Pages of history: Why the English king Richard the First was nicknamed the Lionheart (7 photos). Richard the Lionheart: a true legend and a false truth

RICHARD I (Richard) Lionheart (French Coeur de Lion, English Lion-Hearted) (1157-99), English king from 1189, from the Plantagenet dynasty. He spent most of his life outside England. During the 3rd Crusade 1189-92 he captured Fr. Cyprus and the fortress of Acre in Palestine. Killed during the war with France.

RICHARD I (Richard) LION HEART (French Coeur de Lion; English Lion-Hearted) (September 8, 1157, Oxford - April 6, 1199, Chalus Castle, Viscounty of Limoges), king of England from 1189, from the Plantagenet dynasty.

Richard was the third son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He spent most of his life outside England, in the continental possessions of the English crown. Richard received an excellent education, knew many languages ​​(but not English), was a poet and a connoisseur of poetry, physically strong, brave, unbridled, a talented administrator and adventurer.

In 1169, Henry II divided his possessions into appanages, and Richard received the Duchy of Aquitaine. In 1174-1177 he rebelled against his father, but was defeated, made peace with Henry and served him faithfully. In 1180, Philip II Augustus ascended the French throne, intending to take away the continental possessions of England. He in every possible way incited Richard (who became heir to the throne in 1183 after the death of his older brothers) against his father, and, uniting with him, began a war against Henry in 1188, which ended in the defeat of the old king and his death. Richard arrived in England, where he was crowned on September 5, 1189.

Richard and Philip were to take part in the Third Crusade. In a short time, having emptied the treasury and bleeding the country with extortions, Richard collected funds and in June 1190 sailed to the Holy Land, leaving his brother, Prince John, the future John the Landless, at the head of England. Having plundered the city of Messina in Sicily along the way and conquered the island of Cyprus, Richard arrived in Palestine on June 8, 1191, where the fortress-port of Acre (now Akka in Israel) was under siege by the crusaders, and an agreement had already been reached on the honorable surrender of the city. Richard broke down the negotiations and took Acre by storm on July 11. Immediately after this, discord began in the camp of the crusaders; Richard quarreled with Philip and rudely insulted Duke Leopold of Austria. Philip sailed to his homeland, where, in alliance with Prince John, who had betrayed his brother, he began to attack Richard’s possessions in Normandy. Richard, having not received the promised ransom for the garrison of Acre, ordered the execution of 2 thousand captives, for which he received the nickname “Lionheart”. After an unsuccessful campaign against Jerusalem, Richard went home, but on the way back he was captured by his enemy Leopold of Austria, from whom the German Emperor Henry VI ransomed him and placed him in honorable captivity. Richard was released after paying 150 thousand marks in gold and taking the vassal oath to the emperor.

In March 1194, Richard returned to England, removed Prince John, then reconciled with him, reinstating him as governor, but limiting his powers. In May 1194 Richard went to France to fight Philip. In January 1199, France, in the hope of Richard's victories, concluded an unfavorable peace with England. Richard went to war against his rebellious vassal, Viscount Adhemar of Limoges, and during the siege of Chalus Castle he was wounded in the arm by an arrow and died of gangrene. Since Richard was childless, the throne passed to his brother John.

During the reign of John the Landless, the ancestral lands of the Plantagenets on the continent, to retain which Richard made so much effort, went to France. Richard was not at all involved in governing England. In the memory of his descendants, Richard remained a fearless warrior who cared about personal glory more than the well-being of his possessions.

Richard I the Lionheart(1157-1199) - English king from the Plantagenet family, who reigned in 1189-1199. Son of Henry II and Eleanor of Guyenne. Wife: since 1191 Beranger, daughter of Sancho VI, King of Navarre.

