’s Crusades</i>, p. +31.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note KK.—<a href="#Page_87">Page 87.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Adela’s Letter from Stephen.</i>”—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.—<i>Mill’s Crusades</i>, p. 49.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note LL.—<a href="#Page_105">Page 105.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Of English laws and an English Queen.</i>”—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.—<i>Queens of England</i>, p. 91.</p> + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[Pg 473]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note MM.—<a href="#Page_110">Page 110.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>We fought in the Plains of Ramula.</i>”—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.—<i>Mill’s Crusades</i>, p. 95.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note NN.—<a href="#Page_111">Page 111.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The daughter of Earl Waltheoff, Matilda</i>,” was the wife of David, +afterwards King of Scotland, and the mother of the first Earl of +Huntingdon.—<i>Dr. Lingard.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note OO.—<a href="#Page_113">Page 113.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Lucy lies in the sea.</i>”—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.”—<i>Queens of England</i>, p. +131.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note PP.—<a href="#Page_120">Page 120.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Courts of Love.</i>”—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 <i>sirventes</i> +and <i>chansons</i> 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.—<i>Queens of England</i>, p. 188.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note QQ.—<a href="#Page_121">Page 121.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Romance Walloon.</i>”—The appellation of Walloon was derived from the word +Waalchland, the name by which the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">[Pg 474]</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>Throughout the whole tract of country from Navarre to the dominions of the +Dauphin of Auvergne, and from sea to sea, the Provençal 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 <i>d’oc</i>, the tongue of “yes” and “no;” because, instead of +“<i>oui</i>” and “<i>non</i>” of the rest of France, the affirmative and negative +were “<i>oc</i>” and “<i>no</i>.” The ancestors of Eleanora were called <i>par +excellence</i>—the Lords of “<i>oc</i>” and “<i>no</i>.”—<i>Queens of England</i>, pp. +60-186.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note RR.—<a href="#Page_122">Page 122.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>In a Province fair.</i>”—This ballad is from the early English Metrical +Romances.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note SS.—<a href="#Page_127">Page 127.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The Lady Petronilla.</i>”—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.—<i>Queens of England</i>, p. 189.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note TT.—<a href="#Page_130">Page 130.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Abelard.</i>”—Abelard, Peter, originally Abailard, a monk of the order of +St. Benedict, equally famous for his learning and for his unfortunate love +for Héloise, was born in 1079, near Nantes, in the little village of +Palais, which was the property of his father, Berenger.—<i>Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note UU.—<a href="#Page_132">Page 132.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>St. Bernard.</i>”—St. Bernard, born at Fontaines, in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">[Pg 475]</a></span>Burgundy, 1091, was +of noble family, and one of the most influential ecclesiastics of the +middle ages. He was named the <i>honeyed teacher</i>, and his writings were +styled <i>a stream from Paradise</i>.</p> + +<p>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.—<i>Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note VV.—<a href="#Page_135">Page 135.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Valley of Laodicea.</i>”—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.—<i>Queens of England</i>, +p. 190.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note WW.—<a href="#Page_140">Page 140.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Series of Coquetries.</i>”—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.—<i>Michelet</i>, p. 233.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note XX.—<a href="#Page_141">Page 141.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Twenty days.</i>”—The “Queens of France” record that he learned the +Provençal tongue in twenty days.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note YY.—<a href="#Page_143">Page 143.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Knights of the Temple.</i>”—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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[Pg 476]</a></span>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The order was destroyed in France by Philip the Fair, about the beginning +of the fourteenth century.—<i>Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note ZZ.—<a href="#Page_144">Page 144.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Hospitallers.</i>”—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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Knights +of Malta</i>.—<i>Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note AAA.—<a href="#Page_146">Page 146.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>On her way Southward.</i>”—Eleanora stayed some time at Blois, the count +of which province was Thibaut, elder brother to King Stephen, one of the +handsomest and bravest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[Pg 477]</a></span> 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.—<i>Queens of +England</i>, p. 114.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note BBB.—<a href="#Page_151">Page 151.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Becket.</i>”—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.—<i>Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note CCC.—<a href="#Page_155">Page 155.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Regular Drama.