Читать онлайн «Richard II»
Автор Джейкоб Эбботт
Jacob Abbott. Richard II
Makers of History
Richard II.
BY JACOB ABBOTT
WITH ENGRAVINGS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
HARPER &BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
1901
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight, by
HARPER &BROTHERS,
in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District
of New York.
Copyright, 1886, by BENJAMIN VAUGHAN ABBOTT, AUSTIN ABBOTT, LYMAN
ABBOTT, and EDWARD ABBOTT.
[Illustration: PARLEY WITH THE INSURGENTS. ]
PREFACE.
King Richard the Second lived in the days when the chivalry of feudal times was in all its glory. His father, the Black Prince; his uncles, the sons of Edward the Third, and his ancestors in a long line, extending back to the days of Richard the First, were among the most illustrious knights of Europe in those days, and their history abounds in the wonderful exploits, the narrow escapes, and the romantic adventures, for which the knights errant of the Middle Ages were so renowned. This volume takes up the story of English history at the death of Richard the First, and continues it to the time of the deposition and death of Richard the Second, with a view of presenting as complete a picture as is possible, within such limits, of the ideas and principles, the manners and customs, and the extraordinary military undertakings and exploits of that wonderful age.
KING RICHARD II.
CHAPTER I. RICHARD'S PREDECESSORS.
Three Richards. -Richard the Crusader. -King John. -Character of the kings and nobles of those days. -Origin and nature of their power. -Natural rights of man in respect to the fruits of the earth. -Beneficial results of royal rule. -The power of kings and nobles was restricted. -Disputes about the right of succession. -Case of young Arthur. -The King of France becomes his ally. -Map showing the situation of Normandy. -Arthur is defeated and made prisoner. -John attempts to induce Arthur to abdicate.
-Account of the assassination of Arthur. -Various accounts of the mode of Arthur's death. -Uncertainty in respect to these stories. -League formed against him by his barons. -Portrait of King John. -Magna Charta. -Runny Mead. -The agreement afterward repudiated. -New wars. -New ratifications of Magna Charta. -Cruelties and oppressions practiced upon the Jews. -Extract from the old chronicles. -Absurd accusations. -The story of the crucified child. -John Lexinton. -Confessions extorted by torture. -Injustice and cruelty of the practice. -Anecdotes of the nobles and the king.There have been three monarchs of the name of Richard upon the English throne.
Richard I. is known and celebrated in history as Richard the Crusader. He was the sovereign ruler not only of England, but of all the Norman part of France, and from both of his dominions he raised a vast army, and went with it to the Holy Land, where he fought many years against the Saracens with a view of rescuing Jerusalem and the other holy places there from the dominion of unbelievers. He met with a great many remarkable adventures in going to the Holy Land, and with still more remarkable ones on his return home, all of which are fully related in the volume of this series entitled King Richard I.
