Scotland under her early kings, Volume 1 (of 2) : $b a history of the kingdom to the close of the thirteenth centuryRobertson, Eben William
History
Scotland under her early kings, Volume 1 (of 2) : $b a history of the kingdom to the close of the thirteenth century
Robertson, Eben William
Scotland -- History -- To 1603
[Sidenote: A. D. 1189.]
In the following year the ingratitude of his favourite son John, for
whose sake he had provoked the hostility of Richard, by evading the
acknowledgment of the latter as his rightful successor, completed the
ruin that fatigue and chagrin had commenced, and, early in July, Henry
of England died of a broken heart at Chinon. Earl David appears to have
been implicated in the rebellion of Richard, for Huntingdon was amongst
the fiefs granted by the latter at Tours, upon the day after the army
of the confederates was enabled, through the continued drought, to
enter that town by fording the shallow Loire.[448] The death of Henry
was fraught with most important consequences for Scotland, for Richard,
with all the enthusiasm of his impetuous nature, was burning to lead
the chivalry of Europe to the re-conquest of the Holy Sepulchre, and
as money was most essential for carrying out the crusade, in every
imaginable method he sought to procure it. The great offices of the
crown were put up for sale; the favour of the king was purchased by
his illegitimate brother Geoffry; and the earldom of Northumberland
was bought by the bishop of Durham.[449] Ten thousand marks of silver
were paid by William as the price of the independence of his kingdom
and of the restoration of the castles of Roxburgh and Berwick; and
in the following November, about six weeks after the coronation of
Richard, at which the earl of Huntingdon had assisted, bearing one
of the swords of state, the archbishop of York, with the sheriff and
barons of the shire, met William at the Tweed, and in obedience to the
commands of their sovereign, escorted him with every mark of honour to
Canterbury. Here upon the 5th of December, after duly performing “such
homage for his English dignities as his ancestors were wont to render
to the predecessors of the English king,” he received from the hands of
Richard a charter annulling all the concessions extorted by Henry at
the time of his capture; and after fifteen years of feudal subjection,
the consequences of the disastrous accident at Alnwick were at length
repaired, and the independence of Scotland re-established.[450]
CHAPTER XIII.
WILLIAM THE LION--1165–1214.
Peace reigned throughout the northern borders of England during the
absence of her king in the Holy Land; and when Richard languished in
the dungeons of the emperor, William contributed two thousand marks
towards his ransom. [Sidenote: A. D. 1193.] No countenance was afforded
by the Scottish sovereign to the intrigues of Philip and John; but upon
the release of the royal captive, Earl David of Huntingdon was the
first to declare in his favour, and uniting with the Earl of Chester,
[Sidenote: A. D. 1194.] whose sister he had married, he joined in
besieging the strong castle of Nottingham on behalf of the liberated
king.[451]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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