Young King Richard was fired with a holy zeal to win back the Holy City
and the Sepulchre, and, if possible, to find the cross upon which Jesus
of Nazareth was crucified. This relic was believed to have been hidden
by the Saracens.
King Richard made many sacrifices to raise money for a Third Crusade.
His brother John was glad to have Richard go away on such a distant and
dangerous mission, leaving the younger brother to rule over England
during the king’s long absence. John was as cowardly as Richard was
brave, and, down in his heart, he hoped the Turk would kill his brother
so that he could have the throne. Because of the king’s knightly courage
he was given the title of Richard Lion-heart. If John had been named for
the animal he was most like, he would have been called John Wolf-heart.
Richard was joined by King Philip of France, and the two kings, with
their armies and those of the Archduke of Austria, reached the Holy Land
in due time. They attacked the walled city of Acre--called Akka by the
Arabs--and captured it after a long, hard fight and the loss of many
thousands of soldiers.
But Richard was as overbearing as he was brave. He ordered other kings
and dukes about, and his manner was so masterful that he made Philip and
the Archduke of Austria very angry. After several bitter quarrels, the
king of France left Richard to fight on without him. The French king
sailed away home with most of his army, and plotted with Prince John to
injure the absent brother and make John King of England while Richard
was still alive.
Many tales are told of the struggle between Richard, king of England,
and Saladin, the sultan of the Saracens. For hundreds of years after
Richard Lion-heart’s campaign in the Holy Land, Arab mothers would
frighten their children by warning them that Richard would get them if
they were not good. Sir Walter Scott’s great novels, “Ivanhoe” and “The
Talisman,” are stories of life in England at this time, and of knightly
tournaments which took place between Richard and Saladin during this
Crusade.
While the Crusaders were trying to capture Ascalon, it became necessary
for them to work like stone masons in rebuilding certain walls. Richard
went to work with a royal will, and most of the nobles and knights
followed his example. But the Archduke of Austria said he was the son
neither of a carpenter nor of a mason, and flatly refused to help. This
made King Richard so angry that he struck the Archduke a blow with his
mailed fist and gave him a resounding kick with his heavy iron boot.
With all his holy zeal to take the Holy City, Richard Lion-heart had not
learned that “he that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a
city.” Then the Archduke and his Austrian army also left Richard to
fight on alone with his few remaining soldiers.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account