Richard was the second son of Henry Plantagenet. He was not considered as the direct heir of his father, and this left a certain imprint on his character and on the events of his youth. While his elder brother Henry was crowned by the English crown in 1170 and declared co-regent with Henry II, Richard was proclaimed Duke of Aquitaine in 1172 and was considered the heir of his mother Eleanor. After this, until his coronation, the future king visited England only twice - at Easter in 1176 and at Christmas in 1184. His reign in Aquitaine took place in constant clashes with local barons, accustomed to independence. Soon clashes with his father were added to the internal wars. At the very beginning of 1183, he ordered Richard to take the feal oath to his elder brother Henry. Richard flatly refused to do this, citing the fact that it was an unheard of innovation. Henry the Younger invaded Aquitaine at the head of a mercenary army, began to ravage the country, but in the summer of that year he suddenly fell ill with a fever and died. The death of the older brother did not put an end to the quarrels between father and son. In September, Henry ordered Richard to give Aquitaine to his younger brother John.

Richard refused and the war continued. The younger brothers Gottfried and John attacked Poitou. Richard responded by invading Brittany. Seeing that nothing could be achieved by force, the king ordered the disputed duchy to be transferred to his mother. This time Richard complied. But although father and son made peace, there was no trust between them. Particularly suspicious was the closeness established between the king and his youngest son John. There were rumors that Henry, contrary to all customs, wanted to make him his heir, removing his rebellious older sons from the throne. This made the relationship between his father and Richard even more tense. Henry was a tough and despotic man, Richard could expect any dirty trick from him. The French king was not slow to take advantage of the discord in the English royal house. In 1187, he showed Richard a secret letter from the English king, in which Henry asked Philip to marry his sister Alice (already betrothed to Richard) to John and to transfer the duchies of Aquitaine and Anjou to the same John. Richard felt threatened by all this. A new rift began to brew in the Plantagenet family. But Richard openly opposed his father only in the fall of 1188. Against his will, he made peace with the French king in Bonmoulin and took him the oath of feud. The following year, the two of them captured Maine and Touraine. Henry waged war against Richard and Philip, but without much success. Within a few months, all continental possessions fell away from him, except Normandy. At Lehman, Henry almost was captured by his son. In July 1189 he had to agree to humiliating terms dictated to him by his enemies, and died soon after. In August, Richard arrived in England and was crowned in Westminster Abbey on September 3. Like his father, who spent most of his time not on the island, but in his continental possessions, he did not intend to stay in England for long. After his coronation, he lived in his country for only four months, and then visited again for two months in 1194.

Having assumed power, Richard began to work on organizing the Third Crusade, which he vowed to participate in back in 1187. He took into account the sad experience of the Second Campaign and insisted that the sea route be chosen to reach the Holy Land. This saved the crusaders from many hardships and unpleasant clashes with the Byzantine emperor. The campaign began in the spring of 1190, when masses of pilgrims moved through France and Burgundy to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. In early July, Richard met Philip Augustus in Wesel. Kings and troops greeted each other and continued their march to the south together with joyful songs. From Lyon the French turned to Genoa, and Richard moved to Marseille. Having boarded ships here, the British sailed east and on September 23 were already in Messina. Here the king was detained by hostile actions of the local population. The Sicilians were very unfriendly towards the English crusaders, among whom there were many Normans. They not only showered them with ridicule and abuse, but at every opportunity they tried to kill unarmed pilgrims. On October 3, a real war began because of an insignificant clash in the city market. The townspeople hastily armed themselves, locked the gates and took up positions on the towers and walls. In response, the British, without hesitation, launched an assault. Richard, as much as he could, tried to keep his fellow tribesmen from ruining the Christian city. But the next day, during peace negotiations, the townspeople suddenly made a bold foray. Then the king stood at the head of his army, drove the enemies back into the city, captured the gates and carried out harsh judgment on the vanquished. Until the evening, robberies, murders and violence against women were rampant in the city. Finally, Richard managed to restore order.

