 Section 29 of England read for LibriVox.org by Alan Mapstone. England Part 5 from William the Red to John Lackland. Historical note. William the Conqueror left Normandy to his eldest living son, Robert, and England to his second son, William. The Norman Barons, who held land in fief in both countries, strove to put the easygoing Robert upon the throne of England. But William was supported by the English, who thus practically adopted the line of Norman kings. At the death of William II, the Norman Barons again attempted to make Robert their king in place of his brother Henry, and again were successfully opposed by the English people. Henry I, 1100 to 1135, was born in England, talked English, married Matilda, or Maude, daughter of the English Queen of Scotland, and, of more weight than even this in winning the regard and allegiance of his subjects, he gave them a charter showing their rights and binding himself to respect them. His son was lost in the wreck of the white ship, and Henry left the crown to his daughter Maude. It was seized, however, by his nephew Stephen of Blois, and civil war and anarchy followed. Henry II, 1154 to 1189, the first of the Plantagenet kings, put down the Robert Barons and instituted important reforms in favour of the people. His attempt to reduce the power of the church led to a bitter but indecisive conflict with Thomas of Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury, and leader of the church party. Henry reigns supreme over England and the greater part of France. Scotland, Ireland and Wales recognised his authority, but the hearts of his children he could not rule. One after another his sons revolted against him. In 1189 he was defeated by his two youngest, Richard and John, in alliance with Philip of France, and died soon after brokenhearted. His successor, Richard the Lionheart, spent nearly all of his reign on a crusade and in fighting the French. He was succeeded in 1199 by John Lackland, the youngest son of Henry II. The reign of King John was marked by a tyranny so oppressive that the nobles at last joined in armed revolt, and in 1215 forced the king to sign the Magna Carta, a written acknowledgement of the rights of the people. End of Section 29. This recording is in the public domain. Section 30 of England. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The World Story, Volume 9, England, edited by Eva March Tappen. Section 30. The Reign of the Red King. 1087 to 1100. By Charles Dickens. Where were the conquerors three sons that they were not at their father's burial? Robert was lounging among minstrels, dancers and game-sters in France or Germany. Henry was carrying his five thousand pounds safely away in a convenient chest he had got made. William the Red was hurrying to England to lay hands upon the royal treasure in the crown. He secured the three great forts of Dover, Penzzi and Hastings, and made with hot speed for Winchester where the royal treasury was kept. The treasurer delivering him the keys he found that it amounted to sixty thousand pounds in silver besides gold and jewels. Possessed of this wealth he soon persuaded the Archbishop of Canterbury to crown him and became William II, King of England. Rufus was no sooner on the throne than he ordered into prison again the unhappy state captives whom his father had set free and directed a goldsmith to ornament his father's tomb profusely with gold and silver. It would have been more dutiful in him to have attended the sick conqueror when he was dying, but England itself, like this red king who had once governed it, has sometimes made expensive tombs for dead men whom he treated shabbily when they were alive. The king's brother, Robert of Normandy, seeming quite content to be only Duke of that country and the king's other brother, fine scholar, being quiet enough with his five thousand pounds in a chest, the king flattered himself, we may suppose, with the hope of an easy reign. But easy reigns were difficult to have in those days. The turbulent Bishop Odo, who had blessed the Norman army at the Battle of Hastings, and who, I daresay, took all the credit of the victory to himself, soon began in concert with some powerful Norman nobles to trouble the red king. The truth seems to be that this bishop and his friends, who had lands in England and lands in Normandy, wished to hold both under one sovereign, and greatly preferred a thoughtless, good-natured person, such as Robert was, to Rufus, who, though far from being an amiable man in any respect, was keen and not to be imposed upon. They declared in Robert's favour and retired to their castles. Those castles were very troublesome to kings, in a sullen humour. The red king, seeing the Normans thus falling from him, revenged himself upon them by appealing to the English, to whom he made a variety of promises, which he never meant to perform, in particular, promises to soften the cruelty of the forest laws, and who, in return, so aided him with their valor that Odo was besieged in the castle of Rochester and forced to abandon it, and to depart from England forever, whereupon the other rebellious Norman nobles was soon reduced and scattered. Then the red king went over to Normandy, where the people suffered greatly under the loose rule of Duke Robert. The king's object was to seize upon the duke's dominions. This, the duke, of course, prepared to resist, and miserable war between the two brothers seemed inevitable, when the powerful nobles on both sides, who had seen so much of war, interfered to prevent it. A treaty was made. Each of the two brothers agreed to give up something of his claims, and that the longer liver of the two should inherit all the dominions of the other. When they had come to this loving understanding, they embraced and joined their forces against fine scholar, who had bought some territory of Robert with a part of his five thousand pounds, and was considered a dangerous individual in consequence. St. Michael's Mount in Normandy—there is another St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall, wonderfully like it—was then, as it is now, a strong place perched upon the top of a high rock, around which, when the tide is in, the sea flows, leaving no road to the mainland. In this place, fine scholar shut himself up with his soldiers, and here he was closely besieged by his two brothers. At one time, when he was reduced to great distress for want of water, the generous Robert not only permitted his men to get water, but sent fine scholar wine from his own table. And on being remonstrated with by the Red King said, What? Shall we let our own brother die of thirst? Where shall we get another when he is gone? At another time, the Red King, riding alone on the shore of the bay, looking up at the castle, was taken by two of fine scholar's men, one of whom was about to kill him when he cried out, Hold, Nave, I am the King of England! The story says that the soldier raised him from the ground respectfully and humbly, and that the King took him into his service. The story may or may not be true, but at any rate it is true that fine scholar could not hold out against his united brothers, and that he abandoned Mount St. Michael and wanted about, as poor and forlorn as other scholars have been sometimes known to do. The Scotch became unquiet in the Red King's time and were twice defeated, the second time with the loss of their King Malcolm and his son. The Welsh became unquiet too. Against them Rufus was less successful, for they fought among their native mountains and did great execution on the King's troops. Robert of Normandy became unquiet too, and complaining that his brother the King did not faithfully perform his part of their agreement, took up arms and obtained assistance from the King of France, whom Rufus in the end bought off with vast sums of money. England became unquiet too. Lord Raubray, the powerful Earl of Northumberland, headed a great conspiracy to depose the King and to place upon the throne Stephen, the conqueror's near relative. The plot was discovered, all the chief conspirators were seized, some were fined, some were put in prison, some were put to death. The Earl of Northumberland himself was shot up in a dungeon beneath Windsor Castle, where he died an old man thirty long years afterwards. The priests in England were more unquiet than any other class or power, for the Red King treated them with such small ceremony that he refused to appoint new bishops or archbishops when the old ones died, but kept all the wealth belonging to those offices in his own hands. In return for this, the priests wrote his life when he was dead and abused him well. I am inclined to think myself that there was little to choose between the priests and the Red King, that both sides were greedy in designing and that they were fairly matched. The Red King was false of heart, selfish, covetous, and mean. He had a worthy minister in his favorite, Ralph, nicknamed, for almost every famous person had a nickname in those rough days, flambard or the firebrand. Once the king, being ill, became penitent to Enselm, a foreign priest and a good man, archbishop of Canterbury. But he no sooner got well again than he repented of his repentance and persisted in wrongfully keeping to himself some of the wealth belonging to the archbishopric. This led to violent disputes, which were aggravated by their being in Rome at that time, two rival popes, each of whom declared he was the only real original infallible pope who couldn't make a mistake. At last, Enselm, knowing the Red King's character, not feeling himself safe in England, asked Leave to return abroad. The Red King gladly gave it, for he knew that as soon as Enselm was gone he could begin to store up all the Canterbury money again for his own use. By such means, and by taxing and oppressing the English people in every possible way, the Red King became very rich. When he wanted money for any purpose, he raised it by some means or other and cared nothing for the injustice he did or the misery he caused. Having the opportunity of buying from Robert the whole duchy of Normandy for five years, he taxed the English people more than ever and made the very convent sell their plate and valuables to supply him with the means to make the purchase. But he was as quick and eager in putting down revolt as he was in raising money, for a part of the Norman people objecting, very naturally, I think, to being sold in this way, he headed an army against them with all the speed and energy of his father. He was impatient that he embarked for Normandy in a great gale of wind, and when the soldiers told him it was dangerous to go to sea in such angry weather, he replied, Hoysale on the way! Did you ever hear of a king who was drowned? You will wonder how it was that even the careless Robert came to sell his dominions. It happened thus. It had long been the custom for many English people to make journeys to Jerusalem, which were called pilgrimages, in order that they might pray beside the tomb of our Saviour there. Jerusalem belonging to the Turks and the Turks hating Christianity, these Christian travelers were often insulted and ill-used. The pilgrims wore it patiently for some time, but at length a remarkable man of great earnestness and eloquence, called Peter the Hermit, began to preach in various places against the Turks, and to declare that it was the duty of good Christians to drive away those unbelievers from the tomb of our Saviour and to take possession of it and protect it. An excitement such as the world had never known before was created. Thousands and thousands of men from all ranks and conditions departed for Jerusalem to make war against the Turks. The war was called in history, the first crusade, and every crusader wore a cross marked on his right shoulder. All the crusaders were not zealous Christians. Among them were vast numbers of the restless, idle, profligate and adventurous spirits of the time. Some became crusaders for the love of change. Some in the hope of plunder. Some because they had nothing to do at home. Some because they did what the priests told them. Some because they liked to see foreign countries. Some because they were fond of knocking men about, and would as soon knock a Turk about as a Christian. Robert of Normandy may have been influenced by all these motives, and by a kind desire, besides, to save the Christian pilgrims from bad treatment in future. He wanted to raise a number of armed men and to go to the crusade. He could not do so without money. He had no money, and he sold his dominions to his brother, the Red King, for five years. With a large sum he thus obtained, he fitted out his crusaders