Goldsmith in his History.
As for the Lion-hearted, we all very well know that the shaft of
Bertrand de Gourdon put an end to the royal hero--and that from that
29th of March he never robbed nor murdered any more. And we have legends
in recondite books of the manner of the King's death.
"You must die, my son," said the venerable Walter of Rouen, as
Berengaria was carried shrieking from the King's tent. "Repent, Sir
King, and separate yourself from your children!"
"It is ill jesting with a dying man," replied the King. "Children have I
none, my good lord bishop, to inherit after me."
"Richard of England," said the archbishop, turning up his fine eyes,
"your vices are your children. Ambition is your eldest child, Cruelty
is your second child, Luxury is your third child; and you have nourished
them from your youth up. Separate yourself from these sinful ones, and
prepare your soul, for the hour of departure draweth nigh."
Violent, wicked, sinful, as he might have been, Richard of England met
his death like a Christian man. Peace be to the soul of the brave! When
the news came to King Philip of France, he sternly forbade his courtiers
to rejoice at the death of his enemy. "It is no matter of joy but of
dolor," he said, "that the bulwark of Christendom and the bravest king
of Europe is no more.
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