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BLOSS C.A.
Heroines of the Crusades
page 163
disturbed by quarrels originating in his own family. For some unaccountable reason his children seemed all armed against him. His son Henry demanded immediate posses-sion of either England or Normandy, and on being refused appealed to his father-in-law Louis VII. Before three days had elapsed, Richard and Geoffrey followed their brother, and soon after Henry learned to his dismay that Queen Eleanor had herself set off for the court of her former hus-band. Remembering the perilous vicinity in which he had left the queen, it at once occurred to him that she was the original instigator of the plot. By a skilful manoeuvre, he intercepted her flight, and sent her back to "Winchester a prisoner. Immediately his undutiful sons, adding their mother's quarrel to their own grievances, bound themselves by oath to the King of France that they would never make peace with their father except by Louis's consent. The Duke of Flanders joined the league of the parricides, and the King of Scotland poured into the northern counties his strongest forces. Never was the crown of Henry in such danger.
"While repelling the attacks'of the insurgents in Norman-dy, he received a visit from the Bishop of "Winchester, who entreated him to return once more to England, as his pres-ence alone could save the kingdom. Henry at once set out. His countenance was gloomy and troubled, and his mind seemed deeply affected by the rebellion of his chil-dren, the perfidy of his barons and general combination of the neighboring princes, and above all, by his fearful un-certainty with regard to the fate of those whom he had so long and so carefully guarded. To ease the torment of his mind, he secretly determined to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of the recently-canonized martyr St. Thomas à Becket. He landed at Southampton, and without waiting for rest or refreshment, rode all night towards Canterbury. At the dawn of the morning, he descried the towers of Christ's Church. Dismounting from his horse, he exchanged the garb of the king for that of a penitent, and walked bare-foot towards the city, so cruelly cutting his feet with the
172
HEROINES OF THE CRUSADES.
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