gallantly, and went away to Jerusalem in Marshall State. The Red King, who made money out of everything, stayed at home, busily squeezing more money out of the Normans and English. After three years of great hardship and suffering, from shipwrecked sea, from travel and strange lands, from hunger, thirst, and fever upon the burning sands of the desert, and from the fury of the Turks, the valiant crusaders got possession of our Saviour's tomb. The Turks were still resisting and fighting bravely, but this success increased the general desire in Europe to join the crusade. Another great French duke was proposing to sell his dominions for a term to the rich Red King, when the Red King's reign came to a sudden and violent end. You have not forgotten the new forest which the conqueror made, and which the miserable people whose homes he had laid waste so hated, the cruelty of the forest laws, and the torture and death they brought upon the peasantry increased this hatred. The poor persecuted country people believed that the new forest was enchanted. They said that in thunderstorms and on dark nights demons appeared, moving beneath the branches of the gloomy trees. They said that a terrible specter had foretold to Norman hunters that the Red King should be punished there. And now, in the pleasant season of May, when the Red King had reigned almost thirteen years, and a second prince of the conqueror's blood, another Richard, the son of Duke Robert, was killed by an arrow in this dreaded forest, the people said that the second time was not the last, and that there was another death to come. It was a lonely forest, accursed in the people's hearts for the wicked deeds that had been done to make it, and no man save the king in his courtiers and huntsmen like to stray there. But in reality it was like any other forest. In the spring the green leaves broke out of the buds. In the summer flourished heartily and made deep shade. In the winter shriveled and blew down and lay in brown heaps on the moss. Some trees were stately and grew high and strong. Some had fallen of themselves. Some were felled by the forester's axe. Some were hollow and the rabbits burrowed at their roots. Some few were struck by lightning and stood white and bare. There were hillsides covered with rich fern, on which the morning dew so beautifully circled. There were brooks, where the deer went down to drink, or over which the whole herd bounded, flying from the arrows of the huntsmen. There were sunny glades in solemn places where but little light came through the rustling leaves. The songs for the birds of the new forest were pleasanter to hear than the shouts of fighting men outside. And even when the red king in his court came hunting through its solitudes, cursing loud and riding hard with a jingling of stirrups and bridles and knives and daggers, they did much less work than among the English or Normans and the stags died, as they lived, far easier than the people. On a day in August the red king, now reconciled to his brother, fine scholar, came with a great train to hunt in the new forest. Fine scholar was of the party. They were a merry party and had lain all night at Malwood Keep, a hunting lodge in the forest where they had made good cheer both at supper and breakfast and had drunk a deal of wine. They were very dispersed in various directions as the custom of hunters then was. The king took with him only Sir Walter Terrell, who was a famous sportsman and to whom he had given, before they mounted horse that morning, two fine arrows. The last time the king was ever seen alive he was riding with Sir Walter Terrell and their dogs were hunting together. It was almost night when a poor charcoal burner passing through the forest with his cart came upon the solitary body of a dead man, lost and still bleeding. He got it into his cart. It was the body of the king. Shaykin entumbled with his red beard all whitened with lime and clotted with blood. It was driven in the cart by the charcoal burner next day to Winchester Cathedral where it was received and buried. Sir Walter Terrell, who escaped Normandy and claimed the protection of the king of France, swore in France that the red king was suddenly shot dead by an arrow from where they were hunting together, that he was fearful of being suspected as the king's murderer, and that he instantly set spurs to his horse and fled to the seashore. Others declared that the king and Sir Walter Terrell were hunting in company, a little before sunset, standing in bushes opposite one another when a stag came between them, that the king drew his bow and took aim, but the string broke, that the king then shouted, Shoot, Walter, in the devil's name! That Sir Walter shot, that the king turned aside from the stag and struck the king from his horse, dead. By whose hand the red king really fell, and whether that hand dispatched the arrow to his breast by accident or by design, is only known to God. Something his brother may have caused him to be killed, but the red king had made so many enemies, both among priests and people, that suspicion may reasonably rest upon a less unnatural murderer. Men know no more than that he was found dead in the New Forest, and had regarded as a doomed ground for his race. End of Section 30. This recording is in the Public Domain. Recording by Todd. Section 31 of England. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the Public Domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. The World's Story, Volume 9. England edited by Eva March Tappan. Section 31. The White Ship. 1120 by Dante Gabriel Rosetti. Henry I, Second Living Son of the Conqueror, became King of England in 1120, and he succeeded in also gaining possession of Normandy. He had made great plans for his son William, who was to be his successor, been in the 1120, the White Ship on which this young Prince William was sailing from Normandy to England, was wrecked and he, with all his fellowship, was lost. The Editor. By none but me can the tale be told the butchery of her poor Barold. Lands are swayed by a king on a throne. It was a royal train put forth to sea. Yet the tale can be told by none but me. The sea hath no king, but God alone. King Henry held it as life's whole game that after his death his son should reign. It was so in my youth I heard men say and my old age calls it back today. King Henry of England's realm was he and Henry Duke of Normandy. The times had changed when on either coast clerkly Harry was all his boast of ruthless strokes for many and one. He had struck to crown himself and his son and his elder brother's eyes were gone. And when to the chase his court would crowd the poor flung plow shares on his road and shrieked our cry is from king to God. But all the chiefs of the English land had melt and kiss the prince's hand and next with his son he sailed to France to claim the Norman Allegiance. And every Baron in Normandy had taken the oath of fealty to us sworn and sealed and the day had come when the king and the prince might journey home. For Christmas cheer is to home hearts dear and Christmas now was drawing near. Stout Fitz Stephen came to the king a pilot famous for bearing and he held to the king an almond sight a mark of gold for his tributes right. Lee's Lord my father guided the ship from whose boat your father's foot did slip when he caught the English soil in his grip and cried by this clasp I claim command of English land. He was born to the realm you rule or now in that ship with the archer carved at her prow and there the owl bear and it be my do your father's son and his grandson too. The famed white ship is mine in the bay from Harfleur's harbour she sails today with mass bare pennant as Norman Spears and with fifty well-trived mariners. Quote the king my ships are chosen each one but I'll not say nay to Stephen's son my son and daughter and fellow ship shall cross the water in the white ship the king set sail with the eaves of wind and soon he left that coast behind the prince and all his a princely show remained in the good white ship to go with noble knights and with ladies bear with courtiers and sailors gathered there three hundred living souls we were and I Barold was the meanest hind to the prince assigned the prince was a lawless shameless you from his father's loins he sprang without roof eighteen years till then he had seen and the devil's do's in him were eighteen and now he cried bring wine from below that the sailors revel ere yet they row our speed shall or take my father's flight though we sailed from the harbor at midnight the rowers made good cheer without check the lords and ladies obeyed his back the night was light and they danced on the deck but at midnight stroke they cleared the bay and the white ship furrowed the waterway the sails were set and the oars kept tuned to the double flight of the ship in the moon swifter and swifter the white ship sped till she flew as the spirit flies from the dead as white as a lily glimmered she like a ship's fair ghost upon the sea and the prince cried friends tis the hour to sing is a song birds course so swift on the wing and under the winter stars still flung from brown throats white throats merry and strong the nights and the ladies raised a song a song may a shriek that rented sky that leaped or the deep the grievous cry of 300 living that now must die an instant shriek that spring to the shock as the ship's keel felt the sunken rock tis said that afar a shrill strange sigh the king's ships heard it and knew not why pale fit stevens stood by the helm made all those folk that the waves must well a great king's air for the waves to well and the helpless pilot pale at the helm the ship was eager and sucked the thirst by the stealthy stab of the sharp reef pierced and like the moille round a sinking cup the waters against her crowded up a moment the pilot's senses spin the next he snatched the prince mid the din cut the boat loose and the youth leaped in a few friends leaped with him standing near row the seas smooth and the night is clear what none to be saved but these and I row row as you'd live all here must die the churn of the choking ship which the gulf grapples and the waves strip they struck with the strained oars flash and dip twas then or the splitting ball works brim the prince's sister screamed to him he gazed aloft still rowing a pace and through the world surf he knew her face to the toppling decks clave one and all as a fly to a chamber wall I beroed was clinging on near I prayed for myself and quaked with fear but I saw his eyes as he looked at her he knew her face and he heard her cry and he said put back she must not die and back with the currents force they reel like a leaf that's drawn to a water wheel neath the ships travail they scarce my float but he rose and stood in the rocking boat low the poor ship leaned on the tide or the naked keel as she best might slide the sister toil to the brother's side he reached an oar to her from below and stiffened his arms to clutch her so but now from the ship some spied the boat and saved was the cry many a throat and down to the boat they leaped and fell it turned as a bucket turns in a well and nothing was there but the surge and swell the prince that was in the king to come there in an instant gone to his doom despite of all england's bended knee and the Norman fealty he was a prince of lust and pride he showed no grace till the hour he died when he should be king he off would bow he'd yoke the peasant to his own plow or him the ship's score there furrows now God only knows where his soul did wake but I saw him die for his sister's sake by none but me can the tale be told the butcher of Rouen poor berold lands are swayed by a king on a throne was a royal train put forth to see yet the tale can be told by none but me the sea hath no king but God alone and now the end came or the water's wound like the last great day that's yet to come with prayers in vain and curses in vain the white ship sundered on the mid-main and what were men and what was a ship with toys and splinters in the sea's grip I berold was down in the sea and passing strange though the thing may be of dreams then known I remember me Blythe is the shout on Har Fleur's strand when morning lights the sails to land and Blythe is on Fleur's echoing gloom when mothers call the children home and high through the bells of Rouen beat when the body of Christ goes down the street these things and the like were heard and shown in a moment's trance neath the sea alone and when I rose towards the sea did seem and not these things to be all a dream the ship was gone and the crowd was gone and the deep shuttered and the moon