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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Richard the Lion-Heart Biography RICHARD I (1157-99), surnamed COEUR DE LION or THE LION-HEARTED. King of England from 1189 to 1199. He was the third son of Henry II and his Queen, Eleanor, and was born at Oxford, Sept. 8, 1157. When a mere infant it was decided that he should inherit Aquitaine, and he was betrothed to Alice, or Alicia, the youngest daughter of Louis VII, King of France. Like his brothers, Richard on several occasions rebelled against his father, King Henry II, and was the most prominent figure in the final rebellion, which hastened the death of that monarch. Since the eldest son of Henry II had died, in 1183, Richard succeeded to all the possessions of his father. He had taken the cross in 1187, on the news of the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin. Philip Augustus, King of France, had done likewise, and in 1190 both started on the Third Crusade. Richard, in order to prepare suitably for this Crusade, had borrowed and extorted money wherever possible. The administration of England during his absence was intrusted to William de Longchamp (q.v.), but the prelate was opposed by the King's brother, John Lackland, who gradually usurped the government of the country. The Crusade proved a failure almost from the start, chiefly on account of the lack of harmony between the two kings. After various delays Richard reached Messina on Sept. 23, 1190. He tarried in Sicily more than half a year and betrothed his nephew Arthur to the infant daughter of King Tancred. The Sicilian throne was at that time claimed by the Emperor Henry VI, and the alliance with Tancred for this reason afterward turned out a very unlucky one for Richard. He fell out with the French King, refused to marry his sister Alice, and on April 10, 1191, sailed from Messina, carrying along with him Berengaria of Navarre. whom he married on May 12, 1191, in the island of Cyprus, where he halted on his way to Palestine. The prodigies of personal valor which he performed in the Holy Land have made the name of Richard the Lion-Hearted famous in romance. After Acre had been captured on July 12, 1191, Richard executed 2700 prisoners of war because the payment of their ransom was delayed. (See CRUSADE.) He quarreled bitterly with Philip Augustus, who went home. After spending months in indecisive contests against Saladin, Richard finally made a truce by which Jerusalem was left in the hands of the Sultan. On Oct. 9, 1192, he set out on his return to England. As he was making his way through the dominions of Leopold, Duke of Austria, he was seized by that prince, who had been insulted by Richard while in the Holy Land, and was handed over to the Emperor Henry VI, who detained him as a captive. John meanwhile ruled in England, and he and Philip of France had good reasons for wishing that Richard should never return to his kingdom. He was finally released, however, after paying a heavy ransom and agreeing to hold his Kingdom as a fief of the Empire. On March 13, 1194, he found himself once more in England. His brother, John, who had acted so treacherously towards him, he magnanimously forgave, but with Philip Augustus he made war, while he left the actual government to the able administrator Hubert Walter (q.v.). He was on the whole victorious in his war against France, but was killed by an arrow shot from the castle of Chaluz, which he was besieging, and died April 6, 1199. His character has generally been shown by modern historians in a very unfavorable light. Sismondi's words are often quoted: "A bad son, a bad brother, a bad husband, and a bad king." This estimate is somewhat unjust to Richard. He was extremely generous to John; there is no trustworthy evidence that he was a bad husband; as King he chose able ministers and left most of the ruling to them. But he did tax England heavily for his expeditions. He was a poet and well versed in the knightly accomplishments of his age. In the succeeding century he became the hero of many legendary tales, and he has always been viewed in popular literature as a hero of romance. The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XIX (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 797-798. |