Richard of Devizes

“ The slaughter was daily multiplied, and it was madly purposed to go on until they should either destroy or put them all to flight. The king of England, excited by these disorders, raged like the fiercest lion, and vented his anger in a manner worthy that noble beast. ”

“ The Griffones, on the contrary, the city gates being closed, stood armed at the battlements of the walls and towers, as yet fearing nothing, and incessantly discharged their darts upon the enemy. The king, acquainted with nothing better than to take cities by storm and batter forts, let their quivers be emptied first, and then at length made his first assault by his archers who preceded the army. The sky is hidden by the shower of arrows, a thousand darts pierce through the shields spread abroad on the ramparts, nothing could save the rebels against the force ef the darts. ”

“ John, the king's brother, who alone of the sons of his mother, queen Eleanor, survived his brother, besides the earldom of Mortain, which, by his father's gift, he had long enjoyed, was so greatly enriched and increased in England by his brother, that both privately and publicly it was affirmed by many that the king had no thoughts of returning to the kingdom, and that his brother, already no less powerful than himself, if he should not restrain his innate temper, would, impelled by the desire of sovereignty, endeavour to drive him vanquished from the realm. ”

“ I am astonished also at another thing; abounding in all the good things of this world, as having nothing, yet possessing all things, more compassionate and humane than all men, having the most perfect love one to another, you divide the affection of charity to strangers, you bless without giving supplies to your guests. Nor do I less admire, in the third place, that living to yourselves apart out of society, and singly, you understand all the great things achieved in the world as they happen, and even sometimes you know them prior to their being accomplished. ”

“ As he was preparing to answer, he added, "The other day while you were speaking it was time for me to be silent; now that you may discern why I have taken a time for speaking, you being silent; as my lord the king lives, you shall not depart hence until you have given me hostages for all the castles which you hold being delivered up to me, for I do not take you as a bishop a bishop, but as a chancellor a chancellor!" The ensnared had neither the firmness nor the opportunity to resist; the hostages are given, and at the term assigned the castles are given up for the restoring of the hostages. ”

“ Richard, king of England, in letters destined for England, taking leave of his whole kingdom, and giving strict injunction for the chancellor to be honoured by all, his fleet, more to be prized for its quality than its numbers, being in readiness, with a chosen and brave army, with his sister Johanna and the princess he was to marry, with all things which could be necessary for those going to war, or going to set out on a long journey, set sail on the fourth of the ides of April. ”

“ I am unwilling to compel any one of you to stay with me, lest the fear of one should shake another's confidence in the battle. Let every one follow what he may have chosen, but I will either die here or will revenge these wrongs common to me and you. ”

“ A king worthy of the name of king, who, in the first year of his reign, left the kingdom of England for Christ, scarcely otherwise than if he had departed never to return. So great was the devotion of the man, so hastily, so quickly and so speedily did he run, yea fly, to avenge the wrongs of Christ. ”

“ The Griffones, before King Richard's arrival in Sicily, were more powerful than all the mighty of that region, and having moreover always hated the people beyond the Alps, and now irritated by recent occurrences more inveterate than ever, kept the peace with all who claimed the king of France for their master, but sought to wreak the entire vengeance of their wrongs on the king of the English and his tailed [1] followers, for the Greeks and Sicilians followed that king about and called them tailed English. Thereupon all intercourse with the country is denied the English by proclamation ”

“ In this commotion there was prepared, although unequally, some evil against the wicked, everywhere throughout the realm, only Winchester alone, the people being prudent and circumspect, and the city always acting mildly spared its vermin. It never did any thing over-speedily; fearing nothing more than to repent, it considers the result of every thing before the commencement. ”

“ William de Longchamp, who had been the chancellor of the earl of Poitiers before his accession, when the earl was crowned king, considered his office to have profited as much for the better, as a kingdom is superior to an earldom. ”

“ To the Venerable Father Robert, his very good Lord, formerly Prior of the Church of Winchester, health to persevere in the good work he has begun, his faithful servant Richard, surnamed of Devizes, sends greeting:— Sect.1. After you had happily proceeded to the Charter House [1] from our church of Winchester, much and often did I desire to follow you who had thus departed, peradventure to remain with you, but certainly to behold what you were about, how you lived, and whether the Carthusian cell is more exalted and nearer heaven than the cloister of Winchester. ”

“ William, the wonderful bishop of Ely, chancellor of the king, justiciary of the kingdom, of threefold charge and threefold title, that he might use both hands as the right, and that the sword of Peter might succour the sword of the ruler, took upon himself the office of legate of all England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, which he obtained from the pope at the instance of the king, who would not otherwise set out, by Reginald, bishop of Bath. ”

“ Shall we vanquish Turks and Arabs? shall we be a terror to nations the most invincible? shall our right hand make us a way even to the ends of the world for the cross cf Christ? shall we restore the kingdom to Israel, when we have turned our backs before vile and effeminate Griffones? Shall we, subdued here in the confines of our own country, proceed further, that the sloth of the English may become a by-word to the ends of the earth? ”

