Which king was called Lionheart

A. Richard I (1157-99), son of Henry II.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Thanks to�crjoy for the question.

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Q.�So how did he get the name

A.�The name of Richard Plantagenet, the warrior king, was earned through bravery, mainly in the crusades. His reputation reached epic and mythological proportions, best seen in literary works such as Robin Hood and Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe.

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Q.�An all-round popular king then

A.�Not so simple as that. In his lifetime he was known as the absent king. He spent only six months of his reign (1189-99) in England.

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Q.� But he was still a great Englishman, though

A.� Up to a point. Richard was born in Oxfordshire, England. But he was a child of Aquitaine, southern France. His native language was French and he spoke very little English throughout his short and violent life.

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Q.� What about Lionheart's�family

A.� He had four brothers and three sisters, the first of whom died at a young age. Of the remainder, Henry was named heir to the English throne, Richard was to succeed his mother Eleanor's in Aquitane and Geoffrey was to inherit Brittany. John received nothing from his father ' giving rise to his name John Lackland. At the age of 12, Richard pledged homage to the king of France for lands. At 14, Richard was named the Duke of Aquitane. King Henry's sons, who had been given lands but no real power, revolted against their father aided by their mother. In retaliation, the king threw his wife in jail.

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Q.� So hardly a happy family

A.� No. They were always squabbling about possessions. In 1183 the younger Henry died, leaving Richard heir to the English throne. Richard received his lands and was expected to give his Aquitane to John ' but refused. John and he were most certainly not on the same wavelength. In fact they didn't speak the same language ' John having been brought up on England.

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Q.�And when did he get tied up in the crusades

A.�While this dispute over family land raged on, Richard learned that the Crusaders had lost Jerusalem to the Saracen leader Saladin. He soon took up the cross of the crusades, much to his father's disapproval. Henry II died in 1189 and Richard was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey. One of his first actions was to free his mother from prison. His second was to begin to taxing people to raise money for the Third Crusade.

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Q.�How did John get in power

A.�One his way home from the crusade, Richard was captured by an enemy, Leopold, in Austria. The Emperor of Germany 'bought' him for 75,000 marks and kept him prisoner. Eventually, a ransom was set�at 150,000 marks, or three tons in silver. While he was away, John ruled as regent. And a very unpopular ruler he was. Click here to read about his life.

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Q.� So everything was all right when he returned

A.� Richard was given a hero's welcome and forgave brother John for any misdeeds, saying he was manipulated by cunning people and vowed to punish them and not his brother. Richard, however, returned to a land in financial trouble ' the costs of his crusade and ransom had virtually bled England dry.

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Q.� How did the Lionheart perish

A.� Bizarrely. A peasant in Chalus, Aquitane, came upon a huge treasure of gold statues and coins while ploughing his fields. The peasant�s feudal lord claimed the treasure. Richard in turn claimed the treasure from the lord. But he refused � and Richard besieged the village. He was wounded by an arrow in the shoulder and refused treatment. It became infected and killed him. He was buried in the Fontvraud Abbey in Anjou.

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