Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. He was the third of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and seemed unlikely to become king, but all his brothers except the youngest, John, predeceased their father. Richard is known as Richard Cœur de Lion (Norman French: Le quor de lion) or Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior. The troubadour Bertran de Born also called him Richard Oc-e-Non (Occitan for Yes and No), possibly from a reputation for terseness. By the age of 16, Richard had taken command of his own army, putting down rebellions in Poitou against his father. Richard was an important Christian commander during the Third Crusade, leading the campaign after the departure of Philip II of France and achieving considerable victories against his Muslim counterpart, Saladin, although he finalised a peace treaty and ended the campaign without retaking Jerusalem. Richard probably spoke both French and Occitan. He was born in England, where he spent his childhood; before becoming king, however, he lived most of his adult life in the Duchy of Aquitaine, in the southwest of France. Following his accession, he spent very little time, perhaps as little as six months, in England. Most of his life as king was spent on Crusade, in captivity, or actively defending his lands in France. Rather than regarding his kingdom as a responsibility requiring his presence as ruler, he has been perceived as preferring to use it merely as a source of revenue to support his armies. Nevertheless, he was seen as a pious hero by his subjects. He remains one of the few kings of England remembered more commonly by his epithet than his regnal number, and is an enduring iconic figure both in England and in France.
First Appearance Historical figure (b. 1157 – d. 1199)
First Publisher ○
Appearance List Literature: Historia Majoris Britanniae, tam Angliae quam Scotiae (1521) by John Mair; Ivanhoe (1819) by Sir Walter Scott; Cœur de Lion (1822) by Eleanor Anne Porden; The Talisman (1825) by Sir Walter Scott; Winning His Spurs: A Tale of the Crusades (1882) by G. A. Henty; The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (1883) by Howard Pyle; The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay (1900) by Maurice Hewlett; Lion‑Heart: A Story of the Reign of Richard I (1910) by “Herbert Strang” and Richard Stead; Walter of Tiverton (1923) by Bernard G. Marshall; “Hawks of Outremer” (1931) by Robert E. Howard; Kay, the Left-Handed (1935) by Leslie Barringer; The Golden Knight (1937) by Frederick Schiller Faust (“George Challis”), et. al.. Opera: Riccardo primo, re d’Inghilterra by George Frideric Handel (1727), Richard Coeur-de-lion (1784) by André Grétry, et. al.. Film: Robin Hood (1912) — Éclair silent short; Ivanhoe (1913); Robin Hood (1913, 4 reels, a.k.a. Robin Hood and Maid Marian in UK); Robin Hood (1922) — Fairbanks feature; Richard the Lion-Hearted (1923) — sequel to Fairbanks’s Robin Hood, based on Scott’s The Talisman; Robin Hood, Jr. (1923) — children’s feature; The Crusades (1935) — Cecil B. DeMille; The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) — Errol Flynn, et. al.. Comics: “The Talisman” in Classics Illustrated (1953), “Ivanhoe” in Classics Illustrated (1955), Fantastic Comics #1, Slam-Bang Comics #2, Reg’lar Fellers Heroic Comics #10, Jumbo Comics #47, Startling Comics #6, Blue Ribbon Comics #14, Hit Comics #45, Fight Comics #82, Conquest #1, Robin Hood (Sussex) #1, Robin Hood (ME) #52, Robin Hood Tales #1-3, Robin Hood and His Merry Men #29, Treasure Comics vol. 4 #1.
Sample Read The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood [PG]
Description Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. He was the third of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and seemed unlikely to become king, but all his brothers except the youngest, John, predeceased their father. Richard is known as Richard Cœur de Lion (Norman French: Le quor de lion) or Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior. The troubadour Bertran de Born also called him Richard Oc-e-Non (Occitan for Yes and No), possibly from a reputation for terseness. By the age of 16, Richard had taken command of his own army, putting down rebellions in Poitou against his father. Richard was an important Christian commander during the Third Crusade, leading the campaign after the departure of Philip II of France and achieving considerable victories against his Muslim counterpart, Saladin, although he finalised a peace treaty and ended the campaign without retaking Jerusalem. Richard probably spoke both French and Occitan. He was born in England, where he spent his childhood; before becoming king, however, he lived most of his adult life in the Duchy of Aquitaine, in the southwest of France. Following his accession, he spent very little time, perhaps as little as six months, in England. Most of his life as king was spent on Crusade, in captivity, or actively defending his lands in France. Rather than regarding his kingdom as a responsibility requiring his presence as ruler, he has been perceived as preferring to use it merely as a source of revenue to support his armies. Nevertheless, he was seen as a pious hero by his subjects. He remains one of the few kings of England remembered more commonly by his epithet than his regnal number, and is an enduring iconic figure both in England and in France.