“ The ship is freighted with forty horses of value, trained to arms, and with arms of all kinds for as many horsemen, and forty foot, and fifteen sailors, and with an entire year's provisions for as many men and horses. There was one appointment for all the ships, but each of the busses received a double appointment and freight. The king's treasure, which was very great and inestirnable, was divided amongst the ships and busses, that if one part should experience danger, the rest might be saved. ”

“ But of all his works, the most important and intrinsically valuable is his History of the Third Crusade, under Richard the First of England and Philip Augustus of France. It is the only Chronicle written by an eye-witness, of those furious assaults which the army of Saladin made upon the Christians, and of the firmness with which the lion-hearted Richard withstood and repulsed them. If the reader takes the trouble of comparing Geoffrey's full and interesting account of the Crusade with that of Richard of Devizes, he will perceive how much superior it is in every respect. ”

“ The archbishop, skilful in working with either hand, praised the constancy of the chancellor; and having proceeded to the earl, after the delivery of the mandates, he whispered in his ear, that whatever others might say, he should dare something great, worthy of Gyara and the dungeon, if he desired to be any thing. In public, however, he advised that the earl and the chancellor should agree to an interview, and that a reference to arbitration should end their disagreement. ”

“ On the very day of the coronation, about that solemn hour, in which the Son was immolated to the Father, a sacrifice of the Jews to their father the devil was commenced in the city of London, and so long was the duration of this famous mystery, that the holocaust could scarcely be accomplished the ensuing day. ”

“ Old women and children will be raised up against you, and assurance will yield a double energy to every enemy against the runaways. I know that he who saves any one by constraint, does the same as kill him; the king will retain no man against his will. ”

“ There happened an eclipse of the sun about the third hour of the day; those who were ignorant of the causes of things were astonished, that in the middle of the day, no clouds obstructing the sun, the sun's rays should give a much feebler light than usual; but those whom the motion of the universe occupies, say that the making deficiencies of the sun and moon does not signify any thing. ”

“ Every sort of engine for the attack of fortifications, and every kind of arms which the heart of man could invent, he had all ready in his ships. Robert, son of William Fitz Ralph, was consecrated for the bishopric of Worcester by William de Longchamp, as yet legate, at Canterbury, on the third of the nones of May. The convent of Canterbury deposed their prior, whom Archbishop Baldwin had set over them, and substituted another in the place of the deposed. ”

“ Moreover, he commanded that it should be summoned, and required that every one of his men, and others, his adherents, should he prepared to go to battle, should attend him at the place and on the day of the engagement, so that as the interview between himself and the lord of the whole land had been undertaken, at least he might escape alive, if he, who was more than a king, though less in his eyes, should transgress against the law, or should not consent to an arrangement. ”

“ The king, although he had long ago sworn to the king of France that he would accept his sister as a consort, whom his father King Henry had provided for him, and for a long time had taken care of, because he was suspicious of the custody had of her, contemplated marrying the princess his mother had engaged. ”

“ William, bishop elect of Ely, retained the king's seal on the payment of three thousand pounds of silver, although Reginald the Italian had bid one thousand more. The bishops elect of Winchester and Salisbury were consecrated at Westminster, by Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, on the eleventh of the kalends of November (Oct. 22) . On that day, Hugh de Nonante, bishop of Coventry, laid his complaint before the archbishop and bishops assembled at the consecration of the bishops elect, against his monks of Coventry, for having laid violent hands on him and drawn his blood before the altar. ”

“ In each of your cells there is one door according to custom, which you are permitted to open at pleasure, but to go out by it is not permitted, except so much as that one foot should always remain in the cell within the threshold. The brethren may step out with one foot, whichever they lease, but the other must remain in the cell. ”

“ And because the time for the payment of so much money was nigh at hand, as he could not pass over the day fixed for the payment without detriment to the whole business, and he could find no nearer resource under heaven, although against his will, he laid his hand on the treasure of his church, to restore which, however, he obliged himself and his successors, providing security to the convent by the testimony of a sealed bond. A man of such courtesy and moderation, who not even when angry ever did any thing to those who were under him, but what savoured of mildness ”

“ But the king, to whom his money appeared more necessary than his personal presence, as if convinced by the overpowering argument, approved the allegations, and having arranged concerning the three years contribution that he should furnish of a certain number of men and horses, sent him back again into England with his letters to William the chancellor ”

“ The ships which the king found already prepared on the shore were one hundred in number, and fourteen busses, vessels of great magnitude and admirable swiftness, strong vessels and very sound, whereof this was the equipage and appointment. The first of the ships had three spare rudders, thirteen anchors, thirty oars, two sails, three sets of ropes of all kinds, and besides these double whatever a ship can want, except the mast and the ship's boat. There is appointed to the ship's command a most experienced steersman, and fourteen subordinate attendants picked for the service are assigned him. ”

“ He, having tarried long that he might appear unwillingly to receive that, which he had come to take by violence, at length betook himself to his seat, and anon imprecated himself, saying, "O thou, who with unalterable purpose govern est the world, whose power takes its pastime in human affairs, who puttest down the mighty and exaltest the humble! ”