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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Aethelred, post: 3068713, member: 81808&quot;]<b>Richard The Lionheart</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>AD 1189-1199</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Born in 1157 in Oxford, Richard was the fourth child of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Richard was said to be tall, skilled in combat, and politically cunning. He also possessed a violent temper, not an uncommon trait in his family. A betrothal was arranged between Richard and Alice of the Vexin (daughter of Louis VII of France), but the marriage never took place. At one point the Pope himself intervened and ordered that the marriage take place, but to no avail. Various reasons have been put forward to explain Richard’s apparent unwillingness to marry Alice, amongst them it has been suggested that Richard was homosexual. In addition to never being married to Alice, Richard maintained a close friendship with Philip II of France during his early years. Arguing against his homosexuality is the fact that Richard had mistresses and sired at least one illegitimate son, he also eventually married Berengaria of Navarre, although the union was childless. The more likely reason for Richard’s aversion to the prospect of marriage to Alice is her alleged long term affair with Richard’s father Henry, to whom she is believed to have born a child. This may also explain Richard’s willingness to take part in revolts against his father in 1173 and again in 1183 and 1188.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://fusilier.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/richard_the_lionheart_295.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>In 1189, worn out by war and the disloyalty of his children, Henry died at the age of 56. His elder brothers having died before him, Richard was proclaimed King and took control of his father’s English and French lands. Richard actually controlled more lands in France than the French king, these lands brought with them large revenues. At his coronation a delegation of English Jews arrived to present gifts to the new king, but they were beaten and expelled from court. In the chaos that followed there was a slaughter of the Jewish population of London. To his credit Richard ordered the execution of the leaders of the slaughter although his motive might have had more to do with maintaining order than any sympathy for those persecuted.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/utk/maps/images/france_1174.gif" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Richard pledged to go on Crusade and imposed heavy taxes to equip and pay his army. During the Third Crusade Richard recaptured Acre and made it to within a few miles of Jerusalem, but never laid siege to it despite the weak state of the city’s defenders. The largest black mark on his legacy was his execution of 2700 Muslim prisoners as maintaining them would hamper his army’s ability to advance. Richard and his chief Muslim for Saladin developed an admiration for one another’s skill on the battlefield.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>While returning from the East, Richard was captured and held for ransom by Leopold V of Austria, who he had offended by tearing down his banners at Acre. Leopold demanded 100,000 pounds of silver in exchange for Richard. Richard’s younger brother John had assumed control in England and was in no apparent hurry to see his brother loosed. Richard’s mother managed to raise the ransom and Richard was freed after two years in captivity, he forgave his younger brother remarking that the 26 year old John was “only a child.”</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In 1199 Richard was besieging a minor castle in Limousin in an attempt to claim a hoard of Roman gold that had been discovered there. While inspecting the siege engines Richard was shot in the shoulder with a crossbow bolt, which Richard unwisely attempted to remove it himself. He was attended by a doctor who did further damage. When the wound became gangrenous, Richard summoned the man who had fired the soon to be fatal bolt and forgave him. A few days later Richard died in the arms of his mother Eleanor, his heart was sent to Normandy for burial, his entrails were buried where he died and the rest of his body was buried at Fontevraud Abbey in Anjou. Richard was 41 years old at his death. Debate still rages as to Richard’s legacy, he is regarded as the model of kingship by some who admire his military deeds and bearing, others see him as a cruel king who ignored England, spending only six months of his ten year reign there.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/hires/2013/richardtheli.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>If you wish to obtain a coin of Richard’s you will have to make a compromise. His English coins show a representation of the king, but were minted bearing the name HENRICVS. His French coins bear his name RICARDVS, but not his likeness. His coinage is not rare, but because of his popularity it can sometimes command higher prices than the coins of other kings of similar rarity.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The coin shown below was recently purchased by me from London coin dealer Arthur Bryant. It is a Class III Short Cross Penny (Spink-1347), It was minted in London by the moneyer Stivene (probably a blundered Stephen). North lists the Class III coinage as dating to 1192-1194.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://www.wnccoins.com/1189%20Obv.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><img src="http://www.wnccoins.com/1189%20rev.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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