Richard I

1157 - 1199. King of England: 1189 - 1199. Also known as "Richard the Lionheart".

Richard I was born at Oxford on 8 September 1157 and belonged to the House of Plantagenet. He was the son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Richard had several brothers, of whom John (later called John Lackland) is rather well-known.

When his father Henry II died in 1189 he was disappointed and broken by his sons Richard and John. They had fought against him supporting their feudal overlord, the French king. After his father’s death Richard I succeeded to the throne and became King of England. Richard was known as a brave man and he spent more time abroad than being present in his own country. Until today he is knwon under his nickname “Lionheart“, Coeur de Lion in French, which shows the strong French influence in the cultural environment of the English people. He is also known as a musician and a poet.

In 1191 Richard met Princess Berengaria of Navarre in South Italy and married her a month later in Cyprus. Shortly after the marriage he continued the third crusade and on his way back he was set prisoner by the duke Leopold of Austria in Dürnstein Castle.

Richard stayed there for two years until England could pay the ransom. Soon after he was liberated he died in battle in France of blood poisoning on 6 April 1199. His mother Eleanor of Aquitaine was with him and he was buried in the abbey church at Fontevraud, but his heart is one of the relics in Rouen Cathedral.

Richard Lionheart became a legend e.g. the role he plays in the Robin Hood stories wherein he is the good king. The sheriff of Nottingham “cooperates“ with John Lackland.

1. Harvey, John: The Plantagenets. London 1959. 2. McDowall, David: An illustrated History of Britain. Harlow: Longman, 1989.