Richard I

1157 - 1199. King of England: 1189 - 1199. Also known as "Richard 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 by his sons Richard and John who had both fought against him supporting their feudal overlord, the French king. After his father’s death Richard I succeeded to the English throne. 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. Until today Richard is known as "Lionheart", Coeur de Lion in French, which shows the strong French influence after the Norman Conquest and the dominance of the Plantagenets. He is also known as a musician and a poet.

1. Harvey, John: The Plantagenets. London: Publishing House??? 1959.

2. McDowall, David: An illustrated History of Britain. Harlow: Longman, 1989.