The Life And Death Of Richard Yea-And-Nay

The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay is a historical novel by Maurice Hewlett (1861-1923), published in 1900. The book takes the life of King Richard I of England (1157-1199), known as Richard the Lionheart, as its central subject and follows his career from his accession in 1189 through the Third Crusade to his death from a crossbow wound at the siege of Châlus in 1199.

The Yea-and-Nay of the title was one of Richard’s actual nicknames, referring to his tendency to give direct uncomplicated answers without the diplomatic equivocation that medieval kingship often required. Hewlett uses the historical material as the basis for a major novel that combines period detail with dramatic plot and romantic interest in the manner of late Victorian and Edwardian historical romance.

Richard’s large historical career provided rich material. His participation in the Third Crusade alongside Philip II of France and Frederick Barbarossa, his various conflicts with Philip and with his own brother John, his capture and imprisonment by Leopold V of Austria and Henry VI of the Holy Roman Empire, and his complicated personal life all featured in the novel.