Floris, Count of Holland (onder ps. Niels Kobet)

[p. 17]

act one

[p. 19]

Scene I

A room in Floris' castle.
Roderick and a footman.

 

roderick

 

This very night it was, and just as cold,

 

When, forty years ago, the Father of

 

Our Count rode off to fight the Frisians

 

And never did return.

 

footman

 

How did he die?

 

roderick

 

God knows - he left the camp one night and none

 

That saw him since. He must have run into

 

A crowd of those barbarians; and they,

 

Not realising his identity

 

Must on the spot have put him to the sword

 

Thereafter to regret the ransom they

 

Impetuously lost.

 

How young he was,

 

Count William, when he died, but twenty eight,

 

And mourned by all that knew him, as indeed

 

Was right, for not for nothing did he get

 

Elected Holy Roman Emperor.

 

His manners were restrained and, slow to take

 

Offence, he always showed himself to be

 

Of perfect courtesy. He only left

 

One son, Count Floris, who had just been born.

[p. 20]

 

footman

 

Was not his uncle Holland's regent?

 

roderick

 

Yes,

 

But only for two years, until he died,

 

Struck from his horse at his own tournament.

 

The only thing he did was to arrange

 

For Floris to be married, when sixteen,

 

To Beatrice, the Count of Flanders' child,

 

So unity might grow between these lands

 

Of single speech.

 

 

 

An evil thing, that death:

 

His sister, who thereafter took his place,

 

Invited trouble from all sides. The land

 

Was torn between the powerful who ground

 

The weak and poor. The cities built strong walls.

 

Authority was gone and law was lost.

 

And Floris, but a child, twelve years of age,

 

When Count of Holland he became - too young,

 

The barons must have thought, to hold his own.

 

 

 

The first he did was loudly to proclaim

 

That he would soon avenge his father's death.

 

He borrowed money, borrowed men and then,

 

His forces ill-equipped, invaded swamps-

 

For that is where they live, those Frisians.

 

A dreadful error it turned out to be:

 

The Frisians not only killed his men

 

But in so doing also gave the sign

 

For peasants cities barons to revolt

 

From end to end of this once peaceful land.

 

That was the time when Floris showed his skills.

 

He did not fight the cities but instead

 

He reinforced their rights, extended them

 

And so made them supporters of his cause

 

Through bonds of gratitude. Nor did he fight

[p. 21]

 

The peasants, rather chose amongst them those

 

Whose wealth and influence were such that they

 

Controlled their neighbourhood. He knighted them

 

And so gained sturdy friends as counterweight

 

Against the stubborn nobles, who have since

 

Been filled with spite and murderous intent.

 

 

 

And those that you see coming there are first

 

In rank among that vicious grasping lot.

Enter Amstel and Velzen.

 

amstel

 

Please tell Count Floris we have come at once,

 

In answer to his call, and leave us here:

 

We wish to be alone until such time

 

As he who now is master of this land

 

Shall condescend to see his erstwhile peers.

Roderick and footman exeunt.

 

velzen

 

You should control yourself.

 

amstel

 

How can I when

 

Not long ago I used to be a free

 

And independent man, beholden to

 

No Count or Duke. I was an idiot

 

To get embroiled in that disastrous fight

 

With the deceitful Bishop of Utrecht.

 

When Floris got me off the hook he made

 

Me pay: I had to grant him all my land

 

Which he then granted back to me but I

 

Received it as in liege and so became

 

A servant to his overweening pride.

 

velzen

 

Not only you have suffered thus. I too

[p. 22]

 

And many other barons were like you:

 

We've had to reconcile ourselves to new

 

And second rank.

 

amstel

 

If it were that alone

 

I would with time have learned to bear the load.

 

He placed a second burden on my back:

 

My Cousin John he ordered to be killed

 

When John removed a tenant from his land,

 

A lowly peasant who, emboldened by

 

The Count, dared sue my cousin in the court.

 

And court was scared of Count: John lost his case

 

And with it lost his temper, drew his sword

 

And promptly killed the peasant with the judge.

 

For this Count Floris made him lose his head.

 

velzen

 

Your cousin always had been somewhat rash.

 

amstel

 

That may be true, but who can tolerate

 

And suffer lowly peasants that stand proud

 

Against their Lords and even rise in rank

 

To equal those whom Providence confirmed

 

In their prerogatives?

 

Our present Count

 

Thinks otherwise and knighted forty louts.