shone and in a straight grass my arms did span the main yard rent from the mast where it ran and on it with me was another man where lands were none neath the dim sea's sky we told our names that man and I oh I am Godfrey the Ligel height and son am I to a belted night and I am berold the butcher's son who slays the beasts in Rouen town then cried we upon God's name as we did drift on the bitter winter sea but lo a third man rose o'er the way and we said thank God us three may he save he clutched to the yard with panting stair and we looked and knew fit Stephen there he clung and what of the prince quote he lost lost we cried he cried row on me and loosed his hold and sank through the sea and so with soul again in that space we too were together face to face and each knew each as the moment sped less for one living than for one dead and every still star overhead seemed an eye that knew we were dead and the hours passed till the noble son sighed God be thy help my strength's for done oh farewell friend for I can no more Christ take thee I moaned and his life was o'er 300 souls were all lost but one and I drifted over the sea alone at last the morning rose on the sea like an angel's wing that beat towards me soar nom'd I was in my sheepskin coat hath dead I hung and might nothing note till I woke sun warned in a fisher boat the sun was high or the eastern brim as I praise God and gave thanks to him that day I told my tale to a priest who charged me till the shrift were released that I should keep it in my own breast and with the priest I danced to bear to King Henry's court at Winchester we spoke with the King's high chamberlain and he wept and mourned again and again as if his own son had been slain and round as ever there crowded vast great men with faces all aghast and who so bold that might tell the thing which now they knew much woe I learned in their communing the King had watched with a heart soar stirred forth two whole days and this was the third and still to all his court would he say what keeps my son so long away and they said the ports fly far and wide that skirt the swell of the English tide and English cliffs are not more white than her women are and scarce so bright her skies as their eyes are blue and bright and in some port that he reached from France the prince has lingered for his pleasant but once the King asked what distant cry was that we heard Twix the sea and sky and one said with such like shots par die do the fishers fling their nets at sea and one who knows not the shrieking quest the sea mew misses its young from the nest twas thus till now they had soothed his dread albeit they knew not what they said but who should speak today of the thing that all knew there except the King then pondering much they found a way and met round the King's high seat that day and the King said with a heart soar stirred and seldom he spoke and seldom heard twas then through the hall the King was aware of a little boy with golden hair as bright as the golden poppy is that the beach breathes for the surf to kiss yet pale his cheek as the thorn in spring and his garb black like the ravens wing nothing was heard but his foot through the hall for now the lords were silent all and the King wondered and said alack who sends me a fair boy dressed in black why sweetheart do you pace through the hall as though my court were a funeral then lowly knelt the child at the dais and looked up weeping in the King's face oh where for black oh King he may say for white is the hue of death today your son and all his fellow ship lie low in the sea with the white ship King Henry fell as a man struck dead and speechless still he stared from his bed went to him next day my reed I read there's many an hour must knees beguile a King's high heart that he should smile full many a lordly hour the king was laughing of his realm's rule and pride of his reign but this King never smiled again by none but me can the tale be told the butruant poor barold lands are swayed by a King on a throne was a royal train put forth to sea yet the tale can be told by none but me of section 31 this recording is in the public domain section 32 of England this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Adrian Stevens the world's story volume 9 England edited by Eva March Tappan section 32 the escape of Maud from the castle at Oxford about 1140 by A. D. Craig after the loss of his son in the wreck of the white ship Henry I induced his chief men to swear that at his death they would make his daughter Matilda or Maud ruler of England but Matilda married a Frenchman and the chief men declared that this freed them from their oath the crown was given to Stephen a grandson of the conqueror he proved to be a weak sovereign and Matilda made constant efforts to gain the throne the scene of the following stories laid at her refuge the castle at Oxford which the forces of Stephen were besieging the editor the castle of Oxford was one of the great strongholds of the Midlands its walls and bastions enclosed a large area of the church of St. George on one side was the mound thrown up in far earlier days than those of which we write by Ethel Fleider sister of Alfred and near it the huge tower of Robert Doiley which still survives a stern and silent witness of the unquiet past in an upper chamber of that tower was the present apartment of the warlike lady alike the descendant of Alfred and the conqueror of the splendid Queen Margaret of Scotland and there she sat at the time when Osric met Alain at Ifley Church impatiently awaiting the return of her favourite squire for such was Alan his youthful comeliness and gallant bearing had won her heart he tarries long he cometh not, she said tell me, my Edith, how long has he been gone? scarce three hours, madam and he has many dangers to encounter perchance he may never return now the saints confound thy bowding tongue madam why, for sooth should he be unfortunate so active, so brave, so sharp of wit I only mean that he is mortal so are we all but dost thou therefore expect to die today? Father Hurlain says we should all live as if we did, madam you'll wear my life out well, yes, a confant will be the best place for thee nay, madam hold thy peace if thou can't say not but nay, said the irascible dominer her temper her irritability and impatience had alienated many from her cause perchance it would have alienated Alan, like the rest only he was a favourite and she was seldom sharp with him how like her father she was in her bearing even in her undress for she wore only a thick woollen robe stained by the art of the dyers colors as various as those of the robe Jacob made for Joseph sometimes it flew open and displayed an inner vesture of rich texture bound round with a golden zone or girdle and around her head confining her luxuriant hair was a circlet of like precious metal which did duty for a diadem little of her sainted mother was there in the empress queen far more of her stern grandfather the conqueror the chamber of irregular dimensions was lighted by narrow loopholes there was a hearth and a chimney and a brazier of wood and charcoal burned brightly even then the air was cold for its many degrees below the freezing point not that they as yet know how to measure the temperature she sat and glowered at the grate as the light departed and the winter night set in dark and gloomy more than once she approached the windows or loopholes and looked upon the ruined city in the chill and intermittent moonlight it was nearly all in ruins here and there a church tower rose intact here and there a lordly dwelling but fire and sword had swept it neither party regarded the sufferings of the poor sometimes the besiegers made a fire in sport and worn themselves by the blaze of her burgers dwelling nor wrecked how far it spread sometimes as we have said the besieged made a sally and set fire to the buildings which sheltered their foes whichever prevailed the citizens suffered but little wrecked their oppressors from her elevated chamber Maud could see the watchfires of the foe in a wide circle around but she was accustomed to the site tired of it in fact and her one desire was to escape to Wallingford a far more commodious and stronger castle in freed's wide of which she could discern the towers which has yet had escaped the congregation were the headquarters of her rival who was living there at ease on the fat of the land such fat as was left at the expense of the monastic community and while she gazed she clenched her dainty fist and shook it at the unheeding Stephen while she muttered unwomanly implications and while she was thus engaged they brought up her supper it consisted of a stew of bones which had already been well stripped of their flesh at the noon meat we are reduced to bones and shall soon be naught but bones ourselves but our gallant defenders I fear fair worse here Edith, Hilda bring your spoons and take your share and with small wooden spoons they dipped into the royal dish a step on the stairs and at her bidding entered Lady the gallant page has returned how he entered I know not he is unharmed scatheless by the favour of God and Saint Martin let him enter at once and Alan appeared my gallant squire how hast thou fared I feared for thee they keep bad watch a rope lowered me to the stream I crossed and seeking covered ways gap me too ifly and in like fashion returned thy gallant brother of Goster and the prince thy son have landed in England and will meet thee at Wallingford thank God said Maud my Henry my rollboy I shall see thee again with such hope to cheer a mother's heart I can dare anything well hast thou earned our thanks my Alan my gallant squire the lord of Wallingford will send a troop of horse to scout on the road between Abingdon and Oxford tomorrow night the eve of St Thomas we will meet them if possible if it be in human power the river is free all other roads are blocked but hast thou considered the difficulties of descent they are great lady it was easy for me to descend by the rope but for thee alas that my queen should need such expedience it's better than starvation we are reduced to bones as thou seest but thou art hungry and faint let me order a basin of this savoury stew for thee it is all we have to offer what is good enough for my empress and queen is good enough for her faithful servants but I may not eat in thy presence nay, scruple not famine effaces distinctions thus encouraged Alan did not allow his scruples to interfere further with his appetite and Pa took heartily of the stew of bones in which forsooth the water and meal were in undue proportion to the meat the meal dispatched the empress sent Alan to summon the Earl of Oxford Robert Doiley to her presence he was informed of the rival of the Earl and the Prince and the plan of escape was discussed all the ordinary avenues of the castle were watched so closely that extraordinary expedience were necessary and the only feasible mode of escape appeared to be the difficult road which Alan had used successfully both in leaving and returning to the beleaguered fortress a branch of the Isis washed the walls of the tower it was frozen hard to descend by ropes upon it in the darkness and crossed the opposite side of the stream appeared to be the only mode of egress but for a lady the lady of England was it possible was it not utterly unworthy of her dignity she put this objection aside like a cobweb can't thou hold out the castle much longer at most another week our provisions are nearly exhausted this was our last meal of flesh of which I see the bones before me replied the Lord of Oxford then if I remain they must still surrender surrender is inevitable lady then sooner would I infringe my dignity by dangling from a rope then become the prisoner of the foul usurper Stephen and the laughing stock of his traitorous barons Sir Inglewreck of Huntercum and two other knights beside thy gallant page volunteer to accompany thee lady and for thyself I must remain to the last and share the fortunes of my vassals without me they would find scant mercy from the usurpers then tomorrow night ere the moon rise the attempt shall be made and the conference broke up it was a night of wildering snow dark and gloomy a powdery material found its way in at each crevice and the wind made the tapestry which hung on the walls of the presence chamber of the lady moored oscillate to and fro with each blast Robert Doiley was alone in deep consultation with his royal mistress then if I can escape thou wilt surrender nor else is to be done we are starving they will burn the castle there is little to burn and I hardly think to attempt that it will be useful to them when in their hands