Richard I of England

Richard I, King of England from 1189 to 1199

Often referred to as "Richard the Lion Hearted," he was considered a hero in his day and has often been portrayed as one in works of literature. In fact he did little for England, using the kingdom's resources to support his crusades in the Holy Land. He became known as an ambitious man and a power maniac.

One of King Henry II's feuding sons, Richard was the eldest survivor when the old King died. Leaving the country in the hands of his less than competent brother John, Richard spent only a small fraction of his reign in England, being far more concerned with his possessions in France and his battles in Palestine.

He was born in Oxford, England, on September 8,1157, the third son of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He became Duke of Aquitaine in 1168, succeeding his mother, and of Poitiers in 1172. From an early age he appeared to have significant political and military abilities, became noted for his chivalry and courage, and soon was able to control the unruly nobles of his territory.

As with all the true sons of Henry II, Richard had little or no respect for his father and lacked foresight and a sense of responsibility. In 1173 he joined his brothers, Henry the Young King, crowned king of England as Henry III {not to be confused with the later King of this name) in 1170, and Count Geoffrey II of Brittany (Brittany being a major county of France), in a revolt against their father. They were planning to dethrone their father and leave Henry III as the only king of England. Henry II invaded Aquitaine twice and Richard gave a new oath of subservience to his father in 1174 after the end of the failed revolt.

After his failure Richard concentrated in putting down internal revolts by the dissatisfied nobles of Aquitaine, especially the territory of Gascony. The increasing cruelty of his reign led to a major revolt of Gascony in 1183. The rebels hoped to dethrone Richard and asked his brothers Henry and Geoffrey to help them succeed. Their father feared that the war between his three sons could lead to the destruction of his kingdom. He led the part of his army that served in his territories of France in support of Richard. Henry III's death on June 11, 1183, ended the revolt and Richard remained on his throne.

From Henry III's death Richard was considered -- though not officially proclaimed -- heir to the joint thrones of England, Normandy and Anjou. In 1188 Henry II planned to concede Aquitaine to his youngest son John, later King John I of England. In opposition to his father's plans, Richard allied himself with King Philip II of France. In exchange he promised to concede his rights to both Normandy and Anjou to Philip. Richard gave an oath of subservience to Philip in November of the same year. In 1189 Richard attempted to take the throne of England for himself by joining Philip's expedition against his father. They were victorious. Henry, with John's consent, agreed to name Richard his heir. On July 6, 1189 Henry died in Chinon and Richard succeeded him as King of England, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou. He was officially crowned duke on July 20 and king in Westminster on September 30, 1189.

Soon after his accession to the throne Richard decided to join the Third Crusade. Afraid that during his absence the French might usurp his territories, he tried to persuade Philip to join the Crusade as well. Philip agreed and both gave their crusader oaths on the same date. Richard did not worry much about the future of his kingdom. He wanted to engage in an adventure that would cause the troubadours to immortalise his name. He started to raise a new English crusader army, though most of his warriors were Normans, and supplied it with weapons. He spent most of his father's treasury, raised taxes and even agreed to free King William I of Scotland from his oath of subservience to Richard in exchange for 10,000 marks. To raise even more money he sold official positions, rights, and lands to those interested in them. He finally succeeded in raising a huge army and navy. After repositioning the part of his army he left behind so that it would guard his French possessions, Richard finally started his expedition to the Holy Land in 1190. During Richard's absence England was governed by William Lonsan. Richard's brother John was not satisfied by this decision and started scheming against William.

In September 1190 both Richard and Philip arrived in Sicily. In 1189 King William II of Sicily had died. His heir was his aunt Constance, later Queen Constance I of Sicily, who was married to Emperor Henry VI of the Holy Roman Empire. But immediately after William's death, William's cousin, Tancredi, rebelled, seized control of the island and was crowned early in 1190 as King Tancredi I of Sicily. He was favored by the people and the pope but had problems with the island's nobles. Richard's arrival caused even more problems. Tancredi had imprisoned William's widow, Queen Joan, who was Richard's sister, and did not give her the money she had inherited according to William's will. Richard demanded that his sister be released and given her inheritance. Meanwhile the presence of two foreign armies caused unrest among the people. In October , the people of Messina revolted, demanding that the foreigners leave the island. Richard attacked Messina and captured it on October 4, 1190. After looting and burning the city Richard established his base in it. He remained there until March 1191 when Tancredi finally agreed to sign a treaty. The treaty was signed during the same month by Richard, Philip and Tancredi. According to the treaty's main terms:

• Joan was to be released, receiving her inheritance along with the dowry her father had given to the deceased William.
• Richard and Philip recognized Tancredi as legal King of Sicily and vowed to keep the peace between all three of their kingdoms.
• Richard officially proclaimed his nephew, the son of Geoffrey II, Count Arthur I of Brittany, as his heir, and Tancredi promised to later marry one of his daughters to Arthur when he came of age (Arthur was only four years old at the time).

After signing the treaty Richard and Philip left Sicily. The treaty undermined England's relationships with The Holy Roman Empire and caused the revolt of Richard's brother John who hoped to be proclaimed heir instead of their nephew. Although his revolt failed, John continued to scheme against his brother after this point.

During April Richard stopped on the Byzantine island of Rhodes to avoid the stormy weather. He left in May but a new storm drove Richard's fleet to Cyprus. On May 6, 1191, Richard's fleet arrived in the port of Lemesos. Richard captured the city. When the island's despot Isaac Dukas Comnenus arrived to stop the Crusaders he discovered he was too late. He retired to Kolossi. Richard called Isaac to negotiations but Isaac broke his oath of hospitality and started demanding Richard's departure. Richard ordered his cavalry to follow him in a battle against Isaac's army in Tremetusia. The few Roman Catholics of the island joined Richard's army and so did the island's nobles who were dissatisfied with Isaac's seven years of tyranical rule. Though Isaac and his men fought bravely, Richard's army was bigger and better equipped, assuring his victory. Isaac continued to resist from the castles of Pentadactylos but after the siege of his castle of Kantaras he finally surrendered. Richard became the new ruler of Cyprus.

Richard looted the island and massacred those trying to resist him. Meanwhile, Richard decided to marry the woman to whom he was engaged, who had followed him to the crusade. His marriage to Princess Berengaria of Navarra, first-born daughter of King Sancho VI of Navarra, was held in Lemesos (Limassol) on May 12, 1191. It was attended by his sister Joan, whom Richard had brought from Sicily. There were no children from the marriage, and it is sometimes alleged that Richard was homosexual. Richard and most of his army left Cyprus for the Holy Land early in June. In his absence Cyprus would be governed by Richard Kamvill.

Richard arrived at Acre in June 1191, in time to relieve the siege of the city by Saladin. Having fallen out with Duke Leopold of Austria, he suddenly found himself without allies, and failed to reach Jerusalem. On his return to Europe in the autumn of 1192, Richard was captured by Duke Leopold, and kept prisoner by the Emperor Heinrich VI. On payment of a ransom of 150,000 marks, he was released and returned to England in 1194, but spent the remainder of his reign attempting to regain the territory he had lost in France. After his departure in May 1194, he never returned to England.

Richard died on April 6 1199 from the after-effects of an arrow wound received during the siege of Chalus in France, and was succeeded by his brother, John.