Ivanhoe: A Romance

By: Scott, Walter

In that pleasant district of merry England which is watered by the river Don, thereextended in ancient times a large forest, covering the greater part of the beautiful hills andvalleys which lie between Sheffield and the pleasant town of Doncaster. The remains of thisextensive wood are still to be seen at the noble seats of Wentworth, of Warncliffe Park, andaround Rotherham. Here haunted of yore the fabulous Dragon of Wantley; here werefought many of the most desperate battles during the Civil Wars of the Roses; and here alsoflourished in ancient times those bands of gallant outlaws, whose deeds have beenrendered so popular in English song.Such being our chief scene, the date of our story refers to a period towards the end of thereign of Richard I., when his return from his long captivity had become an event ratherwished than hoped for by his despairing subjects, who were in the meantime subjected toevery species of subordinate oppression. The nobles, whose power had become exorbitantduring the reign of Stephen, and whom the prudence of Henry the Second had scarcereduced to some degree of subjection to the crown, had now resumed their ancient licensein its utmost extent; despising the feeble interference of the English Council of State, fortifying their castles, increasing the number of their dependants, reducing all aroundthem to a state of vassalage, and striving by every means in their power, to placethemselves each at the head of such forces as might enable him to make a figure in thenational convulsions which appeared to be impending.The situation of the inferior gentry, or Franklins, as they were called, who, by the law andspirit of the English constitution, were entitled to hold themselves independent of feudaltyranny, became now unusually precarious. If, as was most generally the case, they placedthemselves under the protection of any of the petty kings in their vicinity, accepted offeudal offices in his household, or bound themselves by mutual treaties of alliance andprotection, to support him in his enterprises, they might indeed purchase temporaryrepose; but it must be with the sacrifice of that independence which was so dear to everyEnglish bosom, and at the certain hazard of being involved as a party in whatever rashexpedition the ambition of their protector might lead him to undertake. On the other hand, such and so multiplied were the means of vexation and oppression possessed by the greatBarons, that they never wanted the pretext, and seldom the will, to harass and pursue, evento the very edge of destruction, any of their less powerful neighbours, who attempted toseparate themselves from their authority, and to trust for their protection, during thedangers of the times, to their own inoffensive conduct, and to the laws of the lan

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B08FSBHH8K
• ISBN13: 9798676103682
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 348 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 8.0"