PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. King JOHN: Prince HENRY, his son; afterwards king Henry III. ARTHUR, duke of Bretagne, son of Geffrey, late duke of Bretagne, the elder brother of king John. WILLIAM MARESHALL, earl of Pembroke. GEFFREY FITZ-PETER, earl of Essex, chief justiciary of England. WILLIAM LONGSWORD, earl of Salisbury. HUBERT DE BURGH, chamberlain to the king. ROBERT FAULCONBRIDGE, Son of sir Robert Faulconbridge: PHILIP FAULCONBRIDGE, his half-brother, bastard son to king Richard the first. JAMES GURNEY, servant to lady Faulconbridge, PETER of Pomfret, a prophet. PHILIP, king of France. Archduke of Austria. Cardinal-PANDULPH, the Pope's legate. CHATILLON, ambassador from France to king John. ELINOR, the widow of king Henry II. and mother of king John. CONSTANCE, mother to Arthur. BLANCH, daughter to Alphonso, king of Castile, and niece to king John. Lady FAULCONBRIDGE, mother to the Bastard and Robert Faulconbridge. Lords, Ladies, Citizens of Angiers, Sheriff, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and other Attendants. Scene,-sometimes in England, and sometimes in France. KING JOHN. ACT I. SCENE I.-Northampton. A room of state in the palace. Enter King JOHN, Queen ELINOR, PEMBROKE, ESSEX, SALISBURY, and others, with CHA TILLON. K. John. Now, say, Chatillon, what would France with us? Chat. Thus, after greeting, speaks the king of France, In my behaviour, to the majesty, The borrow'd majesty of England here. Eli. A strange beginning;-borrow'd majesty! Arthur Plantagenet, lays most lawful claim Desiring thee to lay aside the sword, K. John. What follows, if we disallow of this? Chat. The proud controul of fierce and bloody war, To enforce these rights, so forcibly withheld. K. John. Here have we war for war, and blood for blood, Controlment for controlment: so answer France. Chat. Then take my king's defiance from my mouth, The furthest limit of my embassy. K. John. Bear mine to him, and so depart in peace: Be thou as lightning in the eyes of France; For ere thou canst report I will be there, [Exeunt Chatillon and Pembroke. This might have been prevented, and made whole, Which now the manage of two kingdoms must K. John. Our strong possession, and our right, for us. Eli. Your strong possession, much more than your right; Or else it must go wrong with you, and me: Enter the Sheriff of Northamptonshire, who Essex. My liege, here is the strangest controversy, Re-enter Sheriff, with ROBERT FAULCONBRIDge, and PHILIP, his bastard brother. This expedition's charge.-What men are you? Rob. The son and heir to that same Faulconbridge. K. John. Is that the elder, and art thou the heir? You came not of one mother then, it seems. Bast. Most certain of one mother, mighty king, That is well known; and, as I think, one father : But, for the certain knowledge of that truth, I put you o'er to heaven, and to my mother: Of that I doubt, as all men's children may. Eli. Out on thee, rude man! thou dost shame thy mother, And wound her honour with this diffidence. Bast. I, madam? no, I have no reason for it; That is my brother's plea, and none of mine; The which if he can prove, 'a pops me out At least from fair five hundred pounds a-year: Heaven guard my mother's honour, and my land! K. John. A good blunt fellow :-Why, being younger born, Doth he lay claim to thine inheritance? Bast. I know not why, except to get the land. But once he slander'd me with bastardy: But whe'r I be as true begot, or no, That still I lay upon my mother's head; And were our father, and this son like him;- I give heaven thanks, I was not like to thee. Eli. He hath a trick of Coeur-de-lion's face, K. John. Mine eye hath well examined his parts, Rob. My gracious liege, when that my father liv'd, Your brother did employ my father much; Bast. Well, sir, by this you cannot get my land; Your tale must be, how he employ'd my mother. Rob. And once despatch'd him in an embassy To Germany, there, with the emperor, To treat of high affairs touching that time: The advantage of his absence took the king, And in the mean time sojourn'd at my father's; Where how he did prevail, I shame to speak: But truth is truth; large lengths of seas and shores Between my father and my mother lay, (As I have heard my father speak himself,) When this same lusty gentleman was got. |