 

Small wonder that the peasants look upon

 

Him as their God and blindly follow him.

 

velzen

 

Do not forget: contented peasants are

 

Less likely to revolt and pay more rent.

 

amstel

 

How can you be so weak - and how can I

 

Forget that man then took the daughter of

[p. 23]

 

My Cousin John and made of her his whore?

 

velzen

 

As I recall she did not seem displeased.

 

amstel

 

You wait, young man: your wife is beautiful.

 

Perhaps the Count will soon entrust you with

 

A task that takes you far from home and when

 

You finally return perhaps you'll find

 

That somebody has banked the fire that blazed

 

In your own marriage bed and that you thus

 

Bear horns.

 

velzen

 

By God, my man, if you....

 

amstel

 

Be still!

 

I see our Count and that accursed monk.

Enter Floris and the Friar.

 

floris

 

I thank you both indeed for having come

 

So urgently at my request, in spite

 

Of day and hour, for seldom can a night

 

Have been as grim as this. Yet, as you know,

 

The iron must be struck when hot and so

 

One cannot always choose one's time but must

 

Make use of present opportunity.

 

And so it is tonight, for I expect

 

A visit of the Jew, of Nathan, he

 

That is the Bishop's banker and his leech.

 

 

 

I know you two do not have cause to love

 

The Bishop of Utrecht. I know that you

 

Especially, my loyal Amstel, blame

 

Him for the loss of your prerogatives.

[p. 24]

 

The time has come for you to take revenge

 

And grow at his expense. My plan is this.

 

 

 

You know by own experience that he

 

Is not always, let's say, what one is taught

 

A Bishop should be like and that his greed

 

And lust for power often have outstripped

 

His funds of cash, his credit and his men.

 

And that is why the Jew is of such use

 

To Christ's successor in these lands.

 

And why

 

I sent for you to come to me at once.

 

For never have the Bishop's needs been such

 

That he has sent the Jew in order to

 

Negotiate a loan from me, who am,

 

If not an open enemy, no friend,

 

And pose a threat to his stability.

 

 

 

He wants to borrow money - I to lend.

 

But not without security: I want

 

As guarantee that he will pay me back

 

Two of his most important fortresses.

 

These castles you must hold for me, so that

 

When he no longer pays his bills, as I

 

Am sure wil be the case before the year

 

Is out, they fall like apples from a tree

 

Into my lap and from then on will form

 

A part of my domains.

 

amstel

 

You said just now

 

That we not you should grow at his expense.

 

floris

 

Indeed I did and such will be the case,

 

For I shall grant those fortresses to you:

 

For you to hold on my behalf but gain

 

Their revenue.

[p. 25]

 

amstel

 

His castles are not near

 

My lands. What, should the Bishop cut me off?

 

floris

 

How can he? When he knows that I'm the one

 

That holds the strings around his purse's neck

 

And soon, I hope, around his own?

 

velzen

 

I think

 

Your plan is sound. I should be very pleased

 

To cut myself a pair of shoes out of

 

The Bishop's hide. What do you say, my friend?

 

amstel

 

It's true: no risk - no gain. I'll go along.

 

floris

 

An excellent decision. Now go each

 

Your private ways until I let you know.

Amstel and Velzen exeunt.

 

I say - your niece sends you her best regards!

 

friar

 

You did not need to make that last remark.

 

You would spread mustard on a wound!

 

floris

 

I know.

 

I should not do it, but I do dislike

 

That man, so clearly torn between his greed

 

For what the Bishop owns and hatred of

 

Myself. He should be watched with care, that snake,

 

Lest, when I turn my back on him, he strike

 

And spread his venom through the wound.

 

And yet,

 

A useful man, because so ruled by greed

[p. 26]

 

That he will swallow any bait to get

 

What he desires. You saw how readily

 

He followed Velzen's lead. Poor Velzen, what

 

A trusting man! Such simplemindedness!

 

It almost grieves me to make use of him.

 

friar

 

You should not underestimate the men

 

That are, or soon will be, your enemies.

 

You are too confident, my son. I know

 

That since your first defeat in that morass,

 

Against the Frisians, you have done much

 

To strengthen and repair the base that now

 

Sustains such power as you have. I know

 

That you have used the cities to oppose

 

The discontent of thwarted noblemen

 

And that as champion of the peasants' cause

 

You use them to frustrate the barons' wish

 

To be restored in ancient privilege.

