richard, the crusader king

• richard took the ross in the autumn of 1187, 18 months before he became king
• as soon as richard was crowned in september 1189, he began his preparations for his crusade, and left england in decemer 1189
• richard was the first western prince to take the cross, and his decision to take part in the crusade was celebrated by troubadours, who believed that richard would inspire other princes and nobles to follow his example and join the crusade
• a factor that motivated richard to go on crusade was personal connections. he was the great grandson of fulk of anjou, who had been king of jerusalem, so fighting in the holy land is in his blood
• a factor that motivated richard to go on crusade was personal glory. it is a chance to be remembered as a great warrior, celebrated in the songs and poems of the troubadours
• a factor that motivated richard to go on crusade was opportunity. now that he was king, he had all the wealth and power that he needed to go on crusade, so there will never be a better time
• a factor that motivated richard to go on crusade was religious devotion. the crusade is the sacred duty of good christians
• richard and philip II of france departed on crusade at the same time, but even before they left on crusade, there was a bad feeling between the 2 kings
• philip wanted to extend the royal lands in france by taking lands from the angevin empire
• richard held a strategically important strip of land in france, called the vexin, as the dowry for marrying philip's sister alice, but richard had not married her
• both richard and philip agreed that, if they went on crusade together, neither would be able to attack the other's lands, meaning their quarrels would be suspended for the duration of the crusade, but things did not work out as they had intended
• frederick barbarossa was the most important of the european rules who joined the crusade, who led an army of 15,000 soldiers, but drowned in june 1190 crossing a river in turkey and many of his troops returned home
• the loss of frederick increased the rivalry between richard and philip as each man competed for the role as the leader of the crusade
• the first problem on the crusade arose in messina in sicily, where both kings arrived, but richard was given magnificent reception by the sicilians, making philip jealous and announce that he would depart for the holy land immediately
• after saying that he was departing for the holy land, philip found that the seas were rough and he was forced to return, provoking another humiliation
• another problem arose when richard landed in cyprus and married berengaria of navarre
• richard marrying berengaria of navarre was problematic as richard had arranged his engagement to her before philip took the crusader vows, but had kept quiet to prevent war
• although philip agreed to release richard from his planned marriage to alice, he was still angered and humiliated by richard's actions
• the quarrel became much worse because richard did not just land on cyprus, he conquered it
• philip believed that he was entitled to half of the value of cyprus because, in july 1190, he and richard had agreed to divide their conquests equally, but richard refused as philip played no part in its conquest
• the victory over cyprus was of great importance to richard as not only was he able to sell the island for £100,000 gold coins but he gained control of the island's grain, which secured an important supply of food for the crusaders
• further problems arose at acre in july 1191 as although richard and philip won a joint victory at acre, their squabbling continued
• in acre, philip was angry that richard had used his wealth to pay his soldiers higher wages than philip could afford to pay his men
• in acre, there was a dispute over who should be king of jerusalem, as richard favoured the claim of guy de lusignan, while philip supported conrad de montferrat
• a compromise was reached over the king of jerusalem, saying that guy would be king for his lifetime but would be succeeded by conrad and his heirs
• the bickering at acre caused philip to reach the end of his patience and leave the crusade, returning to france
• one key reason that prompted philip's return is ill-health, as he was suffering from a condition that made his hair and teeth fall out
• one key reason that prompted philip's return is the death of the count of flanders, as he feared rivals would attack france with flanders weakened
• one key reason that prompted philip's return is richard's arrogance, due to his behaviour and failure to share rewards
• the departure of philip was a serious problem for richard as, although philip promised not to attack the angevin empire, richard could not trust him to keep his word
• richard's relationship with the other crusader leaders was no better, as he fell out with leopold of austria after his men tore down leopold's flag at acre, which had been placed in trumph alongside the flags of richard and philip
• it was claimed by richard that leopold had no right to display his banner alongside that of kings since leopold was only a duke
• if leopold displayed his banner, it would suggest that he had an equal right to share in the spoils of the crusade, but both richard and philip were determined to keep them for themselves
• leopold, angered by this personal humiliation by richard, left the crusade with a deep hatred for him, causing richard to have lost 2 important allies
• richard's victory at acre may have led to the loss of 2 allies, but it did demonstrate his skills as a great warrior
• acre had been besieged by a christian army since 1189, but they did not have the men and seige equipment needed to capture the city
• troubadour


  a writer and performer of songs and poems that glorified chivalry and warfare
• the arrival of philip, and then richard at acre, changed the christian besiegement
• at acre, the christians used catapults to break down the city walls, but it was not an easy victory, as saladin tried to help the desperate defenders inside the city by sending men to attack the christians
• on 12th july, the muslims surrendered at acre and an agreement was reached with saladin