A trip to the Boston Public Library, Part II.

Or, searching for Excalibur.

The ancient Greeks, aware of this, were wise enough to use the pen as a remedy against oblivion....
— Richard de Templo

There is a kind of magic in reading ancient books. It amazes me that I can read the direct thoughts of someone as near-mythical as Julius Caesar. Reading his The Conquest of Gaul is really a magical experience for me.

Previously we wrote about our visit to the Boston Public Library to read old books on the subject of Richard the Lionheart. You may want to read that first if you have not. In particular we took a look at Richard of Devizes. Today we'll see what we might learn from Ambroise and the Itinerarium.

All of this was triggered by a single, one-sentence line I'd read about King Richard's negotiations with Tancred, in Sharon Kay Penman's Lionheart:

Richard presented the Sicilian king with Excalibur, the sword of the fabled King Arthur, discovered at Glastonbury Abbey. Tancred offered a more practical gift: fifteen galleys and four horse transports for the crusade.

What???? The legendary sword of King Arthur, lost forever when Arthur had it cast into a lake as he neared death? In a mythological time far in the past? Suddenly it reappears in the possession of Richard Lionheart on the way to the Holy Land?

That's a nugget that could spawn an entire book. And is at least worth digging a bit. So, I've focused my early reading in these old histories around the time Richard spent in Messina, which is an interesting mini-saga in itself. Here’s what happened:

Richard is sailing his way to the Holy Land, and stops in Messina, Sicily, a convenient port-of-call before setting out across the Mediterranean. As it happens, Richard's sister Joanna is married (or was) to the recently-deceased King William II of Sicily. Tancred, the illegitimate cousin of William, has taken control of Sicily and seized Joanna (and her sizable dowry), which Richard is not that happy about. The French King Philip is also on crusade with Richard, and in today's terms you'd call them "frenemies". Richard theoretically has paid homage to Philip in order to gain Philip's help in battles against Richard's father Henry II, and is his vassal. But in practice Richard considers himself the equal of Philip (as he is King of England), behaves accordingly, and they are often at loggerheads. Tancred, not-so-affectionately referred to as The Monkey-King because he's short and ugly, is trying to hold Sicily from being taken by the German Holy Roman Empire (as William has named his sister Constance his heir and she is married to Henry VI, the King of the Holy Roman Empire). Joanna's dowry includes land that lies directly between the two, so Tancred needs to control that land. Three Kings on a small island is a recipe for trouble, and it arrives in the form of both political battles between the Kings and near-open warfare between the residents of Sicily and the Crusaders on their way to the Holy Land. Eventually Richard assaults Messina (he's living outside the cities walls), takes control of it, and then negotiates a settlement between all concerned. Including giving Excalibur to Tancred.

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As mentioned previously, the main histories of Richard are those of Richard of Devizes, Ambroise, Richard de Templo, and Roger of Hoveden. At BPL I am reading the first three. Last time we considered Richard of Devizes, today let's look at Ambroise and de Templo.

Ambroise was a jongleur, a minstrel or clerk, and his history is in fact composed as verse, essentially a mini-Iliad. He was in Richard's service and was on campaign with him. (He also reportedly sang the Mass a Richard's brother King John's second coronation). Ambroise estimates Richard's host at one hundred thousand men. Modern scholars think this an exaggeration, usually 10,000 to 20,000 is thought more accurate. An interesting anecdote provides a visceral sense of it: as Richard's force moved through southern France toward Marseille to embark, they must cross a river. A bridge washed out, and they had to be ferried across the river. It took three full days for the force to cross.

There is an amusing mixup of language in the translation of Ambroise, as the army & fleet went to Messina:

You who have mind and memory, you have indeed heard how the navy and the marvellous fleet of snacks*, had passed by Spain. The fleet arrived at Messina, where it awaited Richard, to whom England belonged.

The "snacks" are in fact snekkars, a derivative of Viking longships. But a fleet of snacks sounds more enjoyable :)

Here's Ambroise on the subject of Richard's taking of Messina:

When the king had taken Messina and placed his banners on the towers, then the king of France, jealous and annoyed, as were his people, that Richard had raised his banners there, sent word to him that his men would lower the banners and they would raise his own on the walls of the city. He did indeed send word to him that in doing this Richard had offended Philip's dignity and that this displeased him greatly. My lords, I ask you to judge which of them had the better right to raise their banners he who did not wish to undertake the attack on the city, or he who dared such an undertaking.

King Richard heard of this business. He did not deign to make a long dispute over such a request, against the other king, who was raising such a storm over the matter; however many words were said which were full of hatred and folly; but one should not write about all such follies nor put them into a book. However, all the high clerics and the great men spoke about peace a great deal and in divers ways until at the end both kings had their banners on the towers and turrets. Then they turned their attention to send news to the king of Sicily [to tell] of the people of the town, of the villainy and excesses that they had suffered against them and their people. King Richard's messengers asked him on the king's behalf that he demanded with insistence the dower of his sister and her part of the great treasure that it be given to her as was right, for this would be right and reasonable, along with whatever belonged to the lady. The messengers were named; they were great noblemen, men of renown, men of high lineage and great nobility, men of great importance, the men who would deal with this business. One of those who set about the task was the duke of Burgundy, another [was] Robert of Sablé, a noble man of high birth and great affability, and there could have been others whose names I do not know. They set off and rode away and went so far on their way that they soon told their message to the king of Palermo.

I amusingly note the "one should not write about such follies" - why-ever not? It sounds like it could have been quite amusing!

