King of England Richard I *Coeur de Lion* Born: 8 SEP 1157 Beaumont Palace, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England Sex: M Died: 6 APR 1199 Chaluz, Aquitaine, France Cause: killed in battle Buried: ? Fontevraud Abbey, Anjou, France Religion: Pre-Reformation
Relationship: 23/24/25 great granduncle, etc.
Accession: 09/03/1189, Westminster Abbey, London, England
Ancestors:
Marriage(s) and Relationships: Child:Philipp Fitzroy Married to: Berengaria of Navarre 12 MAY 1191, Chapel of St. George, Limasol, CYPRUS
Child:Notes: a.k.a. Richard the Lion Hearted. Reign: 1189-99.
When he was an infant, Richard was betrothed to a daughter of the French
King Louis VII and in 1172 he was given the duchy of Aquitaine in France
(his mothers inheritance). When he became King of England, he set out on
the
Third Crusade with Philipp II, King of France, son of Louis VII. The
Crusade was
a failure. As King, Richard had schosen able ministers wo whom he left
most matters
of administration. Under his rule, however, England suffered heavy
taxation, levied
to support his expeditions. Sometimes cruel, sometimes magnanimous, and
always
courageous, Richard was well versed in the knightly accomplishments of
his age
and was also a poet. He was to become the hero of many legendary tales.
Few monarchs are surrounded by as much romantic lore as is Richard I.
Remembered by his English subjects as the Lion-Heart, Richard's reputation
was built in a time when war was considered a romantic art and killing in
the
name of one's God the essence of courage.
Born on 8 September 1157, the second son of Henry II and Eleanor of
Aquitaine, Richard was raised in Poitiers, the court of his mother,
well-known
for its adherence to the rules of courtly love, chivalry, and knighthood.
The
skills Richard learned in these years proved invaluable for he had two
strikes
against him: he was the second born son and he was not his father's
favorite. Henry II's first son, also Henry, was crowned during the old
King's
lifetime. The Young King Henry died in 1183, and Richard was poised for
succession, but Henry favored John, his third and youngest son. Richard,
pushed to the point of open rebellion, joined with Philip II of France in
an
attempt to destroy the Angevin empire and Henry. In July, 1189, with his
health failing, Henry accepted a humiliating peace and died. On 3
September
1189, Richard was crowned in Westminster.
The coronation marked one of the few visits Richard ever made to
England, but it also marked one of England's worst massacres. The
Coronation ceremony was to be followed by a banquet. By the express
decree of Richard, no Jews were to attend. However, Jews arrived and
Ralph of Diceto, quoted in The Plantagenet Chronicles, described the
scene:
... the courtiers laid hands on the Jews and stripped them and
flogged them and having inflicted blows, threw them out of the
king's court. Some they killed, others they let go half dead. One of
those Jews was so badly injured with slashes and wounds that he
despaired of his life,and so terrified was he by the fear of death
that he accepted baptism of William, prior of the church of St.
Mary of York, and was christened William. And in this way he
avoided the danger of death, the hands of his persecutors. The
people of London, following the courtier's example, began killing,
robbing and burning Jews. Yet a few of the Jews escaped that
massacre, shutting themselves up in the Tower of London or
hiding in the houses of their friends.
Soon after the coronation, Richard renewed his vow to fight in the
Crusades with Philip II of France. (In England only long enough to raise
money for his Crusade, Richard jokingly remarked that he would have sold
London if only he could find a buyer.) Richard and Philip set out for the
Holy
Land in the summer of 1190, but the following winter became waylaid with
transportation problems near the city Messina in Sicily. Camped outside
the
walls of the city, Richard found himself at odds with the King of Sicily,
Tancred. Tancred had been unkind to Joan, Richard's sister, and widow of
the previous King of Sicily. When fighting broke out between the Crusaders
and the people of Messina, Richard seized Messina for ransom and exacted
a tidy profit from Tancred. The forced encampment at Messina, however,
strained the good relations between Philip and Richard. Richard had vowed
to marry Alice, Philip's sister, and Philip thought Richard to be
dragging his
heels in the matter Richard, in reality, hesitated, some say because he
believed Alice to have been his father's lover. Either way, when Richard's
mother arrived in Sicily with an alternative bride, Berengaria of Navarre,
Philip stormed off.
When Richard sailed from Sicily in April 1191, he brought Berengaria
and Joan with him. The ship carrying the two princesses was separated from
Richard's fleet and nearly fell into the hands of the King of Cyprus.
Richard,
in a daring military operation, rescued the princesses and captured the
island
of Cyprus. While Richard's capture of Messina had done much to earn him
the reputation of Lion-Heart, the Cyprus maneuver enshrined his
reputation,
for Cyprus was strategically important for generations of Crusaders.