it is near the midnight hour the attempt must be made now summon young Alan and my faithful knights they entered at the summons each clothed in fine mail with a white tunic above it the empress bid adieu to her handmaidens who had clatter in a thick white cloak to match they wept and wailed but she gently chide them we have suffered worse things the coffin and hearse in which we left devices was more ghastly and God will give an end to these troubles also fear not we are prepared to go through with it a small door was opened in the thickness of the wall it led to the roof over a lower portion of the buildings beneath the shadow of the tower and the knights with Alan and their lady stood on the snow-covered summit not long did they hesitate the river beneath was frozen hard it lay silent and still in its ice-bound sepulchre the darkness was penetrated by the light of the watch-fires in all directions they surrounded the town on all sides save the one they had not thought it necessary to guard against there was a far and doubtless a watch over the bridge which stood near the actual site of the present folly bridge there was a watch across Hithe Bridge there was another on the ruins of the castle mill which Earl Agar had held under the doomsday survey another at the principal entrance of the castle which led from the city but the extreme cold of the night had driven the majority of the besiegers to seek shelter in the half-ruined churches which, long attuned to the sweet melody of bells and samedy had now become the Bivouacs of profane soldiers the Countess Edith the wife of Robert Doiley now appeared shivering in the quinaire and took an affectionate leave of the Empress while her teeth chattered the while a true woman she shared her husband's fortunes for wheel or woe and had endured the horrors of the siege ropes were brought Alan glided down to the ice and held it firm another rope was passed beneath the armpits of the Lady Maude she grasped another in her gloved hand to steady her descent farewell true and trusty friend she said to Robert of Oxford had all been as faithful as thou I had never been brought to this pass if they had hurt thy head they shall pay with a life for every hair it contains then she stepped over the battlements for one moment she gave a womanly shudder at the sight of the blackness below then yielding herself to the care of her trusty knights and shutting her eyes she was lured safely to the surface of the frozen stream Alan steadied the rope below at last her feet touched the ice am I on the ground? on the ice, Domina one after another the three knights followed her and they descended the stream until it joined the main river at a farm called the Wick which formerly belonged to one Ermengold, a citizen of Oxford immortalized in the Abbey records of Abingdon for his munificence to that community now that they had crossed the main channel in safety not far below the present railway bridge and landing struck out boldly for the outskirts of Bagley where the promised escort was to have met them but in the darkness and snow they lost their direction and came at last over the frozen fields to Kennington where they indistinctly saw two or three lights through the fast falling snow but dared not approach them fearing foes to cover the track the country was all alike or buried beneath one ghastly winding sheet the snow still fell the air was calm and keen the breath froze on the mufflers of the lady onward they trudged for to hesitate was death once or twice that ghastly inclination to lie down and sleep was felt if I could only lie down for one half hour said Maud lady said Bertram of Wallingford we must move on nay I must sleep for thy son's sake whispered Alan and she persevered ah here is the river take care they had nearly fallen into a diversion of the stream at Sanford but they followed the course of the river until they reached Bradley and then they heard the distant bell of the famous Abbey ring for Mattens which were sowed in the small hours of the night here they found some kind of track made by the passage of cattle which had been driven towards the town and followed it until they saw the lights of the Abbey dimly through the gloom spent exhausted by their toil they entered the precincts of the monastery on the bed of the stream which diverging from the main course a mile above the town turned the Abbey mills and formed one of its boundaries thus they avoided detention at the gateway of the town for they ascended from the stream within the monastery, Plesance the grand church loomed out of the darkness its windows were dimly lighted the Mattens of St. Thomas were being sung and the solemn strains reached the ears of the weary travellers outside the outer door of the nave was unfarcened for the benefit of the laity who cared more for devotion than their beds like the mother of the famous St. Edmund Archbishop of Canterbury a century later who was used to attend these Mattens nightly our present party entered from a different motive it was a welcome shelter and they sank upon an oaken bench within the door while the solemn sound of the Gregorian Samadhi rolled on in the choir Alan meanwhile hastened to the hospitium to seek aid for the royal guest which he was told they would find in a hostel outside the gates for although they allowed female attendants at worship they could not entertain women it was contrary to their rule royal although the guest might be end of section 32 this recording is in the public domain section 33 of England this is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Adrian Stevens the world's story volume 9 England edited by Eva March Tappan section 33 the castle builders of the reign of Stephen 1135 to 1154 from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle when the traitors perceived that he was a mild man and a soft and a good and that he did not enforce justice they did all wonder they had done homage to him and sworn oaths but they had no faith kept all became foresworn and broke their allegiance for every rich man built his castles and defended them against him and they filled the land full of castles they greatly oppressed the wretched peoples by making them work at these castles and when the castles were finished they filled them with devils and evil men then they took those whom made goods by night and by day seizing both men and women and they put them in prison for their gold and silver and tortured them with pains unspeakable for never were any martyrs tormented as these were they hung some up by their feet and smoked them with foul smoke some by their thumbs or by the head and they hung burning things on their feet they put a knotted string about their heads and twisted it till it went into the brain they put them into dungeons wherein were adders and snakes and toads and thus wore them out some they put into a cruciate house that is into a chest which was short and narrow and not deep and they put sharp stones in it and crushed the man therein so that they broke all his limbs they were hateful and grim things called sachenteges in many of the castles in which two or three men had enough to do to carry the sachenteges was made thus it was fastened to a beam having a sharp iron to go round a man's throat and neck so that he might no way sit nor lie nor sleep but then he must bear all the iron many thousands they exhausted with hunger I cannot and I may not tell of all the wounds and all the tortures that they inflicted upon the wretched men of this land and this state of things lasted the nineteen years that Stephen was king and ever grew worse and worse they were continually levying an exaction from the towns which they called tensory footnote a payment to the superior lord for protection and footnote and when the miserable inhabitants had no more to give then plundered they and burnt all of the towns so that while thou mightest walk a whole day's journey nor ever shouldst thou find a man seated in a town or its lands tilled then was corn, deer and flesh and cheese and butter for there was none in the land wretched men starved with hunger some lived on arms who had been a while rich some fled the country never was there more misery and never acted heathens worse than these at length they spared neither church nor churchyard but they took all that was valuable therein and they burned the church and all together neither did they spare the lands of bishops nor of priests but they robbed the monks and the clergy and every man plundered his neighbour as much as he could if two or three men came riding to a town or the township fled before them and they thought that they were robbers the bishops and clergy were ever cursing them but this to them was nothing for they were all accursed and forceworn and reprobate the earth bare no corn you might as well have tilled the sea for the land was all ruined by such deeds and it was said openly that Christ and his saints slept these things and more than we can say did we suffer during nineteen years end of section 33 this recording is in the public domain section 34 of England this is the LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information if you are a volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Adrian Stevens the world's story volume 9 England edited by Eva March Tappan section 34 the struggle between the King and the Archbishop 1162 to 1170 by John Lord the reign of Henry II during which Beckett's memorable career took place was an important one he united through his mother Matilda the blood of the old Saxon kings with that of the Norman dukes he was the first truly English sovereign who had sat on the throne since the conquest in his reign 1154 to 1189 the blending of the Norman and Saxon races were affected villages and towns rose about the castles of great Norman nobles and the cathedrals and abysses of Norman ecclesiastics ultimately these towns obtained freedom London became a great city with more than a hundred churches the castles built during the disastrous civil wars of Stevens usurped reign were demolished peace and order were restored by a legitimate central power between the young monarch of 22 and Thomas as a favourite Theobald and as Archdeacon of Canterbury an intimacy sprang up Henry II was the most powerful sovereign of western Europe since he was not only king of England but had inherited in France Anjou and Touraine from his father and Normandy and Maine from his mother by his marriage with Helena of Aquitaine he gained seven other provinces as her dower the dominions of Louis were not half so great as his even in France Henry was not only a powerful sovereign by his great territorial possessions but also for his tact and ability he saw the genius of Beckett and made him his Chancellor loading him with honours and perquisites and church benefices the power of Beckett as Chancellor was very great since he was prime minister and the civil administration of the kingdom was chiefly entrusted to him embracing nearly all the functions now performed by the various members of the cabinet as Chancellor he rendered great services he affected a decided improvement in the state of the country it was freed from robbers and bandits and brought under dominion of the law he depressed the power of the feudal nobles he appointed the most deserving people to office he repaired the royal palaces increased the royal revenues and promoted agricultural industry he seems to have pursued a peace policy but he was unscrupulous and grasping his style of life when Chancellor was for that age magnificent Woolsey in after times scarcely excelled him his dress was as rich as barbaric taste could make it for the more barbarous the age the more gorgeous is the attire of great dignitaries the hospitalities of the Chancellor were unbounded he kept seven hundred horsemen completely armed the harnesses of his horses were embossed with gold and silver the most powerful nobles sent their sons to serve in his household as pages and nobles and knights waited in his antechamber they never passed a day when he did not make rich presents his expenditure was enormous he rivaled the king in magnificence his sideboard was loaded with vessels of gold and silver he was doubtless ostentatious but his hospitality was free the person was as accessible as a primitive bishop he is accused of being light and frivolous but this I doubt he had too many cares and duties for frivolity he doubtless unbent all men loaded down with labours must unbend somewhere it was nothing against him that he told good stories at the royal table or at his own surrounded by earls and barons these relaxations preserved in him without which the