King Richard I of England

King Richard I of England
9/8/1157, Richard born in Oxford, England, s/o 47277568. King Henry II & 47277569. Eleanor of Aquitaine.
5/1/1165, Prince Richard and his sister Princess Matilda are with their parents at Argentan in Normandy.
9/1166, Siblings Richard, Matilda, Geoffrey, Eleanor and Johanna are with their mother the Queen at Angers where she is acting as regent of Maine and Anjou.
4/7/1168, A marriage of Prince Richard with, Alice, a daughter of King Louis VII of France is proposed. Alice became a ward of King Henry in England.
1/7/1169, Princes Henry and Richard did homage to King Louis for lands allocated under a treaty by King Henry and King Louis ratified the precious day. [Prince Richard holding Poitou and Guienne ‘sine medio’ of King Louis.]
11/16/1169, King Henry agreed by the Treaty of St. Denys to send Prince Richard to be educated in the French court.
5/31/1170 in the church of St. Hilary at Poictiers, Prince Richard installed with ‘lance and standard’ as Comte of Poitevin by the Bishop of Bordeaux. Then, at Limoges, Richard decorated with the ring of St. Valerie and proclaimed Duke. [Richard’s mother Queen Eleanor attended.]
6/14/1170, King Henry had his 15 year old son Henry crowned King, thus the name Henry the Young King. [While this was a common practice in France, it had never been done in England, and was opposed by many nobles and the Pope.]
2/21/1173, Young King Henry and Richard with their parents attend the Council of Limoges. At this time King Henry proposed giving Chinon, Mirabeay and Loudon to Prince John, which was strongly opposed by Henry the Young.
4/1173, The 3 eldest sons of King Henry begin a revolt in Normandy, supported by their mother the Queen.
7/6/1173, Young King Henry, Richard and Geoffrey with the Comtes of Flanders and Boulogne [who was killed] lay siege to Driencourt. [The castle surrendered on 7/21.]
1173, Prince Richard, age 16, knighted by King Louis VII of France as his Suzerain of Acquitaine and Poitou.
9/25/1173, King Henry and King Louis VII meet near Gisors. King Louis was escourted by King Henry’s sons Henry, Richard and Geoffrey. [The negotiations were unsuccessful.]
9/8/1174, King Henry and King Louis agree to a peace treaty that ends King Louis’ support of Henry’s sons in rebellion.
9/23/1174, King Henry forces Prince Richard, age 17, into submission in Poitou.
9/30/1174, King Henry meets with his sons Henry, Richard and Geoffrey at Mont Louis [near Tours], and they come to terms over land and succession issues.
2/2/1175, at Le Mans in Normandy, Princes Richard and Geoffrey renew their oaths of fealty to King Henry.
1175, Prince Richard goes to Poitou to restore castles and fortifications to the same as they were before the rebellion.
6/24/1175, Prince Richard begins a 2-month siege of the castle of Chatillion in Guienne.
4/2/1176, Princes Richard and Geoffrey return to England, landing at Southampton; and then proceed to Winchester to meet their father and brother Henry. They all spend Easter together. After Easter, Prince Richard, ‘Ricardus filius Regis’, returned to Normandy, for which a fee of 7£ 10s was charged to King Henry for his transportation.
5/1176, Prince Richard wins the battle of Buteville in Saintonge.
7/1/1176, Henry the Young King joins Prince Richard in his campaign in Poitou.
8/1176, Prince Richard completes the submission of the rebels of Angouleme.
9/1176, Prince Richard ensures the safe conduct of her sister Joan through Poitou on her way to her wedding in Sicily.
7/1177, On suspicion that his bride Princess Alice of France had become a lover of his father, Prince Richard refused to consumate his wedding vows.
1177-78, Prince Richard was in Poitou.
5/10/1179, Prince Richard captured the fortified castle of Taillebourg in 9 days. Richard accused of “putting out eyes and cutting off hands” of some of those captured.
6/1179, Prince Richard crossed to England, and then back to France within a few months.
9/18/1180, Philip Augustus succeeded as King of France.
12/25/1182, Prince Richard joined his brothers and parents at Christmas court at Caen, France.
1/1183, Prince Richard refuses to do homage to his older brother Henry. Richard returns to Poitou and fortifies the castle of Clairvaux against a potential siege. [Clairvaux was an encroachment on Young King Henry’s lands.] Richard’s brother Geoffrey, having done homage to his brother Henry, joined in opposition to Richard.
