Ralph, of Coggershall, after describing this astonishing victory, says that Richard being attacked by the plague, determined to return into Europe. He gives an account, in a few words, of the treaty made with Saladin. He says that that which confirmed the king of England in the resolution of leaving Asia, was the news he received of his brother John’s attempts to usurp his authority in his kingdom. The battle of Jaffa was fought in the dog-days, and it was in the autumn that Richard set sail for Europe. The account which the author gives of the manner in which the king was made prisoner in Germany, is sufficiently curious to be repeated here. Ralph is the only one of the chroniclers we have analyzed who furnishes minute details on this subject.
King Richard, says he, with some of his people, was annoyed during six weeks, by a tempestuous sea. When he arrived within three leagues of Marseilles, and learnt that the Count de St. Gilles, and some other nobles, through whose states he must pass, had agreed to place ambushes for him, he resolved to return to England through Germany. He went back, and landed at the isle of Corfu. He found there two pirate vessels, which had had the audacity to attack his, and which his pilot recognised. Richard, on account of the courage and hardihood they had shown, made a bargain with the pirates, and agreed to go on board their vessels. He only took with him a small number of his people. These were Baldwin de Betune; Master Philip, the king’s clerk; Anselm, his chaplain, who himself related to us all he saw and heard; and some knights of the Temple. They landed on the coast of Sclavonia, at a city named Gazara. They immediately sent a messenger to the neighbouring castle, to request of the lord, who was master of the province, and nephew to the marquis of Montferrat, liberty to pass through his states. The king, on his return, had purchased three rubies of a Pisan, for which he gave nine hundred byzants. He had had one of these rubies set in a gold ring; and he charged the messenger to offer this ring to the lord of the castle. The latter inquired the names of those who demanded the passage. The messenger replied that they were pilgrims returning from Jerusalem, and he named Baldwin de Betune, adding that it was a merchant called Hugh, who sent him the ring. The lord of the castle, after having for a long time examined the present, replied to the messenger, “His name is not Hugh, but Richard, king of England. I have sworn,” added he, “that I will make prisoners of all pilgrims who come into this country, and that I will not receive any present from them; but on account of the value of this, and of the dignity of him who sends it, and who has honoured me thus without knowing me, I return you the ring, and I grant free liberty of passage.” The messenger went and reported this answer to the king. The pilgrims, very little satisfied with the message, left the city secretly in the night, mounted upon horses they had purchased, and made the best of their way across the country. But the lord sent a spy after them, to follow their steps and arrest the king. When Richard entered a city in which dwelt the brother of the lord, the latter called to him a trustworthy person, named Roger d’Argenten, a Norman by birth, who had been with him twenty years, and to whom he had given his niece in marriage; and ordered him to go to all the houses in which pilgrims lodged, and endeavour to discover, by language, or by some other sign, if the king were not among them. He promised him half the city if he could arrest the prince. Roger, after a long search, discovered the king, who for a considerable time dissembled, and was only induced to reveal himself by the prayers and tears of Roger. The latter immediately advised Richard to steal away, and gave him the best horse he could procure. He then went to his master, and told him that the news of the arrival of Richard was false, and that it was only Baldwin de Betune and his companions, who were returning from pilgrimage. But the master flew into a great rage, and ordered them all to be arrested. The king had left the city secretly with William de l’Etang, and a servant who understood the German language. He travelled three days and three nights without taking any food. At last, pressed by hunger, he turned from his road, to enter a city called Ginana, in Austria, on the Danube. To complete his ill fortune, the duke of Austria was then at Ginana. The king’s servant, on going to the market, displayed several byzants, and created suspicions by his discourse; he was arrested and interrogated. He answered that he served a rich merchant, whom he expected in three days. He was then released; and he went instantly to the king, relating to him what had happened, and advising him to depart without delay. But the king, who was fatigued, determined to rest for a few days. The servant, after going to the market to buy provisions, had one day the imprudence to carry with him the king’s gloves, stuck in his girdle. These gloves were very remarkable, and the servant was again arrested. Being taken before a magistrate of the city, he was put to the torture, and threatened with having his tongue cut out if he did not at once reveal the truth. The servant yielding to the agony of the question, made the confession demanded of him. Information was instantly sent to the duke; the house in which the king lodged was surrounded, and he was summoned to surrender. The king declared he would only surrender to the duke himself. The latter arrived, and the king, making a few steps to meet him, gave up his sword to him.[140] The duke, highly elated, led away the king, whom he treated honourably. He afterwards placed guards about him, who never left him, night or day, but kept watch, with drawn swords in their hands.