greatest genius soon becomes a hack a plodding piece of mechanism a stupid lump of learned darness but he was stained by no vices or excesses he was a man of indefactable activity and all his labours were in the service of the crown to which as chancellor he was devoted body and soul is it strange that such a man should have been offered the sea of canterbury on the death of Theobald he had been devoted to his royal master and friend he enjoyed rich livings and was arch-deacon of canterbury he had shown no opposition to the royal will moreover Henry wanted an able man for that exalted post in order to carry out his schemes of making himself independent of priestly influence and papal interference so Beckett was made arch-bishop and primate of the English church at the age of forty-four the clergy of the province Acquiescing perhaps with secret complaints for he was not even a priest merely deacon and the minister of an unscrupulous king he was ordained priest only just before receiving the primacy and for that purpose nothing in England could exceed the dignity of the sea of canterbury even the bishopric of York was subordinate Beckett as metropolitan of the English church was second in rank only to the king himself he could depose any ecclesiastic in the realm he had the exclusive privilege of crowning the king his decisions were final except on appeal to Rome no one dared disobey his mandates for the law of clerical obedience was one of the fundamental ideas of the age throughout his clergy over whom his power was absolute he controlled the people his law-courts had cognisance of questions which the royal courts could not interfere with no ecclesiastical dignitary in Europe was his superior except the pope Beckett was no sooner ordained priest and consecrated as arch-bishop when he changed his habits he became as austere as long-flank he laid aside his former ostentation he clothed himself in sack-cloth he mortified his body with fasts and laceration he associated only with the pious and the learned he frequented the cloisters and places of meditation he received into his palace the needy and the miserable he washed the feet of thirteen beggars every day he conformed to the standard of piety in his age he called forth the admiration of his attendance by his devotion to clerical duties he was, says Fitz Stevens, a second Moses entering the tabernacle at the accepted time for the contemplation of his god and going out from it in order to perform some work of piety to his neighbour he was like one of God's angels on the ladder whose top reached the heavens now descending to lighten the wants of men now ascending to behold the divine majesty and the splendour of the heavenly one his prime council was reason which ruled his passions as a mistress guides her servants under her guidance he was conducted by virtue which wrapped up in itself and embracing everything within itself never looks forward for anything additional this is the testimony of his biographer it has not been explained away or denied although it is probably true that Beckett did not purge the corruptions of the church or punish the disorders and vices of the clergy as Hildebrand did I only speak of his private character I admit that he was no reformer he was simply the high churchman aiming to secure the ascendance of the spiritual power Beckett is not immortal for his reforms or his theological attainments but for his intrepidity his courage, his devotion to his cause a hero and not a man of progress a man who fought a fight it should be the aim of an historian to show for what he was distinguished to describe his warfare not to abuse him because he was not a philosopher and reformer he lived in the twelfth century one of the first things which opened the eyes of the king was the resignation of the chancellor the king doubtless made him primate of the English hierarchy in order that he might combine both offices but they were incompatible unless Beckett was willing to be the unscrupulous tool of the king in everything of course Henry could not long remain the friend of the man who he thought had duped him before a year had passed his friendship was turned to secret but bitter enmity nor was it long before an event occurred a small matter which brought the king and the prelate into open collision the matter was this a young nobleman who held a clerical office committed a murder as an ecclesiastic he was brought before the court of the bishop of Lincoln and was sentenced to pay a small fine but public justice was not satisfied and the sheriff summoned the cannon who refused to plead before him the matter was referred to the king who insisted that the murderer should be tried in the civil court that a sacred profession should not screen a man who had committed a crime against society while the king had, as we think, justice on his side yet in this matter he interfered with the jurisdiction of the spiritual courts which had been enforced since Constantine Theodosius and Justinian had confirmed the privilege of the church on the ground that the irregularities of a body of men devoted to the offices of religion should be failed from the common eye so that ecclesiastics were sometimes protected when they should be punished but if the ecclesiastical courts had abuses they were genuinely presided over by good and wise men more learned than the officers of the civil courts and very popular in the Middle Ages and justice in them was generally administered so much were they valued in a dark age when the clergy were the most learned men of their times that much business came gradually to be transacted in them which previously had been settled in the civil courts as tithes, testaments, breaches of contract perjuries and questions pertaining to marriage but Henry did not like these courts and was determined to weaken their jurisdiction and transfer their power to his own courts in order to strengthen his royal authority Enlightened jurists and historians in our times he sympathised with Henry High church ecclesiastics defended jurisdiction of the spiritual courts since they upheld the power of the church so useful in the Middle Ages The king began the attack where the spiritual courts were weakest protection afforded to clergymen accused of crime so he assembled a council of bishops and barons to meet him at Westminster the bishops at first were inclined to yield to the king but Beckett gamed them over and would make no concession he stood up for the privileges of his order it was neither justice nor right which he defended but his church at all hazards not her doctrines but her prerogatives he would present a barrier against royal encroachments even if they were for the welfare of the realm he would defend the independence of the clergy and their power perhaps as an offset to royal power in his rigid defence of the privileges of the clergy we see the churchmen not the statesmen we see the antagonist not the ally of the king Henry of course was enraged who can wonder he was bearded by his former favourite by one of his subjects the contest continued the king desired the bishops to sign the Constitution of Clarendon resolutions which gave to the king instead of the church the right to punish clergymen forbade that any officer or tenant of the king should be excommunicated without his permission and in short gave to the king much power that had previously been in the hands of the church Beckett at first agreed to sign the constitutions saving the honour of his order but eventually refused at length he left the kingdom but Henry was weary with the struggle and Beckett was tired of exile never pleasant even if voluntary moreover the prelate had gained the moral victory even as Hildebrand did when the emperor of Germany stooped as suppliant in the fortress of Canosa the king of England had virtually yielded to the archbishop of Canterbury perhaps Beckett felt that his mission was accomplished that he had done the work for which he was raised up weary, sickened with the world disgusted with the pope despising his bishops perhaps he was willing to die he had a pre-sendiment that he should die as a martyr so had the French king and his prelates but Beckett longed to return to his church and celebrate the festivities of Christmas so he made up his mind to return to England although I know of a truth, he said I shall meet my passion there before embarking he made a friendly and parting visit to the king of France and then rode to the coast with an escort of one hundred horsemen as Dover was guarded by the king's retainers who might harm him he landed at Sandwich, his own town the next day he set out for Canterbury after an absence of seven years the whole population lined the road screwed it with the flowers and rent the air with songs their beloved archbishop had returned on reaching Canterbury he went directly to his cathedral and seated himself on his throne and the monks came and kissed him with tears in their eyes one Herbert said Christ has conquered, Christ is now king from Canterbury Beckett made a sort of triumphal progress throughout the kingdom with the pretence of paying a visit to the young king at Woodstock exciting rather than allaying the causes of discord scattering his excommunications still haughty, restless, implacable so that the court became alarmed and ordered him to return to his diocese he obeyed as he wished to celebrate Christmas at home and ascending his long neglected pulpit preached according to Michelette from this singular text I am come to die in the midst of you Henry at this time was on the continent was greatly annoyed at the reports of Beckett's conduct which reached him then there arrived three bishops from whom the primate had excommunicated with renewed complaints and grievances assuring him that there would be no peace so long as Beckett lived Henry was almost wild with rage and perplexity what could he do? he dared not execute the archbishop as Henry VIII would have done in his age the prelate was almost as powerful as the king violence to his person was the last thing to do for this would have involved the king in war with the adherence of the pope and would have entailed an excommunication still the supremus desire of Henry's soul was to get Beckett out of the way so yielding to an impulsive passion he said to his attendants is there no one to relieve me of the insults of this low-born and turbulent priest? among these attendants were four courtiers or knights of high birth and large estates who hearing these reproachful words left the court at once crossed the channel and repaired the castle of Sir Randolph de Brock the great enemy of Beckett who had molested him in innumerable ways some friendly person contrived to acquaint Beckett with his danger to whom he paid no heed knowing it very well himself he knew he was to die and resolved to die bravely the four armed knights meanwhile on the 29th of December rode with an escort to Canterbury dined at the Augustinian Abbey and entered the courtyard of the Archbishop's palace as Beckett had finished his midday meal and had retired to an inner room with his chaplain and a few intimate friends they then entered the hall and sought the Archbishop who received them in silence Sir Reginald Fitzhurst then broke the silence with these words we bring you the commands of the king beyond the sea that you repair without delay to the young king's presence and swear allegiance and further he commands you to absolve the bishops you have excommunicated on Beckett's refusal the night continued since you will not obey the royal command is that you and your clergy forthwith depart from the realm never more to return Beckett angrily declared he would never again leave England the knights then sprung to their feet and departed in joining the attendants to prevent the escape of Beckett who exclaimed do you think I shall fly then? neither for the king nor any living man will I fly you cannot be more ready to kill me than I am to die he sought however the shelter of his cathedral as the Vesper Bell summoned him to prayer followed by the armed knights with a company of men at arms driving before them a crowd of monks the archbishop was standing on the steps of the choir beyond the central pillar which reached to the roof of the cathedral in the dim light shed by the candles of the altars so that only the outline of his noble figure could be seen when the knights closed around him and Fitzhurst seized him perhaps meaning to drag him away as a prisoner to the king or outside the church before dispatching him Beckett cried touch me not thou abominable wretch at the same time hurling Tracy another of the knights to the ground