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Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), also known by his epithet Richard the Lionheart (Richard Cœur de Lion), was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. The son of Henry II of England, ruler of an expansive domain of lands known as the Angevin Empire, and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard's early life was marked by constant political unrest as his parents and siblings engaged in conflict over territorial disputes and succession to the Empire. The death Richard's older brother Henry the Young King in 1183, followed by that of Henry II in 1189, facilitated Richard's accession to the throne, aided by an alliance with Philip II of France.

Background and childhood
Richard was born on 8 September 1157 in Oxford, probably at Beaumont Palace. His father, King Henry II of England, was the ruler of a swath of territories along the Atlantic seaboard – Anjou, Normandy and England – and expanded his empire by conquering Brittany. Richard's mother was Eleanor, the duchess of Aquitaine, who had a tenuous claim to the counties of Toulouse and Auvergne in southern areas of the Kingdom of France, and was the former wife of King Louis VII of France. The territories of Henry and Eleanor constituted the Angevin Empire. The empire, however, was inherently fragile: although all the lands owed allegiance to Henry, the disparate parts each had their own histories, traditions and governance structures. As one moved south through Anjou and Aquitaine, the extent of Henry's power in the provinces diminished considerably, scarcely resembling the modern concept of an empire. Some of the traditional ties between parts of the empire such as Normandy and England were slowly dissolving over time. The future of the empire upon Henry's eventual death was not secure: although the custom of primogeniture, under which an eldest son would inherit all his father's lands, was slowly becoming more prevelant across Europe, it was less popular amongst the Norman kings of England. Most believed that Henry would divide the empire, giving each son a substantial portion, and hoping that his children would continue to work together as allies after his death. To complicate matters, much of the Angevin Empire was held by Henry only as a vassal of the French king. Henry had often allied himself with the Holy Roman Emperor against France, making the feudal relationship even more strained.

Richard likely spent his childhood along with his siblings in England, while their father was away on the Continent to govern his vast domains. His upbringing would have been overseen by his mother and Richard's wet nurse, Hodierna of St Albans; the historian John Gillingham argues that Richard would have enjoyed more affection from Hodierna on a daily basis than from his preoccupied parents. The details regarding Richard's education are unknown; the prince likely received a good one, including in the art of war. Eleanor travelled to Normandy in May 1165, and she brought Richard and his elder sister Matilda alongside her. As a royal prince, Richard served as a bargaining chip in his parents' political ambitions. In early 1159, a betrothal was planned for him to one of the daughters of Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona to secure an alliance against Count Raymond V of Toulouse, whose realm Henry claimed on behalf of his wife. As part of the negotiations, Richard and his would-be wife would be granted Aquitaine; the marriage never came to fruition, but as Gillingham puts it, the episode "marked the beginning of Richard's association with Aquitaine".

Duke of Aquitaine
As part of his plans to divide his domains among his sons, Henry entered into negotiations with Louis, whose approval he required for the legitimacy of his intended succession. Henry's firstborn son "Young Henry" was to inherit England, Normandy, Anjou, and Maine, and Richard was to acquire the Duchy of Aquitaine. Louis consented to Henry's proposal and the English king travelled to meet him in March 1168 to ratify it. Clauses in the negotiations recognised Richard as heir to Aquitaine and also arranged a marriage between him and Louis' daughter Alys. By April, rebels in Poitou had taken advantage of Henry's departure and staged an uprising; they also allied with Louis, who revoked his assent to the betrothal of Richard and Alys. After a period of conflict, the monarchs reached a peace agreement in January 1169 at Montmirail; Henry, Young Henry, and Richard gave homage to Louis for their respective territories. The peace also finalised the engagement of Richard and Alys; she was to be wed without a dowry.

Richard's whereabouts during this year remain unknown; presumably he was with Eleanor in Aquitaine. Gillingham argues that it was during the 1160s and 1170s that Richard acquired a love for the culture of Aquitaine, as well as an understanding of Eleanor's political prowess. In 1171, the two laid the foundation stones for a monestary in Limoges. In June of the following year, Richard was formally installed as duke in Aquitaine in Poitiers in a ceremony overseen by the archbishops of Bordeaux and Poitiers. In Limoges, Richard was again acclaimed as duke with a ceremony prominently featuring the ring of Valerie of Limoges; both enthronement ceremonies represented Aquitaine's de facto sovereignty from France. Despite Richard's accession as ruler, Henry still maintained control of the duchy, leaving his son as nominal duke. In February 1173, Raymond V finally capitulated and publicly gave homage for Toulouse to Richard, Young Henry, and their father.