 

 

 

But don't forget the fickle mob that shouts

 

How much it loves you yet tomorrow wants

 

Your life because some crazy hothead speaks

 

To them of new and further benefit.

 

All power ultimately rests upon

 

Ideas in men's minds and therefore is

 

Fragile and yours so in particular.

 

floris

 

You are, as always, right. My task is hard,

 

So difficult, in fact, that sometimes I

 

Despair of ever bringing to an end

 

What I've set out to do.

 

Within these lands

 

I must sustain the towns in their desire

 

For prosperous stability; yet if

 

It ever should occur to them to free

 

Themselves of my command and feudal rule

[p. 27]

 

I must be fast and strike at once, before

 

The rot can spread, as I was forced to do,

 

Some eighteen years ago, when I set fire

 

To that rebellious town, so recently

 

Acquired, of Amsterdam.

 

In order to

 

Do that I must be careful not to break

 

The barons, whom I need to check the pride

 

Of rising towns, but only humble them

 

And keep them from combining when my back

 

Is turned.

 

And so I am the peasants' friend,

 

Confirming them in all their humble rights,

 

Protecting them against the arrogance,

 

Outrageous greed and impudence of those

 

Whose lands they work, as I did in the case

 

Of Amstel's cousin John, that nasty brute.

 

 

 

Those are the triple elements that I

 

Must hold in evershifting counterpoise.

 

But these affairs are only half of what

 

I want to do. The other part is still

 

More difficult, for it concerns what lies

 

Beyond the borders of this land. My first

 

Endeavour must now be to find the grave

 

Where lies the Father I have never known,

 

Who luckless died now forty years ago.

 

 

 

And this is why I shortly plan to fight

 

The Frisians and extirpate the shame

 

Incurred when I, but eighteen years of age,

 

Through ill-preparedness and lack of men

 

Was beaten by that crowd of ruffians.

 

 

 

While doing this I must extend my hold

 

Upon the Bishop of Utrecht. You know

 

What I have planned. I'm certain to succeed,

 

For I am building on the greed of men,

[p. 28]

 

That surest of foundations.

 

All this is

 

But introduction to the hardest task

 

Of all: the coming war with Guy, the Count

 

Of Flanders, richest land of Christendom,

 

Who now intrigues for influence in my

 

Dominions in the South, which he desires,

 

And where he sows sour hatred and dissent.

 

 

 

But there I shall need help, for I alone

 

Cannot defeat the might of Guy Dampierre.

 

And that is why I seek alliance with

 

The King of England, Edward, Hammer of

 

The Scots.

 

friar

 

My son, the task that you have set

 

Yourself is far too much for one man's life.

 

Content yourself with what's contained within

 

The borders of your land. It's large enough.

 

floris

 

And leave the Frisians, my Father's grave,

 

And Flanders and the Bishop of Utrecht?

 

friar

 

Yes, leave all that - do not exceed the bounds

 

Of what is possible.

 

floris

 

I shall not be at peace

 

As long as Father's body does not lie

 

In hallowed ground.

 

friar

 

Then go, if go you must.

Enter Roderick.

[p. 29]

 

roderick

 

My Lord! The banker Nathan has arrived.

 

floris

 

Let him come in.

Exit Roderick.

Enter Nathan.

 

Be welcome Nathan, on

 

A night so bitter cold as I cannot

 

Remember it has ever been before.

 

nathan

 

My Lord!

 

The Bishop of Utrecht sends you

 

His best regards and hopes that you are well.

 

floris

 

I know the reason for your presence here.

 

I know your master well and so do you.

 

 

 

A Bishop is a man of God in whose

 

Right hand should be his sceptre which is used

 

To keep the children of his flock within

 

The bounds of our most Holy Church and in

 

Whose other hand is held the Holy Book

 

In which are kept God's Holy Laws - the Laws

 

He preaches to his children, so they know

 

Their duties to their God and fellowmen.

 

 

 

But that is not exactly as your Lord

 

Has shown himself to be, for in his right

 

He holds a sword: to rob and to destroy,

 

To burn, to plunder and to kill, where he

 

Cannot obtain what he desires by just

 

The simple word of ‘excommunicate’.

 

And in his left he holds a purse in which

 

He gathers all the money simple folk

 

Have paid to him and to his priests, to pray

[p. 30]

 

For solace and salvation of their souls.

