RICHARD COEUR DE LION – The program Secrets d’Histoire is this time dedicated to Richard Coeur de Lion, son of Eleanor of Aquitaine who became king of England in 1189. Stéphane Bern tells us about the “epic” of this king so French.
This week, Stéphane Bern plunges us into the heart of the Middle Ages to follow the adventures of Richard I of England nicknamed Richard the Lionheart following his exploits during the Crusades. In a special issue of History Secrets entitled “The incredible epic of Richard Coeur-de-lion“, the presenter shows us how this English king spent most of his life in France. Son of the famous Eleanor of Aquitaine who was Queen of France before becoming that of England, Prince Richard is not the heir of the Plantagenets. But his family has such a large kingdom (including half of the Kingdom of France) that it is very quickly Count of Poitiers, then Duke of Aquitaine. The young Richard then participates with his mother and his brothers in a rebellion against the head of the family, Henry II. The King of England ends up subduing his sons and imprisons his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, for fifteen years. After this episode, Richard still lives on his French lands and when his father dies in 1189 and he ascends the throne, he leaves to lead the third crusade. Richard the Lionheart did not return to England until 1194, he left again in 1199 to besiege the fortress of Châlus in Limousin. The king finally finds death there, hit by a crossbow. Richard the Lionheart is buried at theAbbey of Fontevraud. Even today, his recumbent figure is exhibited there as well as those of his parents: Henri II and Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Richard I the Lionheart, or Richard I of England, is the son of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England. Her mother married the King of England in second marriage after being married almost fifteen years to Louis VII, the King of France. Richard the Lionheart was born in Oxford, England on September 8, 1157, and held many titles, including those of Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, or Count of Poitiers and Anjou, before inheriting the throne of England on the death of his father in 1189. Passionate about literature, he is also known for having written texts and poems in the langue d’oc.
Although he was King of England, Richard the Lionheart stayed there very little, preferring to devote a good part of his life to the crusade in the Holy Land. In 1190, he left to do the third crusade during which he signed a peace treaty in Sicily before conquering Cyprus and going to Acre in the Holy Land. After bitter fighting and months of siege, he put his nephew Henry II of Champagne at the head of Acre, and signed peace with Saladin. He left hastily for England in 1192, concerned about the plots brewing between his brother John without land and King Philip Augustus. On the way back, Richard the Lionheart and his men are captured near Vienna by the Duke of Austria, an ally of the King of France, while they pass themselves off as anonymous travellers. His mother paid a large ransom to free them, and Richard finally returned to England in 1194.
After fighting hard to retake Normandy, Richard Coeur de Lion hears about a treasure kept in Châlus-en-Limousin, and sets out to get his hands on it. He therefore besieged the castle of Châlus-Chabrol in 1199, and it was then that he was hit by a crossbow bolt of an unknown shooter who will be fatal to him. The gangrene ends up winning it, and Richard Coeur de Lion dies of the consequences of this injury a few days later, on April 6, 1199, at Châlus in the Limousin. His remains are buried in theAbbey of Fontevraud. His recumbent figure (sculpture overhanging his tomb) is still visible there. Having had no legitimate descendants, Richard the Lionheart leaves the throne of England to his brother: John without Earth.
What movies are about Richard the Lionheart?
King Richard the Lionheart is present in a very large number of films. In 1954, the film “Richard Cœur de Lion” was shot with David Butler directing. In 1968, it was Anthony Hopkins who played the young Richard in the film “The Lion in Winter”. But it is above all the legend of Robin Hood which will highlight this king who reigned only ten years. Whether in the movie “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves” (starring Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman and Sean Connery) or Disney’s “Robin Hood,” King Richard is a prisoner and his treacherous brother, Prince John , brought terror to England. In Robin Hood’s Ridley Scott, the story begins on the other hand at the foot of the castle of Châlus where Richard the Lionheart finds death.
Richard I Coeur de Lion: key dates
- October 29, 1187: Call for a third crusade
- Despite the failure of the previous crusade, Pope Gregory VIII calls for a new conquest of the Holy Land. He thus arouses the enthusiasm of Frédéric Barberousse, at the head of the Holy Empire, quickly followed by Philip Augustus, King of France and Richard the Lionheart, King of England. This is how an immense army sets out for the East. However, despite the magnitude of these forces, the crusade did not meet with the expected success. Barely arrived in Asia Minor, Barbarossa will be carried away by the waters of Cydnos. Philippe Auguste, meanwhile, will soon abandon his plans, after having reconquered Saint-Jean-d’Acre in the company of Richard the Lionheart. The latter will continue the reconquest alone, but will not be able to take back Jerusalem.
- July 6, 1189: Death of the first Plantagenet ruler of England
- After ten years of power struggle with his sons Jean and Richard, Henry II of England died in Chinon. He then ceded power to the man who would become Richard the Lionheart in a treaty signed at Azay-le-Rideau. In constant struggle with the King of France Philippe Auguste at the end of his reign, Henry II gave a central place to Normandy and was at the origin of many reforms which modernized the Anglo-Norman kingdom. He is also known for the assassination of Thomas Becket.
- September 3, 1189: Coronation of Richard “Coeur de lion”
- King on July 6, 1189 after the death of Henry II, Richard I the Lionheart was crowned in Westminster on September 3. But Richard Coeur de Lion is above all concerned with feats of arms and decides a year later to set out to conquer Cyprus. Crowned with success during the Crusades, particularly in Saint-Jean d’Acre, he also suffered setbacks such as in Jerusalem and was imprisoned on his return to Europe by Duke Leopold V of Austria.
- 1192: Richard the Lionheart renounces Jerusalem
- Having gone on a crusade in 1187, Richard the Lionheart had to give up taking Jerusalem. Indeed, the unexpected abandonment of the King of France, Philippe Auguste, with whom he shared the same intentions, did not allow him to definitively seize the Holy City. In order to preserve his crown, he cannot afford to stay in the East any longer. So he decides to make a deal with the sultan Saladin. For three years, peace will be assured and pilgrims will be allowed to tread the soil of precious Jerusalem.
- April 6, 1199: Death of Richard the Lionheart
- Released after the payment of a ransom which puts England on the verge of bankruptcy, Richard the Lionheart will not have had the opportunity to return to his country. Fighting against the King of France Philippe Auguste, notably in Normandy where he built his fortress of Château Gaillard, he was wounded during the siege of Chalus in Limousin. He then died a few days later on the same land as his father, ten years later, in Chinon.