</i>”—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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">[Pg 478]</a></span> that Peter of Blois, in his epistles, +congratulates his brother William, on his tragedy of Flaura and Marcus, +played before the queen.—<i>Queens of England</i>, p. 199.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note DDD.—<a href="#Page_165">Page 165.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Adrian IV.</i>”—Adrian IV., an Englishman, originally named <i>Nicholas</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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.—<i>Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note EEE.—<a href="#Page_184">Page 184.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The wasted form of Rosamond.</i>”—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.</p> + +<p>Brompton says, “That one day, Queen Eleanor saw the king walking in the +pleasance of Woodstock, with the end<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479">[Pg 479]</a></span> 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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<p class="poem">“This tomb doth here enclose<br /> +The world’s most beauteous rose<br /> +Rose passing sweet erewhile,<br /> +Now nought but odor vile.”<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 9em;"><i>Queens of England.</i></span></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note FFF.—<a href="#Page_185">Page 185.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Imprisonment of Queen Eleanor.</i>”—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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480">[Pg 480]</a></span> +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.—<i>Pictorial History of England.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note GGG.—<a href="#Page_187">Page 187.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Turning proudly to the rebel lords.</i>”—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.—<i>Mills’ Crusades</i>, p. 137.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note HHH.—<a href="#Page_190">Page 190.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Thy brother William and his beautiful bride.</i>”—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.—<i>Mills’ +Crusades</i>, p. 198.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note III.—<a href="#Page_195">Page 195.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The well Zemzem.</i>”—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.—<i>Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note JJJ.—<a href="#Page_200">Page 200.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Pampeluna</i>”—a city of Spain, and capital of Navarre,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481">[Pg 481]</a></span> situated on the +Arga, in a plain near the Pyrenees, founded by Pompey.—<i>Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note KKK.—<a href="#Page_220">Page 220.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Blood oozed.</i>”—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.—<i>Queens of England</i>—<i>Eleanora of Aquitaine</i>, p. +220.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note LLL.—<a href="#Page_227">Page 227.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Driven from the harbor.</i>”—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.—<i>Bernard le Tresorier.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note MMM.—<a href="#Page_242">Page 242.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Battle of Tiberias.</i>”—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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482">[Pg 482]</a></span> squadrons continually rallied round it. But the crescent had +more numerous supporters than the cross, and for that reason +triumphed.—<i>Mills’ History of the Crusades</i>, p. 139.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note NNN.—<a href="#Page_250">Page 250.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Courtesies of life.</i>”—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.—<i>Hoveden</i>, p. +693.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note OOO.—<a href="#Page_254">Page 254.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Union between his brother.</i>”—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.—<i>Mills’ Crusades.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note PPP.—<a href="#Page_258">Page 258.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>This way sire.</i>”—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.—<i>Mills’ History of +the Crusades</i>, p. 164.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note QQQ.—<a href="#Page_266">Page 266.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Count Raimond.</i>”—The young count so well acquitted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483">[Pg 483]</a></span> 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.—<i>Berengaria +of Navarre</i>, p. 16.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note RRR.—<a href="#Page_267">Page 267.</a></span></p> + +<p>The song of Richard and Blondell is found in <i>Burney’s History of Music</i>, +vol. 2, p. 236.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note SSS.—<a href="#Page_271">Page 271.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The black banner.</i>”—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.—<i>James’ History of Chivalry</i>, p. 264.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note TTT.—<a href="#Page_273">Page 273.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>The Fourth Crusade.</i>”—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.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484">[Pg 484]</a></span> 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.—<i>Mills’ History of the +Crusades</i>, p. 172.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note UUU.—<a href="#Page_277">Page 277.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Blanche of Castile.</i>”—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.—<i>Queens of England</i>, p. 164.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note VVV.—<a href="#Page_284">Page 284.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Suabia.</i>”—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.—<i>See +Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note WWW.—<a href="#Page_288">Page 288.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Submission of the eastern Empire to the Pope.