4/1183, Henry the Young King, with Geoffrey, again rebel against their father in Aquitaine. Richard joins his father and offers him the castle of Clairvaux.
6/1183, Older brother Prince Henry died; Richard should have been named heir, but was not. Richard went to Paris to enlist the aid of the young French King, Philip II Augustus.
7/3/1183, at Angiers, King Henry and Prince Richard are reconciled with Geoffrey. Prince Richard, age 25, and now the heir, agrees to give Aquitaine to Prince John.
11/25/1184, Princes Geoffrey and John, with Philip, count of Flanders, league themselves against Prince Richard.
12/25/1184, Princes Richard and John attend Christmas court with their parents at Windsor.
12/31/1184, Prince Richard sails from Dover back to Normandy.
4/1185, Prince Richard attacked his brother Geoffrey’s territories in Bretagne.
5/1185, King Henry recalls Prince Richard to his court in England.
2/26/1186, King Henry agrees with King Philip of France to the consumation of the marriage of Prince Richard and Adelais of France.
7/1186, Prince Richard [‘Ricardo Comiti Pictau’], in conflict with the Comte of St. Giles, is sent money by King Henry to hire mercenaries.
8/19/1186, Prince Geoffrey died in a tournament in Paris, France. [He was in Paris to solicit King Philip’s help against his brother Richard.]
3/1187, Princes Richard and John meet with their father at Aumale in Normandy. [King Henry is preparing for war with King Philip.] Richard and John are each given command of a fourth of King Henry’s forces.
5/20/1187, Princes Richard and John are besieged at Chatearuoux by King Philip. King Henry arrived in relief of the siege. The two Kings agree on a 2-year truce. Prince Richard joins King Philip in Paris.
9/1187, Prince Richard seizes his father’s treasury at Chinon and fortifies the castles in Poitou and Guienne. King Henry calls for Richard and they reconcile at Angers.
11/1187 in Paris, Richard “the Lionheart” took the vow of a crusader.
1/1188, Prince Richard went into Guienne and subdued the rebellion of Aymer, comte of Antouleme. Prince Richard then marched against Raimond, comte of Toulouse. Richard captured 18 castles, the won of Cahors, and subdued the whole of the provence of Quercy. King Philip then attacked King Henry’s lands in retaliation [actually Prince Richard and King Philip were in allegiance in a plan of conquest.]
8/1188, King Henry, supported by Welsh troops, invades France. Prince Richard, while promising to do fealty to his father, invades Berri.
11/18/1188, Prince Richard met with his father Henry II, and King Philip of France, at Bonmoulins. He again demanded the consumation his marriage to Alys, sister of Philip, and to be declared heir to Henry. King Henry refused. Prince Richard then did homage to King Philip for Normandy and all other provinces held of the French crown. The Pope, seeing Prince Richard as the cause of the conflicts, excommunicates him. [The Pope wanted the conflicts ended so that he could organize a crusade.]
6/1189, at La Ferte near Le Mans, King Henry, King Philip and Prince Richard again cannot reach a peace agreement. Prince Richard threatened the Cardinal sent by the Pope to perform the negotiations.
6/1189 at Le Mans, King Henry was defeated by Richard. [Henry escaped when Richard’s horse was killed by William Marshall, who did not want to kill Richard.]
7/3/1189, Prince Richard captures Tours.
7/4/1189, King Henry, very ill, agreed to peace and to deliver Adelais to Prince Richard.
7/6/1189 in France, Richard became King of England on the death of his father. Richard sent [pardoned] William Marshall to free his mother from her confinement. [She had been ‘imprisoned’ since 1173.] King Henry’s death also ended the marriage of Richard with King Philip’s sister Alice.
8/13/1189, Richard sailed from Barfleur to Portsmouth. Two days later he was received at Winchester.
9/3/1189, Richard crowned King Richard I of England. [The coronation was mared by the deaths of Jews that had assembled for the event.]
1189, Richard began fundraising for the next crusade: the Saladin tithe, selling of manors … including an arrangement with the pope to allow exemption from the crusade for a hefty fee. This activity also led to the widespread creation of self-governing towns, for which a fee was paid. London even became self-governing, electing it 1st mayor, Henry FitzAilwin.
12/12/1189, Richard departed on the 3rd Crusade. Richard commandeered 63 ships and ordered them to Dover to move his forces to France. The fleet was then to move to Marsailles to meet up with the combined English and French troops. [30 additional ship coming from Normandy.]
7/1190, The English and French armies met at Lyons; where they learned that the German Emperor, leading his forces to the crusade, had died in an accident.
