The Troubadour's Song

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by David Boyle


  Mayor of London: see This self-government status was confirmed with the help of John.

  Hand of St James: see note for The reference to the gold is from C. Coates, The History and Antiquities of Reading (London, 1802).

  Frederick Barbarossa: see the description of his death in Runciman, History of the Crusades, Vol. 3,

  Fearsome regulations . . .: the regulations appear in Roger of Howden's Gesta Henrici II et Ricardi I.

  The grave of King Arthur: in 1962, the archaeologist Ralegh Radford excavated on the spot where the monks were supposed to have found the tomb. He found that the earth there had been dug to a great depth, that the hole had been filled up again and that the soil includedchips of stone from a building dated to about 1190. He also found the rough stone lining of an early grave at the bottom of the hole.

  The cry of a hawk: see Gillingham, Richard I,

  The disagreements in Sicily (and also Excalibur): see Roger of Howden, Gesta Henrici II et Ricardi I, Vol. II,

  'In the time it takes . . .': see Gillingham, Richard I, The quotation is from Ambroise, L'Estoire de la Guerre Sainte, trans. M. J. Hubert and J. La Monte (New York, 1941).

  Berengaria: the classic, but very dated and highly unreliable, account is in Agnes Strickland's The Lives of the Queens of England from the Norman Conquest, Vol. I (London, 1840; republished Bath, 1972). See also Trindade, Berengaria.

  4: Acre

  The main sources I used for the Third Crusade were, again, Sir Stephen Runciman's A History of the Crusades and John Gillingham's Richard I (Yale, 1999). For the period in Cyprus, my main source was G. Jeffery, Cyprus under an English King in the 12th Century (Cyprus, 1926), and others listed below. For the atmosphere of twelfth-century Acre I've relied on D. Jacoby's detailed descriptions in 'Crusader Acre in the Thirteenth Century: Urban Layout and Topography', in Studi Medievali, Series 3, Vol. 20, 1979, as well as the diverse writings of Joshua Prawer.

  The Great Seal: Roger of Howden, but see also Lionel Landon, Itinerary of Richard I (London, 1935), which has an appendix on the Great Seal,

  Isaac Comnenus: the story of Isaac and his daughter, who is not named in any of the chronicles, is told in H. Fichtenau, 'Akkon, Zypern und das Losegeld fur Richard Lowenherz', Archiv fur Osterreichisches Geschichte, CXXV (Vienna, 1966).

  Richard's wedding: see Roger of Howden's Gesta Henrici II et Ricardi I, ed. William Stubbs (Rolls Series, 1867), Vol. II,

  invasion of Cyprus: the best source is Ralph of Diceto, The Historical Works of Master Ralph of Diceto, Deacon of London, ed. William Stubbs (Rolls Series, 1876).

  'The flower of the world . . .': Ambroise, quoted in Gillingham, Richard I,

  'God's own sling . . .': the minstrel Ambroise said that Richard had brought tons of sons to fling at Acre with him from Cyprus. Ibid.

  'When Richard came . . .': quoted in James Reston Jr, Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade (London, 2001).

  Acre was also a divided city: see Joshua Prawer's 'Crusader Cities', in Harry Miskimin, David Herhily and A. L. Udovitch (eds), The Medi­eval City (Yale and London), 1977,

  sugar cane, bananas, etc.: see Joshua Prawer, The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem: European Colonials in the Middle Ages (London, 1972).

  And the banks were re-establishing . . .: for the development of medieval moneychanging, see Peter Spufford, Power and Profit: The Mer­chant in Medieval Europe (London, 2002),

  Even the priests rented . . .: Jacques de Vitry, quoted in Andrew Wheatcroft, Infidel: The Conflict between Christendom and Islam 683-2002 (London, 2003),

  Appalling translation problems . . .: see Kate Norgate, Richard the Lionheart (London, 1924). The full quotation, by Saladin's secretary, was: 'The number of barbaric tongues among these people from the West is outrageous, and outdoes everything that can be imagined. Sometimes, when we take a prisoner, we can only communicate with him through a series of interpreters — one translates the Frank's words to another, who translates them again to a third.' The Arabs described anyone in the Christian army as a Frank.