 

 

 

Yet howsoever many of these men

 

And humble women are thus duped to part

 

With their hard-gotten coin, the Bishop's purse

 

Is never full and stands in constant need

 

Of further contribution, which explains

 

Your presence here.

 

How much does he require?

 

nathan

 

My Lord, I am a simple banker and

 

A Jew who is not much acquainted with

 

The way a Christian bishop should behave,

 

But all the better do I know his need

 

Of five and twenty thousand pounds in gold.

 

floris

 

Of what?

 

nathan

 

Of five and twenty thousand pounds.

 

floris

 

The Bishop has gone mad!

 

nathan

 

My Lord, not mad

 

But filled with the desire to beautify

 

His city, his cathedral and his court.

 

floris

 

You place a pretty mask before a face

 

That shows dishonesty and greed!

 

nathan

 

My Lord!

[p. 31]

 

floris

 

However, you do not appear to need

 

My disabusing you of humankind.

 

You are a banker and as such you know

 

What sort of motives drives what sort of men.

 

 

 

I have the money that your master needs.

 

nathan

 

My Lord!

 

floris

 

But I shall want an interest

 

And guarantee that he will pay me back.

 

nathan

 

My Lord, what are your terms?

 

floris

 

As guarantee

 

I want two of his fortresses and as

 

For interest, it's two percent per month.

 

nathan

 

My Lord, your Christian laws condemn that sort

 

Of interest as usury: it's not

 

Allowed!

 

floris

 

Since when does Nathan teach the laws

 

That we as Christians must obey? Since when

 

Do you as banker not receive your cut

 

Of any interest that passes through

 

Your hands?

 

Of course I am no usurer.

 

Just let the Bishop put his signature

 

Upon a draft that states that he shall pay

 

The sum of one and thirty thousand pounds

[p. 32]

 

One year from now and I shall send to him

 

The money he requires. The surplus will

 

Be shared between us two. That's one percent

 

Per month for each. I think that even such

 

A Jew as you would not turn up his nose

 

At this arrangement.

 

nathan

 

Please, my Lord, may I

 

Retire and put your proposition to

 

The Bishop? It requires some careful thought.

 

floris

 

Of course it does. Come, Father, let us go.

Floris and the Friar exeunt.

 

nathan

 

What infinite contempt lies in those words

 

Of ‘such a Jew as you’; and how they hate

 

Us, they that quote us first their Christian laws

 

And then make use of us, the objects of

 

Their spite, to circumvent those very laws

 

Which they profess to hold in awe.

 

When first

 

We came into these lands we brought along

 

Our skills of commerce but as soon as they

 

Began to imitate our livelihood

 

They told us to restrict our trade to that

 

Of being bankers, since they feared we might

 

Outwit and fool them - as indeed we would.

 

So now the Christians force us Jews to do

 

What's not allowed to them according to

 

The precepts of their church.

 

But we at least

 

Are safe and left alone here in this land

 

To make a living and to follow in

 

The unobtrusive way that has been gone

 

Before by countless generations of

 

Our forefathers.

[p. 33]

 

It's different across

 

The sea, in England. There my family

 

And friends were held to be the chattels of

 

The Crown, protected by the King, and they

 

Were graciously allowed to thank him for

 

His bounty and benevolence by means

 

Of loans that do not carry interest.

 

 

 

But even so they would be pliable

 

And bear the load that God has placed upon

 

Their backs, had not the populace become

 

Inflamed with infamous and sordid lies

 

Of ritual murder and obscene delight

 

And so in frenzied ignorance had put

 

To flame their women children houses books,

 

As happened not so long ago in York

 

Where not much more than hundred men escaped

 

The ghetto's massacre and took refuge

 

Within the castle where they finally

 

Preferred to kill themselves to falling in

 

The hands of the enraged and foaming mob

 

That stood outside and shouted for their blood.

 

 

 

But now no member of our people lives

 

Among that sullen race, as all have been

 

Expelled. They first were asked to meet the bills

 

For Edward's visit to his lands in France,

 

To Aquitaine. And when they had been made

 

So poor that they could no more be of use

 

To his most Christian majesty, the King

 

Declared that he preferred to deal with men

 

That came from Florence and from other towns

 

In Italy and that were men of Christ.

 

He therefore threw them out and cancelled all

 

The debts that a delighted populace

 

Owed to the hated Jews. So, at one stroke,

 

He added to his subjects' treasury

 

Of love for him and to his own of gold.

