One evening, Richard sent his page into a city for food, and by mistake he carried the King's gloves in his belt and on them was embroidered the golden lion of England. And the lord of the castle happening to be in the market place saw these and gave orders to follow. Then Richard was captured and cast into a donjon to await the Duke's pleasure. The Duke demanded a ransom for the King so large that he thought the English could not pay it. But Eleanor, the King's mother, rested not till she had raised the money, and the English paid gladly.
When the Crusaders returned to their own lands they spoke of the strange things they had seen and of the courage of Christian soldiers of many nations. Then also the people began to desire spices and silks from the East more than ever before, and they must often have longed for oranges, figs, grapes and dates, such as these adventurers described.
CHAPTER XVII
THE LOSS OF NORMANDY. THE SIGNING OF THE CHARTER
By the river Seine, on a high rock, Richard built a fine castle to guard Normandy. When the King of France heard of its building, he said, "If its walls were of iron I would take it," and Richard replied, "If its walls were of butter I would hold it," and he named it Château Gaillard, Saucy Castle. When Richard died, his brother John did not trouble to keep many soldiers there, and the King of France was glad, for he desired it greatly.
Eleanor, the King's mother, gathered soldiers for her son, and though she was very old she did her best to save Normandy. Yet Saucy Castle fell and the Norman barons would not fight for John. So Normandy was lost and the barons had to choose between their French lands and their English lands. Many, who were fierce and turbulent, went to live in Normandy, and those who had learned to love their new country stayed in England. Though they still spoke French they served England well and tried to make the King rule more justly.
Now the people of England had been proud of Normandy and they were angry with John because he had lost it. In his days, too, there was a great quarrel between the King and the Pope, and the priests were forbidden to hold any services in England, and for five years the churches and monasteries were closed, the dead were buried without prayer in the ditches and highways, and no one could marry in church.
"The images of saints were taken down and veiled; the frequent tinkle of the convent bell no longer told the serf at the plough how the weary hours were passing or guided the traveller through the forest to a shelter for the night." The people grew afraid, and they hated the King, who was the cause of much evil.
Yet John did not care, and he would not receive the new Archbishop whom the Pope had sent. Then the Pope banished the King from the Church and declared him an outlaw, whose life any man might take, and still the King had no fear. At last, the Pope offered the English crown to the French King and John knew that the French King was a dangerous enemy, therefore he promised to do whatever the Pope wished.