Here Be Dragons - 1 by Sharon Penman (best ebook reader android TXT) 📗

you all those moonstones and garnets and gold necklets ""Laugh if you will, but the world is full of men who'd as soon share this charter with their serfs as with their wives, men who think a literate woman to be the Devil's handiwork ""And with good reason, bmla Teach a woman to read and write, and ere long her head will be overflowing with unseemly and unwomanly ideas She might even think to enter an enemy encampment, to negotiate peace terms on her husband's behalf ""Have I ever told you," Joanna murmured, "that you have very taking ways7"Llewelyn laughed "I daresay the citizens of Shrewsbury would agree with you "Joanna laughed, too, and sitting down upon the settle, she began to thumb through the document, reading at random "I doubt my father was much troubled to agree that fish-weirs be banned from the River Thames' Nor by this provision that no free man shall be imprisoned or outlawed except by the judgment of his peers or by the law of the land, he offered that himself in his compromise proposal of May tenth In fact, Llewelyn, much of this charter seems to state existing law Take this dause 'No one shall be taken or imprisoned upon the appeal of a woman for the death of anyone except her husband ' I thought that was already the law of the land, that a woman could testify only to the mur

456favor." Joanna very much needed to recall acts of compassion, equities she could balance against the horror of Nottingham Castle, the merciless vengeance taken upon Maelgwn and Maude de Braose. But Llewelyn was not the ideal audience for a testimonial to John's better nature, and she glanced nervously in his direction, seeking to gauge the extent of his forbearance.Quarrels had been kindled by much less. But Llewelyn's mood had been euphoric for days now, ever since they'd gotten word of the settlement upon the meadows of Runnymede. He could not begrudge Joanna such meagre solace, and he nodded agreeably. Reassured, Joanna returned to the charter."I know men think it unfair that a woman has the right to engage a champion whilst an accused man must fight for himself. But I find this provision no less unfair, Llewelyn, for it could conceivably be interpreted to deny a woman the right to bring a rape charge. How glad I am that we have our own laws, that we are not subject to trial by ordeal or combat and a Welshwoman's oath is conclusive as to whether she was raped or not.""When you said 'we,' did you speak from the heart? Have you come to think of yourself as Welsh, breilal"Joanna hesitated. "No," she admitted. "I think of Wales as home, but that is because of you, our children. In all honesty, I have not your love of the land; people are all that matter to me. I do not have any attachment toEngland, either, have never felt the . . . hiraeth that you do away fromWales."Llewelyn would have preferred another answer, but had not truly expected one."I'd wager that most of Norman-French blood feel as you do. But I think that will change in time. The loss of Normandy casts a long shadow."Joanna was intrigued. "You're saying that having lost their Normandy estates, men will come to give greater worth to their English lands?""Already you can see signs of it, Joanna. You Normans may not ye' think of yourselves as English, but you've begun to draw distinctions of birth. One of the complaints against John's Justiciar, Peter des Roches, was that he was born in Poitou, not England. It was the loss of his Angevin Empire that brought John to Runnymede. But that same loss will one day forge a sense of unity amongst the English, Norman and Saxon alike. I only hope it will not be at the expense of the Welsh."He sounded suddenly grim, and Joanna reached up, laid her nan on his arm."Have you forgotten the story you told me, Llewelyn, or Welsh sage and KingHenry? Henry wanted to know if the royal army would prevail, and he said ..."

457"He said, 'Lord King, I do not think that on the Day of Direst Judgment any race other than the Welsh, or any other language, will give answer to theSupreme Judge of all for this small corner of the earth '""I do not think the Welsh need fear the future, beloved, not as long as theHouse of Cunedda rules in Gwynedd But why do you link Normandy and Runnymede7""Because, Joanna, this charter is aimed as much at John's father as it is atJohn John's government is not that different from Henry's Granted, his word is worthless, but Henry was not slow to dissemble, either, when it served his purposes Henry's barons chafed under his rule, too, fully as much as do John'sNo lord wants an overly strong King, a government that truly governs John is hated because men feelrightfullythat they cannot trust him But he might have been hated less had he been less effective a King or had he not lost NormandyHenry and Richard both ruled with a heavy hand, but they were gone from the kingdom for years at a time, occupied by events in Normandy, Anjou, PoitouThose absences gave their English barons a needed respite, some breathing space But for nigh on ten years, John has been anchored in England, riding the length and breadth of the realm, bringing his courts and his constables, collecting taxes, levying scutage, making enemies To his hard-pressed barons, he must have begun to seem as ever-present as God, as inevitable as death and about as welcome1"Joining her on the settle, he stretched out, pillowed his head in her lap, and she leaned over, gave him a playful upside-down kiss "This charter could only have been drawn up by lawyers, with their passion for complexity The wardship of minors, debts to the Jews, bridgebuilding, intestate deaths, uniform measures of wine and corn,