Due to the late time, the continuation of the campaign was postponed until next year. This months-long delay had a very bad effect on the relations between the two monarchs. Every now and then minor clashes occurred between them, and if in the fall of 1190 they arrived in Sicily as intimate friends, then in the spring of the next year they left it as almost outright enemies. Philip went straight to Syria, and Richard made a forced stop in Cyprus. It so happened that due to a storm, some of the English ships were washed ashore on this island. Emperor Isaac Comnenus, who ruled Cyprus, took possession of them on the basis of coastal law. But on May 6, the entire crusader fleet entered the harbor of Limassol. The king demanded satisfaction from Isaac, and when he refused, he immediately attacked him. The galleys of the crusaders approached the shore, and the knights immediately began the battle. Richard, along with others, boldly jumped into the water, and then was the first to enter the enemy shore. The battle, however, did not last long - the Greeks could not withstand the blow and retreated. The next day the battle resumed outside Limassol, but was just as unsuccessful for the Greeks. As the day before, Richard was ahead of the attackers and most distinguished himself by his valor. They write that he captured the banner of Isaac and even knocked the emperor himself off his horse with a blow of a spear. On May 12, the king’s wedding to Berengaria was celebrated with great pomp in the conquered city. Isaac, meanwhile, realized his mistakes and began negotiations with Richard. The conditions of reconciliation were very difficult for him: in addition to a large ransom, Isaac had to open all his fortresses to the crusaders and send auxiliary troops to participate in the crusade. With all this, Richard has not yet encroached on his power - the emperor himself gave the reason for events to take a worse turn for him. After all matters seemed settled, Isaac suddenly fled to Famagusta and accused Richard of encroaching on his life. The angry king declared Komnenos an oathbreaker, a violator of the peace, and instructed his fleet to guard the shores so that he would not escape. He himself first of all captured Famagusta, and then moved to Nicosia. On the way to Tremifussia, another battle took place. Having won his third victory, Richard solemnly entered the capital. Here he was detained for some time by illness. Meanwhile, the crusaders, led by King Guido of Jerusalem, took the strongest castles in the mountains of Cyprus. Among other captives, Isaac's only daughter was captured. Broken by all these failures, the emperor surrendered to the victors on May 31. The only condition of the deposed monarch was the request not to burden him with iron chains. But this did not make his fate any easier, because Richard ordered him to be shackled in silver and exiled to one of the Syrian castles. Thus, as a result of a successful 25-day war, Richard became the owner of a rich and prosperous island. He left half of their property to the inhabitants, and used the other half to form fiefs for the knighthood, which was supposed to take upon itself the defense of the country. Having placed his garrisons in all cities and castles, he sailed to Syria on June 5. Three days later he was already in the Christian camp under the walls of besieged Akkon.

With the arrival of the British, siege work began to boil with renewed vigor. In a short time, towers, rams and catapults were built. Under protective roofs and through tunnels, the crusaders approached the enemy’s very fortifications. Soon battle broke out everywhere around the breaches. The position of the townspeople became hopeless, and on July 11 they entered into negotiations with the Christian kings for the surrender of the city. Muslims had to promise that the Sultan would release all Christian captives and return the Life-Giving Cross. The garrison had the right to return to Saladin, but part of it, including one hundred noble people, had to remain hostages until the Sultan paid the Christians 200 thousand ducats. The next day, the crusaders solemnly entered the city, which they had been besieging for two years. The joy of victory, however, was overshadowed by strong discord that immediately broke out between the leaders of the crusaders. The dispute arose over the candidacy of the king of Jerusalem. Richard believed that he should remain Guido Lusignan. But many Palestinian Christians could not forgive him for the fall of Jerusalem and preferred the hero of the defense of Tyre, Margrave Conrad of Montferrat. Philip Augustus was also entirely on his side. This discord was superimposed by another loud scandal associated with the Austrian banner. As can be inferred from the conflicting reports of this incident, shortly after the fall of the city, Duke Leopold of Austria ordered the Austrian standard to be raised above his house. Seeing this flag, Richard became furious and ordered it to be torn off and thrown into the mud. His anger was apparently caused by the fact that Leopold occupied a house in the English part of the city, while he was an ally of Philip. But be that as it may, this incident outraged all the crusaders, and they could not forget about it for a long time. At the end of July, Philip, as well as many French pilgrims, left the Holy Land and began their return journey.

