Rikard LØVHJERTE

1157 - 1199  (41 years)

• Name	Rikard LØVHJERTE
  Birth	8 Sep 1157	Oxford, England
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	Konge
  Residence	England
  Death	6 Apr 1199
  Notes	Richard I, RICHARD THE LION-HEART, or LION-HEARTED, French RICHARD COEUR DE LION (b. Sept. 8, 1157, Oxford--d. April 6, 1199, Châlus, Duchy of Aquitaine), duke of Aquitaine (from 1168) and of Poitiers (from 1172) and king of England, duke of Normandy, and co unt of Anjou (1189-99). His knightly manner and his prowess in the Third Crusade (1189-92) made him a popular king in his own time as well as the hero of countless romantic legends. He has been viewed less kindly by more recent historians and scho lars. Richard was the third son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and he was given the Duchy of Aquitaine, his mother's inheritance, at the age of 11 and was enthroned as duke at Poitiers in 1172. Richard possessed precocious political and militar y ability, won fame for his knightly prowess, and quickly learned how to control the turbulent aristocracy of Poitou and Gascony. Like all Henry II's legitimate sons, he had little or no filial piety, foresight, or sense of responsibility. He join ed his brothers in the great rebellion (1173-74) against their father, who invaded Aquitaine twice before Richard submitted and received pardon. Thereafter Richard was occupied with suppressing baronial revolts in his own duchy. His harshness infu riated the Gascons, who revolted in 1183 and called in the help of the "Young King" Henry and his brother Geoffrey of Brittany in an effort to drive Richard from his duchy altogether. Alarmed at the threatened disintegration of his empire, Henr y II brought the feudal host of his continental lands to Richard's aid, but the younger Henry died suddenly (June 11, 1183) and the uprising collapsed. (see also Index: Angevin empire) Richard was now heir to England, and to Normandy and Anjou (which were regarded as inseparable), and his father wished him to yield Aquitaine to his youngest brother, John. But Richard, a true southerner, would not surrender the duchy in whic h he had grown up, and even appealed, against Henry II, to the young king of France, Philip II Augustus. In November 1188 he did homage to Philip for all the English holdings on French soil and in 1189 openly joined forces with Philip to drive Hen ry into abject submission. They chased him from Le Mans to Saumur, forced him to acknowledge Richard as his heir, and at last harried him to his death (July 6, 1189). King of England. Richard received Normandy on July 20 and the English throne on September 30. Richard, unlike Philip, had only one ambition, to lead the crusade prompted by Saladin's capture of Jerusalem in 1187. He had no conception of planning for the futur e of the English monarchy and put up everything for sale to buy arms for the crusade. Yet he had not become king to preside over the dismemberment of the Angevin empire. He broke with Philip and did not neglect Angevin defenses on the Continent . Open war was averted only because Philip also took the cross. Richard dipped deep into his father's treasure and sold sheriffdoms and other offices. With all this he raised a formidable fleet and an army, and in 1190 he departed for the Holy Lan d, travelling via Sicily. Richard found the Sicilians hostile and took Messina by storm (October 4). To prevent the German emperor Henry VI from ruling their country, the Sicilians had elected the native Tancred of Lecce, who had imprisoned the late king's wife, Joan of En gland (Richard's sister), and denied her possession of her dower. By the Treaty of Messina Richard obtained for Joan her release and her dower, acknowledged Tancred as king of Sicily, declared Arthur of Brittany (Richard's nephew) to be his own he ir, and provided for Arthur to marry Tancred's daughter. This treaty infuriated the Germans, who were also taking part in the Third Crusade, and it incited Richard's brother John to treachery and rebellion. Richard joined the other crusaders at Ac re on June 8, 1191, having conquered Cyprus on his way there. While at Limassol in Cyprus, Richard married (May 12) Berengaria of Navarre. The holy land. Acre fell in July 1191, and on September 7 Richard's brilliant victory at Arsuf put the crusaders in possession of Joppa. Twice Richard led his forces to within a few miles of Jerusalem. But the recapture of the city, which constituted the chie f aim of the Third Crusade, eluded him. There were fierce quarrels among the French, German, and English contingents. Richard insulted Leopold V, duke of Austria, by tearing down his banner and quarrelled with Philip