It is also interesting to compare Ambroise's take on Berengaria compared to Richard of Devizes (who called her 'a maid more accomplished than beautiful'):

France on his galleys, then made his way beyond the straits, straight to Reggio whence news had been sent to him that his mother had arrived there bringing to the king his beloved. She was a wise maiden, a fine lady, both noble and beautiful, with no falseness or treachery in her. Her name was Berengaria; the king of Navarre was her father. He had given her to the mother of King Richard who had made great efforts to bring her that far. Then was she called queen and the king loved her greatly. Since the time when he was count of Poitiers she had been his heart's desire. He had brought her straight to Messina with her female attendants and his mother. He spoke to his mother of his pleasure and she to him, without keeping anything from him. He kept the girl, whom he held dear, and sent back his mother to look after his land that he had left, so that his honour would not decrease.

Later he will relate that when Richard storms Messina (background), near 10,000 men enter the city, and that they take the city in less time than it takes a priest to say Matins.

Richard de Templo was also on Crusade with Richard, starting in Lyons, then at Sicily, Cyprus and eventually the Holy Land. His Itinerarium closely follows Ambroise's work, but is a prose history, and it was ascribed to the poet Vinsauf (in apparent error) for many years.

Richard de Templo was not afraid to sing Richard's praises:

He had the valor of Hector, the magnanimity of Achilles, and was equal to Alexander, and not inferior to Roland in valor; nay, he outshone many illustrious characters of our own times. The liberality of a Titus was his, and, which is so rarely found in a soldier, he was gifted with the eloquence of Nestor and the prudence of Ulysses; and he shewed himself pre-eminent in the conclusion and transaction of business, as one whose knowledge was not without active good-will to aid it, nor his good-will wanting in knowledge.

Success made him better fitted for action; fortune ever favors the bold, and though she works her pleasure on whom she will, Richard was never to be overwhelmed with adversity. He was tall of stature, graceful in figure; his hair between red and auburn; his limbs were straight and flexible; his arms rather long, and not to be matched for wielding the sword or for striking with it; and his long logs suited the rest of his frame; while his appearance was commanding, and his manners and habits suitable; and he gained the greatest celebrity, not more from his high birth than from the virtues that adorned it.

Richard does know how to make an entrance:

And lo! they beheld the sea in the distance covered with innumerable galleys; and the sound of trumpets and clarions, loud and shrill, strike upon the car ! Then, as they approached nearer, they saw the galleys as they were impelled onward, laden and adorned with arms of all kinds; their pennons and standards floating in countless numbers in the breeze in good order and on the tops of their spears; the prow of the galleys distinguished from each other by the variety of the paintings, with shields glittering in the sun, and you might behold the sea boiling from the number of oarsmen who plied it, and the ears of the spectators rang with the peals of the instruments commonly called trumpets, and their delight was aroused by the approach of the varied crowd, when lo! the magnificent king, accompanied by the crowd of obedient galleys, standing on a prow more elevated and ornamental than the others, as if to see what he had not seen before, or to be seen by the crowds that densely thronged the shore, lands in a splendid dress, where the sailors whom he had sent before him, and others of his equipage, receive him with congratulations, and bring forward the chargers and horses which had been committed to their care for transportation, that he and his suite might mount. The natives crowd round him on all sides, mixed with his own men, and followed him to his hostel. The common people conversed with each other in admiration of his great glory; and agreed that he was worthy of empire, and deserved to be set over nations and kingdoms, "for the fame of him which we had before heard fell far short of the truth when we saw him." Meanwhile the trumpets blew, and their sounds being harmoniously blended, there arose a kind of discordant concord of notes, whilst the sameness of the sounds being continued, the one followed the other in mutual succession, and the notes which had been lowered were again resounded.

We also learn from the Itinerarium that Richard is both skilled in battle as well as a careful, observant planner. During the battle for Messina, Richard is at the forefront of the fighting, but it is his advance preparation that carries the day:

But, on the land side, where the king of England was, a man remarkable for his skill in arms, the attack was closely pressed; some essayed to cut the fastenings of the gates, and not succeeding, they ascended a high hill, close by the city, and by means of a postern, which King Richard, on the second day of his arrival, when going round the walls to reconnoitre with two companions, had observed to be neglected by the citizens....

But our men now marched through the captured city as victors, preceded by King Richard, who was the first in every attack: by his own daring example, he at once gave courage to his own men, and carried dismay amongst the foe.... King Richard captured Messina by one assault, in less time than a priest could chant the matin service.

Richard is also very generous, apparently:

…which were brought in, or the different kinds of cups, or the crowds of servants in splendid attire? which, if any one wishes to do, let him measure in his mind the magnanimity of King Richard, and then he can understand the kind of feast which would be prepared. You might have seen there nothing unbecoming or inapposite nothing which was not of value and commendable; for the dishes and platters on which they were served were of no other material or substance than gold or silver, and all the vessels were of wrought gold or silver, with images of men and beast worked thereon with the chisel or the file, and adorned with precious stones. Moreover, their joyous countenances were conspicuous above all, and gave grace to the festival; and the guests were entertained with the cheerfulness of the entertainers over and above the variety and abundance of meat and drink. After the feast was at an end, King Richard set before the king of France the most beautiful cups, and gave him his choice in honour of the occasion, and gave to each of the nobles presents according to his rank; for like Titus, with whose hand he lavished his wealth, he thought that the day was lost on which he happened to hare given nothing.

Together, Ambroise and Richard de Templo provide a detailed and fascinating blow-by-blow of the machinations that transpire in Messina. But they both fail to mention the reason we came: Excalibur.

Neither mention Richard's generous (and to my mind, inexplicable) gift of Excalibur to Tancred.

For that, we must turn to Roger of Hoveden.