who rising wounded him in the head with his sword the archbishop then bent his neck to the assassins exclaiming I am prepared to die for Christ and his church such was the murder of Beckett a martyr as he has generally been regarded for the liberties of the church but according to some justly punished for presumptuous opposition to his sovereign end of section 34 this recording is in the public domain section 35 of England this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Adrian Stevens the world's story, volume 9, England edited by Eva March Tappan section 35 the story of John Lackland 1199 to 1216 by Eva March Tappan Richard had left no children and now John, youngest son of Henry II became king though no one really wished to have him for a ruler a brother older than John had left a boy named Arthur for King Arthur of the Round Table but he was only 12 years old and the chief men of England were afraid that there would be war if a child was on the throne John was jealous of Arthur and in three or four years the boy disappeared so suddenly that people felt sure that John had murdered him it had long been the custom for the King of France to be a sort of overlord of the French lands of the Duke of Normandy though sometimes the Duke was the more powerful of the two men Philip now sent a formal summons to John as Duke of Normandy and therefore vassal of the French King to appear before the French court to answer for the murder of Arthur and he did not come Philip punished him by taking possession of more than half of the English King's lands in France it is perhaps because of this that John received his nickname of Lackland John's next trouble was with the church the Archbishop of Canterbury had died and it was a question whether the man that the King chose or the man that the Pope chose should have the position the Pope's choice was Stephen Langton an upright learned man of sound judgment and utter fearlessness of spirit John refused to receive him the Pope placed the kingdom under an interdict the churches were draped with black and their doors were closed the dead could not be buried in consecrated ground and no marriage could be solmonized within the walls of the church this was the state of England for four years then the Pope excommunicated the King and commissioned Philip to seize the English crown at this John yielded and was ready to make any promise and pay any amount if only he might keep his position Philip could have made very little trouble for John if the English King had not all this time been treating his subjects so badly that some of them began to think they would rather have Philip for a ruler and no one knew whether they would stand by their King or not the charters that had been given to London and to other cities John had refused to respect and he had forced many of the barons to give him large sums of money the Jews especially had suffered in his determination to get their wealth there is a record that one of them had born agonizing torture without yielding to the unjust demands of the King and finally John ordered one of his victims teeth to be knocked out every day until he should give up his gold the poor man submitted after losing a tooth every morning for seven days John had been as rapacious with the poor as with the rich for he would even take away a man's tools by which he earned his bread if the man could not pay the sum demanded men had been put into prison and refused a trial indeed the only sure way to win the case was not to have a just cause but to make the King a present of money, horses, a suit of clothes or even poultry or fish for this King who would extort so great sums from the rich did not scorn the smallest trifles if a man could be forced to give nothing more in punishing any misdeed he would demand as large a sum as could be forced from the man accused he taxed people not by any regular law but for as much as he could get when Archbishop Langton came to England John went to him to ask for absolution or the pardon of the church the Archbishop had learned just how John's subjects were suffering from his cruel treatment and he boldly refused pardon until the King should promise to obey the laws of his ancestors and treat his people justly John promised without a moment's hesitation but he soon showed that he had not the slightest idea of keeping his word the fearless Archbishop called together the clergy, barons and other prominent men to meet in a church in London when the other business the meeting was ended Langton told some of the barons that he had found the charter that Henry I had given to his people a century before the barons seemed to have forgotten all about this charter and they were delighted to find that they had so good a weapon when King John sees this, said they, he will never dare to refuse what his great-grandfather promised so long ago then the charter was read aloud and there before the altar the barons and the Archbishop promised one another that they would stand by their rights these barons were much more patient than those in the days of William the Conqueror for they agreed to wait one year to see if the King would not improve the year passed and then they met again in a church and took a solemn oath that if the King refused them justice they would make war upon him even after this they waited until Christmas then they went to John and asked him to repeat before the nation the promises that he had made to Langton when he received absolution John was badly frightened but he contrived to put them off till Easter he thought that there would be some way out of the trouble by that time but at Easter he was in an even more hopeless condition than before for now there was a great army already to fight against his tyranny what could he do? a king who would treat his subjects so unjustly would not hesitate to deceive them when John found that he must yield he sent a polite message to the barons saying that he was willing to meet them wherever they wished and to promise them whatever they desired the barons requested him to come to Runnymede, a meadow on the Thames near Windsor and there, June 15th, 1215 he signed his name and affixed his seal to a piece of parchment that is now brown, shriveled and torn in the British Museum this is the famous Magna Carta or Great Charter and just as the charters of towns secured for their many rights so they secured for the whole English nation the right that their rulers should treat them justly the people were delighted for they hoped that John would keep his word and that England would now be happy and peaceful but the king went into a perfect fury of rage he threw the furniture about and rolled over the floor like a madman gnashing his teeth and biting at sticks and straws what were these promises which John had to sign and which he said made him no longer a king but a slave one was that he would not delay justice or take bribes another that all fines of misdeeds should be fixed by law another that he would impose no taxes without the consent of his council another that he would give up his custom of seizing a large share of the property of any noble left when he died for before this John had been in the habit of taking as much as he chose and if there were young children he would take nearly all the income of the estate till the children were grown up the most important pledge was that no free man should be imprisoned or punished in any way except by the lawful judgment of his equals the barons on their part promised that they would treat their vassals just as they had made the king agree to treat them the barons feared that John would not keep his promises so they had drawn up another paper giving them the right to take his castles and lands and annoy him by every means in their power if he broke his word and John had to sign this too twenty-five overlords were specially appointed to keep watch of him this charter was sent throughout the kingdom and was read aloud in all the churches John was in a fury and went off to the Isle of Wight to think what he could do to revenge himself on the barons no one in England would help him so he sent to the continent and hired foreign soldiers to come over and fight for him at first this plan seemed to be successful for by their aid he took several strong castles from the barons but it was worse for him in the end for these soldiers were so cruel and wicked that the whole English nation hated John more than ever for bringing such people into the land again the barons met and this time they were in such despair that they could think of nothing else to do but to invite the Dauphin, eldest son of King Philip of France, to be their ruler he had married John's niece so they tried their utmost to feel that he would really be an English king the Dauphin was delighted to come but he and his men behaved worse than the other foreign soldiers they took possession of goods and castles and even began to think of banishing the barons who had invited them to come between John and the Frenchman the barons hardly knew what to do but just then John suddenly died it is said that he was crossing a dangerous place on the seashore a high tide swept away quantities of the treasure that he was carrying with him and that even his crown went under the waves John had not been in the least penitent for the wrong that he had done his people but he was so sorry to lose his treasure that he fell into a fever and died wicked man as John was it was an excellent thing for England that he had been its king for if a man only half as bad had stood in his place the barons would not have been aroused to make him sign the Great Charter several kings since the days of John have tried to deal unjustly with the nation but in the end the English people have either driven them from the throne or made them yield and keep the promises of the Charter end of section 35 this recording is in the public domain England part 6 stories of the age of Richard the Lionhearted historical note the ideal gentleman of the Middle Ages was the knight to attain this eminence a man must as a rule be well-born and he must as page and squire be carefully educated in the use of arms and riding music and courtesy having completed this course of instruction he was made a knight with much ceremony and was then sent out into the world with a blessing of the priest having vowed to sucker all women in distress to right wrongs and to maintain and defend the church there were numerous jousts or combats between two but the great joy of the knight who wished to show his prowess and do honor to his lady love was a tournament or combat between two parties of knights the invitations were given far in advance and elaborate preparations were made when the moment had come the heralds called out come forth knights come forth then followed a contest with his many rules as the most intricate system of etiquette could furnish prizes were given and the day closed with the ball were in not the man of highest rank but he who had shown most valor in the contest was the hero of the hour it is for these reasons that the name of Richard the first has been surrounded with a blaze of glory he rebelled against his father he sold most offices in the gift of the crown and even freed for a large sum of money the Scottish king from his obligations of fealty he spent a very small portion of his reign in England but when he went on a crusade and was taken prisoner his English subjects willingly paid his large ransom for was he not their idol a very parfait gentle knight end of section 36 this recording is in the public domain section 37 of England this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the world's story volume 9 edited by Eva March Tappan section 37 the tournament of Ashby de la Zeus about 1194 by Sir Walter Scott the scene was singularly romantic on the verge of a wood which approached to within a mile of the town of Ashby was an extensive matter of the finest and most beautiful green turf surrounded on one side by the forest and fringed on the other by straggling oak trees some of which had grown to an immense size the ground as if fashioned on purpose for the marshal display which was intended sloped gradually down on all sides to a level bottom which was enclosed for the list with strong palisades forming a space of a quarter of a mile in length and about half as broad the form of the enclosure was an oblong square save that the corners were considerably rounded off in order to afford more convenience for the spectators the openings for the entry of the combatants were at the northern and southern extremities of the lists accessible by strong wooden gates each