St. George for EnglandHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
History
St. George for England
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Great Britain -- History -- Edward III, 1327-1377 -- Fiction
Upon the morning after the battle Don Pedro requested the Black Prince
to give him up all the Castilian prisoners, in order that he might put
them to death. The prince, however, was always opposed to cruelty,
and asked and obtained as a boon to himself that the lives of all the
Spanish prisoners, with the exception of one whose conduct had been
marked with peculiar treachery, should be spared, and even induced Pedro
to pardon them altogether on their swearing fealty to him. Even Don
Sancho, Pedro's brother, who had fought at Najarra under Don Henry, was
received and embraced by Pedro at the request of the Prince of Wales.
The city of Burgos at once opened its gates, and the rest of the country
followed its example, and resumed its allegiance to Pedro, who remounted
his throne without further resistance.
As Walter had fought by the side of the Black Prince his desire to cross
swords with Du Guesclin was not satisfied; but his valour during the
day won for him the warm approbation of the prince. Opposed to them were
many of the great companies, and these men, all experienced soldiers and
many of them Englishmen, had fought with great stubbornness. Walter had
singled out for attack a banner bearing the cognizance of a raven. The
leader of this band, who was known as the Knight of the Raven, had won
for himself a specially evil notoriety in France by the ferocity of his
conduct. Wherever his band went they had swept the country, and the most
atrocious tortures had been inflicted on all well-to-do persons who
had fallen into their hands, to extract from them the secret of buried
hoards or bonds, entailing upon them the loss of their last penny.
The Knight of the Raven himself was said to be as brave as he was
cruel, and several nobles who had attempted to oppose his band had been
defeated and slain by him. He was known to be English, but his name
was a mystery; and the Black Prince and his knights had long wished to
encounter a man who was a disgrace alike to chivalry and the English
name. When, therefore, Walter saw his banner in the king's division
he urged his horse towards it, and, followed by Ralph and some thirty
men-at-arms, hewed his way through the crowd until he was close to the
banner.
A knight in gray armour spurred forward to meet him, and a desperate
conflict took place.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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