</i>”—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.—<i>See Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_485" id="Page_485">[Pg 485]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note XXX.—<a href="#Page_291">Page 291.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>St. Dominic.</i>”—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 <i>rue</i> St. Jaques. Their order is now flourishing only +in Spain, Portugal, Sicily and America.—<i>See Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note YYY.—<a href="#Page_296">Page 296.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Magna Charta.</i>”—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 <i>habeas corpus</i>, and the trial +by jury, the most effectual securities against oppression which the wisdom +of man has ever devised.—<i>See Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note ZZZ.—<a href="#Page_307">Page 307.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Filled the office of Regent of Jerusalem.</i>”—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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_486" id="Page_486">[Pg 486]</a></span> 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.—<i>Michelet’s History of France.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note AAAA.—<a href="#Page_308">Page 308.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>St. Dunstan.</i>”—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.—<i>Parley’s History.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note BBBB.—<a href="#Page_309">Page 309.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Convent of L’Espan.</i>”—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 <i>L’Espan</i>.—<i>Queens of England.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note CCCC.—<a href="#Page_314">Page 314.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Sultan of Egypt.</i>”—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.—<i>Mills’ Crusades.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note DDDD.—<a href="#Page_320">Page 320.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Mongols.</i>”—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.</p> + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487">[Pg 487]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note EEEE.—<a href="#Page_323">Page 323.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Wainscoted with gold.</i>”—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 <i>Michelet’s France</i>, vol. 1, p. 206.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note FFFF.—<a href="#Page_327">Page 327.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Moslem Rosary.</i>”—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.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note GGGG.—<a href="#Page_328">Page 328.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Congregation repeated ‘Praise be to God.’</i>”—<i>See Griffith’s description +of Mahomedan funeral.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note HHHH.—<a href="#Page_330">Page 330.</a></span></p> + +<p>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.—<i>Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note IIII.—<a href="#Page_333">Page 333.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Tones of the Arabic.</i>”—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.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488">[Pg 488]</a></span>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 +<i>Arabic</i>. 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.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note JJJJ.—<a href="#Page_346">Page 346.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Opened Negotiations with the Sultan of Egypt.</i>”—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.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note KKKK.—<a href="#Page_348">Page 348.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Simon de Montfort.</i>”—The family of Montforts seems to have been +fiercely ambitious. They trace their origin to “Charlemagne.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489">[Pg 489]</a></span> Montforts. Ever after they were looked upon with <i>horror and +detestation</i>.—<i>Michelet.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note LLLL.—<a href="#Page_351">Page 351.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Richard of Cornwall</i>,” 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 +Cœur de Lion had spread.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note MMMM.—<a href="#Page_351">Page 351.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Greek Fire.</i>”—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note NNNN.—<a href="#Page_351">Page 351.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>King Louis.</i>”—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 (<span class="smcaplc">A.D.</span> 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.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note OOOO.—<a href="#Page_351">Page 351.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Statutes of Oxford.</i>”—The English barons assembled at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490">[Pg 490]</a></span> 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.—<i>History of England.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note PPPP.—<a href="#Page_355">Page 355.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Mamelukes.</i>”—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.—<i>Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note QQQQ.—<a href="#Page_355">Page 355.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Damascus Steel.</i>”—Damascus was celebrated in the middle ages for the +manufacture of sabres, of such peculiar quality as to be perfectly elastic +and very hard.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note RRRR.—<a href="#Page_358">Page 358.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Eva Strongbow.</i>”—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.—<i>Hume’s History +of England.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note SSSS.—<a href="#Page_362">Page 362.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Queen Gold.</i>”—One great cause of the queen’s unpopularity in London +originated from the unprincipled manner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491">[Pg 491]</a></span> 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.—<i>Queens of England.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note TTTT.