wide enough to admit to horsemen riding a breast at each of these portals were stationed to heralds attended by six trumpets as many per Svivan sent a strong body of minute arms for maintaining order and ascertaining the quality of the knights who proposed to engage in this marshal game on a platform beyond the southern entrance formed by a natural elevation of the ground were pit five magnificent pavilions adorned with penins of rusted and black the chosen colors of the five knights challengers the cords of the tents were of the same color before each pavilion were suspended the shield of the night by whom it was occupied and beside it stood his squire quaintly disguised as a salvage or a silver man or in some other fantastic dress according to the taste of his master and the character he was pleased to assume during the game the central pavilion as the place of honor had been assigned to Brian Dubois Gilbert whose renowned in all games of chivalry no less than the connection with the knights who had undertaken this passage of arms had occasioned him to be eagerly received into the company of the challengers and even adopted as their chief and leader though he had so recently joined them on one side of his tent were pitched those of Reginald Fawn de Berth and Philippe de Malvoise and on the other was the pavilion a few de Garmacinil noble Baron in the vicinity whose ancestor been Lord High steward of England in the time of the conqueror and his son William Rufus Ralph de Vipal a knight of Saint John of Jerusalem who had some ancient possessions at a place called Heather near Ashby de la Azush occupied the fifth pavilion from the entrance into the lists of gently sloping passage ten yards in breath led up to the platform on which the tents were pitched it was strongly secured by a palisade on each side and was the Esplanade in front of the pavilions and the hole was guarded by minute arms the northern access to the list terminated in a similar entrance of 30 feet in breath at the extremity of which was a large enclosed space for such knights as might be disposed to enter the list with the challengers behind which replaced tents containing refreshments of every kind for their accommodation with armorers, barriers and other attendants in readiness to give their services wherever they might be necessary the exterior of the list was in part occupied by temporary galleries spread with tapestry and carpets and accommodated with cushions for the convenience of those ladies and nobles who were expected to attend the tournament a narrow space between these galleries and the lists gave accommodation for spectators of a better degree than the mirrored vulgar and might be compared to the pit of a theater the promiscuous multitude arranged themselves upon large banks of turf prepared for the purpose which aided by the natural elevation of the ground enable them to overlook the galleries and obtain a fair view into the lists besides the accommodation which these stations afforded many hundreds had perched themselves on the branches of the trees which surrounded better and even the steeple of a country church at some distance was crowded with spectators it only remains to notice respecting the general arrangement of one gallery in the very center of the eastern side of the lists and consequently exactly opposite to the spot where the shock of the combat was to take place was raised higher than the others more richly decorated and graced by a sort of throne and canopy on which the royal arms were emblazoned squires pages of the common enriched liveries weighted around this place of honor which was designed for Prince John and his attendants opposite to this royal gallery was another elevated to the same height on the western side of the lists and more gaily if less sumptuously decorated than that destined for the prince himself a train of pages and of young maidens the most beautiful who could be selected gaily dressed in fancy habits of green and pink surrounded a throne decorated with the same colors among penins and flags bearing wounded hearts burning hearts bleeding hearts those in quivers and all the commonplace emblems of that triumphs of cupid ablaze and inscription and form the spectators that this seat of honor was designed for la ronde de la boule des des amours but who was to represent the queen of beauty and of love on the present occasion no one was prepared to guess the royal spectators of every description thrown forward to occupy their respective stations and not without many quarrels concerning those which they were entitled to hold some of these were settled by the minute arms with brief ceremony the shafts of their battle axes and pommels of their swords being readily employed as arguments to convince the more refractory others which involve the rival claims of more elevated persons were determined by the heralds or by the two marshes of the field we in the we veil and steven de mar de vol who armed at all points wrote up and down the list to enforce and preserve good order among the spectators gradually the galleries became filled with knights and nobles in their robes of peace as long and rich tinted mantles were contrasted with the gayer and more splendid habits of the ladies who in a greater proportion than even the men themselves strong to witness a sport which one would have thought to bloody and dangerous to afford their sex much pleasure the lower and interior space was soon filled by substantial yeoman and burgers and such of the lesser gentry as from modesty poverty or dubious title just not assume any higher place after the arrival of Prince John the hero proclaimed the laws of the tournament which were as follows first the five challenges were to undertake all commerce secondly any night proposing to combat might if he pleased select a special antagonist from among the challengers by touching his shield if he did so with the reverse of his lands the trial of skill was made with what we're called the arms courtesy that is with lances at whose extremity a piece of round flat board was fixed so that no danger it was encountered safe from the shock of the horses and riders if the shield was touched with the sharp end of the lance the combat was understood to be at who trance that is the knights were to fight with sharp weapons as in actual battle thirdly when the knights present had accomplished their vow by each of them breaking five lances the Prince was to declare the victor in the first day's journey who should receive his prize award horse of exquisite beauty and match his strength and in addition to this reward of valor it was now declared he should have the peculiar honor of naming the queen of love and beauty by whom the prize should be given on the ensuing day fourthly it was announced that on the second day there should be a general tournament in which all the knights present who were desirous to win praise might take part in being divided into two bands of equal members might fight it out manfully until the signal was given by Prince John to cease the combat the elected queen of love and beauty was then to crown the knight whom the prince should have judged to have borne himself best in the second day with a coronet composed of thin gold plate cut into the shape of a laurel crown on this second day the nightly game ceased but on that which was to follow feats of archery of bull baiting and other popular amusements were to be practiced for the more immediate amusement of the populace in this manner did Prince John endeavor to lay the foundation of a popularity which he was perpetually throwing down by some inconsiderate act of wanton aggression upon the feelings and prejudices of the people the list now presented a most splendid spectacle the sloping gallows were crowded with all that was wealthy and beautiful in the northern and midland parts of England and the contrast of the various dresses of these dignified spectators rendered the view as gay as it was rich while the interior and lower space filled with the substantial burgesses and young men of merry England formed in their more plain attire a dark fringe or border around the circle of brilliant embroidery relieving and at the same time setting off its splendor the heralds finished their proclamation with their usual cry of largesse, largesse gallant knights and golden silver pieces were showered on them from the galleries that being a high point of chivalry to exhibit liberality towards those whom the Asia uncounted as once the secretaries and the historians of honor the bounty of the spectators was acknowledged by the customary shouts of love of ladies death of champions honor to the generous glory to the brave to which the more humble spectators added their acclamations and a numerous band of trumpeters the flourish of their martial instruments. When these sounds had seized the heralds with proof from the lists and gay and glittering procession and none remained within them save the marshals of the field who arm kappa, pa, sat on horseback motionless as statues at the opposite ends of the lists. Meantime the enclosed space at the northern extremity of the lists large as it was was now completely crowded with knights desirous to prove its worthiness the challenges and when viewed from the galleries presented the appearance of a sea of waving plumage intermixed with glistening helmets and tall lances to the extremities of which were in many cases attached small penance of about a span's breadth which fluttering in the air as the breeze caught them joined with the restless motion of the feathers to add liveliness to the scene. At length the barriers were opened in five nights chosen by lot advanced slowly into the area riding in front and the other four following in pairs all resplendently armed and my Saxon authority in the war door manuscript records at great length their devices their colors and the embroidery of their horse trappings. It is unnecessary to be particular on these subjects to borrow lines from a contemporary poet who has written but too little the knights are dust and their good swords are rust their souls are with the saints we trust. Their castles have long molded from the walls of their castles their castles themselves are about green mounds and shattered ruins the plays that once knew them knows them no more they many a race since theirs has died out and been forgotten in the very land which they occupied with all the authority of feudal proprietors and feudal lords what then would it avail the reader to know their names or the evanescent symbols of their martial rank now however no wit anticipating the oblivion which awaited their names and feats the champions advance through the lists restraining their far used deeds and compelling them to move slowly but at the same time they exhibited their paces together with the grace and dexterity of the writers as the procession entered the list the sound of a wild barbaric music was heard behind the tents of the challenges where the performers were concealed it was of eastern origin having been brought from the holy land and the mixture of the symbols and bells seemed to bid welcome at once their defiance to the knights as they advanced with the eyes of an immense concourse of spectators fixed upon them the five knights advanced up the platform upon which the tents of the challengers stood and they're separating themselves each touch slightly and with the reverse of his lands the shield of the antagonist to whom he wished to oppose himself the lower order of spectators in general named many of the higher class and it is even said several of the ladies were rather disappointed at the champions using the arms of courtesy for the same sort of persons who in the present day applaud most highly the deepest tragedies were then interested in a tournament exactly in proportion to the danger incurred by the champions engaged having intimated their more pacific purpose the champions retreated to the extremity of the lists where they remain drawn up in a line while the challenger selling each from his pavilion mounted their horses and headed by Brian de Bois-Guilbert descended from the platform and opposed themselves individually to the knights who had touched their respective shields at the flourish of Clarins and trumpets they started out against each other at full gallant and such was the superior dexterity or good fortune of the challengers that those opposed to Guilbert, Mavlas and Fond de Bois-Guilbert rolled on the ground the antagonist of agron Miss Neal instead of bearing his lands point fair against the crest through the shield of his enemies swerve so much from the line as to break