In June 1191, Richard arrived at the sieged city of Acre. His forces had
the Muslims of Acre surrounded, but Richard and the other Christian forces
were in turn surrounded by the great Muslim leader, Saladin. Encouraged by
the arrival of the Richard and his army, the Christians pressed on and
Acre
fell. The victory was tainted, however, when Richard and Duke Leopold of
Austria quarreled over the spoils of Acre and left Leopold feeling
cheated.
Richard ordered all prisoners taken at Acre killed and then led his army
to
Jaffa. Followed by Saladin, the Crusaders were never able to enter
Jerusalem, stopping a mere twelve miles outside the city. When Saladin
agree to a three years' truce, Richard began the long journey home. While
on the journey Richard was captured by Duke Leopold of Austria and held
for ransom for over a year. The barons of England bargained for his
release
and eventually bought Richard's freedom for 100,000.
While Richard was in prison, his brother John joined forces with
Richard's former friend, Philip II of France, and as a result lost
important
Angevin castles and territories. Upon his release, Richard visited
England for
a short while and busied himself with the task of winning back
territories lost
by John. This end had been accomplished when, in April 1199, while
fighting
a small skirmish in Limousin, Richard the Lion-Heart received a fatal
wound
and died. The age of chivalry lost one of its most charismatic figures,
and
England lost one of its most beloved kings. The stage was now set for King
John, for whom the troubadour Bertrand de Born wrote, "No man may ever
trust him, for his heart is soft and cowardly."
(Biographical information from The Lives of the Kings and Queens of
England, ed. Antonia Fraser , The Oxford Illustrated History of the
British Monarchy, ed. John Cannon and Ralph Griffiths, and The Oxford
Book of Royal Anecdotes, ed. Elizabeth Longford.)
Richard_I_Coeur de Lion, King of England.
Born: 8 SEP 1157, Beaumont Palace,Oxford,England.
Acceded: 3 SEP 1189, Westminster,Abbey,London,England.
Died: 6 APR 1199, Chalus,Limousin.
Interred: Fontevraud Abbey.
Notes:
Reigned 1189-1199. Prisoner in Germany 1192-1194.
A hero of Medaeval legends spent all but 6 months of his reign abroad. He
became Duke of Aquitaine in 1168 and of Poitiers in 1172. He joined the 3.
crusade in 1189 and conquered Messina and Cyprus before arriving in the
Holy
Land. His victory at Arsuf gained Joppa (1191). On his way home he was
capture
in Austria and was only released by Emporer Henry VI after payment of an
enourmous ransom (1194).He returned briefly to England but died in France.
Father: FitzEmpress, Henry II Curtmantle, King of England, b. 25 MAR 1133.
Mother: , Eleanor of Aquitaine, Duchess of Aquitaine, b. ABT 1122.
Married 12 MAY 1191, Limasol, Cyprus to , Berengaria of Navarre.
Child 1: , Philip.
Source *RoyaList* writes:
King Richard was styled as *Rex Angliae, Dux Normaniae at Aquitaniae et
Comes Andigaviae*.
The troubadour Bertran of Born had this name for Richard: *Oc-E-No*,
which in languedoc
(the French of southern France) means *Yes and No* and shows how
duplicitious Bertran
thought Richard was. Richard was probably homosexual. Before his
weddding, he came
before the bishops in Messina, clothed in just a cloak of sackcloth, and
did public penance
for his *unnatural sins*. For his wedding, Richard wore a rose-colored
vest with silver
decorations, golden spurs, and a red hat decorated with birds and
animals. Richard once
said about the Plantagenet family, *from the Devil we sprang, and to the
Devil we shall go.*
He died after being wounded by a crossbow bolt while besieing the castle
of Chaluz.
As Richard lay dying, he asked that his young killer be forgiven, saying,
*Youth, I forgive you.
Take off his chains, give him 100 shillings and let him go.*
Portrayed by Henry Wilcoxen in the 1935 film, *The Crusades*.
Portrayed by Ian Hunter in the 1938 film, *The Adventures of Robin Hood.*
Portrayed by Norman Woolen in the 1952 film, *Ivanhoe*.
Portrayed by Patrick Barr in the 1952 film, *The Story of Robin Hood and
His Merrie Men*.
Portrayed by George Sanders in the 1954 film, *King Richard and the
Crusaders*.
Portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in the 1968 film, *Lion in Winter*.
Portrayed by Michael Byrne in the 1978 BBC-2 series, *The Devil's Crown.*
Portrayed by Neil Dickson in the 1987 film, *Lionheart.*
Portrayed by Sean Connery in the 1991 film, *Robin Hood: Prince of
Thieves.*
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