Augustus, who returned to Fran ce after the fall of Acre. Richard's candidate for the crown of Jerusalem was his vassal Guy de Lusignan, whom he supported against the German candidate, Conrad of Montferrat. It was rumoured, unjustly, that Richard connived at Conrad's murder. Af ter a year's unproductive skirmishing, Richard (September 1192) made a truce for three years with Saladin that permitted the crusaders to hold Acre and a thin coastal strip and gave Christian pilgrims free access to the holy places. Imprisonment. Richard sailed home by way of the Adriatic, because of French hostility, and a storm drove his ship ashore near Venice. Because of the enmity of Duke Leopold he disguised himself, but he was discovered at Vienna in December 1192 and imprisone d in the Duke's castle at Dürnstein on the Danube. Later, he was handed over to Henry VI, who kept him at various imperial castles. It was around Richard's captivity in a castle, whose identity was at first unknown in England, that the famous roma nce of Blondel was woven in the 13th century. Under the threat of being handed over to Philip II, Richard agreed to the harsh terms imposed by Henry VI: a colossal ransom of 150,000 marks and the surrender of his kingdom to the Emperor on condition that he receive it back as a fief. The raisi ng of the ransom money was one of the most remarkable fiscal measures of the 12th century and gives striking proof of the prosperity of England. A very high proportion of the ransom was paid, and meanwhile (February 1194) Richard was released. Return to England. He returned at once to England and was crowned for the second time on April 17, fearing that the independence of his kingship had been compromised. Within a month he went to Normandy, never to return. His last five years were spent in warfare agai nst Philip II, interspersed with occasional truces. The King left England in the capable hands of Hubert Walter, justiciar and archbishop of Canterbury. It was Richard's impetuosity that brought him to his death at the early age of 42. The Vicomt e of Limoges refused to hand over a hoard of gold unearthed by a local peasant. Richard laid siege to his castle of Châlus and in an unlucky moment was wounded. He died in 1199. He was buried in the abbey church of Fontevrault, where Henry II an d Queen Eleanor are also buried, and his effigy is still preserved there. Assessment. Richard was a thoroughgoing Angevin, irresponsible and hot-tempered, possessed of tremendous energy, and capable of great cruelty. He was more accomplished than most of his family, a soldier of consummate ability, a skillful politician, and capabl e of inspiring loyal service. He was a lyric poet of considerable power and the hero of troubadours. In striking contrast with his father and with King John, he was, there seems no doubt, a homosexual. He had no children by Queen Berengaria, wit h whom his relations seem to have been merely formal. BIBLIOGRAPHY. K. Norgate, Richard the Lion Heart (1924, reprinted 1969), a very full, somewhat old-fashioned narrative, strongly based on chronicle and other recorded sources; F.M. Powicke, The Loss of Normandy, 1189-1204, 2nd ed. (1961), a brilliant surve y of the Angevin Empire on the eve of its disintegration that illustrates Richard's strategic and tactical skill; L. Landon, Itinerary of King Richard I (1935), essential basic information, dating the King's movements, and listing his charters ; S. Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. 3 (1954), a highly readable, reliable, mainly political narrative, beginning with a good account of the Third Crusade; Amy Kelly, Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings (1950), a readable and informa tive narrative on the Angevin Empire from the unusual viewpoint of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard's mother. Rikard (eng. Richard), konger av England. Rikard 1 Løvehjerte, 1157-99, sønn av Henrik 2; hans etterfølger 1189, foretok 1190 et korstog sm.m. Filip 2 August av Frankrike. Etter kamper i Det hellige land begynte R. tilbakereisen 1192, men ble tatt til fange av hertug Leopold av Østerrik e og utlevert til keiser Henrik 6, som slapp ham løs mot store løsepenger 1194. Da han kom tilbake, førte han en langvarig og nytteløs krig mot Frankrike, der han falt. R. skildres i ridderdiktningen som en romantisk idealskikkelse.
  Person ID	I18433	Valdres Slekt
  Last Modified	20 Nov 2007

  
  

  Father	Henrik II,   b. 5 Mar 1133, Le MAN, Frankrike d. 1189 (Age 55 years)
  Mother	Eleanor Av AQUITAINE,   b. Abt 1122, Aquitaine d. 1 Apr 1203 (Age ~ 81 years)
  Marriage	1154
  Family ID	F7089	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart