The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

RICHARD I

Richard I Coeur de Lion (the Lionheart) was a blood-thirsty French King of Normandy and Anjou who ruled England from 1189 to 1199. Richard was the elder son of Henry II. He lived for only war and slaughter, and used England to finance his main ambition by going on a crusade in 1190, leaving the ruling of England to others. After his victories over Saladin at the siege of Acre and the battles of Arsuf and Jaffa, concluded by the treaty of Jaffa in 1192, Richard was returning from the Holy Land when he was captured in Austria later that year. In early 1193, Richard was transferred to emperor Henry VI's custody. In Richard's absence, king Philip of France failed to obtain Richard's French possessions through invasion or negotiation. In England, Richard's brother John occupied Windsor Castle and prepared an invasion of England by Flemish mercenaries, accompanied by armed uprisings. Richard I's mother, queen Eleanor, took firm action against John by strengthening garrisons and again exacting oaths of allegiance to the king. John's subversive activities were ended by the payment of a crushing ransom of 150,000 marks of silver - more than four times the total GNP for England at the time - to the emperor, for Richard I's release in 1194.
Richard I is remembered favourably in history because his crusades received the blessing of the church, and favourable documentation by the scholastic monks, and his love of war enabled the powerful barons to extract levies from the people, and warmed them to the king whom they exalted. Richard's emblem, three lions, is still on the British Royal coat of arms. Warned by Philip's famous message 'look to yourself, the devil is loosed', John fled to the French court. On his return to England, Richard I was re-crowned at Winchester in 1194. Five years later he died in France during a minor siege against a rebellious baron. By the time of his death, Richard I had recovered all his lands. His success was short-lived. In 1199 his brother John became king and Philip successfully invaded Normandy. By 1203, John had retreated to England, losing his French lands of Normandy and Anjou by 1205.
Research Richard I