test please delete

[n5gooner]

• Baha ad-Din, The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin, ed. D. S. Richards, Ashgate, 2002.
• Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani, Conquête de la Syrie et de la Palestine par Salâh ed-dîn, ed. Carlo Landberg, Brill, 1888.
• Stanley Lane-Poole, Saladin and the Fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Putnam, 1898.
• H. A. R. Gibb, The Life of Saladin: From the Works of Imad ad-Din and Baha ad-Din. Clarendon Press, 1973.
• M. C. Lyons and D. E. P. Jackson, Saladin: the Politics of the Holy War, Cambridge University Press, 1982.
• Alan K. Bowman, Egypt After the Pharaohs, 1986.
• John Gillingham, "Richard I", Yale English Monarchs, Yale University Press, 1999.

[n5gooner]

Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 6 July 1189 to 6 April 1199. In his own time, the troubadour Bertran de Born called him Òc-e-Non ('Yes-and-No'), while some later writers referred to him as Richard the Lionheart, or Cœur de Lion. Richard spent more years of his reign away from his kingdom, since the greater part of his domain was in France. He also took part in the Third Crusade, with campaigns in Sicily and Cyprus on the way, and afterwards a period under arrest by Leopold V of Austria.

[n5gooner]

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[n5gooner]

The third legitimate son of King Henry II of England, Richard was never expected to ascend the throne. He is often depicted as having been the favorite son of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Richard was a younger maternal half-brother of Marie de Champagne and Alix of France. He was a younger brother of William, Count of Poitiers, Henry the Young King and Matilda of England. He was also an older brother of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, Leonora of England, Joan Plantagenet and John, Count of Mortain, who succeeded him as king.

[n5gooner]

Although born at Beaumont Palace, Oxford, England, like most of the Royal Family at the time Richard was essentially French. When his parents separated, he remained with Eleanor, and was invested with her duchy of Aquitaine in 1168, and county of Poitiers in 1172. Meanwhile, his eldest surviving brother, Henry the Young King, was simultaneously crowned as his father's successor.

Richard was an educated man who composed poetry, writing in French and Occitan. He was said to be very attractive; his hair between red and blond, light-eyed, with a pale complexion. He was apparently of above average height, but since his bones have been lost since at least the French Revolution, his exact height is unknown. From an early age he appeared to have significant political and military abilities, became noted for his chivalry and courage, and fought hard to control the rebellious nobles of his own territory. Like his brothers, Richard frequently challenged his father's authority, and his sense of responsibility was open to question.

Eleanor's alleged favouritism of Richard was claimed by Matthew Paris to have been predicted by Merlin: "The eagle of the broken covenant shall rejoice in Eleanor's third nesting." Paris only counted Eleanor's male children in these "nestings", ignoring Richard's older sisters Marie and Alix de France, and Matilda of England.

[n5gooner]

Although born at Beaumont Palace, Oxford, England, like most of the Royal Family at the time Richard was essentially French. When his parents separated, he remained with Eleanor, and was invested with her duchy of Aquitaine in 1168, and county of Poitiers in 1172. Meanwhile, his eldest surviving brother, Henry the Young King, was simultaneously crowned as his father's successor.

Richard was an educated man who composed poetry, writing in French and Occitan. He was said to be very attractive; his hair between red and blond, light-eyed, with a pale complexion. He was apparently of above average height, but since his bones have been lost since at least the French Revolution, his exact height is unknown. From an early age he appeared to have significant political and military abilities, became noted for his chivalry and courage, and fought hard to control the rebellious nobles of his own territory. Like his brothers, Richard frequently challenged his father's authority, and his sense of responsibility was open to question.

Eleanor's alleged favouritism of Richard was claimed by Matthew Paris to have been predicted by Merlin: "The eagle of the broken covenant shall rejoice in Eleanor's third nesting." Paris only counted Eleanor's male children in these "nestings", ignoring Richard's older sisters Marie and Alix de France, and Matilda of England.

[n5gooner]

Revolt against Henry IIIn 1170, his elder brother Henry the Young King was crowned king of England as Henry III. Historians know him as Henry "the Young King" so as not to confuse him with the later king of the same name who was his nephew. In spring 1173, Richard joined his brothers, Henry and Geoffrey, in a revolt against their father. They were planning to dethrone their father and leave the Young King as the only king of England. In the revolt that followed, only Normandy remained faithful to Henry II at first; by August 1174, however, Henry had largely crushed the rebellion in his own lands. After having unloaded in Normandy, he moved on to invade Poitou and Aquitaine, domains of Richard's mother, Eleanor, who was captured and imprisoned towards the end of the year by her husband.[1] At the age of seventeen, Richard was the last of the brothers to hold out against Henry though, in the end, he refused to fight him face to face and humbly begged his pardon. In 1174, after the end of the failed revolt, Richard gave a new oath of subservience to his father.

[n5gooner]

Though placated by titles such as Count of Poitou, Richard wanted more. Henry seemed unwilling to entrust any of his sons with resources that could be used against him. Second, it was suspected that Henry had appropriated Princess Alys Richard's betrothed, the daughter of Louis VII of France by his second wife, as his mistress. This made a marriage between Richard and Alys technically impossible in the eyes of the church, but Henry prevaricated: Alys's dowry, the Vexin, was valuable. Richard himself was discouraged from renouncing Alys because she was the sister of King Philip II of France, a close ally.

[n5gooner]

After his failure to overthrow his father, Richard concentrated on putting down internal revolts by the nobles of Aquitaine, especially the territory of Gascony. The increasing cruelty of his reign led to a major revolt there in 1179. The rebels hoped to dethrone Richard and asked his brothers Henry and Geoffrey to help them succeed. The turning point came in the Charente Valley in spring 1179. The fortress of Taillebourg was extremely well defended and considered impregnable. The castle was surrounded by a cliff on three sides and a town on the fourth side with a three-layer wall. Richard first destroyed and looted the farms and lands surrounding the fortress, leaving its defenders no reinforcements or outs. The inhabitants of the fortress were so afraid of Richard at this point, that they left the safety of their castle and attacked Richard outside its walls. Richard was able to subdue the army and then followed the defenders inside the open gates, where he easily took over the castle in two days. Richard’s victory at Taillebourg deterred many barons thinking of rebelling and forced them to declare their loyalty. It also won Richard a reputation as a skilled military commander.

[n5gooner]

In 1181-1182, Richard faced a revolt over the succession to the county of Angoulême. His opponents turned to Philip II of France for support, and the fighting spread through the Limousin and Périgord. Richard was accused of numerous cruelties against his subjects, including rape: "He carried off by force the wives, daughters and female relatives of his free men, and made them his concubines; and after he had extinguished the ardour of his lust on them, he handed them over to his soldiers for whoring."[2] However, with support from his father and from the Young King, Richard succeeded in bringing the Viscount Aimar V of Limoges and Count Elie of Périgord to terms.