Richard II

od of R

136

ngland, was born at Bordeaux, in the southwestern part of France, in the year 1367, in t

becomes Prince

alls made

taine. The city of Bordeaux, near the mouth of the Garonne, as shown by the map,[E] was the chief city of Aquitaine. There the prince established his court, and reigned, as it were, for several years in great splendor. The fame which he had acquired attracted to his court a great number of knights and nobles from all lands, and whenever a great personage had any wrongs, real or imaginary, to be redressed, or any political end to gain which required the

Pe

dom by his brother. There was also a certain James who claimed to be the King of Majorca, a large island in the Mediterranean Sea, who was in much the same situation in respect to his kingdom. Prince Edward promised to aid Don Pedro in recovering his t

lans and a

D'A

is principality, were obliged to furnish the men, it being the custom in those times that each vassal should bring to his lord, in case of war, as many soldiers as could be spared from among his own tenants and retainers-some fifty, some one hundred, and some two hundred, or even more, accordin

t offers a t

l the strength that I can furnish, I can bring you a thousan

. He did not know, it seems, how powerf

d speaking in French, which was, of course, the la

a thousand lances. He was ashamed not to accept this offer, for, according to the ideas of these times, it would not be at all consistent with what was expected of a

rd offers

of

ting as much as he thought prudent in that way, he sent to England to his father, explaining the nature and design of the proposed expedition, and soliciting his father's approval of it, and, at the same time, asking for aid in the way of funds. King Edward replied, cordially approving of the enterprise. He also promised to send on the prince's brother John

ad not money enough. So he broke up his plate, both gold and silver, and caused it to be coined, in order to assist in filling his treasury. Still, notwithst

, and it would be impossible, he knew, to conduct an army over the mountains after the winter should set in; so he hastened his preparations as much as possible. He was kept in a continued fever by his impatience, an

hes to have Edward's

he was dejected in spirits, and seemed particularly sad and sorrowful at the thought of her husband's going away to leave her at such a time. She knew, too, the undaunted reckle

ugh the winter. This made it necessary that he should curtail his plans in some degree, and, among other things, he resolved to notify the Baron D'Albret not to bring his whole complement of one thousand men. It

's letter to

rd D'A

g duly considered the business, and the costs and expenses we are at, we have resolved that several of our vassals should remain at home in order to guard the territories. For these causes, it has been determined

you under his

aux, the eighth

war

bret is v

n that was capable of bearing arms liked much better to be taken into the service of some prince or potentate going to war than to remain at home to cultivate the ground in quiet industry. D'Albret knew, therefore, very well, that his vassals and retainers would be all greatly disappointed to

termin

nd eight hundred knights and squires whom, by his command, I have retained, and have diverted from o

I shall dict

as follows from hi

t's letter t

dear

ing your orders to march. By retaining them for your service I have prevented them from seeking honor and profit elsewhere. Some of the knights had actually made engagements to go beyond sea, to Jerusalem, to Constantinople, or to Russia, in order to advance themselves, and now, having relinquished these advantageous prospects in order to join your enterpris

igning and sealing the letter, sent it to the prince. The

when he seeks thus to disobey an order from my council. But let him go where he pleases

n want o

edges his th

the great difficulty, for there was no lack of men. Don Pedro agreed, it is true, that when he recovered his kingdom he would pay back the advances which Edward had to make, but he was so unprincipled a man th

dged as collateral security for money borr

f the young P

every thing ready before, gave orders that the expedition should set forward on the road to Spain. He himself was to follow as soon as the baptism of the child should be performed. The day on which the child was born was Wednesday, and Frid

l, and set out from Bordeaux with great pomp, at the head of an immense cavalc

NG THE VISIT OF

and himself. Still, the probability was not very great that this would happen, at least for a long period to come; for, though his father, Prince Edward, was the oldest son of the King of England, he himself was not the oldest son