After this recital, Ralph makes many sad reflections upon the captivity of Richard, which he can only explain as a secret judgment of God, so astonishing and deplorable does it appear to him, that a king who had escaped so many dangers in Syria, should become the prisoner of a Christian prince, without having an opportunity to defend himself or give battle. He follows the king through his captivity, and describes his deliverance and return to his dominions. He gives an account of what happened to this prince when he had regained his kingdom, and pursues his history to the time of his death, which was in 1229. Ralph has drawn such a portrait of Richard as cannot fail to interest our readers, on account of the prominent part which that king has played in the history of the crusades.
“We had reason to hope,” says he, “that Richard, considering the liberality of his excellent mind and his great skill in the art of war, would be the model of Norman kings. In the early days of his reign he was affable to everybody; being well disposed in religious affairs, and inclined to listen to just demands; he immediately filled up the vacant bishoprics and abbeys. He promised to render justice to all. He restored to many, for sums of money, their charters, privileges, and liberties, or else renewed them. The money he thus obtained served as means for his voyage to Jerusalem. He quitted his kingdom almost immediately afterwards, and commenced his expedition with much devotion, great preparation, and infinite expense. God protected him throughout, and caused him to escape all the dangers of this war; and, by his help, the king wrested from the hands of the infidels a great portion of the Holy Land. God still evidently watched over him during his return and his captivity, and preserved him from the hands of new and numerous enemies. But when Richard was restored to his subjects, he forgot the victorious hand that had preserved him: in the maturity of age he took no pains to correct the vices which had disfigured his youth. He displayed so much harshness and obstinacy, that he tarnished by excessive severity all the virtues that had graced the commencement of his reign. He always turned a threatening eye upon those who talked to him of state affairs; he made reproaches or censures with a terrible air, and showed a furious countenance to those who did not satisfy his demands for money, or perform the promises they had made to pay him some. In private he was affable and winning, and even condescended to play or to joke. He was so greedy of money that he wished to empty every purse. He pressed the English to such a degree, in order to discharge the amount of his ransom, that he spared no order and no condition. Nevertheless, Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury and justiciary of the kingdom, mitigated, as much as he could, the effects of the cruel edicts of the king.”
Ralph, in another part of his works, after having praised the new king of England for having restored to the ecclesiastical benefices their revenues and their titularies, adds, that Richard took great delight in the divine service, and particularly in the solemnities of religion. He says that his chapel was richly ornamented; that he accompanied, with his sonorous voice, and encouraged by presents, the singers of the church; but that from the secrète of the mass to the post-communion, he prayed in silence, and with an earnestness which nothing could disturb. He afterwards names two abbeys which he founded or repaired, both of the order of Citeaux; one was that of Bon-Port, in Normandy, in the diocese of Rouën; the other, that of the Pine, in the diocese of Poictiers.
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No. 21.
The continuator of the history of William of Tyre relates nothing which is not found in the text, except a little trick which Saladin attempted to play off upon Richard, at the time of the battle of Jaffa, and which we think worthy of being presented to our readers. We quote the chronicle:—
“Saladin asked where the king of England was. They answered him, Sire, see him yonder on the ground, on foot, with his men.’ How,’ said Saladin, is the king on foot among his men; is he not ashamed?’ Then Saladin sent him a horse, and charged the messenger to say, that such a one as he should not be on foot among his men in such danger. The sergeant performed the commands of his lord. He came to the king and presented to him the horse sent by Saladin. The king thanked him for it, and ordered one of his own sergeants to mount it and show its paces before him. After the sergeant had spurred the horse into a gallop, and wished to return towards his master, he found he could not; for the horse, in spite of all he could do, carried him away to the Saracen host. Saladin was much ashamed of this.”