The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay

In Short

This historical romance chronicles the turbulent life of Richard the Lionheart, whose tragic flaw is an inner war between generous impulse and cold arrogance. Driven by warring instincts, Richard wins and loses the crown of England, wages war in the Holy Land, and endlessly alienates both his allies and the noble Jehane, the woman who loves him above all else. Hewlett’s narrative has endured for its vivid medieval atmosphere, psychological depth, and prose that reads like a grand, tragic chanson de geste.

The Story

The narrative follows the volatile destiny of Count Richard of Anjou, later King Richard I of England. Known as "Yea-and-Nay" because his haughty intellect constantly countermands the noble urges of his heart, Richard’s life is defined by fatal hesitations and contradictory passions. At the center of his personal life stands Jehane Saint-Pol, a woman of deep devotion and calm strength. Though Richard loves Jehane fiercely, his political entanglements and wavering nature prevent him from simply cleaving to her. He subjects her to shifting fortunes—first exalting her as a princess and duchess in his courts, yet ultimately casting her aside for a political marriage with Princess Berengère of Navarre.

Richard’s public realm is equally fraught with conflict. He battles his formidable father, King Henry II, as well as King Philip of France and the ambitious Conrad of Montferrat. Yet even in victory, his arrogance breeds bitter enemies. Gilles de Gurdun, a blunt Norman knight devoted to Jehane, harbors a lifelong hatred for Richard. When Richard ascends the throne and leads the Third Crusade, his brilliant military exploits in Palestine are crippled by his own divided soul. Standing at the foot of Jerusalem, he covers his face with his shield, refusing to look upon the Holy City because he knows his diminished forces cannot save it.

As his crusade falters, Richard’s enemies plot his ruin. Montferrat conspires with the Sinan, the Old Man of Musse, attempting to use the secret order of Assassins against the English king. Meanwhile, Jehane makes unimaginable sacrifices to protect Richard’s life and legacy, eventually marrying the Old Man of Musse himself to save Richard from destruction.

After suffering shipwreck, imprisonment by the Archduke of Austria, and constant treachery from his brother John, Richard returns home to fight for his remaining lands in France. At the siege of Chaluz, the consequences of his turbulent past finally catch up with him. Mortally wounded, Richard faces his end surrounded by those who loved him, achieving at last a self-awareness and spiritual peace that eluded him throughout his driven, conflicted life.

How It Unfolds

Love in the shadows Count Richard claims the deep affection of Jehane Saint-Pol, even as her humble, loyal suitor Gilles de Gurdun looks on in silent heartbreak. Richard’s intense jealousy and lordly pride immediately assert total dominance over Jehane’s fate.

The crown and the clash As tensions explode between Richard, his dying father King Henry, and King Philip of France, Richard asserts his martial dominance over rivals like Conrad of Montferrat. After taking the crown, he sets his sights on the Third Crusade.

The heartbreak of statecraft Though Richard exalts Jehane in lavish Courts of Love, political necessity forces him to set her aside to wed Berengère of Navarre. Jehane bears Richard’s child and accepts her sorrow with regal dignity.

The vision denied In the Holy Land, Richard marches to the threshold of Jerusalem but shields his eyes from the city. Recognizing that his divided nature and weakened army will lead to disaster, he refuses to look upon what he cannot conquer.

Sacrifice in the East Conrad of Montferrat seeks the aid of the Lord of Assassins to destroy Richard. To shield the King from mortal peril, Jehane willingly enters the house of the Old Man of Musse as his wife.

The final reckoning After escaping captivity in Germany and thwarting his brother John’s betrayals, Richard meets his fate at the siege of Chaluz. Fatally struck down, he dies in a state of grace, finally at peace with himself and God.

The People

• Richard Yea-and-Nay (Count of Poictou, King of England): A brilliant, fierce leader whose tragedy stems from his split nature; his noble heart says "Yea" while his cynical head says "Nay." He seeks glory and true love, but his own pride consistently sabotages both.
• Jehane Saint-Pol: A noble lady of serene strength and absolute devotion. She wants only Richard's well-being, enduring humiliation, exile, and forced marriages to protect him, remaining spiritually regal to the end.
• Gilles de Gurdun: A stocky, straightforward Norman knight who loves Jehane with simple, unyielding honesty. His hatred for Richard grows as the king repeatedly uses and discards both him and Jehane.
• Conrad, Marquess of Montferrat: A ruthless Italian nobleman who schemes tirelessly to secure power in the Holy Land, positioning himself as Richard’s deadliest political rival.
• Berengère of Navarre: The timid Spanish princess brought to marry Richard for political alignment, standing as a stark, doll-like contrast to the grand and generous Jehane.

In Its Own Voice

When Richard catches Jehane with Gilles de Gurdun, his sudden possessiveness flares instantly into dangerous action:

"He moved forward like a wind and caught the girl up in his arms, lifted her off her feet, smothered her cry."

Bertran de Born explicitly labels the tragic duality that defines the King’s volatile character:

"He is ever of two minds: hot head and cold heart, flaming heart and chilled head."

Standing before the holy site he has sacrificed everything to reach, Richard refuses to gaze upon his ultimate goal:

"I will never look upon the city, though I have risked all for the sake of it, for now I know that it was no design of God's to allow me to take it."

What It's Really About

The novel is fundamentally a study of how self-division destroys potential greatness. Richard’s nickname, "Yea-and-Nay," represents a soul pulled apart by conflicting forces: generosity undermined by arrogance, passion checked by cold calculation, and religious zeal marred by worldly ambition. The book argues that true nobility lies not in battlefield conquests or royal titles, but in the capacity for selfless sacrifice—a virtue embodied not by the King, but by Jehane. Through their tragic relationship, the narrative questions whether a man ruled by his ego can ever truly possess the things he loves, or if he is destined to crush them under the weight of his own contradictions.

Why Read It Today

The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay offers a refreshingly complex, anti-romantic look at one of history's most mythologized figures. Readers who enjoy rich, stylized historical fiction—in the tradition of Sir Walter Scott or Sigrid Undset—will appreciate Hewlett’s immersive medieval voice and psychological acuity.

The book does present challenges. The prose is deliberately archaic, dense with chivalric vocabulary, Latin epigraphs, and complex sentence structures that demand slow, attentive reading. It does not rush its narrative, lingering instead over political maneuvering, Courtly Love rhetoric, and regional dialects.

Yet for those willing to match its deliberate pace, the novel repays the effort with stunning imagery and deeply moving characterization. Hewlett creates a living medieval world that feels neither romanticized nor modernised, anchoring its grand historic tapestry in the timeless, tragic human truth of a man at war with his own soul.