How long did richard the lionheart rule for

Although he came close, Jerusalem, the crusade's main objective, eluded him. Moreover, fierce quarrels among the French, German and English contingents provided further troubles. After a year's stalemate, Richard made a truce with Saladin and started his journey home.

Bad weather drove him ashore near Venice and he was imprisoned by Duke Leopold of Austria before being handed over to the German emperor Henry VI, who ransomed him for the huge sum of , marks.

The raising of the ransom was a remarkable achievement. In February , Richard was released. He returned at once to England and was crowned for a second time, fearing that the ransom payment had compromised his independence.

Whether it was the magic of the island, the heightened senses from his victory or something else entirely, it was in Cyprus that Richard relented and married Berengaria of Navarre. An unlikely place perhaps for an English king to get married, nevertheless Berengaria was crowned Queen of England and Cyprus. Richard continued with the Crusade, landing and taking the city of Acre on 8 June Whilst reports of his daring deeds and exploits in the Holy Land excited the folks back home and in Rome, in reality he failed to achieve the main objective which was to regain control of Jerusalem.

During the journey Richard was shipwrecked in the Adriatic and eventually captured by the Duke of Austria. A heavy ransom was demanded for his release. He eventually returned to England in March Castles England Scotland Wales. Stately Homes England Scotland Wales. Monasteries England Scotland Wales. Prehistoric Sites England Scotland Wales. English Heritage. Name the Historic attraction. British History Quiz. She was charged with corruption by the Good Parliament of This Day in British History.

Monarch Mayhem. Saladin was forced to retreat. Richard then marched on Jaffa and began to strengthen it as a garrison for Jerusalem. The army arrived at the foothills of the Holy City on 3rd January They were, however, exhausted, short of supplies and sickness was rife in their ranks and were consequently obliged to return to the safety of the coast.

A truce was negotiated with the Moslems. A superlative general but a poor politician, Richard proposed that Saladin should give the Holy Land to his nephew Saphadin, whom he suggested should marry his sister Joanna, forming a peaceful alliance between Christian and Moslem.

The bemused Saladin, unable to believe his luck, accepted. Joanna, however, who possessed the famed family temper in full measure, refused outright to contemplate marriage with a Moslem, resulting in a heated family dispute. Richard made attempts to negotiate with Conrad of Montferrat, but Conrad, who distrusted him due to his support of Guy de Lusignan, refused.

Following an election of the nobles of the kingdom in April, Conrad was unanimously voted as King of Jerusalem, however, before his coronation could take place, he was murdered at Tyre by two Hashshashin. Conrad held his claim to the throne through his marriage to the heiress Isabella of Jerusalem, who just over a week later was married to Henry II of Champagne, the nephew of both Richard and Phillip, through Eleanor of Aquitaine's first marriage to Louis of France.

Rumours circulated that Richard had had some involvement in Conrad's murder. Richard received disquieting news from England, his younger brother John was plotting against him. He made a further approach to Jerusalem but again realised he could not take the city and that he must now urgently return home. Heartened, Saladin then re-took Jaffa. Richard staged a daring counter-attack and although heavily outnumbered, put the Moslems to flight. Having negotiated a three-year truce, which retained his conquests and gave Christians access to Jerusalem, the King sailed for England.

On the return journey, he was shipwrecked and taken prisoner by Duke Leopold of Austria, whom Richard had insulted gravely in the early stages of the crusade. He incarcerated Richard in his castle of Durrenstein and England was forced to pay a hefty ransom of a hundred and fifty thousand marks to free him. Phillip and John in the meantime had attacked Normandy. On the release of his brother, John quickly deserted Phillip.

The King of France, no match for Richard, was soon in retreat. The last phase in Richard's life was spent in strengthening the Angevin Empire from the machinations of Phillip Augustus. He built the famed Chateau Gaillard, his "saucy castle " to guard his dominions, on a strategic position, high on a rock at Les Andelys.

Richard chose the position of his fortress carefully, it is built on a site where the River Seine curves sharply, in the curve in front of the peninsula on which the castle stands, a hundred-metre high cliff juts out over the river. The construction of the castle took a little over a year. Phillip boasted he would take it, " if its walls were made of steel", Richard retorted he would hold it from Phillip "even if its walls were made of butter".

Philip Augustus had long cast covetous eyes on the French Angevin Empire and nourished ambitions of regaining these lands for the crown of France. The contested lands of the Vexin and Berry became a bone of contention between the two kings. Richard formed an alliance against Phillip with his father-in-law, Sancho VI of Navarre, who conducted raids on the French king's lands from the south. Richard gained several victories over the French.

At Freteval in and at the Battle of Gisors in , when he adopted the motto "Dieu et mon Droit" "God and my Right" which is still used by British monarchs today.