the weapon I thought the person of his opponent a circumstance which was accounted more disgraceful than that of being actually on horse because the latter might happen from accident whereas the former events awkwardness and want of management of the weapon and of the horse the fifth night alone maintained the honor of his party imparted fairly with the night of Saint John both splintering their lances without advantage on either side the shouts of the multitude together with the acclimations of the heralds and the clanger of the trumpets announced the triumph of the victors and the defeat of the vanquish the former retreated to their pavilions and the latter gathering themselves up as they could withdrew from the list and disgrace and ejection to agree with their victors concerning the redemption of their arms and their horses which according to the laws of the tournament they had forfeit the fifth of their number alone carried in the list long enough to be greeted by the applause of the spectators amongst whom he retreated to the aggravation doubtless of his companion's mortification. A second and a third party of knights took the field and although their various success yet upon the whole the advantage decidedly remained with the challengers not one of whom lost his seat or swerve from his charge misfortunes which befell one or two of their antagonists in each encounter the spirits therefore of those opposed to them seem to be considerably damped by their continued success three knights only appeared on the fourth entry who avoiding the shields of war gilbert and fawned berth contented themselves with touching those the three other knights who had not altogether manifested the same strength and dexterity this politics election did not alter the fortune of the field the challengers were still successful one of their antagonists was overthrown and both the others failed in the attained that is in striking the helmet and shield of their antagonists firmly and strongly with the lance held in a direct line that the weapon might break unless the champion was overthrown after this fourth encounter there was a considerable pause or did it appear that anyone was very desirous of renewing the contents the spectators murmured among themselves from among the challengers malblasin and frawned berth were unpopular from their characters and the others except grand mess near were disliked as strangers and foreigners the pause in the tournament was still uninterrupted accepting by the voices of the girls exclaiming love of ladies spent ring of lances stand forth gallant nights their eyes look upon your deeds the music also of the challengers breathe from time to time while bursts expressive of triumph or defiance while the clowns grudge to holiday would seem to pass away in inactivity and old nights and nobles lamented in whispers the decay of martial spirit spoke of the triumphs of their younger days but agreed that the land did not now supply of such transcendent beauty as have animated the gels of former times brinch down began to talk to his attendants about making ready the banquet and the necessity of a judging the prize to Brian de Bois Gilbert who had with a single spear overthrown two nights and foiled a third at length as the serah music of the challengers concluded one of those long and high flourishes of which they have broken the silence of the list it was answered by a solitary trumpet which breathed a note of defiance from the northern extremity all eyes were turned to see the new champion which these sounds announced and no sooner were the barriers opened than he paced into the list as far as could be judged of a man sheathed in armor the new adventure did not greatly exceed the middle size and seemed rather slender than strongly made his suit of armor was formed of steel richly and laid with gold and the device on his shield was a young oak tree pulled up the roots with the Spanish word deschata signifying disinherited he was mounted on a gallant black horse and as he passed through the list he gracefully saluted the prince and the ladies by lowering his lands the dexterity with which he managed his steed in something of youthful grace which he displayed in his manner won him the favor of the multitude which some of the lower classes expressed by calling out touched Ralph de Vipon's shield touched the hospitalers shield he has the least you'll see he is your cheapest bargain the champion moving onward amid these well-meant hints ascended the platform by the sloping alley which led to it from the list and to the astonishment of all present riding straight up to the central pavilion struck with the sharpened of his spear the shielded blind of Guilbert until it rang again all stood astonished at his presumption but none more than that redoubted knight whom he had supplied to mortal combat and who little expecting so rude a challenge for standing carelessly at the door of the pavilion have you confessed yourself brother said the Templar and have you heard mass this morning that you pair your life so frankly I'm fitter to meet death than thou art answered the disinherited knight for by this name the stranger had recorded himself in the books of attorney then take your place in the list said Bois Guilbert and look your last upon the sun for this night thou shalt sleep in paradise. Grim mercy for thy courtesy reply the disinherited knight and to requite I advise thee to take a fresh horse and a new lance for by my honor you will need both having expressed himself thus confidently he rained his horse backward down the slope which he had ascended and compelled him in the same manner to move backward through the list until he reached the northern extremity where he remained stationary in expectation of his antagonist this sheet of horsemanship again attracted the applause of the multitude however incensed at his adversary for the precautions which he recommended Brian de Bois Guilbert did not neglect his advice for his honor was too nearly concerned to permit his neglecting any means which might ensure victory over his presumptuous opponent he changed his horse for approved and fresh one of great strength and spirit he chose a new and tough spear less the wood of the form it might have been strained in the previous moment as he had sustained lastly he laid aside his shield which had received some little damage and received another from his squires his first had only borne the general device of his rider representing two knights riding upon one horse an emblem expressive of the original humility and poverty of the Templars qualities which they had since exchanged for the arrogance and wealth that finally occasioned their suppression when the two champions stood opposed to each other at the two extremities of the list the public expectation was strained to the highest pitch few augured the possibility that the encounter could terminate well for the disinherited knight yet his courage and gallantry secured the general good wishes of the spectators the trumpets had no sooner given the signal than the champions vanished from their posts with the speed of time and closed in the center of the list with the shock of a thunderbolt the lances burst into shivers up to the very grasp and it seemed at the moment that both knights had fallen for the shock it made each horse recoil backwards upon its haunches the address of the riders recovered their steeds by use of the bridle and spur and having glared on each other for an instant with eyes which seemed to flash fire through the bars of their visors each made it out of the light of the rider's eyes and it seemed as if they were through the bars of their visors each made a demi-bolter and returned to the extremity of the list received a fresh lance from attendants a loud shout from the spectators waving of scarfs and handkerchiefs and general acclamations a test of the interest taken by the spectators in this encounter the most equal as well as the best performed which had graced the day but no sooner had the knights resumed their station than the clamor of applause was hushed into a silence so deep and so did that it seemed the multitude were afraid even to breathe a few minutes pause having been allowed that the combatants and their horses might recover breath Prince John with his truncheon signed to the trumpets to sound the onset the champions a second time sprung from their stations and closed in the center of the list with the same speed the same dexterity the same violence but not the same equal fortune as before in this second encounter the Templar aimed at the center of his antagonist shield and struck it so fair and forcibly that his spirit went to shivers and the disinherited knight reeled in his saddle on the other hand that champion had in the beginning of his career directed the point of his lance towards Royal Gilbert's shield but changing his aim almost in the moment of encounter he addressed it to the helmet a mark more difficult to hit by which if attained rendered the shock more irresistible very true he hit the Norman on the bizer where his lance's point kept hold of the bars yet even at this disadvantage the Templar sustained his high reputation and had not the girth of his saddle burst he might not have been unhorsed as a chance however saddle horse and man rolled on the ground under a cloud of dust to extricate himself from the stirrups and fallen Steve was to the Templar stairs to work for the moment and stung with madness both at his disgrace and at the acclimations with which it was hailed by the spectators he drew his sword and waved it in defiance of his conqueror the disinherited knight sprung from his steed and also and sheathed his sword the marshes of the field however spurred their horses between them and reminded them that the laws of the tournament did not on the present occasion permit this species of encounter we shall meet again I trust said the Templar casting a resentful glance at his antagonist and where there are none to separate us if we do not said the disinherited knight the fall shall not be mine on foot or horseback with spear with axe or with sword I'm alike ready to encounter the more and angrier words would have been exchanged but the marshals crossing their lances betwixt them compelled them to separate the disinherited knight returned to his first station and brought your bear to his tent where he remained for the rest of the day in an agony of despair without a lighting from his horse the conqueror called for a bowl of wine and opening the beaver or lower part of his helmet and now said he crafted to all true English hearts and to the confusion of foreign tyrants he then commanded his trumpet to sound a defiance to the challenges and desired a herald to announce to them that he should make no election but was willing to encounter them in the order in which they pleased to advance against him the gigantic font de berth armed in sable armor was the first to took the field he bore on a white shield a black bull's head half the face by the numerous encounters which he had undergone and bearing the arrogant motto kawai odd soon over this champion the disinherited knight obtained a slight but decisive advantage both knights broke their lances fairly but font de berth who lost the steer in the encounter was a judge to have the disadvantage in the strangers third encounter with Sir Philip Malvazza he was equally successful striking that Baron so forcibly on the cask that the laces of the helmet broke and Malvazza only safe from falling but being unhelmeted was declared banquished like his companions in his fourth combat with de grand Missy Neil the disinherited knight shared as much courtesy as he had hitherto advanced courage and dexterity de grand Miss Neil's horse which was young and violent reared and plunged in the course of the career so as to disturb the writer's aim on the stranger declining to take the advantage which this accident afforded him raised his lance and passing his antagonist without touching him wheeled his horse and moved back again to his own end of the list offering his antagonist by harrow the chance of a second encounter this de grand Miss Neil declined a bowing himself banquished as much by the courtesy as by the address of his opponent Ralph de Villepont summed up the list of the strangers triumphs being hurled to the ground with such force that the blood gushed from his nose and his mouth and he was born senseless from the list the acclamations of thousands applauded the unanimous award of the prince and marshals announcing that day's honors to the disinherited knight in section 37 this recording is in the public domain