This weakened the forces of the crusaders, while the most difficult part of the war - for the return of Jerusalem - had not yet begun. True, with the departure of Philip, internal strife among Christians should have subsided, since Richard now remained the only leader of the crusader army. However, it was not clear how up to this difficult role he was. Many considered him a capricious and unbridled man, and he himself, with his first orders, confirmed this unfavorable opinion of himself. The Sultan could not fulfill the conditions imposed on him by Akkon’s capitulation as quickly as he was obliged to: release all captured Christians and pay 200 thousand ducats. Because of this, Richard became immensely angry and immediately, after the deadline agreed upon by Saladin - August 20 - had passed, he ordered more than 2 thousand Muslim hostages to be taken out and slaughtered in front of the gates of Akkon. Of course, after this the money was not paid at all, not a single captured Christian received freedom, and the Life-Giving Cross remained in the hands of Muslims. Three days after this massacre, Richard set out from Accon at the head of a large number of crusaders. Ascalon was chosen as the goal of the campaign this time. Saladin tried to block the road. On September 7, a fierce battle took place near Arzuf, ending in a brilliant victory for the Christians. Richard was in the thick of the battle and contributed greatly to the success with his spear. A few days later, the pilgrims arrived in the destroyed Joppe and stopped here to rest. Saladin took advantage of their delay to completely destroy Ascalon, which he now had no hope of holding. The news of this upset all the plans of the crusaders. Some of them began to restore Joppe, others occupied the ruins of Ramle and Lydda. Richard himself participated in many skirmishes and often risked his life unnecessarily. At the same time, lively negotiations began between him and Saladin, which, however, did not lead to any results. In the winter of 1192, the king announced a campaign against Jerusalem. However, the crusaders only reached Beitnub. They had to turn back because of rumors of strong fortifications around the Holy City. In the end, they returned to their original goal and, in severe bad weather - through storm and rain - moved towards Ascalon. This, until recently flourishing and rich city, appeared before the eyes of the pilgrims in the form of a deserted heap of stones. The Crusaders zealously began to restore it. Richard encouraged the workers with monetary gifts and, to set a good example for everyone, he himself carried stones on his shoulders. Ramparts, towers and houses were erected from terrible debris with extraordinary speed. In May, Richard took Daruma, a strong fortress south of Ascalon, by storm. After this, it was decided to move on to Jerusalem again. But, like last time, the crusaders only reached Beitnub. Here the army stopped for several weeks. Heated debates ensued between the leaders of the campaign about whether it was advisable or not to now begin the siege of such a powerful fortress, or whether it was better to move to Damascus or Egypt. Due to disagreements, the campaign had to be postponed. Pilgrims began to leave Palestine. In August, news arrived of Saladin's attack on Joppe. With the speed of lightning, Richard gathered the remaining military forces at hand and sailed to Joppe. In the harbor, ahead of his men, he jumped from the ship into the water in order to reach the shore without delay. This not only saved the citadel, but also recaptured the city from the enemy. A few days later, Saladin tried again with superior forces to capture and crush the king’s small detachment. A battle took place near Joppe and in the city itself, the outcome of which fluctuated for a long time, now in one direction or the other. Richard proved himself not only strong, courageous and persistent, but also a reasonable commander, so that he not only held his positions, but also inflicted heavy losses on his enemies. The victory allowed negotiations to begin. Bad news came from England about the autocratic actions of the younger brother of King John the Landless. Richard rushed home with restless haste, and this prompted him to make concessions. According to the agreement concluded in September, Jerusalem remained in the power of the Muslims, the Holy Cross was not issued; The captured Christians were left to their bitter fate in the hands of Saladin, Ascalon was to be razed by workers on both sides. This outcome of the campaign filled the hearts of Christians with grief and rage, but there was nothing to be done.

