Richard the ruler
Richard, the name of three kings of England.
Richard I (1157-1199), called Richard the Lion-Hearted or, in French, Richard Coeur de Lion, reigned 1189-99. Richard spent less than six months of his reign in England, yet the English cherish him as a national hero.
Richard was the third oldest son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was previously married to King Louis VII of France. In 1168 Richard moved to France to live with his mother, and in 1172 became Duke of Aquitaine. Encouraged by his mother, he formed alliances with King Louis in 1173 and his successor, Philip II, in 1188 in wars against his father for control of certain French domains.
Richard defeated his father at Anjou in 1189, and Henry died of an illness shortly after. Richard then sailed to England to be crowned and to raise money for the Third Crusade.
In 1190 Richard and Philip set out to free Jerusalem from the Saracens (Muslims). Neither king trusted the other. On the way Richard got control of Sicily and conquered Cyprus. In 1191 he helped seize Acre, a Saracen stronghold in the Holy Land, and in 1192 he captured Jaffa. Richard failed to conquer Jerusalem, but he persuaded Saladin, the Saracen leader, to sign a peace treaty, allowing Christian pilgrims to visit the city.
In October, 1192, Richard sailed from Palestine and was shipwrecked on the shores of the Adriatic. Traveling through Austria, he was captured by Duke Leopold V, whom he had insulted in Palestine, and imprisoned by the Holy Roman emperor, Henry VI. He was ransomed in 1194 with money raised in England. (A legend arose that he was discovered in prison by Blondel, a troubadour. It is not verified.)
Richard returned to England but stayed only two months. He left the government in the hands of Hubert Walter, archbishop of Canterbury, and went to France. There he fought feudal wars and died from an arrow wound. He was succeeded by his younger brother John.
In 1389, Richard declared himself of age to rule in his own right. In 1398 he forced parliament to pass laws increasing his power and began acting as a tyrant. The following year, while Richard was in Ireland, Henry of Bolingbroke, a cousin of Richard, raised an army in revolt. Richard found no support upon his return and Henry forced his abdication and had him imprisoned. Henry succeeded as Henry IV. Richard died in 1400, probably murdered. He is the subject of Shakespeare's Richard II.
Richard III (1452-1485), who reigned 1483-85, was the son of the Duke of York, who launched the Wars of the Roses (1455-85). When his older brother Edward IV died in 1483, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, became protector of the kingdom. Edward's older son, aged 12, became Edward V, but before his coronation Parliament proclaimed him illegitimate. Gloucester then became Richard III. Henry Tudor, a Lancastrian living in exile, raised an army with the aid of France and defeated Richard in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Richard was killed in the battle, and Henry became Henry VII.
Tudor historians accused Richard of several murders, including those of Edward IV's sons, and called him a usurper of the throne. Shakespeare based his play Richard III on this view of the king's character. Many modern scholars believe that Richard probably was not guilty of the murders attributed to him before he came to the throne. As king, he sent his nephews to the Tower of London, but there is no proof of the time of their death. Either Richard or Henry VII could have had them killed. Richard probably maneuvered unscrupulously to gain the throne, but this is a matter of conjecture. Records kept during his short reign show him as an able and progressive ruler.