  Leopold's banner: the main source for this incident is Richard of Devizes, Chronicon, ed. and trans. T. Appleby (London, 1963). There is a full discussion of it in Gillingham, Richard I, For the conversation between them, see also A. W. A. Leeper, A History of Medieval Austria (London, 1941),

  'The time limit expired . . .': see Gillingham, Richard I, Christian contemporaries did not criticize Richard for this wholesale slaughter, but the Arabs were horrified. Briefly, for a month afterwards, Saladin killed any on the Christian side taken captive.

  'The Muslim world never quite forgot. . .: though this was true, they also respected Richard for his judgement, experience, audacity and astuteness'. See C. Hillenbrand, The Crusades: Islamic Perspectives (Edinburgh, 1999),

  'Never have we had to face . . .': see John Gillingham, The Life and Times of Richard I (London, 1973),

  'Elderly laundresses . . .': Ambroise, L'Estoire de la Guerre Sainte, ed. Gaston Paris, trans. M. J. Hubert andj. La Monte (New York, 1941).

  Battle of Arsuf: see Gillingham, Richard I, For a fuller study of Richard's military tactics, see David Miller, Richard the Lionheart:The Mighty Crusader (London, 2003).

  'A wide path . . .': see Gillingham, The Life and Times of Richard I, P- 133-

  'With God's grace . . .' see Gillingham, Richard I, quoting Roger of Howden's Chronica Magistri Rogeri de Hoveden, ed. William Stubbs (Rolls Series, 1868-71), Vol. 111,

  Orgiastic drinking sessions . . .: Ambroise's biased account says, 'Those who were present assured us that they danced through the late hours of night, their heads bedecked with flowers, entwined in garland and in crown; beside wine casks they sat down and drank until matins had rung, then homeward made their way among the harlots.' Quoted in Gillingham, The Life and Times of Richard I,

  Conrad's assassination: there is a full discussion about the Assassins and who ordered Conrad's death in Gillingham, Richard I, The French believed that Richard had been behind the death, though a letter from the leader of the Assassins, now believed to have been forged, exonerated him.

  Saladin and the Assassins: see Gillingham, The Life and Times of Richard I,

  'You see the licentiousness . . .': ibid.,

  'It is the custom of kings . . .': see Gillingham, Richard I,

  'The time has come to stop . . .': ibid.,

  'You are the father . . .': the chaplain was William of Poitou. See Gillingham, The Life and Times of Richard I,

  The hermit of Beit Nuba: see Norgate, Richard the Lionheart, P- 243-

  Army council decision: the decision not to attack Jerusalem shocked the whole of Europe, with the French blaming Richard, while the English chroniclers — see Roger of Howden — blamed the Duke of Burgundy. See Gillingham, Richard I,

  'Do not be deceived . . .': ibid.

  'It was the only thing . . .': quoted in Reston, Warriors of God,

  'Are any of them still living . . .': from Ambroise, L'Estoire de la Guerre Sainte, Vol. II, 11. 114-26, quoted in Norgate, Richard the Lionheart,

  'In every deed . . .': see Reston, Warriors of God,

  'This sultan is mighty . . .': Richard's joke was recorded by the Arab chronicler Baha ad-Din and was made to Saladin's chamberlain, Abu Bakr. See Gillingham, Richard I,

  'What of the king . . .': Richard de Templo, Itinerarium Peregrino-rum et Gesta Regis Ricardi in Chronicles and Memorials of the Reign of Richard I, ed. W. Stubbs (Rolls Series, 1864), trans. Helen Nicholson as Chronicle of the Third Crusade (Ashgate, 1997). See Gillingham, Richard I,

  'My only object . . .': see Reston, Warriors of God,

  Henry promised to arrest him . . .: see Roger of Howden, Chronica Magistri Rogeri Hoveden, ed. William Stubbs (Rolls Series, 1868-71), Vol. 111,

  5: Setting Sail

  The main source I have used for events in England during Richard's absence is J. T. Appleby, England without Richard (London, 1965). The description of Richard's route was constructed fro
m descriptions of twelfth-century seamanship: for example, Robert Gardiner (ed.), The Age of the Gallery: Mediterranean Oared Vessels since Pre-classical Times (London, 1975).

  Gace Brulé song: see Samuel N. Rosenberg, and Samuel Danon, The Lyrics and Melodies of Gace Brulé (New York and London, 1985).

  The story of Regnault: this is from a late-thirteenth-century docu- ment called The Roman du Castelain du Couci. See Sylvia Huot, 'Trouba­dour Lyric and old French Narrative', in Simon Gaunt and Sarah Kay (eds), The Troubadours: An Introduction (Cambridge, 1999).

