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The above picture shows the extent of King Henry II 's empire in Western areas of France. This kingdom King Richard inherited after the demise of Henry II.
It shows Normandy, Brittany, Anjou, Poitou,
Aqutaine (of his queen Eleanor.
Gascony and a few more.
Eleanor was daughter of the Duke of Aqutaine.
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First son of Henry II had died very young. His name was William. The second son was named Henry and was crowned by Henry II himself as 'heir-apparent'. but he never wielded power and died before Henry II. The third son was Richard I. So, he became the King of England and Eastern France. The fourth son was named Geoffrey. and the youngest son was John with whom Shakespeare begins his history plays!
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King Henry passed away in
and Richard became king in .
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According to the laws and customs of succession, Geoffrey could stake claim to the throne only after Richard if at all, there was no son to him.
Arthur was son of Geoffrey.
Geoffrey passed away before King Richard. and John was looking after both England and Western France provinces during the absence of Richard in the Third Crusade War.
We have to remember these details to understand King John - Shakespeare play. Queen Elianor was imprisoned by Henry II for instigating his /her sons to rebel for getting real authority and financial powers which King Henry II denied to them so long as he was alive.
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KING RICHARD ( THE LION-HEART)
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King Richard I, was a friend of the Jews in England and France and couteous towards the few surviving Saxon Lords. ( Cedric the Saxon, as mentioned in Scott's novel.
Robin Hood the brilliant archer and outlaw, was a great admirer of Richard and a loyal follower. Ivanhoe himself ( son of Cedric) is a loyal knight on the side of Richard.
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Richard was a very courageous and wonderful warrior and was known for his great chivalry. He was very tall and regal in his appearance and bearing.
He was not much interested in administration. which he left to his deputies and ministers. He was always after military glory and fame as a warrior.
The Third Crusade offered that opportunityt to wrest control of the HolyLand ( modern Israel and Lebanon) from the hands of another great Muslim and Arab king Saladin.
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A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish ethnicity, Saladin led the Muslim military campaign against the Crusader states in the Levant. At the height of his power, his sultanate included Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen and other parts of North Africa.
The Levant refers to the area located in the Eastern Mediterranean and includes Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan in the modern world.
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In this grand and holy expedition, King Richard had volunteered to fight and regain the Holy Land of Jerusalem for Christendom.
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He sailed to Sicily and captured Cyprus which is nearest island to Israel and so of great strategic importance.
Richard I (born 1157 – died 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death.
( for ten years) . He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period.
( see the image-map at top_)
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The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by the leaders of the three most powerful states of Western Christianity (England, France and the Holy Roman Empire) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187.
It was partially successful, recapturing the important cities of Acre and Jaffa, and reversing most of Saladin's conquests, but it failed to recapture Jerusalem, which was the major aim of the Crusade and its religious focus.
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The Battle of Arsuf was a battle of the Third Crusade in which Richard I of England defeated the forces of Ayyubid leader Saladin. ... The battle resulted in the coastal area of central Palestine, including the port of Jaffa, returning to Christian control.
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from an excellent post at
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Richard-Lionheart/
(edited slightly)
Outside the Houses of Parliament there stands a statue of Richard I seated on his horse as testimony that he was one of England’s bravest and greatest kings
All English school children learn about this great king who reigned from 1189-1199. He earned the title ‘Coeur-de-Lion’ or ‘Lion Heart’ as he was a brave soldier, a great crusader, and won many battles against Saladin, the leader of the Saracens who were occupying Jerusalem at that time.
It appears that he hadn’t much interest in being king …in his ten years as monarch he only spent a few months in England, and it is doubtful that he could actually speak the English language.
Richard was the son of King Henry II and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. He spent much of his youth in his mother’s court at Poitiers. During the last years of Henry’s reign, Queen Eleanor constantly plotted against him. Encouraged by their mother, Richard and his brothers campaigned against their father in France. King Henry was defeated in battle and surrendered to Richard, and so on the July 5th 1189, Richard became King of England, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou.
After his coronation Richard, having already taken the crusader’s vow, set out to join the Third Crusade to free the Holy Land from Saladin, the leader of the Turks.
Whilst wintering in Sicily, Richard was met by his mother along with a potential bride to-be…Berengaria of Navarre. He initially resisted the match.
On the way to the Holy Land, part of Richard’s fleet was wrecked off Cyprus. The island’s ruler Isaac I made the mistake of upsetting Richard by badly treating his surviving crews. Richard had landed in Rhodes but immediately sailed back to Cyprus where he defeated and deposed Isaac.
Whether it was the magic of the island, the heightened senses from his victory or something else entirely, it was in Cyprus that Richard relented and married Berengaria of Navarre. An unlikely place perhaps for an English king to get married, nevertheless Berengaria was crowned Queen of England and Cyprus.
Richard continued with the Crusade, landing and taking the city of Acre on 8 June 1191. Reports of his daring deeds and exploits in the Holy Land excited the folks back home and in Rome,
So in early October, after concluding a three years’ peace deal with Saladin he set off alone on the long journey home.
During the journey Richard was shipwrecked in the Adriatic and eventually captured by the Duke of Austria. A heavy ransom was demanded for his release.
He eventually returned to England in March 1194.
However he didn’t spend much time in England and spent the rest of his life in France doing what he seemed to enjoy most of all …fighting.
It was while besieging the castle at Chalus in France that he was shot by a crossbow bolt in the shoulder. Gangrene set in and Richard ordered the archer who had shot him, to come to his bedside. The archer’s name was Bertram, and Richard gave him a hundred shillings and set him free.
King Richard died at the age of 41 from this wound. The throne passed to his brother John.
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How I wish that Shakespeare had begun his series with Willam the Conqueror and written more about his successors!
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Sir Walter Scott , much later , as a Novelist, wrote two wonderful novel centered around the Third Crusade.
IVANHOE and TALISMAN.
Both have been filmed.
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Would you like to read the two great novels?
Here they were!
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/scott/walter/talisman/
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"My heart was a lion, but now it is chained, far do I travel, until I am free. This is the beginning of the movie Ivanhoe, 1952. King Richard Lionheart has been captured in Austria while returning from his crusade in the Holy Land. Most of his people believed him dead, but Ivanhoe`s feeling that his king still lives took him on an endless quest from castle to castle, until at last he came to Austria...
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