The Revolt of 1173–1174
In 1173 The Great Revolt, an uprising by Henry II's eldest sons and rebellious barons, supported by France, Scotland and Flanders, broke out. Several grievances underpinned the revolt. Young Henry was displeased that, despite being named as co-monarch, his powers were strictly nominal, and his father kept him chronically short of money. Geoffrey faced similar difficulties; Duke Conan IV of Brittany had died in 1171, but Geoffrey and his heiress Constance were still unmarried, leaving Geoffrey in limbo without lands of his own. Richard was encouraged to join the revolt by Eleanor, whose relationship with Henry had disintegrated. Meanwhile, barons unhappy with Henry's rule saw opportunities to recover traditional powers and influence by allying themselves with his sons. The catalyst of the conflict was Henry's decision to grant his youngest son John three major castles belonging to Young Henry, who first protested and then fled to Paris, followed by his brothers Richard and Geoffrey; Eleanor attempted to join them but was captured by Henry's forces in November. Louis supported Young Henry and war became imminent. Young Henry wrote to the Pope, complaining about his father's behaviour, and began to acquire allies, including King William of Scotland and the Counts of Boulogne, Flanders and Blois—all of whom were promised lands if Young Henry won. Major baronial revolts broke out in England and in the continental Angevin domains. Only Anjou proved relatively secure. Despite the size and scope of the crisis, Henry maintained several advantages, including his control of many powerful royal castles in strategic areas, control of most of the English ports throughout the war, and his continuing popularity within the towns across his empire.

In July 1773, Richard participated in his first known military operation, assisting in an invasion of eastern Normandy. Later that year, Henry II offered Richard four castles and half the revenues of Aquitaine, but Louis encouraged him (and his brothers, who has recieved similar proposals) to reject the offer. Eleanor's detainment compelled Richard to take command of the revolt in Aquitaine, establishing himself at Saintes. In 1174, he was bombarded by a surprise attack by his father; Richard escaped to the Château de Taillebourg, and despite losses of 60 knights and 400 archers, he continued to fight. Upon learning that both Louis and Young Henry had agreed to a peace with Henry II, he capitulated on 23 September 1174.

In the aftermath of the Great Revolt, Henry held negotiations at Montlouis, offering a lenient peace on the basis of the pre-war status quo. As part of the settlement, Richard was were granted half the revenues from Aquitaine. Eleanor was kept under effective house arrest until Henry's death.

The 1174 peace did not deal with the long-running tensions between Henry and Louis, and these resurfaced during the late 1170s. The two kings now began to compete for control of Berry, a prosperous region of value to both kings. Henry had some rights to western Berry, but in 1176 announced that he had agreed in 1169 to give Richard's fiancée Alys the whole province as part of the marriage settlement. If Louis accepted this, it would have implied that Berry was Henry's to give away in the first place, and would have given Henry the right to occupy it on Richard's behalf. To put additional pressure on Louis, Henry mobilised his armies for war. The papacy intervened and, probably as Henry had planned, the two kings were encouraged to sign a non-aggression treaty in September 1177, under which they promised to undertake a joint crusade. The ownership of the Auvergne and parts of Berry were put to an arbitration panel, which reported in favour of Henry; Henry followed up this success by purchasing La Marche from the local count. This expansion of Henry's empire once again threatened French security, and promptly put the new peace at risk.

Post-revolt turmoil
In the late 1170s Henry focused on trying to create a stable system of government, increasingly ruling through his family, but tensions over the succession arrangements were never far away, ultimately leading to a fresh revolt. Having quelled the left-over rebels from the Great Revolt, Richard was recognised by Henry as the Duke of Aquitaine in 1179. In 1181 Geoffrey finally married Constance of Brittany and became Duke of Brittany; by now most of Brittany accepted Angevin rule, and Geoffrey was able to deal with the remaining disturbances on his own. John had spent the Great Revolt travelling alongside his father and most observers now began to regard the prince as Henry's favourite child. Henry began to grant John more lands, mostly at various nobles' expense, and in 1177 made him the Lord of Ireland. Meanwhile, Young Henry spent the end of the decade travelling in Europe, taking part in tournaments and playing only a passing role in either government or Henry and Richard's military campaigns; he was increasingly dissatisfied with his position and lack of power.