9/22/1190, King Richard’s army arrived at Sicily.
1191, Richard captured the city of Messina, Sicily, after they had refused to let the English ships land. Richard was reunited with his sister Joanna. Queen Eleanor arrived with Richard’s future bride.
4/1191, 24 ships sank in a storm on the way to Cyprus, and the ship carrying Berengaria and Joanna was separated from the rest.
5/12/1191 at Limassol on Cyprus, in the chapel of St George, Richard married Berengaria, d/o King Sancho VI of Navarre. Berengaria was also crowned Queen. [No children.] Richard captured Cyprus, which he would use as a supply base for his forces.
6/5/1191, Richard set sail for Acre on the galley Trenchmere. [The French forces were already besieging the city. Seige engines were launching objects at walls, troops were trying to fill in the moat, and other troops were tunneling under the walls; but the various national groups were acting independently. Both Richard and Philip developed a disease that caused their hair and nails to fall out. Richard had his bed moved to the front where he could fire a crossbow at the city.]
7/1191, Richard captured Acre. Saladin’s city commander agreed to surrender for a ransom of 200,000 gold pieces, the release of 1500 christians, and the Muslim garrison to be given safe conduct.
1191, Many of the forces, especially the Germans, returned home. Duke Leopold V of Austria, their leader, had been insulted by Richard over the flying of Leopold’s flag.
7/31/1191, due to the death of Count of Flanders, Philip of Alsace and Philip’s own illness, Philip left his 10,000 men under the control of Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy, and returned to France.
8/20/1191, Richard ordered the slaughter of the Muslim prisoners, about 2600, outside the city in view of Saladin’s army. [Their stomach’s were cut open incase they had swallowed precious stones, then their bodies were burned.]
9/5/1191, Richard defeated Saladin at the battle of Arsuf. Richard led two charges of knights “carving a wide path for himself, cutting them down like a reaper with a sickle.” Richard suffered a non-serious wound.
9/8/1191, Richard’s forces arrived a Jaffa to find it’s fortifications destroyed. [Richard spent 3 months repairing the fortifications at Jaffa and along the road back to Acre.]
1191, Richard and Saladin, at the suggestion of Richard, began to exchange gifts through emissaries. Richard became friends with Saladin’s brother.
11/8/1191, Richard was entertained at the tent of al-Adil, Saladin’s brother.
12/1191, Richard arrived at Beit Nuba, 12 miles from Jerusalem.
1/1192, Richard decided to return to Jaffa when they decided they could not begin a siege.
1192, Richard moved to Ascalon, on the coast south of Acre, and spent 4 months rebuilding its fortifications.
4/1192, Richard held an election for King of Jerusalem – won by Conrad de Montferrat. [Conrad was murdered soon afterwards in Tyre by members of the original Muslim “Assassins”, who had also attempted to kill Saladin.] Richard also named Guy de Lusignan as Lord of Cyprus.
8/1/1192, Richard conducted a sea assault on Jaffa, which had been recaptured by Saladin. An emir wrote, “We did out best to sieze him, but in vain, for no one escaped his sword.”
8/4/1192, Saladin’s army attacked Richard’s 80 knights, 400 archers, and a small force of lancers, camped outside the city walls. Richard lost his horse at the height of the battle. Saladin, watching from a hill, sent Richard 2 fresh horses.
9/2/1192, Richard made a 3-year truce with Saladin when he agreed to let Christians have access to the holy places. Richard agreed to raze the fortifications built at Ascalon.
9/9/1192, Richard turned over command of the crusaders to Henry of Champagne.
9/29/1192, Joanna and Berengaria set sail for Rome with Admiral Stephen de Turnham.
10/9/1192, Richard secretly left by ship for home in the dead of night, expecting to be protected as a crusader. He stopped initially in Cyprus, then at Rhodes. From there they traveled up the western coast of Greece.
11/11/1192, Richard sailed from Corfu, a time when almost all ships were in port for the rest of the winter. Because of fears of landing in France, Richard turned his ship back towards Hungary. Richard met up with 2 galleys, Rumanian pirates, who he hired to escort them through unknown waters. Richard, his ship driven by a storm, landed in Ragusa. Leaving again by ship, Richard’s ship began to sink off the coast of Istria, and landed in German territory. [Richard planned to travel to Saxony and his sister Matilda’s husband, Henry the Lion. Henry’s son Otto was ruling Aquitaine in Richard’s absence.]
