Crowner's Crusade (35 page)

Henry stays until Michaelmas 1194, then Richard Revel reappears, but a year later, Henry de Furnellis is back again at Michaelmas 1195 and remains in office until 1198. Though history offers us no explanation, the coincidence of dates with the rise and fall of Prince John seems very suggestive.

For those interested in the events portrayed in this book and the fascinating story of the Lionheart's reign, the following books are recommended:

Blondel's Song
by David Boyle, Penguin Books (2006), paperback, ISBN 9780141015972. An excellent, very readable account of Richard's journey home from the Holy Land, from which many of the facts in this novel are taken – together with a wealth of other detail about life and politics at that time.

Richard I
by John Gillingham, Yale University Press (2002), paperback, ISBN 9780300094046. The definitive text about the Lionheart in the
Yale English Monarch Series.

Domesday Book to Magna Carta
by A. L. Poole, Oxford University Press (1993), paperback, ISBN 9780192852878. This is the standard volume in the
Oxford History of England series
, covering the twelfth century.

¹
Not the Italian Ragusa, but in Croatia, later called Dubrovnik.

²
It was 1198 before Richard adopted a third lion, which is still seen in the present-day Royal Coat of Arms.

³
Now Dubrovnik in Croatia, not the Italian Ragusa.

⁴
The king's judges who try serious cases; the Eyres became the Assizes, then the present Crown Courts.

⁵
Wheat boiled in milk with spices, cinnamon and sugar.

⁶
First recorded use of the words in Old English was ‘Christis maesse' in 1028.

⁷
1 January was not legally New Year's Day in England until 1752.