The King Who Would Not Turn His Back
When Richard I heard that the town of Verneuil in Normandy was under threat, he made a vow that few could be expected to take so literally.
1197
King Richard I 1189-1199
When Richard I heard that the town of Verneuil in Normandy was under threat, he made a vow that few could be expected to take so literally.
1197
King Richard I 1189-1199
On March 20th, 1194, Richard I returned to England after two years of captivity to Leopold of Austria, with whom he had quarrelled on the Crusades. Richard’s brother John, who had tried to keep him locked up as long as possible, fled to the protection of Philip II of France; but barely a month had passed before Richard quitted his capital yet again, and was on his way back to Normandy.
spelling modernised
WHEN it was signified unto King Richard the First, son to the foresaid King Henry,* sitting at supper in his Palace at Westminster (which we call the old Palace now), that the French King besieged his Town of Verneuil,* in Normandy, he in greatness of courage protested in these words: “I will never turn my back until I have confronted the French.”
For performance of which his Princely word, he caused the wall in his Palace at Westminster to be broken down directly towards the South, posted* to the coast, and immediately into Normandy, where the very report of his sudden arrival so terrified the French that they raised the siege and retired themselves.
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* Henry II of England, who reigned from 1154 to 1189.
* Verneuil-sur-Avre in Normandy. The threatened siege described here took place early in May 1194. Philip II of France had tried to capture Verneuil before: back on June 23rd, 1173, he had briefly taken the town only for Henry II to reclaim it days later. An even more famous battle was fought there in 1425, during the Hundred Years’ War, in which some 9,000 English defeated 15,000 French and their Scottish allies. The town was taken by the French in 1449.
* In the days of horse-drawn carriages, to travel ‘post’ meant to go quickly, changing to a fresh team of horses every few miles. The journey posed a further test of Richard’s resolve. His ship had just left Portsmouth on May 2nd when a storm forced the royal fleet to turn about, and take shelter in the harbour again, awaiting more favourable weather. Judging from his performance at Westminster, one can only assume that he made every necessary arrangement to keep his vow throughout.
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Richard made a promise. “I will never turn my back until I have confronted the French.”
See if you can include one or more of these words in your answer.
IFace. IISwear. III-Until.