—<a href="#Page_365">Page 365.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Holy crown of Thorns.</i>”—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.—<i>Gibbon</i>, +vol. vi. p. 122.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note UUUU.—<a href="#Page_367">Page 367.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Lay concealed.</i>”—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 <i>espy</i> in the land for the purpose of +liberating her brave son.—<i>Queens of England.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note VVVV.—<a href="#Page_373">Page 373.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Shouts of pursuers.</i>”—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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492">[Pg 492]</a></span> 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.—<i>Queens of England.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note WWWW.—<a href="#Page_386">Page 386.</a></span></p> + +<p>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.”—<i>Joinville</i>, p. 97.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note XXXX.—<a href="#Page_387">Page 387.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Fedavis.</i>”—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.”—<i>Michelet.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note YYYY.—<a href="#Page_390">Page 390.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Loving lips.</i>”—“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.”</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note ZZZZ.—<a href="#Page_406">Page 406.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Earl of Devon.</i>”—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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493">[Pg 493]</a></span> barons +of the realm, for a period of more than two hundred years.</p> + +<p>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.—<i>Gibbon’s Rome.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note AAAAA.—<a href="#Page_407">Page 407.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Merlin.</i>”—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.—<i>Encyclopedia.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note BBBBB.—<a href="#Page_408">Page 408.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Unjust Aspersion.</i>”—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.—<i>Queens +of England.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note CCCCC.—<a href="#Page_416">Page 416.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Daughter of Elin de Montfort.</i>”—The first mischance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494">[Pg 494]</a></span> that befell the +Welsh was the capture of the bride of Llewellyn, coming from France.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.—<i>Queens of England.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note DDDDD.—<a href="#Page_421">Page 421.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>I would have taught him.</i>”—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.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note EEEEE.—<a href="#Page_425">Page 425.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Motley courtiers.</i>”—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.—<i>Michelet’s France.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note FFFFF.—<a href="#Page_423">Page 423.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Raymond Lullius.</i>”—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 <i>rose nobles</i> were +coined.</p> + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_495" id="Page_495">[Pg 495]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note GGGGG.—<a href="#Page_433">Page 433.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Everywhere well received.</i>”—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.—<i>Michelet’s France.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note HHHHH.—<a href="#Page_435">Page 435.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Slipped a ring.</i>”—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.—<i>Gibbon.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note IIIII.—<a href="#Page_437">Page 437.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Friar Bacon.</i>”—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.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note JJJJJ.—<a href="#Page_440">Page 440.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Albertus Magnus.</i>”—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<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_496" id="Page_496">[Pg 496]</a></span> banquet in the garden of his cloister and that though it was +in the <i>depth of winter</i>, the trees appeared as in spring, covered with +flowers and leaves, which vanished as if by enchantment, after the +repast.—<i>History of the Popes.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note KKKKK.—<a href="#Page_446">Page 446.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>I was anxious.</i>”—This passage is quoted from Falcando, an Italian +historian of the twelfth century.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note LLLLL.—<a href="#Page_449">Page 449.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Shepherd of Cotswold.</i>”—To Eleanora, is due the credit of introducing +the Spanish breed of sheep into England.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note MMMMM.—<a href="#Page_452">Page 452.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Red stockings.</i>”—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.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note NNNNN.—<a href="#Page_453">Page 453.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Easter Monday, 1282.</i>”—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.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Note OOOOO.—<a href="#Page_454">Page 454.</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>Rescued.</i>”—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.</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Heroines of the Crusades, by C. A. Bloss + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEROINES OF THE CRUSADES *** + +***** This file should be named 39701-h.htm or 39701-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/7/0/39701/ + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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