Movers And Shakers... King Richard The LionHeart
King Richard, the Lion Heart, is a great example of a mover and shaker. He was born on 8th september, 1157 in Oxford, son of Henry II and Elanor of Aquitaine. Along with his family, he disliked his father very much which lead to the great rebellion against their father in 1173. In 1183, his older brother, Henry died leaving Richard heir to the throne. King Henry wanted to give the throne to his younger son John, Richard disagreed with this so in 1189 he made alliance with Philip II of France which lead Henry II to his premature death in July 1189.
As King Richard was now King his ambition was to join the third crusade encouraged by Saladin's invasion of Jerusalem in 1187. In 1190, he left for the holy land. He reached Cyprus in May and married Berengaria, daughter of the King Navarre. King Richard arrived in the holy land in June 1191. In September, Richard won his first battle against Saladin which gave him and his army ownership of Arsuf, Jaffa, Cyprus and Acre.
After twelve months standby, King Richard agreed to make amends with Saladin and began his journey home.
Bad weather forced King Richard ashore near Venice where he was captured and placed into prison by Duke Leopole of Austria and he was then handed over to the German Emperor, Henry VI. King Henry placed a ransom of approximately 150,000 to 200,000 marks on Richard. England went to great effort to raise the ransom and they did so by raising the citizens taxes as high as possible. Eventually the ransom was paid to King Henry and King Richard was released. He immediately returned to England and was crowned for a second time as he worried that his people had lost faith in him.
Between the time King Richard had an alliance with Philip and Richard getting captured, Philip and Richard had many arguments about who owned what land and who was the better king. So Both Kings sought revenge, King Richard thinking he was better, stronger and smarter decided to fight Philip II. He arrived in France 1195 and spent the next five years on and off battle. In 1199, while attacking the castle of Châlus he was shot in the left arm with an arrow.