After concluding an agreement with Saladin, Richard lived in Akko for several weeks and sailed home at the beginning of October. This journey presented great difficulty for him. Apart from the sea route around Europe, which he obviously wanted to avoid, almost all other roads were closed to him. The sovereigns and peoples of Germany were for the most part hostile to Richard. His outspoken enemy was Duke Leopold of Austria. The German emperor Henry VI was Richard's opponent because of the close relations of the English king with the Guelphs and Normans, the main enemies of the Hohenstaufen family. However, despite this, Richard decided to sail up the Adriatic Sea, apparently intending to go through southern Germany to Saxony under the protection of the Welfs. Near the coast between Aquileia and Venice, his ship ran aground. Richard left the sea with a few escorts and, in disguise, rode through Friaul and Carinthia. Duke Leopold soon became aware of his movement. Many of Richard's companions were captured, and with one servant he reached the village of Erdberg near Vienna. The elegant appearance of his servant and the foreign money with which he made purchases attracted the attention of the local residents. On December 21, Richard was captured and imprisoned in Dürenstein Castle.

As soon as news of Richard's arrest reached the emperor, he immediately demanded his extradition. Leopold agreed after they promised to pay him 50 thousand marks of silver. After this, the English king became Henry's prisoner for more than a year. He bought his freedom only after he took the feal oath to the emperor and promised to pay a ransom of 150 thousand marks of silver. In February 1194, Richard was released, and in mid-March he landed on the English coast. John's supporters did not dare to confront him and soon laid down their arms. London greeted its king with magnificent celebrations. But after two months he left England forever and sailed to Normandy. In Lizo, John appeared before him, whose unseemly behavior during the absence of his elder brother bordered on outright treason. Richard, however, forgave him for all his crimes.

In Richard's absence, Philip II achieved some dominance over the English on the continent. The English king hastened to correct the situation. He took Loches, one of the main fortresses of Touraine, captured Angoulême and forced the submission of the inveterate rebel Count of Angoulême. The following year Richard marched to Berry and was so successful there that he forced Philip to sign a peace. The French had to give up eastern Normandy, but retained several important castles on the Seine. Therefore, the agreement could not be durable. In 1198, Richard returned the border Norman possessions, and then approached the castle of Chalus-Chabrol in Limousin, the owner of which was exposed in a secret relationship with the French king. On March 26, 1199, after dinner, at dusk, Richard went to the castle without armor, protected only by a helmet. During the battle, a crossbow arrow pierced the king deeply into the shoulder, near the cervical spine. Without showing that he was wounded, Richard galloped to his camp. Not a single important organ was affected, but as a result of the unsuccessful operation, blood poisoning began. After being ill for eleven days, the king died.

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Richard the Lionheart died relatively young, and the circumstances of his death became one of the mysteries of the Middle Ages.

Richard I Plantagenet remained on the English throne for ten years, from 1189 to 1199. Of course, there were many English kings who ruled even less, but still, a decade is usually considered too insignificant a period of time for a statesman, a ruler, to achieve something grandiose. However, Richard, nicknamed the Lionheart, managed to achieve truly immortal fame as a knight king, and his shortcomings only set off his valor.

UNSUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN

As you know, Richard the Lionheart had a difficult relationship with the French king Philip II. They were already difficult due to the complex dynastic and vassal situation in the relationship between the two kings (Richard was also the Duke of Aquitaine, and this territory was a vassal territory to France). And they were also worsened by the unsuccessful experience of the joint Third Crusade.

Richard and his younger brother John (John)

As a result, Philip II began to actively campaign for Richard's younger brother, John (John), to overthrow him from the English throne, and the Lionheart, after returning from the Holy Land, began a war against France. As a result, the victory remained with Richard, and in January 1199 peace was concluded on terms favorable to him.

GOLDEN TREASURE

But Richard did not have time to return to England: a situation arose on French territory that required the presence of him and his army. His vassal, Viscount Eimard of Limoges, according to some sources, discovered a rich treasure of gold on his lands (presumably an ancient Roman pagan altar with offerings).

According to the laws of that time, Richard as lord should also receive a certain part. However, the Viscount did not want to share the precious find, so Richard and his army had to besiege the castle of his vassal, Chalus-Chabrol.

DEATH IN FRANCE

It was here that Richard’s unexpected death overtook him. According to medieval chronicles, on March 26, 1199, the assault had not yet begun, and the king and his entourage were driving around the surroundings of the castle, choosing the most convenient place from where to attack. They were not afraid of the arrows of the besieged, since they were at a decent distance.

