Summary
Summary of The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay
The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay at a glance
Summary: 8 min to read
- Reading time
- About 7 h 20 min5 h 50 min fast, 8 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 105,000 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1900by Maurice Hewlett
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
Jehane sends her lover away
Richard rides through a smoldering night toward Jehane’s torch, while his father waits with an army to bring him to heel. Richard wants to marry her, but Jehane sees the claims that rule his life: he is promised to Alois, and kings do not marry simply for love.
For two days and nights, she asks him to return to his father. He finally agrees. Her victory costs her the future she wants, establishing love as an act of surrender rather than possession.
Key idea 2
Richard restrains his jealous anger
At his father’s camp, Richard offers to marry Alois, but her frightened talk of poison and shame makes him hesitate.
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Key idea 3
Possession overturns Richard’s earlier restraint
When Jehane is about to marry Gilles, Richard rides to the church and takes her away with his sword drawn.
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Key idea 4
Love yields to a holy vow
Kneeling before his dead father, Richard accepts a disturbing sign as an accusation of murder.
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Key idea 5
Public triumph gathers private enemies
Richard’s voyage brings battles, a political wedding and the birth of his son.
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Key idea 6
Jehane bargains with her own freedom
Richard reaches sight of Jerusalem but shields his face rather than look at a city he cannot save.
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Key idea 7
Every answer carries another cost
Richard’s changing answers give the Book of Yea and the Book of Nay their meaning.
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Key idea 8
Jehane loves by giving things up
Jehane stands at the center of the story because her love repeatedly asks her to surrender what she wants.
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Key idea 9
A divided king shapes the love story
At its core, Richard’s story joins a king’s public duties to the repeated losses of his private love.
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Go deeper: the whole of The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay
About 7 h 40 min to read.Start freeWho it’s for
If you love medieval courts, crusading adventure, troubadour songs and a love story told with fire and wit, this novel is for you.
What this book is
A tall count gallops through a smoldering night toward a single torch, while his father's army glows in the northern sky. Why does he go? Because the woman who holds the torch has asked him to come one last time.
That scene opens The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay, Maurice Hewlett's 1901 novel about Richard the Lionheart. It follows a man of two natures, part cat and part dog, from Normandy to Acre, lebanon and a prison tower, framed by the chronicle of Abbot Milo. You get a great love story and a king who pays for every answer he gives.
In this summary
- 1Jehane sends her lover awayFree
- 2Richard restrains his jealous anger
- 3Possession overturns Richard’s earlier restraint
- 4Love yields to a holy vow
- 5Public triumph gathers private enemies
- 6Jehane bargains with her own freedom
- 7Every answer carries another cost
- 8Jehane loves by giving things up
- 9A divided king shapes the love story
Jehane sends the man she loves away
The story opens on a smoldering night in Normandy. Richard, Count of Poitou, gallops toward a torch at the Dark Tower, while Abbot Milo struggles along behind him. The old King of England has camped at Louviers with an army to bring his rebellious son to heel.
The torch is held by Jehane Saint-Pol, a tall, pale, green-eyed girl who has been Richard's lover for two years. Richard wants to marry her and says a man should choose his own wife. Jehane answers gently that kings do not wed for love, and that he is promised to Alois, the sister of the King of France.
For two days and nights she pleads, and finally wins. Richard weeps with his face in her lap and agrees to go to his father. At dawn she kneels in the chapel while he takes communion in full mail. Milo tells her that Richard is already married, to the city of Jerusalem. Jehane shows her love by giving up what she wants most.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
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Check yourself
Why does Jehane help arrange Richard’s marriage to Berengère?
Right. “She gives herself to Gilles to save her lover from his own temper, and then she pushes Richard toward the Spanish marriage, because his holy vow matters to her more than her own place.”Not quite. “She gives herself to Gilles to save her lover from his own temper, and then she pushes Richard toward the Spanish marriage, because his holy vow matters to her more than her own place.”
What price does Sinan demand for Richard’s life?
Right. “He promises that the Marquess will go up and come down, but he keeps Jehane as his wife, the price of Richard's life.”Not quite. “He promises that the Marquess will go up and come down, but he keeps Jehane as his wife, the price of Richard's life.”
What does Richard’s pattern of yes and no reveal?
Right. “Milo puts it plainly: the heart cries yes to a noble impulse, and the proud head steps in to say no.”Not quite. “Milo puts it plainly: the heart cries yes to a noble impulse, and the proud head steps in to say no.”
Go deeper: the whole of The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay
About 7 h 40 min to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 105,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 7 h 20 min
Questions about The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay
What is The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay about?
It follows Richard the Lionheart from his youthful love for Jehane Saint-Pol through war with his father, the Third Crusade and his imprisonment. The book focuses on his divided nature and on the woman who sacrifices herself for him.
Why is Richard called Yea-and-Nay?
The troubadour Bertran de Born gave him the nickname because Richard so often says yes and then no. In the book it describes his two natures, the noble impulse and the proud second thought, which pull him in opposite directions.
Who is Jehane Saint-Pol?
Jehane of the Fair Girdle is a tall, green-eyed noblewoman who becomes Richard's lover and mother of his son Fulke. She sacrifices her honor and freedom several times to protect him, and she is the emotional center of the novel.
Is the novel a true story?
It is historical fiction, published in 1901. Many figures are real, including Richard, Philip of France and Saladin, but Hewlett invents Jehane, many scenes and the dialogue, and he writes as if Abbot Milo were keeping the chronicle.
What does the leopard mean in the book?
The abbot explains that a leopard has two souls, one of a cat and one of a dog. The image stands for Richard's two natures, and it recurs in the arms of Anjou, his movements, his rages and his loyalties.
Cite this edition
Hewlett, Maurice. The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-life-and-death-of-richard-yea-and-nay.
Hewlett, M. (2026). The life and death of Richard Yea-and-Nay. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-life-and-death-of-richard-yea-and-nay (Original work published 1900)
Hewlett, Maurice. The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-life-and-death-of-richard-yea-and-nay.
@book{hewlett2026life,
author = {Hewlett, Maurice},
title = {The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-life-and-death-of-richard-yea-and-nay},
note = {First published 1900}
}
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