Richard Coeur de Lion and Blondel by Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte Brontë, one of the best known novelists of the 19th century, wrote the poem ‘Richard Coeur de Lion and Blondel’ at the age of 17, when she returned home from boarding school. The historical subject matter of this poem and the others written in the notebook by Charlotte, are a digression from the complex fantasy worlds which she and her siblings had been creating during this period. It was their usual practice to write in self-made notebooks in miniscule handwriting that was very difficult for other people to read.