Nor did the calamitous consequences of this event thus terminate. It
seems to have sown deeply the seeds of ambitious discord in the family
of Henry. The young prince, after a visit to France with his consort,
formally demanded of his father some substantial share of the royal
power with whose insignia he had been invested. The intrigues and civil
commotions that followed, it is not within our plan to detail; but the
conduct of his different children, instigated by the example of this
unworthy first-born, eventually brought the parent to his grave.
The coronation of RICHARD I., is the earliest upon which our historians
dilate. It took place September 3, 1189, at Westminster; differing in no
material point from the modern ceremony. The archbishop is said to have
solemnly adjured the king at the altar, "not to assume the royal dignity
unless he were resolved to keep the regal oath." An infamous outrage on
the unoffending and oppressed race of the Jews closed the coronation day
in London, and was followed by equally cruel treatment of them in
several large towns. They seem on this occasion to have tempted the
cupidity, by appealing to the generosity and humanity of the court.
Numbers of them came to the metropolis with presents for the young king,
who forbade them, however, to appear at his coronation. In the evening a
few of the richer Israelites endeavoured to pass into the hall of the
palace; when they were repulsed, insulted, and pursued into the city. A
report now spread that the king, regretting the unhallowed forbearance
of his father toward this apostate race, had given orders for a general
attack upon them. The populace quickly murdered the first that had
appeared; they then attacked the houses of all the richer Jews, and
after stripping them of every thing valuable, left them in flames. At
York, five hundred of this hapless nation who had retired into the
castle for protection, and eventually seized it from the governor,
murdered their own wives and children, to prevent their falling into the
hands of their enemies, and then despatched each other nearly to a man.
On the return of Richard from his romantic expedition to Jerusalem, in
1194, he is said to have been crowned a second time; "to put awaie, as
it were, the reproofe of his captivitie[88]." A solemn council was held
at Nottingham, to review the affairs of the kingdom, and the conduct of
his brother John during the king's absence; the last or third day being
occupied in discussing the question, whether it were necessary that the
king should be crowned a second time; the king voted in the negative,
but his peers and prelates were of the contrary opinion, and the
ceremony was accordingly performed at Winchester, by Hubert, archbishop
of Canterbury[89].
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account