Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 5: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History
History
Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 5: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History
Biography
which his brothers Henry and Geoffrey invaded the duchy, and a new war
ensued between them and their father, who was assisted by Richard,
which, however, was terminated by the death of the eldest of the three
brothers in June of that same year, when Richard became his father's
heir-apparent. But at an interview between King Henry and Philip
Augustus, now King of France, in November, 1188, Richard, apparently
impelled by a suspicion that his father intended to leave his crown to
his younger brother, John, and also professing to resent his father's
conduct in withholding from him his affianced bride, the French king's
sister, suddenly declared himself the liegeman of Philip for all his
father's dominions in France; whence arose a new war, in which Philip
and Richard speedily compelled King Henry to yield to all their demands,
and a treaty to that effect was about to be signed when King Henry died,
on July 6, 1189. Richard was present at the burial of his father in the
choir of the convent of Fontevrault.
Notwithstanding his apprehensions, real or affected, of his brother
John, Richard made no particular haste to come over to England, but,
contenting himself with ordering his mother, Queen Eleanor, to be
liberated from confinement, and to be invested with the regency of that
kingdom, he first proceeded to Rouen, where he was formally acknowledged
as Duke of Normandy on July 20th, and it was August 13th before he
arrived at Portsmouth (or, as others say, at Southampton). His
coronation, from which the commencement of his reign is dated, took
place in Westminster Abbey on September 3d. It was on occasion of that
ceremony that a furious riot broke out among the Jews in London, which
was in the course of the next six months renewed in most of the great
towns throughout the kingdom. At York, in March, 1190, a body of 500
Jews, with their wives and children, having taken refuge in the castle,
found no other way of saving themselves from their assailants than by
first cutting the throats of the women and children and then stabbing
one another.
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