The Children of Adam and Eve

He was also duke of Aquitaine and count of Poitou. When he was an infant,
Richard was betrothed to a daughter of the French king Louis VII, and in
1172 he was given the duchy of Aquitaine in France, his mother's
inheritance. His early years were spent in warring against his father to
protect his own interests; he emerged a brilliant soldier. In 1189 he
became king of England and shortly thereafter set out on the Third
Crusade. He was accompanied by the Young Philip II, king of France, son of
Louis VII. The Crusade proved a failure almost from the start, mainly
because of the lack of harmony between the two kings. In Sicily Richard
quarreled with Philip and refused to marry Philip's sister as planned.
Instead he married Berengaria of Navarre on Cyprus, which he conquered in
1191. After capturing Acre from the Saracens that same year, Richard
executed 2700 Muslim prisoners of war. It was Richard's personal valor in
the Holy Land, However, rather than his ruthlessness, that made his name
famous in legend. Conflict over policy in the Holy Land resulted in a
break between the two, and Philip returned to France alone. Richard spent
months in indecisive contests against Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria,
before making a truce by which Jerusalem was left in Saladin's hands.
Captured en route to England by Leopold V, duke of Austria (1157-94),
Richard was handed over to Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV. He was released in
1194 only after paying a heavy Ransom. Richard returned to England and
there made peace with his Brother, John, later king of England, who in his
absence had been conspiring with Philip to usurp the English throne.
Leaving the government of England to the care of the able administrator
Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1205), Richard went to
France in 1194 to wage war against the French king. Campaigns in defense
of his European lands continued for five years. Victor in most of the
warfare in which he engaged, Richard was fatally wounded by an arrow
during an insignificant skirmish in 1199.

As king, Richard had chosen able ministers, to whom he left most matters
of administration. Under his rule, However, England suffered heavy
taxation, levied to support his expeditions. Sometimes cruel, sometimes
magnanimous, and always courageous, Richard was well versed in the
Knightly accomplishments of his age and was also a poet. He was to become
the hero of many legendary tales.