e
stronger or better armed than himself. He would have been ashamed to
hurt the weak and feeble.

But Richard did not stay in England. Far, far over the seas there is
a country called Palestine. There our Lord was born, lived, and died.
Christian people in all ages must think tenderly and gratefully of
that far-off country. But at this time it had fallen into the hands of
the heathen. It seemed to Christian people in those days that it would
be a terrible sin to allow wicked heathen to live in the Holy Land. So
they gathered together great armies of brave men from every country in
the world and sent them to try to win it back. Many brave deeds
were done, many terrible battles fought, but still the heathen kept
possession.

Then brave King Richard of England said he too would fight for the
city of our Lord. So he gathered together as much money as he could
find, and as many brave men as would follow him, and set out for the
Holy Land. Before he went away he called two bishops who he thought
were good and wise men, and said to them: "Take care of England while
I am gone. Rule my people wisely and well, and I will reward you
when I return." The bishops promised to do as he asked. Then he said
farewell and sailed away.

Now King Richard had a brother who was called Prince John. Prince John
was quite different from King Richard in every way. He was not at all
a nice man. He was jealous of Richard because he was king, and angry
because he himself had not been chosen to rule while Richard was in
Palestine. As soon as his brother had gone, John went to the bishops
and said, "You must let me rule while the King is away." And the
bishops allowed him to do so. Deep down in his wicked heart John meant
to make himself king altogether, and never let Richard come back any
more.

A very sad time now began for the Saxons. John tried to please the
haughty Normans because they were great and powerful, and he hoped
they would help to make him king. He thought the best way to please
them was to give them land and money. So as he had none of his own (he
was indeed called John Lackland) he took it from the Saxons and gave
it to the Normans. Thus many of the Saxons once more became homeless
beggars, and lived a wild life in the forests, which covered a great
part of England at this time.

Now among the few Saxon nobles who still remained, and who had not
been robbed of their lands and money, there was one called Robert,
Earl of Hunting