|
|
|
|
|
|
able to cut off one's head because it aches. No more is it reasonable to destroy a king because he is not perfect. The body will not survive the first; the realm will not survive the second. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sir John did not look convinced. "Well," he temporized, "heads cannot be replaced, kings can." Then his jaw set. "However that may be, I do not intend that French Philip shall have the ordering of who shall or shall not sit upon the throne of England." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Soon it was apparent that Sir John's sentiments were held by the majority of the country. They might overturn the king themselves, but they wanted no outside interference in what they regarded as a private struggle. The response to the king's summons was overwhelming. Men poured out of great keeps and small holdings, and they came prepared to fight. For a wonder, John's mood held steady. He greeted his vassals cordially, thanked them for their loyalty, and listened to their advice without any sign of either cringing or pride. His disposition of his forces was sensible. Groups large enough to withstand a first assault were dispatched to Ipswich, Dover, Faversham and other threatened ports. The groups were made up largely of men whose lands were in the area and who would have good reason to fight hard, guided by a leader with his own troops whose loyalty John trusted. The main body, sixty thousand strong, was encamped on Barham Down, closest to the easiest landfall from France but yet clear to move if the attack should come elsewhere. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Geoffrey himself was not kept long with the main forces. He was directed to leave his own troops from Hemel and the other inland estates in Ian's hands and himself take the men from Roselynde, Iford, Kemp, and the other seaside villages to Portsmouth. Their familiarity with the sea and ships, would make them more useful there in the armada gathered to stop Philip at sea and inflict damage upon the ships and ports of France before or after the invasion was launched. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Although Geoffrey saw the logic in the king's order, he |
|
|
|
|
|