546

MERITS OF HENRY'S GOVERNMENT.

is almost without a blemish." But it had redeeming points. A pleasant companion and a staunch friend, he seldom hated those whom he had once loved, and if his anger, once provoked, was implacable, he was yet capable of singular mercy to the conquered. In the great quarrel between Church and State, he saw the right side, and fought it out, through much violence and many failures, to a successful end. He reformed the organization of justice, and substituted the grand assize for the duel. The prestige of the English name increased under him. Above all, the country enjoyed a long season of quiet within its borders, and its wealth was reputed inestimable.' The distinction of Norman and Englishman was beginning to disappear, and Henry did nothing to perpetuate it. In a few years after his death the country began to be studded with free towns.

1 Dialogus de Scaccario, lib. ii c. 7.

CHAPTER XXXII.

RICHARD CŒUR DE LION.

RICHARD'S ACCESSION, MASSACRES OF THE JEWS. PREPARATIONS FOR THE CRUSADE. SICILY. CYPRUS. PALESTINE. REGENCY OF LONGCHAMP. QUARREL WITH THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK. LONGCHAMP BESIEGED IN THE TOWER, AND EXPELLED FROM POWER. RICHARD'S Return, AND TREACHEROUS CAPTure in GerMANY. CONDUCT OF EARL JOHN. RICHARD'S HOMAGE TO The Emperor AND RANSOM. LAST YEARS OF THE REIGN. RICHARD'S DEATH. WILLIAM FITZ-OSBERT. CHARACTER OF RICHARD I.

HEN Richard met the procession that was bear

WH

ing the royal bier to the abbey of Fontevraud, it is said that blood gushed from the mouth and nose of the corpse.' Horror-struck at the sight, and guiltily conscious of a share in his father death, the new king showed his penitence by at first retaining in place, or promoting, the old servants of the crown. One exception was made against Stephen of Tours, seneschal of Anjou. It was part of his crime that he was low-born. Richard threw him into prison, took away the noble wife of his son, and married her, in defiance of all canons, to a man of her own rank. Generally the new king seemed anxious to conciliate public opinion. He promised to confirm John in the possession of his

1 Brompton says (X Scriptores, c. 1151) that he was laid out, crowned and sceptred, and with his head un

covered. The account of John of Oxenedes (p. 64) is simpler.

548

MASSACRES OF THE JEWS.

English estates, and gave his half-brother Geoffrey, the archbishopric of York instead of the chancellorship. Queen Eleanor was released from the prison to which she had been again consigned, and travelled over England, proclaiming acts of grace, and receiving oaths of fealty. There was a general gaol-delivery, by which offenders against the forest laws were pardoned, while persons confined on criminal charges and civil debtors were let out under bail for their re-appearance.' All whom Henry II. had disinherited were to be restored to their former rights. In August, A. D. 1189, Richard landed; took the usual oaths to preserve the liberties of Church and State, and was crowned sumptuously. Unhappily his presence inflamed the crusading spirit, which was already fierce in the nation. Although debarred from civil rights, the Jews of England had hitherto multiplied and grown rich : aliens and infidels as they were, they had high and low in their power. Strongbow was one probably out of many nobles who had been bound to them, and their claim over St. Edmund's monastery was at one time so strong that they lived with their wives and families within its walls. All the more were men generally anxious to revenge themselves on a race which they hated and feared. Some Jews who pressed in to see the king's coronation were driven back with blows. A riot ensued, and the Jews' quarter was plundered. A day elapsed before the king's troops could restore order, and then only three rioters were punished, for damage done to Christians. Thus encouraged, or allowed, the frenzy of persecution spread over the land. Generally it was the country people who were setting out as pilgrims for

1 See p. 573, note 2.

2 Newburgh, vol. i. p. 161. For the case of Richard of Anesty, see

Palgrave's Eng. Com., pp. xxiv. xxvii. Chron. Joc. de Brak., p. 8.

THEIR SELF-IMMOLATION AT YORK.

549

Palestine, who began the crusade at home, while the cities interposed to preserve the king's peace.' But the rumour that the unbelievers were accustomed to crucify a Christian boy at Easter had hardened men's hearts against them. The cause of murder and rapine prevailed in Dunstable, Stamford, and Lincoln. At York, the viscount allowed five hundred Jews to take refuge in the castle. Fearing, in spite of this, to be given up, they closed the gates against the king's officers. They were now besieged by the townsmen, under orders of the viscount, and the defence of men untrained to arms and without artillery lay only in the strength of the walls. They offered to ransom their lives, but the crowd thirsted for blood. Then a rabbi rose up and addressed his countrymen. "Men of Israel, hear my words: it is better for us to die for our law, than to fall into the hands of those who hate it; and our law prescribes this." Then every man slew his wife and children, and hurled the corpses over the battlements. The survivors shut themselves up with their treasures in the royal chamber, and set fire to it. The crowd indemnified themselves by sacking the Jews' quarter, and burning the schedules of their debts, which were kept for safety in the cathedral. But this was an offence against the exchequer, to which, by the theory of the law, all Jewish property belonged. Royal officers were therefore sent down to York, and the town called to account for its disorders; a fine was levied, but the murderers escaped punishment."

The chivalrous part of Richard's reign is in itself

"Ubicunque reperti sunt Judæi manibus peregrinantium percussi sunt, nisi qui municipalium eruebantur auxilio." Diceto; X Scriptores, c. 651.

2 Benedict and Joss, two of the Jews at York, had built houses like royal palaces in the city, and lived there like "tyrants over the Christians." Newburgh, vol. ii. p. 19.

550

PREPARATIONS FOR THE CRUSADE.

of little importance for English history. But its indirect results changed the face of the country. Among them, the purchase of charters by the municipalities may be classed in the first order. Richard once said that he would sell London itself, if he could find a purchaser. The sheriffs and their officers were removed throughout the kingdom that their places might be sold. If it be true that the great justiciary, Glanville, was imprisoned, and forced to ransom himself for three thousand pounds, the act may be regarded as one of extortion rather than of justice; for Glanville's offences under Henry were condoned by his continued employment under Richard.' This indignity did not prevent the aged legist from joining the crusade, and he was among its victims. The chancellorship of the kingdom was sold for three thousand marks to William Longchamp, bishop of Ely, a Frenchman risen from the ranks," whom Richard trusted. The regency of the kingdom during Richard's absence was vested in a council, over which the chancellor presided. Provision thus made for his absence, the king started for Palestine. It was noteworthy that his troops were conveyed in English bottoms, while Philip Augustus was compelled to hire ships from the Genoese. From the very first it seemed doubtful how long the two sovereigns would remain allied. The first difficulty which Richard raised may be excused, as common decency forbade him to marry

3

'Ric. Div., p. 7. William of Newbury, however, states that he gave up his office, disgusted by Richard's government. Vol. ii. p. 9. He had been employed to see justice done for the massacre of the Jews in London. Brompton; X Scriptores, c. 1160. It is possible that although the justiciary was removable by a new king, his authority did not ne

cessarily cease with the life of the sovereign from whom it was derived. Palgrave's Rot. Cur., vol. i. p. xl.

2 His father had been a runaway slave from Beauvais into Normandy. Ang. Sac., vol. i. p. 404.

3 Richard was even able to lend ships to the French king. Hoveden; Savile, p. 392.