in a comparatively brief period, so that Richard real

s a visit from

brother into Spain. John stopped at Bordeaux to see the princess and the infant child. He was very joyfully received by the princess, and by all the ladies in attendance upon her. The princess was very fond of her brother, and she was much pleased that he was going to join her husband in the war in Spa

d at B

troubles and

back the money that he had expended. Don Pedro could not or would not repay him. What Prince Edward did with the three daughters of the king that had been left with him as hostages I do not know. At any rate, he could not pay his debts with them, or raise money by means of them to silence his clamorous troops. He attempted to lay fresh taxes upon the people of Aquitaine. This awakened a great deal of discontent. The barons who had had disagreements

had made prisoner and sent to London. King John had died, and

ines to call Prince

his presence to give an account of himself. He did this under the pretext that Aquitaine was

in those days, and the commissioners were a long time on the way. At length, however, they reached Bordeaux. They arrived late

rrive, and are rece

of France with a message to the prince. The attendants, who were officers of the prince's court, inf

, and presented their credentials. The prince, after reading the credentials, and examining

adors from the King of France. You are welcome to our court. And you can

ipal speaker at the interview with the prince, and when the prince called for the communication which had been sent from the King of France, he drew forth a paper

e paper could contain, ordered the la

r read as

r reads t

g of France, to our nephew the Pri

the borders of our realm, together with many others from the country and duchy of Aquitaine, have come before us in our court to claim justice for certa

rder and command you to appear in our city of Paris in person, and that you show and present yourself before us in our chamber of Paris, to hear judgme

summons, but set out as speedily as pos

e have affixed our se

e twenty-fifth day

rles

is very muc

He paused a moment, with his eyes fixed upon the commissioners, as if not knowing what

nce the King of France sends for us, but it will be with our

displeased, began immediately to entreat him not t

es the com

f Aquitaine, and in taking the part of our discontented subjects against us, their rightful sovereign. When he surrendered the provinces to the King of England, my father, as he did by solemn treaty, he relinquished forever all juris

d tone, the prince walked off out of the apartment, leaving the commissioners

attempt any thing more. You have delivered your message faithfully, and the prince has given his answer.

ion of t

arrest the

een insulted in having had such a summons from a foreign potentate served upon him by a lawyer in his own house. The knights and barons around him, sharing his anger, proposed that they should pursue and seize the commissioners, with a view of punishing them for their audacity in bringing such a message. At

ous barons among our own subjects, who complained to the King of France and incited him to in

ners seized a

er. In order not to compromise the prince, they said nothing about having been sent by him, but arrested the men on a charge of having taken a horse which

their escape, and, returning to Paris, they reported to the King of France all that ha

Richard's

turned against him. His health, too, began to fail him, and he sank into a state of great dejection and despondency. To complete the sum of his misfortunes, his oldest son, Richard's brother, fell sick and died. This was a fortunate event for Richard, for it advanced him to the position of the oldest surviving son, and made him thus his father's heir. It brought him, too, one step

termines to g

d air he might recover his spirits, and perhaps regain his health. The prince resolved on following this advice. So he made arrangements for leaving his principality und

s and knights of his dominions in a hall of audience at Bordeaux, and there solemnly c

ard's fare

power, so far as depended on him, against all their enemies, and that now, in the hope of recovering his health, which was greatly impaired, he intended to return to England

s for E

of fealty and homage to the duke. They then bid the prince farewell, and he soon af

Richard

inst the danger of being intercepted by the French on the way. The prince and the princess must, of course, have felt some solicitude on this account, but Richard, being yet only four years old,

nd prosper

They remained two days at Southampton to refresh themselves after the voyage, and to allow the prince, who seemed to be growing worse rather than better, a little time to gather strength for the journey

They were all very kindly received by him. After remaining a short time at Windsor Castle, the prince, with his wife and Richard, and the knights, and barons, a

t of Ed

D THE THIRD, RICH

rst entrance

e country which had been the land of his ancestors for so