12/21/1192, King Richard was captured near Vienna [the most likely story] by Leopold V, Duke of Austria. Richard was carrying the Great Seal of England with him. [This was stolen when he was captured, but later returned when the thief was found drowned in Cyprus.] Richard was initially imprisoned in the small town of Durnstein. He was welcomed by the locals under an agreement that, as part of any release agreement, they would be absolved by the Pope of imprisoning a crusader. Richard’s captor, Hadmar II, had been with Richard at the siege of Acre. Queen Berengaria was still in Rome where she learned of Richard’s capture because she saw his belt for sale in a market.
Bef. 1/8/1193, Leopold V moved Richard to Gegensburg where he met Richard to Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI [King of Germany.] Leopold then sent Richard back to Durnstein. [This is where the legend of how Jean Blondel, singing a song Richard would recognize (or hearing Richard singing) under the towers of castles around Vienne, discovered where Richard was. There is some basis for the legend given that soon after multiple English emissaries were able to meet up with Richard when he was being moved to Germany.]
2/14/1193, Leopold and Henry met in Wurzburg and decided on a ransom of 100,000 silver marks, which they would split. To a avoid the use of “ransom”, they decided to call it a dowery for the marriage of Richard’s niece Eleanor of Brittany to one of Leopold’s sons. In addition, Richard was to help Henry invade Sicily.
2/1193, Saladin, Richard’s nemesis in the holy lands, died, leaving 17 sons to fight over his legacy.
3/19/1193, Richard was in custody in Oschenfurt, Germany, where he was seen by 2 English abbots searching for him. William Longchamp, who had met up with Richard earlier, was also there.
3/20/1193, Richard was brought to Speyer, where he met Henry VI a second time. [Apparently Richard refused Henry’s demands.]
3/21/1193, Richard’s trial began in Speyer. Richard was charged with betrayal of the Holy Land by making peace with Saladin. Also charged with conspiracy to kill Conrad de Montferrat, demolishing the defenses of Ascalon, and breaking agreements with his allies. Richard defended himself with the story of the crusade, the fact that he was only guilty of being more successful than others, and the if had wanted to kill Conrad, he would have done it with a sword in his hand. Richard defended himself so well that the German princes were shifting to his favor. Richard ended by kneeling before the Emperor. Moved by the speech, Henry gave Richard the Kiss of Peace, in effect a dismissal of the accusations. Henry accepted Richard as a prisoner, and the “ransom” was changed to a payment for reconciliation between Emperor Henry IV and Richard’s brother-in-law Henry of Saxony. Richard was imprisoned in the castle of Trifels, in the mountains to the west of the city – very secure – the place where the crown jewels were kept.
1193, The pope responded to Richard’s arrest by excommunicating Leopold, and threatening Philip II of France with a country-wide interdict if he attacked Richard’s lands. The pope also arranged for Berengaria and Joanna to travel by ship to Marseilles, where they were then escorted to Poitiers. In Poitiers, Berengaria began raising money for the ransom.
3/30/1193, King Richard wrote from captivity expressing his gratitude to his mother Eleanor for her loyal and effective regency and requesting her action in the naming of his candidate as archbishop of Canterbury. He also announced an agreed proposal of a truce for 6 months.
4/1/1193, William Longchamp arranged for Richard to be moved to Hagenau, where he was free to have visitors and send messages to England.
1193, Richard was allowed to receive items from England including his hunting hawks. [Beginning the legends, Richard was competing in exchanging blows when he killed Ardour, s/o Modred. As punishment he had to face a lion in his cell. Richard killed it with his bear hand’s – and hence the title Coeur de Lion – because he is said to have eaten the lions heart after pulling it from its body.]
6/1193, in Worms, Germany, at Richard’s request, a 2nd court was convened. Richard would now be freed when the emperor had received 100,000 silver marks of Cologne [35 tons] plus hostages [60 for the emperor, 7 for Leopold] for another 50,000. [The additional 50,000 was to be waved if Richard was to achieve something that never was revealed.] At this time a sheep cost a penny. The amount was about 3 times the money raised in England in any previous year.
7/9/1193, William Brewer and William Longchamp arrived in Paris to negotiate a truce between King Philip and King Richard. Richard agreed to pay Philip 20,000 silver marks in 4 installments after his release.
9/1193, German representatives were in London to receive the intial payment of ransom.
12/1193, Richard’s release date was announced; and the fact that he would be crowned King of Provence.
1/1194, Emperor Henry received a letter from King Philip and Prince John offering £1000 a month, and £80,000 if he would keep Richard in captivity until autumn. Henry showed the letter to Richard – any decision had to involved the German princes who had set the original ransom. Richard’s release date was postponed.
