6 Interesting Facts About King Richard I — The Lionheart

The Legendary King of England who led the Third Crusade.

Sal

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King Richard I | Richard The Lionheart | Richard I King of England
Richard I The Lionheart | Photo Credit: History Today

History tells the story of a chivalrous medieval king, crusader warrior, and rebel human with a heart brave as a lion’s.

Richard I, born on September 8, 1157, was the King of England, Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine, and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes. Thanks to his bravery on the battlefield, he is known as Richard the Lionheart.

His knightly manner, bravery, and fearlessness in the Third Crusade (1189–92) made him a popular monarch not only in his own time but for centuries after his death.

Being a history fanatic, I’ve put up six interesting facts from Richard’s life that make him one of the most unusual monarchs of world history.

1. “War Without Love”

Richard grew up torn between his parents, King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Son of divorced parents — it is believed that he was closer to his mother. She was the one who helped him to get to rule the Aquitaine and Poitiers.

In 1170, Richard and his brothers rebelled against their father, planning to dethrone him and place the oldest of brothers — Henry the Young King — on the throne. Henry II…

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Sal

I am a History Educator and a Lifelong Learner with a Masters in Global History.