  'We who were there . . .': Ambroise, quoted in John Gillingham, Richard I (Yale, 1991).

  One in twelve . . .: for a fuller discussion about the army and its casualties, see David Miller, Richard the Lionheart: The Mighty Crusader (London, 2003).

  'At every stage of his journey . . .': see Richard of Devizes, Chronicon, ed. and trans. J. T. Appleby (London, 1963).

  'I have long been aware that your king . . .': this is in Ambroise, L'Estoire de la Guerre Sainte, ed. Gaston Paris, trans. M. J. Hubert andj. La Monte (New York, 1941). Gillingham, Richard I, believes it is an imaginary conversation, but there is some evidence that this was genuinely the opinion of his Arab opponents. It also seems that Ambroise himself was on the same trip, so may well have been there — or at least nearby.

  Isaac Comnenus' daughter: see note for page 77. See also Ann Trindade, Berengaria: In Search of Richard the Lionheart's Queen (Dublin and Portland, 1999),

  One spy slipped aboard . . .: see Bernard le Tresorier, Le Continu­ation de Guillaume de Tyr, ed. M. R. Morgan (Paris, 1982). See also P. W. Edbury, The Conquest ofjerusalem and the Third Crusade (Aldershot, 1996).

  'O, Holy Land . . .': see Richard de Templo, Itinerarium Peregrino-rum et Gesta Regis Ricardi in Chronicles and Memorials of the Reign of Richard I, ed. W. Stubbs, trans. Helen Nicholson as Chronicle of the Third Crusade (Ashgate, 1997).

  John in the English Channel: see G. G. Coulton, Medieval Panor­ama: The English Scene from Conquest to Reformation (New York, 1955) P- 325.

  'Twinkling with a kind of blood-stained light . . .': see William of Newburgh, Historia Rerum Anglicarum, ed. R. Howlett (Rolls Series, 1884).

  'Planting vines, Marshal?': see David Crouch, William Marshal:Court, Career and Chivalry in the Angevin Empire 1147—1219 (London, 1990).

  'The laity found him . . .': see William of Newburgh, Historia Rerum Anglicarum, Book IV, Chapter 5.

  The arrest of Geoffrey of York: see Ralph of Diceto and Giraldus Cambrensis. See also Appleby, England without Richard,

  Hugh of Nonant and the monks: ibid.

  'Let's go to London and buy . . .': ibid.

  'He was as pale . . .': see Richard of Devizes, Chronicon, quoted in Amy Kelly, Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings (Harvard and London, 1950).

  Longchamp and the green dress: these stories were taken from a letter by Hugh of Nonant which was reproduced in Roger of Howden's Gesta Henrici II et Ricardi I, ed. William Stubbs (Rolls Series, 1867). See the discussion in Gillingham, Richard I,

  'AH applauded him . . .': see Annals of Roger de Hoveden, trans. Henry T. Riley (London, 1853).

  'It is meet for the servants . . .': see Richard of Devizes, Chronicon, quoted in Kelly, Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings,

  William Fitzhugh and the Messina agreement: see Gillingham, Richard I,

  Eleanor's council meetings: see Roger of Howden, Gesta Henrici II et Ricardi I.

  'The Chancellor fears the threats . . .': see Richard of Devizes, Chronicon,

  'Wherever she passed . . .': ibid., quoted in Alison Weir, Eleanor of Aquitaine, by the Wrath of God, Queen of England (London, 1999),

  Roman military writers . . .: see Gardiner (ed.), The Age of the Galley. According to Gillingham, Richard I, the Pisan authorities forbade sailing after 30 November in the twelfth century.

  Franchenef. see H. E. Mayer, 'A Ghost Ship Called the Franche Nef: King Richard I's German Itinerary', English Historical Review, Febru­ary 2000.

  The capacity of Richard's ships: see Richard W. Unger, The Ship in the Medieval Economy 600-1600 (London and Montreal, 1980).

  Anchors: see David Jacoby (ed.), Trade, Commodities and Shipping in the Medieval Mediterranean (Aldershot, 1997), section XII.