1/17/1194, After traveling down the Rhine, Queen Eleanor and her contingent arrived at the imperial court in Germany with the 67 hostages and the rest of the intial 100,000 silver marks.
2/2/1194, Richard’s 3rd court convened in Mainz.
2/3/1194, Richard, under pressure from his mother Eleanor, gave all his lands to the Holy Roman Empire and took the vow of a vassal to Henry with payments to be made each year of £5000.
2/4/1194 at 9 AM, Richard released from custody. Richard left immediately for England via Cologne, Antwerp, then by ship to Zwin [now in Belgium].
3/12/1194, Eleanor and Richard, having once more evaded capture, landed at Sandwich, England. Richard set out on foot for the tomb of Thomas Becket.
1194, It only took Richard 2 weeks to recover his lands and castles, the last to fall being Nottingham castle, after a short siege. [Where, after the siege, he supposedly meets Robin Hood in Sherwood forest.].
4/1194, Richard, meeting with the Great Council, imposed a 3rd tax to raise the ransom money for the hostages.
5/12/1194, Richard sailed from Portsmouth with his army and siege engines for Barfleur, from which they traveled to Caen, then Bayeux, then Lisieux; where Prince John arrived from Paris. Richard forgave his brother John as having had poor advisers.
1194-1198, Richard, with the support of John against and Philip II, would skirmish, Philip slowly retreating back from Normandy.
7/1194, Richard nearly captured Philip at Freteval, capturing his wagon train, which had treasure, and a document identifying Angevin subjects prepared to swap sides.
12/31/1194, Richard’s captor, Lepold V, died, renouncing the last 4000 marks of ransom and promising to release his hostages.
4/1195, Richard’s brother-in-law and key ally Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, died in Brunswick castle.
1195, Berengaria was living on her lands in Le Mans, spending her time helping the poor. Richard developed his military tactics, including incorporating 300 Saracen soldiers.
1195, Emperor Henry renounced the remaining 17,000 marks to support Richard’s war with Philip.
1195, By the Treaty of Louviers, Richard gave up Vexin, but regained other contested territories in Berri.
1196, Richard built the Chateau Gaillard castle on the Seine river.
10/1196 at Rouen Cathedral, Richard and Berengaria at the marriage of his sister Joanna to Raymond of St Giles, s/o Raymond V of Toulouse – Richard’s southern nemesis in France. [A year later Raymod V would die and peace would come between the antagonist regions.]
1197, Richard received the news that Philip, Bishop of Beauvais, had been captured. Upon hearing the news, Richard said it was done by “Dieu et Mont Droit” – “God and my right”, the motto of the British royal family to this day.
1197, When the pope sent Cardinal Peter of Capua to seek his release, Richard refused saying that Philip had been in full armor fighting as a knight.
9/28/1197, Emperor Henry VI died at age 31 in Messina. On his deathbed Henry released King Richard of his vow as a vassal to the Holy Roman Empire.
1197, Richard raided Ponthieu at the mouth of the Somme.
1197-8, Richard defeated Philip II near Gisors, 20 miles northwest of Paris.
1/1199, During a truce arranged by Cardinal Peter of Capua, Philip and Richard met; Richard in a boat on the Seine, Philip on horseback on the bank.
3/1199, Under a truce with Philip, Richard turned south to deal with problems in his lands, specifically with Aimar, Viscount of Limoges.
3/26/1199, Richard wounded at Chalus-Chabrol by a crossbowman shooting from the castle tower.
1199, Richard, showing signs of gangrene, wrote his mother Eleanor and urged her to come.
1199, After the capture of the castle, Richard had the bowman brought to him, forgave him, and set him free.
4/6/1199 at 7 PM, Richard, age 41, died attended by his mother; buried at Fontevrault Abbey, France.
1212, Berengaria wrote a letter to her sister Queen Blanche of Castile about the war in Spain against the Muslims.
2/10/1220, King Henry III sent letters of protection to Queen Berengaria, wife of his deceased uncle King Richard, in Spain for any messengers she desired to send to England.
10/26/1225, Berengaria, Queen of King Richard I, sent a letter to King Henry III asking payment of 1000 marks stirling which had been promised as dower by his father King John in 1215 and agreed to by him in 1220.
1230, Berengaria, self-titled “most humble former Queen of the English”, buried at L’Epau Abbey. [Her remains were discovered there in 1960.]
(S) The Troubadours Song, David Boyle, 2005.