英语词汇king-s ransom的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

king’s ransom. Just how much is a king’s ransom? When Ri- chard the Lion-Hearted was kidnapped by Duke Leopold of Austria while returning from the Third Crusade, he was ran- somed for nearly $5 million in today’s dollars, a sum that almost bankrupted England when added to the cost of the Crusade. How far back this expression for “a large sum” goes is anybody’s guess. We only know that the first recorded mention of it dates from about 1470. Marlowe used the term in his masterpiece Faust (ca. 1590).

词汇	king-s ransom
词源	king’s ransom. Just how much is a king’s ransom? When Ri- chard the Lion-Hearted was kidnapped by Duke Leopold of Austria while returning from the Third Crusade, he was ran- somed for nearly $5 million in today’s dollars, a sum that almost bankrupted England when added to the cost of the Crusade. How far back this expression for “a large sum” goes is anybody’s guess. We only know that the first recorded mention of it dates from about 1470. Marlowe used the term in his masterpiece Faust (ca. 1590).
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