Here Be Dragons - 1 Sharon Penman (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📖

French monarch and his son contended that John was no rightful King, having been charged with treason by his brother Richard and having been condemned by a french court for the murder of his nephew Arthur. Guala was not impressed, and warned them that John was the Pope's vassal and England Part of the patrimony of the Holy Roman Church. But Louis was deaf to Y but the seductive sirens of kingship, and he declared his intent to a"n the crown that was his by right, his wife being niece to John and Goddaughter to Henry.John remained sanguine in the face of the impending French inva-I "'for he, more than any other English King, had appreciated an is-ikmgdom's need for naval supremacy and had spared no expense in1 dlng England's first fleet. He felt confident that his ships would be

478able to keep Louis bottled up within Calais harbor. There was one aspect of successful kingship, however, that John had always utterly lacked-^ luck.Fortune now delivered a stunning blow. On the night of May lg sudden storm raked the Kentish coast, and John's galleys were scattered, driven onto the rocks or out to sea.When coast watchers at Thanet reported sails on the horizon two days later, John allowed himself the indulgence of optimism, allowed himself to hope that some of his fleet had ridden out the squall. But the ships that sailed intoPegwell Bay flew the golden fleur de lys of FrancePembroke and Chester advised against an immediate confrontationtoo many ofJohn's mercenaries were French, and John owed them too much in back pay to trust them in an encounter with their liege lord's son. John agreed, unwilling to risk all upon a single battle, one that might be decided by treachery, and he withdrew toward the west.He'd hoped that the invasion of a foreign Prince would rally his subjects to his side. The opposite happened. Louis' presence upon English soil acted as a catalyst for the rebel cause. Men flocked to his banners, even men who'd so far been loyal. John's support began to bleed away. To stave off a lethal hemorrhage, the papal legate Guala invoked the moral authority of the Church on John's behalf, and on Whitsunday he publicly excommunicated Louis and his followers, placed London under Interdict. But that did not deter Londoners from giving Louis a joyous welcome just four days later.Stunned by the acclaim and acceptance the French Prince was encountering, John abandoned Winchester as Louis moved into Hampshire. On June 14, Louis took the ancient city of Winchester, set about besieging the royal castle. John retreated southward, reaching the security of Corfe Castle on June 23. That was the day he learned of the defections. The Earl of Arundel, the Count ofAumale, and John's own cousin, William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, had gone toWinchester, where they had disavowed allegiance to John and acknowledged Louis as their King.CORFE Castle dominated the Dorsetshire peninsula known as Purbec Isle. Its history was a grim one, for it was often used as a royal prisonHere the ill-starred prophet Peter of Wakefield had passed the las months of his life.Here twenty-two knights taken captive after Jonn victory at Mirebeau had overpowered their gaolers, barricaded trie selves within the keep, and starved to death rather than surren Here, too, John held four of Maude de Braose's grandsons, children the son who'd died with her in a Windsor dungeon. ButCorfe was a ^ favorite residence of the Angevin Kings. John had constructed

479living quarters in the inner bailey, just east of the great keep, whereIsabelle and their children awaited his comingISABELLE stirred, reached sleepily toward John's side of the bed "John7 Why are y°u not abed7"John turned from the open window, from the summer dark "It has begun to Tain,"he said "Go back to sleep "Instead she sat up, wrapped herself in the sheet "I've missed you so We've never been apart like this, not in all the years of our marriage Pour me some wine, love, and talk to me I just do not understand why this is happening, John It makes no sense Louis has no right to the English crown His claim is a a bad joke What is he, after all7 The husband of a daughter of one of your sisters'"John paused in the act of pouring her wine, slammed the cup down on the table"Did I tell you what lame arguments they offered Guala at Melun7 Whilst it's true Richard did charge me with treason, that was five full years ere he died1All of Christendom knows that we reconciled, that Richard named me as his heirAs for that out-and-out he about Arthur, no French court ever sat in judgment upon me Since when am I accountable to the French King7""You're not, love," Isabelle said hastily "Of course you're not ""Do you know what the Pope said when he was informed of Philip's claim7 He said that Arthur was a traitor who'd invited whatever end he might have metAnd he did, in truth Whatever regrets I might have, Arthur is not amongst them"That was, she knew, as close as he'd ever come to a confession, to an admission that Arthur had died at his command But she did not care, Arthur's fate had never preyed upon her peace "John is it true that Rochester Castle has been lost7"He nodded "It held out against me for nigh on two months, but yielded to Louis without offering any resistance at all Which makes me wonder what will happen when Louis lays siege to Windsor Castle, to Dover Will they try to hold out7Or will their castellans betray me, too7"He swung about, back toward the bed "Have I been such a bad *">§< Isabelle7""John, no1" Wh why," he asked, very low, "have my subjects forsaken me7^,,are ^ey so wiling to support a foreign Prince7" th n' that's not soMany of your subjects are still loyal For certes, °vvnspeople are What king ever did as much to promote trade7