By 1182 Young Henry reiterated his previous demands: he wanted to be granted lands, for example the Duchy of Normandy, which would allow him to support himself and his household with dignity. Henry refused, but agreed to increase his son's allowance. This was not enough to placate Young Henry. With trouble clearly brewing, Henry attempted to defuse the situation by insisting that Richard and Geoffrey give homage to Young Henry for their lands. Richard did not believe that Young Henry had any claim over Aquitaine and refused to give homage. Henry forced Richard to do homage, but Young Henry angrily refused to accept it. He formed an alliance with some of the disgruntled barons of the Aquitaine who were unhappy with Richard's rule, and Geoffrey sided with him, raising a mercenary army in Brittany to threaten Poitou. Open war broke out in 1183 and Henry and Richard led a joint campaign into Aquitaine; before they could conclude it, Young Henry caught a fever and died, bringing a sudden end to the rebellion.

With his eldest son dead, Henry rearranged the plans for the succession: Richard was to be made king of England, although without any actual power until the death of his father. Geoffrey would have to retain Brittany, as he held it by marriage, and Henry's favourite son John would become the Duke of Aquitaine in place of Richard. Richard refused to give up Aquitaine; he was deeply attached to the duchy, and had no desire to exchange this role for the meaningless one of being the junior King of England. Henry was furious, and ordered John and Geoffrey to march south and retake the duchy by force. The short war ended in stalemate and a tense family reconciliation at Westminster in England at the end of 1184. Henry finally got his own way in early 1185 by bringing Eleanor to Normandy to instruct Richard to obey his father, while simultaneously threatening to give Normandy, and possibly England, to Geoffrey. This proved enough and Richard finally handed over the ducal castles in Aquitaine to Henry.

Meanwhile, John's first expedition to Ireland in 1185 was not a success. Ireland had only recently been conquered by Anglo-Norman forces, and tensions were still rife between Henry's representatives, the new settlers and the native inhabitants. John offended the local Irish rulers, failed to make allies amongst the Anglo-Norman settlers, began to lose ground militarily against the Irish, and finally returned to England. In 1186 Henry was about to return John to Ireland once again, when news came that Geoffrey had died in a tournament at Paris, leaving two young children; this event once again changed the balance of power between Henry and his remaining sons.

Relationship with Philip Augustus
Henry's relationship with his two surviving heirs was fraught. The King had great affection for his youngest son John, but showed little warmth towards Richard and indeed seems to have borne him a grudge after their argument in 1184. The bickering and simmering tensions between Henry and Richard were cleverly exploited by the new French king, Philip II Augustus, who had succeeded to the throne in 1180. He rapidly demonstrated that he could be an assertive, calculating and manipulative political leader. Initially Henry and Philip Augustus had enjoyed a good relationship, and they agreed to a joint alliance, even though this cost the French king the support of Flanders and Champagne. Philip Augustus regarded Geoffrey as a close friend, and would have welcomed him as a successor to Henry. With the death of Geoffrey, the relationship between Henry and Philip Augustus broke down.

In 1186, Philip Augustus demanded that he be given the Duchy of Brittany and custody of Geoffrey's children, and insisted that Henry order Richard to withdraw from Toulouse, where he had been sent with an army to apply new pressure on Count Raymond, Philip Augustus's uncle. Philip Augustus threatened to invade Normandy if this did not happen. He also reopened the question of the Vexin, which had formed part of Margaret's dowry several years before; Henry still occupied the region and now Philip Augustus insisted that Henry either complete the long-agreed Richard-Alys marriage, or return the widowed Margaret's dowry. Philip Augustus invaded Berry and Henry mobilised a large army which confronted the French at Châteauroux, before papal intervention brought a truce. During the negotiations, Philip Augustus suggested to Richard that they should ally against Henry, marking the start of a new strategy to divide the father and son.

Philip Augustus's offer coincided with a crisis in the Levant. In 1187 Jerusalem surrendered to the Egyptian ruler Saladin, and calls for a new crusade swept Europe. Richard was enthusiastic and announced his intention to join the crusade, and Henry and Philip Augustus announced their similar intent at the start of 1188. Taxes began to be raised and plans made for supplies and transport. Richard was keen to start his crusade, but was forced to wait for Henry to make his arrangements. In the meantime, Richard set about crushing some of his enemies in Aquitaine in 1188, before once again attacking the Count of Toulouse. Richard's campaign undermined the truce between Henry and Philip Augustus and both sides again mobilised large forces in anticipation of war. This time Henry rejected Philip Augustus's offers of a short-term truce in the hope of convincing the French king to agree to a long-term peace deal. Philip Augustus refused to consider Henry's proposals. A furious Richard believed that Henry was stalling for time and delaying the departure of the crusade.