Richard I of England King of England ²

   Other names for Richard were Richard "the Lion-Heart" of England and Richard I "the Lion Hearted" of England.

  General Notes:

RICHARD (Beaumont Palace, Oxford 8 Sep 1157-Chalus 6 Apr 1199, bur Fontevrault Abbey). Ralph de Diceto´s Abbreviationes Chronicorumrecord in 1157 that "Alienor regina" gave birth to "filium aput Oxeneford...Ricardum". The Continuator of Florence of Worcester records the birth of "filium Ricardum" to "Alienor regina" at Oxford in [1157]. Duke of Aquitaine in 1172. He was among the first to follow the call of Pope Gregory VIII in Oct 1187 to join a new crusade to relieve Jerusalem, but his departure was delayed by a rebellion of his vassals in Poitou, a quarrel with Raymond V Comte de Toulouse, and Richard joining Philippe II King of France in Jan 1189 in an offensive against his own father. He succeeded his father as RICHARD I " Cœur-de-lion " King of England, crowned 2 Sep 1189 at Westminster Abbey. After his accession, he sold royal estates to raise funds for the crusade, left England in Dec 1189, and met King Philippe of France at Vézelay 4 Jul 1190 for their joint departure for Palestine. He conquered Cyprus in May 1191, following the belligerent reception given by "Emperor" Isaakios Komnenos Dukas after he landed there, defeating the self-styled emperor at Tremithus. He landed at Acre 8 Jun 1191, the town finally capitulating to the siege 12 Jul 1191. After the departure from Palestine in early Aug 1191 of Philippe II King of France, King Richard took full command of the crusading army and of negotiations with Saladin. After massacring his Muslim prisoners, he left Acre 22 Aug 1191 and defeated Saladin at Arsuf in Sep 1191. After signing a five year peace treaty with Saladin 2 Sep 1192, King Richard sailed for England 9 Oct 1192 but was shipwrecked near Aquileja. He continued his journey by land through Austria, but was captured and cast into prison by Leopold IV Duke of Austria. The duke signed an agreement with Emperor Heinrich VI at Würzburg concerning the conditions for King Richard's transfer to the emperor, and handed him over 29 Mar 1193. Emperor Heinrich released Richard 2 Feb 1194 on payment of a large ransom and after he had sworn an oath of allegiance for England and all its possessions. He was crowned King of England a second time 17 Apr 1194 at Winchester Cathedral. The Continuator of Florence of Worcester records the death "VIII Id Apr" [1199] "in Aquitania castello de Calez" of King Richard after having been wounded by "Bertranno de Gurdum" and his burial "ad Fontem-Ebraudi". The Historia brevi Comitum Andegavensium records that King Richard was wounded by an arrow "in obsidione castri Lemovicensis vicecomitis…Corlucum", died soon after, and was buried "in cœnobio Fontis Ebraldi". Roger of Hoveden provides a detailed account of Richard´s death. Arbellot studied the primary sources which record the circumstances surrounding the death of King Richard (he quotes extracts from 32 different sources) in an article published in 1879 and classifies Roger of Hoveden´s report as "plutôt une légende qu´une page d´histoire".

Betrothed (by peace treaty 30 Sep 1174, betrothed 21 Sep 1177) to ALIX de France, daughter of LOUIS VII King of France & his second wife Infanta doña Constanza de Castilla ([4 Oct] 1160-after 1200). Robert of Torigny records the death in 1160 of "Constantia regina Franciæ" while giving birth to a daughter. She is named Adelaide by Kerrebrouck, but he cites no primary source on which this is based. The Chronicle of Alberic de Trois-Fontaines names "reginam Margaretam Anglie et comitissam Aaliz" as childen of King Louis VII & his second wife, specifying that Alix married "Guilelmus comes de Pontivo". This highlights the general confusion between this daughter and King Louis VII's supposed daughter Alix by his third wife. Roger of Hoveden records that the betrothal of King Louis's daughter to Richard of England was first proposed in 1161, when Richard's older brother Henry was betrothed to her sister Marguerite. Chronologically, this can only refer to the king's daughter by his second marriage. This appears to be confirmed by the Chronicle of Gervase which records the betrothal in 1169 of "Ricardus…filius regis Anglæ" and "filiam regis Franciæ quam habuit de filia regis Hispanorum". Ctss de Bourges 1174, as her dowry. Benedict of Peterborough records the betrothal "XI Kal Oct 1177" of "rex Anglie…Ricardus comes Pictaviæ filius eius" and "regi Franciæ…filiam" as part of the peace agreement between the two kings. It is assumed that this refers to the same daughter, although the primary source which confirms this beyond doubt has not yet been identified. If this is correct, she was presumably the same daughter who later married the Comte de Ponthieu. Until further information comes to light, it is assumed that Alix/Adelaide who was betrothed to Richard, and who later married the Comte de Ponthieu, was the daughter who was born in 1160, and that King Louis had no daughter of this name by his third marriage. Alix was brought up in England after her betrothal. Benedict of Peterborough records that the betrothal of "Alesia soror eius [Philippi regis Franciæ]" and Richard was renewed in 1189, commenting that the king of England "in custodia habet". Richard refused the marriage after his accession to the throne. Kerrebrouck states that King Richard arranged her betrothal to his younger brother John in early 1193, but the primary source which confirms this information has not been identified. She returned to France in Aug 1195. Ctss d'Eu, Dame d'Arques in 1195, as her dowry for her marriage.