However, among the defenders of the castle there was a crossbowman, and a crossbow bolt fired at random by him wounded Richard (according to various sources, in the arm, shoulder or neck). The king was taken to the camp and the bolt was removed, but Lionheart died from the consequences of his wound on April 6.

POISON OR INFECTION?

Almost all sources telling about the circumstances of the death of the famous knight king focus on the point that Richard’s wound itself was not fatal, but its consequences turned out to be fatal.

In the Middle Ages, a version became widespread that the crossbow bolt fired at the king was smeared with poison - by that time, European knights had already been fighting the Saracens in the Middle East for about a century, from whom they adopted this military trick.

CAUSE OF DEATH

In 2012, a group of French scientists received permission to study the "remains of Richard the Lionheart" to determine the exact cause of his death. More precisely, not all the remains of the king were subjected to comprehensive analysis, but a piece of his heart kept in the Rouen Cathedral.

Since, according to the king’s will, parts of his body were buried in different places: the brain and entrails, the heart, the body. As a result, thanks to chemical tests, which required only one percent of the stored samples of the king’s heart, it was established that no poison had entered Richard’s wound.

The King Knight died from an infection resulting from blood poisoning. In fact, it was blood poisoning that was the main cause of death of wounded soldiers in the Middle Ages, when both the level of medical knowledge and the level of ideas about hygiene in Europe was not high enough.

WHO KILLED RICHARD?

And if the question of the immediate cause of the death of the Lionheart seems to have been clarified, then the problem of the identity of his killer and the fate of this man remains in the fog. The following is more or less certain: the castle of Chalus-Chabrol was poorly adapted to warfare, so that at the start of the siege there were only two knights in it (the rest of the garrison were simple warriors).

Remains of Chalus-Chabrol Castle

The English knew the two knights well by sight, since they led the defense directly on the fortress walls. The besiegers especially noted one of them, as they mocked the homemade armor of this knight, whose shield was made from a frying pan.

BLOOD REVENGE

However, it was this knight who fired the fatal crossbow shot for Richard, so that the entire English camp knew who exactly wounded the king. The castle was captured even before the death of the Lionheart, who allegedly ordered the knight who wounded him to be brought to him.

Having learned that the knight shot at him because the king had once killed his relatives, Richard ordered not to punish him, but to release him and even give him a monetary reward for marksmanship. But, as most sources report, after the death of the king, the knight was not released, but was executed by a painful death - he was skinned alive and then hanged.

AN UNSOLVED MYSTERY

However, many questions still remain: various versions of the name of this knight are called - Pierre Basil, Bertrand de Gudrun, John Sebroz. But the fact is that the knights Pierre Basil and Bertrand de Gudrun are mentioned years and even decades after the death of Richard: the first appeared in documents on the transfer of property to the heirs, the second participated in the Albigensian Wars. So who exactly became the killer of one of the most famous kings of the Middle Ages and what the fate of this man was is still unclear.

Richard I the Lionheart

King of England and Normandy, leader of the Third Crusade, famous for the capture of the fortress of Accra

Richard I the Lionheart. Artist M.-J. Blondel. 1841

The leader of not only English, but also European knighthood, King of England and Normandy, Richard I, nicknamed the Lionheart, was born in 1157 in Oxford, the son of the English monarch Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. From an early age he dreamed of knightly deeds and prepared himself for them.

At the age of 15, he became Duke of Aquitaine, a region in the south of France, and participated with his brothers in a rebellion against their father. The rebellion was suppressed by force of arms. Henry II treated his son graciously, leaving him the ducal crown, because he saw him as a worthy heir to the throne.

Richard early earned a reputation as a brave military leader and an excellent organizer. In 1175–1185 he suppressed the “revolts” of the subjects of the English crown. He became famous for the fact that in 1179 he managed to take the castle of Tyburg in Senton, which was considered impregnable. In 1183, when his elder brother died, Richard defended his rights to his father's crown in an intra-family struggle.

