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from the murder of Conrad; a heavy sum is settled for

his ransom, June 28.

Richard receives the nominal crown of Provence from the emperor, and does homage to him, Sept. 22.

Richard's ransom having been raised in Fngland, Philip of France and Earl John promise large bribes to the emperor to keep him in prison. The emperor delays his release.

A.D. 1194. Earl John surrenders part of Normandy to Philip and does homage to him for the remainder. Philip shortly after endeavours to seize the whole province.

The German princes compel the emperor, against his will, to release Richard, who is set at liberty Feb. 4.

The English fleet is despatched to Antwerp for the king, and he lands at Sandwich March 13.

Richard captures the castle of Nottingham, and disperses the adherents of John.

Is a second time crowned at Winchester, April 17, the king of Scotland bearing a part in the ceremony.

Richard passes over to Normandy early in May, and pardons his brother John and his adherents.

Marches against the king of France, defeats him at Fretteval, in the Orleanais, and captures the records of his kingdoms, July 15. The French retire from Normandy, Touraine, and Maine.

He was brought over in "Trenchemer," by Alan of Yarmouth, the same man and ship as had conveyed him to Palestine.

This misfortune led to the abandonment of the practice of carrying all grants and charters about with the king. Commissioners were appointed, who laboured diligently to recover the lost documents or procure copies of them from the grantees, and when this was accomplished they were deposited in the monastery of St. Denys, as the first Public Record Office, under the charge of Guein, bishop of Sens.

David of Wales dies; he is succeeded by his nephew Llewelyn ap Jorwerth.

A.D. 195. Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, who is also papal legate and guardian of the realm, raises enormous sums of money for the war against France; William Fitzosborne (called commonly William with the Beard) inflames the discontent of the Londoners against him.

A.D. 1196. A truce concluded with the king of France, but soon after broken by him.

A tumult in London, in consequence of which Fitzosborne is seized and executed, April 6.

Richard demands the guardianship of Prince Arthurh, which the Bretons refuse.

A.D. 1197. The counts of Flanders and Champagne, and the Bretons, join Richard against the king of France. Philip, bishop of Beauvais, is captured; the pope ineffectually claims his release'.

An indecisive action is fought at Gisors, Oct. 28.

A truce for a year is agreed to. Richard builds a strong and stately castle on an island at Andelys, on the Seine, above Rouenk.

The young prince was only in his tenth year, having been born March 29, 1187.

i He had served in the crusade, and shewn himself hostile to the English; he remained in confinement until Richard's death, when he was released by John for a ransom of 2000 marks; his imprisonment, however, had not quenched his martial spirit, as he fought at the battle of Bouvines, and there captured William Longespee, earl of Salisbury, the natural brother of the king.

He is said to have planned it himself; and when it was completed he so admired it that he exclaimed, "Is not it a saucy castle?" (Chateau Gaillard, which name is still borne by its picturesque ruins.) He soon after exchanged it with the archbishop of Rouen for the town of Dieppe; the French captured it from the

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A.D. 1198. The French are defeated at Gisors, Sept. 20, when Philip narrowly escapes with his life.

A.D. 1199. A five years' truce is concluded by the mediation of the papal legate, Jan. 13.

A rebellion breaks out in Poitou; Richard is mortally wounded before the castle of Chalus-Chabrol, March 26; he acknowledges his brother John as his successor, dies April 8, and is buried at Fontevraud, bequeathing his heart to the city of Rouen1.

prelate, and Richard besieged it ineffectually; indeed Hemingburgh and some other writers say that he received his death-wound there, and not, as is usually supposed, at Chalus-Chabrol.

A cotemporary anonymous account of Richard's death has been published by Labbé, in his Bibliotheca MSS. t. ii. p. 302, and carefully investigated by an eminent French antiquary of the neighbourhood, M. Verneilh, from which it appears that the king had forced his way into the inner court of the castle, but one small though lofty round tower (still existing) held out. "In the said tower were two knights, with about 38 other men and women. One of the knights was called Peter Bru, and the other Peter de Basile, of whom it is said there he shot the arrow from the cross-bow that struck the king, and of which he died within twelve days, namely, on the 8th day of April, the 10th hour of the night. In the interval while he was ill, he ordered his people to besiege the castle of the viscount [of Limoges], called Nuntrum, and a certain other tower called Montagut, which they did, but the death of the king being heard of, they retired in confusion. The king himself had proposed in his heart to destroy all the castles of the said viscount. Nuntrum or Nontron, and Montagut or Piégut, (puy and mont are synonymous,) are a few miles from Chalus. There are remains of all these castles; those of Chalus are considerable. All these places, as well as Basile-Champagnac, a small town of the same neighbourhood, belonged to the viscount of Limoges, who was half brother of Aymer, count of Angouleme, and both were bitter enemies of Richard. See De Caumont's Bulletin Monumental, vol. xiv. pp. 426–36.

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JOHN, the youngest son of Henry II., was born Dec. 24, 1166, at Oxford. Though very early the nominal governor of Ireland, he was not the holder of any fiefs, as his brothers were, and hence the name of Sansterre, or Lackland, by which he is commonly known. He did not openly oppose his father, but he treacherously allied himself with his enemies; hence, although liberally treated by his brother Richard, he was distrusted by him, and forbidden to come to England during the latter's absence on the crusade. This injunction he disregarded, and he had hopes of placing himself on the throne, when Richard's return disconcerted his schemes and drove him into exile. He was soon pardoned by the generous king, and, by the influence of his mother, was even named his successor. This involved the setting aside of his nephew Arthur, and in the war thereby occasioned the greater part of the French possessions of the crown were lost. The remainder of John's reign was

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filled up with quarrels with the pope (Innocent III), vain attempts to recover his lost possessions, and such oppression of his subjects as led them to seek foreign aid against him; and when his troubled life was brought to a sudden close, Oct. 19, 1216, the dauphin of France was the acknowledged master of a great part of England.

John, when a child, was contracted to Alice, daughter of Humbert, count of Savoy, but she died soon after; he afterwards married his cousin Isabel (or Hawise, as she is sometimes called), grand-daughter of the celebrated Robert, earl of Gloucester, receiving with her the earldom, but he divorced her on the plea of consanguinity to marry Isabel, daughter of the count of Angouleme, although she was already betrothed, if not married, to Hugh Lusignan, or le Brun, earl of Marche. His legitimate children, who were all by Isabel, were— 1. HENRY, who became king.

2. Richard, earl of Cornwall, born in 1209; he served with reputation and success both in France and the Holy Land, and he was in many respects a perfect contrast to his brother the king, being wise, valiant, and rich, and he often acted the part of a mediator

• After John's death she married Hugh, and had by him a numerous family, who were greatly favoured by their half-brother Henry. She also induced Henry to go to war with Louis of France in support of her husband, who had rebelled, and caused so much mischief by her intrigues that the French named her Jezebel. Hugh, after acting most treacherously by his English allies, was obliged to submit to Louis and to accompany him to Egypt, where he was killed, being, as his cotemporaries assure us, purposely placed in the front rank as a suspected man. His widow took the veil, and dying soon after was buried at Fontevraud.

Be

Much of this wealth, however, was discreditably acquired. side plundering the Jews, who were considered fair prey for all, he gained large sums by purchasing from the pope the power to release from their vows, on his own terms, such as wished to be excused from

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