m (Chapel of St George, Limassol, Cyprus 12 May 1191) Infanta doña BERENGUELA de Navarra, daughter of don SANCHO VI King of Navarre & his wife Infanta doña Sancha de Castilla ([1163/65]-23 Dec 1230, bur Abbaye de l'Espan (Piété Dieu), Mans, transferred 1821 to Le Mans Cathedral). The Nobiliario of Pedro Conde de Barcelos names "D. Berenguela Reina d´Ingalterra, D. Blanca, D. Constança que murio en Arouca" as the daughters of "Sancho Rey de Navarra". The Continuator of Florence of Worcester records the marriage "IV Id Mai" in Cyprus in [1191] of King Richard and "Berengariam filiam regis Navarræ". The Chronicle of Alberic de Trois-Fontaines names "Berengariam" wife of "rex Anglorum Richardus" as sister of "Blancham sororis regis Navarreorum". Matthew Paris names her and calls her daughter of the king of Navarre, when he records her marriage in Cyprus. The marriage was arranged by King Richard's mother. Berenguela arrived with Queen Eléonore at Naples in early 1191 and stayed with her future husband's sister Joanna, dowager Queen of Sicily. She and Queen Joanna sailed with King Richard's fleet to Palestine and landed at Limassol, Cyprus in Apr 1191. She was crowned Queen of England by the Bishop of Evreux immediately after her marriage. She sailed from Acre for France 29 Sep 1191 with her sister-in-law Queen Joanna. The Annals of Burton record that, after the death of her husband, King John granted Queen Berengaria "in vita sua…civitatem Baiocensem…et duo castella in Andegavia" as well as an annual pension of "mille marcas sterlingorum". The Rotulus Cancellarii records "Berengaria Regina" owing in Devonshire, dated [27 May 1201/26 May 1202]. The necrology of Le Mans Cathedral records the death "X Kal Jan 1230" of "Berengaria regina quondam uxor Richardi…regis Anglorum". The Chronicle of Alberic de Trois-Fontaines records the death "X Kal Jan 1230" of "regina Berengaria domna Cenomanensis relicta…regis Anglie Richardi". The Annals of Waverley record that "Berengaria quondam regina Angliæ" founded "quandam abbatiam de ordine Cisterciensi in pago Cenomannensi…Pietatem Dei" adding that she was buried there.

[Mistress (1): JEANNE de Saint-Pol, daughter of ---. Weir names "Joan de St Pol (?)" as mother of "Fulk (?)", [possible] illegitimate son of King Richard I. The primary source on which this information is based has not been identified. No contemporary named "Jeanne de Saint-Pol" has been identified in the family of the Comtes de Saint-Pol. Until more data comes to light, it is suggested that this information should be treated with caution.]

Mistress (2): ---. The name of Richard's second mistress is not known.

King Richard I had one possible illegitimate son by Mistress (1): [Foulques].

King Richard I had one illegitimate son by Mistress (2): Philippe.

[FMG/Medieval Lands]

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Following copied from Barry Hummel, Jr, World Connect db=siderhummel, rootsweb.com:

Henry's elder son, Richard I (reigned 1189-99), fulfilled his main ambition by going on 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 (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. Their 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 to the emperor, for Richard's release in 1194. 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 was recrowned 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 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.
He spent his youth in France training as a soldier and later fought his father, Henry II, in England. He married Berengaria of Naverre when on a Crusade in 1191. During this Crusade he captured Cyprus. On his way home he was taken prisoner in Austria and held to ransom. There is a nice legend that his faithful minstrel Blondel went from castle to castle strumming the notes of his master's favourite melody. Upon reaching the place of the King's imprisonment he was delighted to hear the answering response from his master's harp. Richard spent only two short periods of his reign in England, the rest of time he was away on Crusades or in France. He was impetuous, brave and forgiving but had no political aptitude.