When Henry II died in 1189, Richard became king of England and Normandy at age 32. The new monarch had little interest in his royal duties, spending no more than six months in England over the next ten years. The knighted crown bearer immediately began to prepare for the campaign to the Holy Land.

The story of the Third Crusade is as follows. The three most powerful European rulers responded to the call of Pope Clement III - Richard I the Lionheart, the German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (Redbeard) and the French King Philip II. All of them were talented and experienced commanders who thirsted for new exploits.

But there was no agreement between them and there could not be from the very beginning of hostilities. The three crowned princes were at enmity with each other even in Europe itself. However, the crusader knighthood was determined to liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims and recapture the Holy Sepulcher from them.

Richard I nearly bankrupted his England by selling royal property and forcefully collecting taxes to finance his campaign. The English knighthood reached Palestine by sea, and this cost a lot of money, not to mention other travel expenses.

King Richard I the Lionheart sailed to the East in 1190. The British decided to spend the winter in Sicily, but their inhabitants met the crusaders inhospitably. Then Richard captured the city of Messina and by force received what they did not want to give him in a Christian way. Together with the British, the French also arrived in Sicily. The two monarchs spent the winter quarreling and entertaining themselves with knightly tournaments.

Richard sailed to the East for knightly adventures on a red galley with red sails. In the spring of 1191, English crusaders arrived in Cyprus (which had previously fallen away from the Byzantine Empire). And the Cypriots received the uninvited guests without due delight. Therefore, King Richard spent a whole month conquering the island.

After he married the daughter of King Sancho III of Navarre, Berenike, the English monarch sold the island of Cyprus to the Knights Templar for 100 thousand benzents. The crusader king explained his decision by the fact that he did not have soldiers to perform garrison service in Cypriot cities and fortresses.

It should be noted that with the conquest of the fertile island of Cyprus with a Christian Greek population, Richard I acted strategically quite wisely in those conditions. The island became a reliable rear base for them.

On June 8 of the same year, the British landed in the Holy Land, under the walls of the Accra fortress besieged by the French, where they arrived directly from Sicily. By that time, the German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa was no longer alive. Of all his considerable army, which marched to the Holy Land from Constantinople by land, only one thousand German knights of the cross reached Accra under the command of King Frederick of Swabia.

The European knighthood, gathered near Accra, recognized Richard I as their leader. He led the siege of the fortress so energetically that its garrison, which by that time had withstood a two-year siege by the crusaders, capitulated. The Saracens (Arabs), who had secluded themselves in Accra, were frightened by the speed of the siege work advancing in the enemy camp, which brought the day of the inexorable assault closer.

The besieged knew well that during the capture of Jerusalem the crusaders did not spare anyone. However, the Saracen garrison of Accra opened the fortress gates and surrendered to the mercy of the victors. Richard I the Lionheart had no mercy for Muslim soldiers - he ordered the merciless extermination of 2,700 prisoners.

The fall of the fortress city of Accra allowed the Crusaders to conquer the Mediterranean coast of Palestine without a fight. The garrisons of Haifa and Caesarea surrendered the cities without resistance.

The capture of the Accra fortress glorified the English king in the East. His very appearance on the battlefield caused the Muslim warriors to panic. By the end of the Third Crusade, the Saracens were frightening children with his name.

He was constantly looking for dangers and military adventures. He always went on exploration and hunting, accompanied by a small retinue. Enemies often attacked him. Several times the Muslims almost took him prisoner, as, for example, in the garden near Jaffa, where the king carelessly fell asleep.

After the capture of Accra, disagreements between the British and French reached their climax. King Philip II Augustus, who had gained fame as the conqueror of the Saracens, returned home. Most of the French knights - the crusaders - sailed with him. But now the arrogant Margrave Conrad of Montferrat began to conflict with Richard I in the crusader army.

In August 1191, King Richard I the Lionheart began a campaign against the Holy City. The path went through the city of Ascalon. The commander led forward the crusader army, the number of which is said to be up to 50 thousand people. He managed to temporarily achieve the subordination of various counts and barons.

