lled,
and for some time the streets were unsafe at night. The chronicler records
a singular outrage perpetrated three years before, by these sprigs of
nobility. They forcibly entered the house of a wealthy citizen whose name
has not come down to us, he is simply styled the _pater-familias_. Of his
courage we are left in no doubt, for we are told that he slipt on a coat
of mail, armed his house-hold, and awaited the attack. He had not long to
wait. The leader of the band--one Andrew Bucquinte soon made his
appearance, and was met by a pan of hot coals. Swords were drawn on both
sides and _pater-familias_, whose coat of mail served him well, succeeded
in cutting off the right hand of his assailant. Upon the cry of thieves
being raised, the delinquents took to their heels, leaving their leader a
prisoner. The next day, being brought before the king's justiciar, he
informed against his companions. This cowardly action on the part of
Bucquinte led to many of them being taken, and among them one who is
described by the chronicler as the noblest and wealthiest of London
citizens, but to whom the chronicler gives no other name than "John, the
old man" (_Johannes Senex_). An offer was made to John to prove his
innocence by what was known as the ordeal by water,(142) but the offer was
declined, and he was eventually hanged. The whole story looks suspicious.

(M99)

Having settled the succession of the crown of England upon his eldest son,
the king put his second son, Richard, into possession of the Duchy of
Aquitaine, and provided for his third son, Geoffrey, by marriage with the
heiress of Brittany. There was yet another son, John, who was too young to
be provided for just now, and who being without any territory, assigned to
him, acquired the name of Lackland. Both Richard and Geoffrey had taken
the part of their brother Henry in 1173, and in 1177 the three brothers
were again quarrelling with their father and with each other. After the
deaths of Henry and Geoffrey, the quarrel was taken up by the surviving
brothers, Richard and John.

In all these--more or less--petty wars with his sons, the king had always to
deal with the ruler of France. At last, in 1189, the loss of Le Mans--his
own birth-place--and the unexpected discovery that his youngest and best
beloved son, John, had turned traitor towards him, left the king nothing
to live for, and after a few days suffering he died, ill and worn out, at
Chinon.

(M100)

Rich