King Richard I The Lion Heart
1157 – 1199 · Generation XII · King of England (r. 1189–1199) · House of Plantagenet
Richard I the Lionheart (1157–1199). King of England (r. 1189–1199). Married Berengaria of Navarre in 1191. Crusader king who spent barely six months of his reign in England; died of a crossbow wound at a minor siege. Third of Henry II’s five sons, he was never expected to reign, and by sixteen was already commanding an army against rebels in Poitou. On the Third Crusade he became the leading Christian commander once Philip II of France went home, winning victories against Saladin without ever retaking Jerusalem. Between crusade, captivity, and the defence of the French lands of the Angevin realm, he passed as a model of chivalry for four centuries after his death; later historians accused him of treating England chiefly as a treasury for his armies, a verdict modern scholars have in turn questioned as anachronistic.
One of 23 people of House of Plantagenet (1126–1485) in this archive. The longest-reigning English house, counting its Angevin beginning and the rival Lancaster and York branches that fought the Wars of the Roses.
Line of descent: King William I The Conqueror → King Henry I → Matilda the Empress → King Henry II → King Richard I The Lion Heart.
Parents
- King Henry II (1133 – 1189)
- Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122 – 1204)
Siblings
- King John (1166 – 1216)
Partners
- Married Berengaria of Navarre (1165 – 1230) in 1191
Life
- 1157 — Born
- 1189 — Richard I becomes King of England upon the death of Henry II
- 1189 — William Longchamp is appointed Chancellor of England and governs the country during Richard’s absence abroad
- 1189 — Richard sets out with Philip of France on the Third Crusade to the Holy Land
- 1191 — Married Berengaria of Navarre
- 1191 — William Longchamp falls from power and Richard’s brother, John, takes over the government
- 1191 — Richard captures the city of Acre, Palestine, and defeats Saladin at Arsuuf, near Jaffa
- 1192 — Richard reaches an agreement with Saladin to guarantee Christians safe pilgrimage to Jerusalem
- 1192 — On his way back to England from Palestine, Richard is captured and handed over to Henry VI, Emperor of Germany. Henry demands a ransom of 100,000 marks from England for Richard’s release from prison
- 1194 — The ransom is raised in England. Richard is released from captivity.
- 1195 — Richard returns to England for a brief period, before leaving to fight in France, never to return to his homeland.
- 1199 — Died
- 1199 — Richard is mortally wounded by an arrow from a crossbow in battle at Chalus, in France.