The monarch of England and Normandy took care of many things in that campaign. His army even organized a laundry service, since clean clothes for soldiers helped avoid the spread of infectious diseases.

Richard I led his troops initially along the seashore, accompanied by a Christian fleet. It was important for him not to tire the people and horses who were about to march - a rush through the desert and mountainous Palestinian lands to Jerusalem. Few convoys were taken with us.

The Arab cavalry constantly harassed the crusaders with their frequent attacks. However, things have not yet come to big fights. The reason was that the English king forbade the knights to get involved in skirmishes.

To protect the marching column from enemy horse archers, squads of crossbowmen walked on the sides. The arrows of the crossbows flew further than the arrows of the archers, and the cavalry of the army of the Egyptian Sultan Salah ad Din suffered losses in men and horses even before the skirmish began.

Sultan Saladin realized how serious his new enemy was. He decided to block the Crusader army’s road to Jerusalem and destroy in its distant and near surroundings all supplies of food and fodder that the Christian army could use.

The decisive battle took place on September 7, 1191 at Arsuf, on the sea coast. According to information greatly exaggerated by sources, the army of Salah ad Din consisted of 300 thousand soldiers. But in any case, the Muslim forces significantly exceeded the Christian forces.

Initially, clouds of arrows from horse archers forced the crusaders to retreat, since the crossbowmen did not have time to respond to the Arabs throwing arrows from long-range bows. However, the core of the army of the Knights of the Cross - the British led by the king - held their position.

For Sultan Saladin, prolongation of the battle threatened disaster. His cavalry of thousands suffered heavy losses in fruitless horse raids and gradually lost their attacking ardor. Gradually, the initiative in the battle passed to Richard the Lionheart. At the signal, his troops launched a general counterattack. The Saracens retreated from Arsuf in disorder.

The huge Egyptian army lost in the battle, according to some sources, 40 thousand people, and according to other, more reliable information, only 7 thousand soldiers. Crusader losses amounted to only 700 people.

Richard, in one of the episodes of the battle, rode forward from the knightly ranks with a spear in his hand and challenged the entire Muslim army. But no one came out to fight him. With arrows stuck in his chain mail, looking like a hedgehog because of this, Richard returned to his camp.

After the affair at Arsuf, the Egyptian Sultan no longer sought to fight Christians in an open field. He began to use scorched earth tactics: all crops and pastures were destroyed, water in wells was poisoned, and other sources of water were spoiled. Such military adversities led to the fact that strife broke out again in the Christian army.

King Richard I realized that further movement towards Jerusalem and the siege of the fortress city could be the death of his crusaders. And he ordered to turn back halfway, to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, to the fortresses and knightly castles.

The Third Crusade ended with the king and Sultan Salah ad Din concluding a three-year truce among themselves in September 1192. The truce turned out to be a peace that lasted for many years, fair and equal for the parties.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem remained on the world map, but now it occupied a narrow strip of the Mediterranean coast from Tire to Jaffa. The Egyptian Sultan opened the Holy City for free visits by Christian pilgrims and merchants.

After this, King Richard I the Lionheart returned to England with great difficulties. His ship was wrecked off the coast of Venice, and the knighted monarch was captured by Duke Leopold of Bavaria. Richard was released from captivity in February 1194 after England paid a huge ransom of 150 thousand marks for him.

In England, Richard I was re-crowned to confirm his title. After this, the king went to Normandy, where he fought for five years. He went down in French history by building a powerful fortress, Chateau Goyard, on one of the islands of the Seine River, demonstrating the high art of a fortifier.

Richard the Lionheart died in April 1199 at the age of forty-one. In one of the skirmishes during the siege of Chalus Castle by the rebellious Viscount Aimard of Limoges, he was wounded in the shoulder by a crossbow arrow. The wound was not fatal, but an untimely and poorly performed operation led to blood poisoning.

Lionheart Of all the kings known in history, none had such an undeservedly inflated reputation as Richard, who inherited the English throne after the death of his father Henry II. King Richard the Lionheart became the hero of hundreds of historical