EICHAKD II. 313 cens. Hastening to its relief, at the head of a small force, he defeated Saladin, and afterward defended the place against an attack by the Mohammedans. A truce soon followed, and Kichard left Acre in October. He was ship- wrecked at the head of the Adriatic, and while seeking to continue his journey by land became the prisoner of Leopold, duke of Aus- tria, whom he had insulted and struck in Pal- estine. Surrendered by Leopold to the em- peror Henry VI., he was held in confinement at various places, but was finally released for a ransom, notwithstanding the efforts of his brother John and the French king for his de- tention, and reached England March 13, 1194. The greater part of the latter years of his reign was passed in France, where he car- ried on almost constant warfare with Philip Augustus, in which he won brilliant success- es, that do not seem to have produced any permanent effect. In 1199 he laid siege to the castle of Chalus, to compel the viscount of Limoges to surrender a treasure that had been found in one of his fields, which Kich- ard claimed as sovereign lord of the soil. Here he received a wound from which, as it was unskilfully treated, he died. He left no legitimate children, and his wife Berengaria, who survived him many years, never visited England. Besides his reputation for soldierly valor and strength, he was renowned in his own day for wit, eloquence, and song, ranking as one of the best troubadours. Some of his poems in Romance have been preserved. RICHARD II., eighth king of England of the house of Plantagenet, born in Bordeaux in 1366, supposed to have been murdered at Pontefract castle in February, 1400. He was the second and only surviving child of Ed- ward the Black Prince, eldest son of Edward III., by Joan, sister of the last earl of Kent. The prince dying June 8, 1376, Richard became heir apparent, and succeeded to the crown, June 21, 1377. His coronation took place July 16. A council was appointed to conduct the busi- ness of government, from which the king's unpopular uncles were formally excluded, but its members were in pait under their influ- ence. The war between England and France was continued, to the disadvantage of Eng- land. Scotland was hostile ; and the ambi- tion of Richard's uncles, the duke of Lancas- ter (John of Gaunt) and the earl of Cam- bridge (afterward duke of York), who by right of their wives expected to obtain pos- session of Spain, was the cause of trouble between England and the peninsula. It was found necessary to lay new and heavy taxes, which were rigorously collected. The first poll tax, which bore upon persons in good circumstances, was submitted to ; but when the tax was extended to persons of every condition, three groats being levied on each male and female above the age of 15 years, the returns were small. This was attributed to negligent collection, and a commission was appointed to enforce the tax. Its proceedings were odious, and resistance was made in Essex and Kent. At Dartford, in Kent, one Walter the Tiler, having struck dead a tax gather- er who had insulted his daughter, was made chief of the insurgents, and hence the popu- lar rising is known as Wat Tyler's rebellion. The insurrection spread over nine counties, and partook of the character of the Jacquerie that had occurred in France 23 years before. The insurgents marched upon London, and assembled to the number of 100,000 on Black- heath, June 12, 1381. The city was entered, the tower seized, and the archbishop of Can- terbury, the' treasurer, and several other per- sons of eminence, were put to death. There was some plundering, and the palace of the duke of Lancaster was destroyed. The early demands made upon the king were deemed reasonable, such as the abolition of slavery, the commutation of the dues of villenage, free trade in the market towns, &c. ; and Richard promised that they should all be complied with, whereupon many of the people returned to their homes. Tyler now became insolent, and made further demands upon the king, com- pliance with which was impossible ; and in an interview with Richard he behaved so ar- rogantly that he was slain by Sir William Wai- worth, lord mayor of London. The king, who was in his 16th year, immediately placed him- self at the head of the rebels, thereby saving his own life and the lives of his attendants. They accepted him, and he led them into the country, and allowed them to depart without molestation. The promises made to the people were not kept, and they were punished with merciless severity. Richard married Anne of Bohemia, eldest daughter of Charles IV., em- peror of Germany. An invasion of Scotland was made in 1385, the king heading a large army, which accomplished little. Lancaster being absent in Spain, the duke of Glouces- ter, another of the king's uncles, made him- self master of the kingdom, but Richard was induced by his favorite, the earl of Oxford, to attempt to throw off the yoke. In the en- suing contest Gloucester triumphed, and was placed at the head of a council of regency in 1386, which held sovereign power. In 1387 the king, who was aided by the judges, sought to recover his power, but Gloucester defeated his soldiers, and slaughtered or banished his immediate supporters. Two years later Rich- ard was more successful, and changed his min- isters, Gloucester himself being removed. The French war languished, and that with Scotland was remarkable only for the battle of Otter- burn, in which the Scotch were victorious. A truce for 25 years was concluded with France, and, Queen Anne having died in 1394, it was provided that Richard should marry Isabella, daughter of Charles VI., in 1396, though the princess was a mere child. Gloucester endeav- ored to recover his former power, but failed, the king being supported by parliament, and
