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A king can lead an army into battle and still be unable to command his own heart.
In Maurice Hewlett’s The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay, Richard the Lionheart stands between bold action and inward doubt. The son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine grows up amid fierce family quarrels. His marriage to Berengaria of Navarre serves the state, but duty does not settle the claims of feeling.
The Third Crusade carries Richard east alongside other Christian princes, including Philip Augustus of France. Their alliance is uneasy, and the search for glory brings both praise and loss. Through rich, formal prose that recalls a medieval chronicle, Hewlett explores what a king owes his people—and what he owes himself.
What you’ll discover
- A divided king Meet a Richard whose courage in battle stands beside uncertainty in matters of the heart.
- Love against duty Follow the tension between a marriage of state and the feelings no royal duty can settle.
- An uneasy crusader alliance Enter the Third Crusade, where Richard shares a cause with princes he cannot easily trust.
- The cost of glory Consider how ambition wins praise while raising hard questions about a leader’s obligations.
- A chronicle’s rich texture Settle into formal, old-fashioned prose that gives this knightly world its distinctive weight.
Who will love it
If you love medieval courts, crusading adventure, troubadour songs and a love story told with fire and wit, this novel is for you.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Jehane sends the man she loves away
- A strange princess and a gift to Gilles
- Bertran's song sends Richard into war
- A bride stolen and a tower burned
- The Rood bows and Richard takes the Cross
- Two queens, a son, and a plot among flies
- A wife for the Old Man and a hill unseen
- Yea and nay shape every choice
- Love gives itself away to be kept
- A leopard, a chronicler and a chorus of songs
Who’s who
- Richard of AnjouThe tall Count of Poitou, later King of England, who is brave, proud and divided, and who longs to win Jerusalem and keep Jehane.
- Jehane Saint-PolA tall, green-eyed woman called Jehane of the Fair Girdle, who loves Richard so deeply that she gives up everything for him.
- Abbot MiloRichard's confessor and chronicler, a wordy, loving old monk who watches his master's deeds and writes them down.
- Gilles de GurdunA stocky Norman knight who has loved Jehane since she was twelve and cannot stop trying to take her back.
- Eustace of Saint-PolJehane's younger brother, who adores Richard at first and later hates him with all his strength.
- Berengère of NavarreA small, proud princess called Frozen Heart, who is married to Richard for a political purpose and longs for his love.
- John of MortainRichard's timid, scheming younger brother, who wants a crown and fears everyone.
- The Old Man of MusseThe white-bearded lord of the Assassins in Lebanon, a calm, clever ruler who bargains with Jehane.
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The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay
by Maurice Hewlett · 1900
Richard of Anjou rides into a wedding church and carries off the bride, and a lifelong debt of love begins.
Medium level10–20 hours to readEnglish
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In short
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?
The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay at a glance
- 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
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
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.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- First published
- 1900
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
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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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.
The author
Maurice Hewlett
1861–1923 · English historical novelist
Maurice Hewlett (1861–1923) was a British novelist, poet and essayist. He was born in Weybridge, Surrey, and later lived in Broad Chalke, Wiltshire, where he died. His novels include The Forest Lovers, published in 1898, and The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay, published in 1900.
More by Maurice Hewlett
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