Richard the Lionheart - A Biography

Richard I of England was born September 8, 1157, at Oxford, the son of Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, and Henry II of England. He was close to his mother, who fostered his love of the troubadour musical culture cultivated by her own grandfather. Richard himself was a some of his songs survive to the present day. He also developed a love of liturgical music, and took time to listen to the clerks singing in his royal palace. Richard was a teenager when his father put the military of Aquitaine under his command, with orders to subdue the rebellious barons. In this early episode, it became clear that Richard had a gift for generalship. John Gillingham believes that Richard may even have exceeded his father's expectations. From 1175 to 1179, Richard's power as Duke of Aquitaine grew enormously, as he brutally suppressed the rebellious Poitvon barons. Tensions between Henry II and his sons broke into open warfare on several occasions. Richard joined his elder brother, Henry the Young King, and younger brother, Geoffrey, in rebelling against their father in In the late 1180s, Richard allied with Philip II of France against Henry II. On his father's death in 1189, Richard gained the English throne and all of the continental Angevin territory. As soon as he was crowned, Richard committed himself to a crusade to aid the Kingdom of Jerusalem, most of which had been conquered in 1187 by Saladin, the great Saracen ruler of Egypt. Richard's crusading began with the strategically crucial capture of the island of Cyprus in 1191. Cyprus proved ideal for supplying the crusader holdings in Syria. On his arrival at the Siege of Acre that June, Richard found essentially the whole of the Kingdom of Jerusalem now under Saladin's authority. Within a month of Richard's arrival, Acre, that most important Palestinian port, was reconquered. Richard would go on to defeat Saladin on the battlefield in two major engagements. At the Battle of Arsuf in 1191, Richard's tightly organized army withstood relentless attacks by Saladin's more numerous forces, and at the crucial moment, Richard led several cavalry charges that smashed Saladin's lines. The following year, in 1192, Saladin's overwhelmed a Christian garrison holding Jaffa. Richard responded by storming Jaffa's beach with his knights, hurling back Saladin's forces. Within Jaffa itself, Richard fought side by side with his men, clearing the city of Saladin's troops. A counterattack by Saladin was then soundly defeated by Richard, and Jaffa was restored to Christian control. Richard never made an attack on Jerusalem, believing the city could not be retaken, given Saladin's hold on the hinterland. But Richard's victories over Saladin restored Christian control of the Palestinian coast. Only a few years prior, Saladin had been on the verge of annihilating the Crusader presence in Palestine. Now, Richard's triumphs forced Saladin to recognize the Christian conquests in the Treaty of Ramla. Although Jerusalem itself was not restored, Richard's capture of Cyprus and the coast restored the Crusader kingdom in a new incarnation that would endure for 100 years. During his return journey in December of 1192, Richard was captured by Duke Leopold V of Austria, and only allowed to return to his kingdom after a ransom was raised of 100,000 marks. By imprisoning a fellow Crusader, Leopold had broken his Crusader's vow and was excommunicated by the Church. In 1194, Leopold's foot was crushed when his horse fell on it during a tournament, and five days later he died in agony of gangrene. Richard was anxious to return to his lands, for King Philip II of France, who had sworn to respect Richard's territory during his absence on Crusade, had also broken his vow, attacking and picking away at Richard's holdings in Normandy. Richard waged a series of campaigns over the next several years to win back what Philip had taken, defeating the French king in battle, and once even very nearly capturing him. Richard died unexpectedly in April of 1199 in the arms of his mother Eleanor, after being struck by an arrow while besieging the castle of Chaloux. He left his kingdom to his brother John, signaling a troubled time in Angevin history after Richard's competent reign. Historian John Gillingham says that Richard's reputation as king was high among his contemporaries. Gillingham also describes Richard as a fine administrator, who knew the political, diplomatic, and military value of open-handedness. Historian J. F. Verbergen says that Richard was concerned for the personal welfare of his men. He took care to provide for them properly, allowed no unreasonably long marches, imposed strict discipline to protect the whole column of march, supervised the execution of orders personally, and at the same time was ready for any unseen eventuality. The Muslim chronicler Ibn al-Athir says that Richard's courage, shrewdness, energy, and patience made him the most outstanding man of his times.