In the fifth year after ascending the throne, Richard Coeur de Lion was desperately short of money. Contrary to popular belief, he was one of the worst rulers that England ever saw. The stories of Robin Hood featuring "great, good King Richard" are far from the truth. Richard spent less than four months of his reign in England and never even bothered to learn English. He couldn't speak a word. He regarded England as a rather tiresome adjunct to his continental domains of Normandy, Anjou and Aquitaine. Richard's only interest in these islands was as a source of money to help finance his obsession with warfare. Two years after becoming King, he set off from France on the Third Crusade with a huge army and support fleet purchased by the imposition of crushing taxes. These were supplemented by extortions and corrupt practices, including the sale of titles and Offices of State to individuals and the selling of charters to towns. He is reputed to have said that he would have sold London itself, if he could have found a rich enough buyer!

On the way back from the Crusade, at the end of 1192, Richard was shipwrecked in the Adriatic and he decided to make his way back overland to Normandy. He travelled disguised as a peasant, to avoid the attentions of Leopold of Austria and Henry of Germany, with whom he had quarrelled violently in the Holy Land. Unfortunately, spies discovered him and, when he was sitting in a tavern in the village of Eedberg (near Vienna), the Mayor of Vienna burst in and captured him. Richard was imprisoned in a castle some miles up the Danube, at the stronghold of the Kuenringers: the Robber Barons of the Wachau. This was at Durnstein, a dramatic fortress on a hill high above the village. One of the hotels there today is called the "Richard Lowenherz" and the other is the ''Sensor Blondel," which is also the name of one of the local wines. This latter name, of course, commemorates the well-known, and probably apocryphal, tale of Richard's troubadour, Blondel de Neale, who wandered about Europe singing Richard's favourite ballads outside every castle. He did this until he had a response from inside. The story tells how, by Richard singing the second verse, he was able to discover where his King was hidden. He would have had quite a job at Durnstein, as Richard was caged, not in the castle itself, but in a small chicken-coop-like cell amongst the boulders, a few hundred yards beyond.

The King was imprisoned for over a year in this castle, until his faithful minister, Hubert Walter, came to the Continent to arrange a ransom; and it is here that we begin to pick up the story of the English Coroner. The sum demanded for Richard was enormous: 150,000 marks, which today would represent several million pounds. Though it was never paid in full, the already drained resources of England were strained again to try to raise this money. In fact, it is from this very time that we can trace the first taxation on movable property in England, a precedent that has stayed with us for 800 years.

Richard returned to England in March 1194, but stayed only a few weeks before going back to his lands in France, never again to return.

And then the body of the king was carried to Fontevrault, the son attending the funeral procession along the way on foot, sometimes ahead and sometimes behind, when the body was placed in the church, behold Count Richard of Poitou, the oldest of the legitimate sons still living and the heir, at once came in. And when he entered the church and approached the body, the face of his father, having been denuded of the napkin with which it had been covered, was plainly visible. Which, when it appeared to all, just as if colored and with its usual fierceness, the count, not without growling of flesh and horror before the body, dropping to his knees in prayer for a little while, remained for scarcely an hour of Sunday prayer. But as soon as he had entered the church, just as those who were present maintain, both of the king's nostrils emitted drops of blood; so much that those seated nearby and the attendants of the body had to wipe clean its mouth and face and wash them several times.

And of what this could be a sign or portent, the careful reader may observe for himself, since to express it would be harmful.

  Death Notes:

While beseiging the castle of Chalus.

  Events

• Ruled: 1189-1199. ²

Richard married Berengaria de Navarra Princess of Navarre, daughter of Sancho VI de Navarra King of Navarre and Sancha de Castilla y León, on 12 May 1191 in Chapel of St. George, Kilossi Castle, Limassol, CY.^{1 2} (Berengaria de Navarra Princess of Navarre was born about 1163 in Pamplona, Navarra, ES ³ and died about 1230 in Abbaye de l'Épau, Le Mans, Pays de la Loire, 72000, FR ³.)

Richard next married Jeanne de Saint-Pol on 12 May 1191 in Chapel of St. George, Kilossi Castle, Limassol, CY.