“the duke of brittany” is the story of the brief but eventful career of arthur, son of geoffrey plantagenet and constance of brittany. geoffrey was the fourth son of henry the second of england and eleanor, duchess of guienne. upon the death of his brother henry, richard, surnamed the lion-hearted, became the heir apparent and succeeded to the throne after the death of his father in 1189. richard shortly afterward became one of the leaders of the third crusade, which ended disastrously. after being taken prisoner in austria by duke leopold he was ransomed and returned to england, where he suppressed the rebellion of his brother john. he then invaded france to punish philip the second, john’s ally, but was mortally wounded while besieging the fortress of chalus, near limoges. on richard’s death, john, surnamed lackland, ascended the throne, ignoring the rightful claim of duke arthur, geoffrey’s son. almost his first act was the murder of arthur, who, with the encouragement of philip augustus of france, was prepared to defend his claim as the son of an elder brother. by john’s foul deed england lost its french fiefs.
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the story turns upon the events in arthur’s short life, his young days in brittany, the violent death of his father, the relations of his mother to philip of france, the boy’s love for his uncle richard, his service in the field with philip, his espousal to marie of france, the war with john, his capture and assassination by the latter. the incidental characters are the jew abraham of paris, earl salisbury, the valiant knight h?el of mordant and his son alan, between whom and arthur existed a beautiful friendship. many of the scenes are of thrilling dramatic interest, particularly the one in which the crafty and malicious queen eleanor refrained from blinding arthur only because of his resemblance to his father, her favorite son; the assassination on shipboard; and the accusation of king john by alan. some of the historical data in the story are not accurate in minor details, but in general the tale follows the versions of the historical authorities. it is a fascinating picture of two lovable, high-minded, chivalrous youths, worthy the study of the youths of to-day.
g. p. u.
chicago, 1908.