  'Showing the ropes': see Gillian Hutchinson, Medieval Ships and Shipping (London, 1994),

  Poseidon and Artemis: see Gardiner (ed.), The Age of the Galley,

  Regular sailings from Venice: see Jonathan Sumption, Pilgrimage:An Image of Medieval Religion (London, 1975),

  Its historic base at Portsmouth: see John Gillingham, 'Galley Warfare and Portsmouth: The Beginnings of a Royal Navy', in Thirteenth Century England VI, Proceedings of the Durham Conference 1995, ed. Michael Prestwich, R. H. Britnell and Robin Frame (Woodbridge, 1997).

  Saewulf and Richard's route: see Gardiner (ed.), The Age of the Galley, I am assuming that Richard took the normal fast route used in the twelfth century. It is possible, but very unlikely, that he made a dash via the open sea.

  'The voyage from Rhodes . . .': Gonzalez de Clavijo in 1403, quoted ibid.

  The area of limbo: see Weir, Eleanor of Aquitaine, by the Wrath of God, Queen of England,

  Corfu: see H. Jervis, A History of the Island of Corfu and the Republic of the Ionian Islands (Amsterdam 1852; reprinted 1970).

  Heading for Brindisi: see Roger of Howden, Chronica Magistri Rogeri Hoveden, ed. William Stubbs (Rolls Series, 1868-71), Vol. III.

  But where: there is a longer discussion in Gillingham, Richard I, about Richard's deliberations about where to land.

  The Straits of Gibraltar: in Richard the Lionheart (London, 1924), Kate Norgate wonders why he did not go that way, but as John Gillingham says (Richard I, ) the knowledge about the currents there and how they affected medieval seafaring has only been available recently.

  6: Disguise

  This is the most obscure chapter when it comes to historical documents. Our knowledge of the events of Richard's journey across central Europe come from two main sources originally. One is the chronicler Ralph of Coggeshall, who seems to have received his information from Richard's chaplain, Anselm, who was actually with him for much of the journey. This description is confirmed by details in other accounts, so seems reliable. The other main source is the letter sent by the Emperor Henry VI to Philip Augustus in Paris, the text of which is in Roger of Howden's Chronica Magistri Rogeri Hoveden, ed. William Stubbs (Rolls Series, 1868-71). What I have tried to do is to fill in the gaps by including some of the local legends and German-language documents that do not contradict those sources, and by retracing the journey — or our best guess about which direction Richard went — on the ground. Once again, the most detailed discussion is in John Gillingham, Richard I (Yale, 1999).

  Jean de Joinville: from Norbert Ohler, The Medieval Traveller, trans. Caroline Hillier (Suffolk, 1989),

  Pirates: see Nigel Cawthorne, Pirates: Blood and Thunder on the High Seas (London, 2003).

  Sea battles: see Gillian Hutchinson, Medieval Ships and Shipping (London, 1994),

  Alternative accounts: the main account of Richard's battle with the pirates is in Ralph of Coggeshall, Chronicon Anglicanum, ed. J. Stevenson (Rolls Series, 1875), and since he is relying on an eyewitness, we probably should believe him. But Roger of Howden describes a simple financial negotiation in Chronica Magistri Rogeri Hoveden, Vol. 111,

  The number of companions: the main list of these is again in Ralph of Coggeshall's Chronicon Anglicanum. Other names become apparent as the story unfolds, though Berlay of Montreuil is mentioned in Lionel Landon, Itinerary of Richard I (London, 1935).

  Hubert Walter: see.

  Medieval galleys: see Robert Gardiner (ed.), The Age of the Galley:Mediterranean Oared Vessels since Pre-classical Times (London, 1975). Roger of Howden explained that 'galleys cannot, nor dare not, go by that route [the open sea route from Marseilles to Acre] since, if a storm should arise, they may be swamped with ease, and therefore they ought
always to proceed close to land'.

  'High-necked' and 'Rumanian': from Ralph of Coggeshall, Chronicon Anglicanum,

  Lokrum: Richard's landfall on Lokrum is a local tradition in Dubrovnik. The Benedictine monastery was bought in the nineteenth century by the Archduke Maximilian, later assassinated as Emperor of Mexico, and converted into a palace. Kate Norgate calls it Lacroma in her Richard the Lionheart (London, 1924),

  Richard considered himself to be a Templar: 'Therefore, I pray you,' he wrote to the Master of the Temple, 'lend me some of your knights and men-at-arms, who will go with me, and when we are far from here, they will conduct me as a brother Templar to my own country': Bernard le Tresorier, quoted in Amy Kelly, Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings (Harvard and London, 1950),

 

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