Page 30 - All About History 55 - 2017 UK

Richard I: Rise of the Lion

Even before the dysfunctional royal family His first foray onto the political stage was in lavished upon him. Henry II would go so far as
came to loggerheads, the Angevins already carried his early teens, when his father used him as a to crown his son king in his lifetime — though,
a somewhat unsavoury reputation. They were bargaining chip in an alliance with the Count of crucially, without ceding his throne. Henry II also
known as ‘the devil’s brood’ — a name gained from Barcelona. His betrothal to the count’s daughter personally waited on the young heir at a banquet,
a dark legend on the family’s origins. The tale came with the understanding that he would a massive show of prestige in the Medieval world.
tells of an early prince of Anjou who was married stand to inherit the lucrative duchy of Aquitaine, Despite these gestures, the king was unwilling
to Melusine, a woman who was flawless in every currently held by his mother. to give his sons, including Richard and
aspect save one: she hated attending sermons and While the betrothal would ultimately Geoffrey, any real power in the form
would always leave church before Mass. Disquiet come to nothing, the precedent of land and holdings. When John,
grew until one day the prince ordered his men was set for Richard’s inheritance. “Richard the youngest of the brood, was
to prevent Melusine from leaving the church By 1172, he had been betrothed resented given three castles for a wedding
as the Mass was about to start. Displaying to Alice, the daughter of dowry aged only five, the
supernatural powers, Melusine flew out of the the French king Louis VII. feeling like a Young King was incensed.
window, never to be seen again. Contemporary Because Louis had lordship He needed money to pay and
critics seized on this as a way of attacking the over Aquitaine, Richard paid puppet dancing retain his retinue of knights
family and their often tyrannical rule. However, homage to Louis and in turn to the will of and being passed over did
Richard embraced the story and would openly his own brother and heir to not sit well with him or his
joke that the family were spawned from the devil. the throne, Henry the Young another” brothers, who were equally
Richard’s early life was spent in England in King. The Angevins were trying resentful of John.
the company of his brothers and mother, who to display a united family front, but Tired of this treatment, the Young
he seemed to have a much better relationship the cracks were beginning to show and King rose in rebellion against his father
with than he did with his father. He received Richard resented feeling like a puppet dancing to in early 1173. The situation was exacerbated when
a comprehensive education befitting a prince the will of another. Richard and Geoffrey, 15 and 14 respectively, made
of royal blood and was schooled in languages, Henry II had raised his eldest son Henry, known their first forays into the military world taking up
warfare, the arts and presumably administration. as the Young King, to be his heir from a young arms and declaring in favour of their brother.
age, and he was to many the epitome of a chivalric The family was further fractured when Eleanor,
Richard’s exploits were prince. He was tall, handsome and revelled in the ever at odds with Henry II, supported her sons
sometimes fabricated to
superhuman proportions pageantry of the tournament, with his prowess rather than her husband. The king had mistakenly
at the jousting tilts earning him many admiring not kept his wife close, thinking that she would
followers. As well as a paragon of chivalry, he not interfere directly with the rebellion because
was also seen as glib, feckless and vain, perhaps of her advancing age. Many theories surround
not surprising with all the praise and accolades Eleanor’s reasoning to defy Henry, with the most

Before embarking on a crusade,
Richard swore an oath to renounce
his past wickedness. This was an
effort to show that he was worthy
to take the cross

A depiction of Richard the Lionheart
from a few decades after his death

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