Great Britain -- Kings and rulers -- Biography; Richard I, King of England, 1157-1199
The first thing was to provide funds. A great deal of money was
required for these expeditions. Ships were to be bought and equipped
for the purpose of transporting the troops to the East. Arms and
ammunition were to be provided, and large supplies of food. Then the
princes, and barons, and knights who were to accompany the expedition
required very expensive armor, and costly trappings and equipments of
all sorts; for, though the pretense was that they were going out to
fight for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre under the influence of
religious zeal, the real motive which animated them was love of glory
and display. Thus it happened that the expense which a sovereign
incurred in fitting out a crusade was enormous.
Accordingly, King Richard, immediately on his arrival in England,
proceeded at once to Winchester, where his father, King Henry, had
kept his treasures. Richard found a large sum of money there in gold
and silver coin, and besides this there were stores of plate, of
jewelry, and of precious gems of great value. Richard caused all the
money to be counted in his presence, and an exact inventory to be made
of all the treasures. He then placed the whole under the charge of
trusty officers of his own, whom he appointed to take care of them.
The next thing that Richard did was to discard and dismiss all his own
former friends and adherents--the men who had taken part with him in
his rebellions against his father. "Men that would join me in
rebelling against my father," thought he to himself, "would join any
body else, if they thought they could gain by it, in rebelling against
me." So he concluded that they were not to be trusted. Indeed now, in
the altered circumstances in which he was placed, he could see the
guilt of rebellion and treason, though he had been blind to it before,
and he actually persecuted and punished some of those who had been his
confederates in his former crimes. A great many cases analogous to
this have occurred in English history. Sons have often made themselves
the centre and soul of all the opposition in the realm against their
father's government, and have given their fathers a great deal of
trouble by so doing; but then, in all such cases, the moment that the
father dies the son immediately places himself at the head of the
regularly-constituted authorities of the realm, and abandons all his
old companions and friends, treating them sometimes with great
severity. His eyes are opened to the wickedness of making opposition
to the sovereign power now that the sovereign power is vested in
himself, and he disgraces and punishes his own former friends for the
crime of having aided him in his undutiful behavior.
CHAPTER V.
THE CORONATION.
1189
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