“Most holy land, farewell! I commend thee to God’s keeping and care. May He give me life and health to return and rescue thee from the hands of the infidels.” A storm soon arose, and the vessels of King Richard’s fleet were separated. The queens arrived safely in Sicily, but King Richard was driven to the Island of Corfu. Here he hired three small vessels to take him to the head of the Adriatic Sea, and then he endeavored to cross through Germany by land. He assumed the garb of a merchant, lest his many enemies should discover him. Thus he travelled through the mountains of the Tyrol. But having sent a ring with a messenger to the governor of Goritz, seeking a passport, the governor exclaimed, “This ring belongs to no merchant, but only to the king of England.” Thus was King Richard discovered; and he was seized by his old enemy, Duke Leopold of Austria, and put into prison. Which event, coming to the knowledge of the emperor of Germany, he himself claimed the illustrious captive, saying, “A duke cannot possibly keep a king.” So King Richard was shut up in the castle of Trifels by the emperor, where he languished for two years. Meanwhile neither his wife nor mother could obtain any trace of him; and even after his brother John learned that Richard was imprisoned by the emperor of Germany, he joined King Philip of France in making propositions to the German emperor, promising to pay him large sums of money if he would keep the king of England in prison. The place of King Richard’s imprisonment was said to have been discovered by a celebrated troubadour named Blondel, who had known Richard in Palestine, and was now travelling through Germany. As he went along in front of the castle where Richard was confined, he was singing one of the troubadour songs. When he had finished one stanza, King Richard, who knew the song, sang the next verse through the bars of his prison window. Blondel recognized the voice, and perceiving that Richard was a prisoner, he made all speed to go to England and inform King Richard’s friends of his sad situation. It is said that the first news Berengaria received of Richard’s fate was by seeing a jewelled belt offered for sale in Rome. This belt she recognized as one which King Richard wore when he left Acre. But upon inquiry, she could only learn that Richard was somewhere in Germany. The news that King Richard Cœur de Lion was a prisoner in Germany roused great excitement in England and in Rome. The Pope excommunicated Duke Leopold for having seized Richard, and threatened to excommunicate the emperor if he did not release him. Finally the emperor agreed to set the king of England free upon the payment of a certain sum of money, two-thirds of which were to be received before the king should be released. At length, in February, 1194, about two years after Richard was first imprisoned, the first payment was made, and King Richard Cœur de Lion was allowed to go free; and he arrived in