[p. 34]

 

My brother Aaron was among the Jews

 

That lived in London at that time and that

 

Had hired a ship to take them down the Thames

 

So they could carry out the King's command.

 

The master mariner cast anchor till

 

The ship by ebb remained on sands and then

 

Enticed the Jews to walk around with him.

 

But when at last he understood the tide

 

To turn, he went back to his ship and told

 

His men to throw him down a rope with which

 

To draw him up. My brother and his friends

 

Were swallowed up by grey and swirling waves.

 

 

 

So why indeed should Nathan spurn to act

 

As instrument of doom for that absurd

 

And cruel fool, the Bishop of Utrecht?

Nathan exit.

[p. 35]

Scene II

Beatrice's room.
Beatrice. Enter Floris.

 

floris

 

My dearest wife... I very much regret

 

That matters of high policy do not

 

Allow me to spend as much time with you

 

As I should like - and as I ought to do,

 

For no man should neglect his wife. I hope

 

You pardon me. You know that all I do

 

Is done according to the interest

 

Of this our land and therefore of yourself.

 

beatrice

 

I am the Count of Flanders' child and so

 

Accustomed from my childhood to the life

 

That women of my sort and rank must lead.

 

floris

 

The knowledge of your love and loyalty

 

Will always be a source of strength for me.

 

But I have not come here to tell you of

 

Myself but to enquire how you have been,

 

Now that you find yourself with child again.

 

beatrice

 

Six months must lapse before I shall give birth.

 

It's early still. Yet so far I am well.

 

But giving birth is nothing as compared

 

With what comes after: seven times have I

 

Borne you a child yet only Margaret

[p. 36]

 

Remains alive. Give God that in my womb

 

I hold a son and that he stay alive!

 

floris

 

A son! It has to be a son! And he

 

Must live to take the burden of my work

 

When I shall die. You know this land does not

 

Accept the principle of feminine

 

Succession and that in the past a lack

 

Of sons has led to strife division and

 

Torment.

 

This is the more important as

 

Your Honourable Father, Guy Dampierre,

 

Seeks influence in Zeeland where he lets

 

His emissaries speak soft lies of gold

 

And succour if I should attack and want

 

To reaffirm hereditary rights.

 

beatrice

 

My Lord, perhaps it is but slander that

 

He seeks to trouble the tranquillity

 

Of those uncomfortable islands that

 

Consist of mud and mist. Why should he want

 

To stir up hatred and dissent along

 

The borders of his land with yours, when in

 

The South the King of France, Philip the Fair,

 

Who's Fair of Countenance but Foul of Soul,

 

Is striving to impose the dominance

 

And sway of both his language and his court,

 

And lay his evergreedy hands on what

 

Has been acquired in patient years of toil

 

By Flanders' humble citizens? Why should

 

My Father then add risks to those that he

 

Already has instead of seeking to

 

Secure a Northern friend?

[p. 37]

 

floris

 

Because, my dear,

 

He needs the help of England in his fight

 

With France but knows that I am just about

 

To join in an alliance with it's King,

 

With Edward. Fearing that, in doing so,

 

I shall succeed in robbing him of his

 

Most profitable trade - the wool that comes

 

From English sheep but leaves his towns as cloth-

 

He wishes to reduce this land in size

 

And lessen its attractiveness as friend

 

And Edward's ally.

 

beatrice

 

Can't you then take each

 

One half of this prosperity? Why must

 

You fight, when half, in peace, is more than would

 

Be left if one kept all but saw how it

 

Grew less once war had caused it to decline

 

And flee to stabler and more peaceful lands?

 

floris

 

Dear Beatrice - the English King derives

 

The greatest part of his prosperity

 

From taxes that are laid upon the sale

 

Of any English wool abroad, and so

 

His officers can keep a careful check

 

Upon this trade he has decreed that it

 

May only go to any single place.

 

It's therefore Guy Dampierre or I, not both,

 

That will be Edward's favourite.

 

I must

 

Be off, for I have much to do. Take care

 

Both of yourself and of the fruit within

 

Your womb: it's Holland's future that you hold.

Floris exit.

[p. 38]

 

beatrice

 

Oh bitter life

 

To be the wife

 

Of Duke or Count or King

 

A life of strife

 

Where war is rife

 

And love is but a sting.

 

 

 

My husband fights

 

My Father's knights

 

And I am caught between.

 

They've set their sights

 

Upon their rights.

 

I don't know what they mean.