Richard+I+the+Lionhearted

**Richard I the Lionhearted **


Richard was the son of Eleanor of Aquitaine and King Henry II of England. He had two older brothers who died young and a younger brother, John. In order to gain the English throne and his father's French territories, Richard waged war against his father and won. He left almost immediately to set off on a crusade with King Philip of France. This left England in a very unstable state.

While Crusading, Richard made many important accomplishments that included conquering Acre and Jaffa and forming a truce with Saladin that allowed Christian pilgrims to visit Jerusalem. His skill as a warrior earned himself the title "Lionhearted". During his travels, Richard broke his engagement with Philip's half sister Alice in order to marry Berengaria, the daughter of the King of Navarre, for political reasons. Later, Richard and Philip both fell ill but Philip left for home while Richard remained until he recovered. Richard decided not to mount an attack on Jerusalem because his army was too sick and he had heard that his brother John and Philip were plotting to take over his throne in England.

Due to the fact that he had offended so many people during his lifetime, Richard had to plan a secret route back to England. He was caught by Duke Leopard of Austria and given to the German Emperor who held him hostage. Richard was released over a year later for 100,000 marks of silver and 200 lesser hostages. As soon as he returned to England, he waged war against Philip who had taken over his French territories. Amazingly, Richard won every single battle and recovered all of his French territories over the course of five years. He built a line of castles to defend his territory and kept his army ready all year, which caused major economic problems because of its expense. Later, Richard died from a wound that he received in battle. King Richard of England was a great warrior who contributed to the crusades but neglected his country.

// Works Cited //
 * //“Richard I the Lionhearted.”// The Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia for Students// . Ed. William Chester Jordan. Vol. 4. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1996. 9-10. //Gale Virtual Reference Library// . Web. 12 Mar. 2010. //
 * //“Richard I, the Lionhearted (1157-1199).”// DISCovery Biography// . Detroit: Gale, 2003. N. pag. //Student Resource Center-Junior// . Web. 12 Mar. 2010. //
 * //Yezbick, Kevin. “Richard the Lionheart Palace of Westminster.”// Flickr// . Yahoo, 28 Apr. 2009. Web. 1 Apr. 2010. .