Richard I king of England,
surnamed COEUR DE LION was the third son of King Henry II and his wife
Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was born on 8th September 1157, either at Oxford
or at Woodstock, but was brought up amongst the knights and troubadours of
Poitou, in Aquitaine, with which duchy, his mother's patrimony, he was
whilst still a child invested by his father. In England Richard did not
spend in all his life a full twelvemonth ; after be became king he spent
only twenty‑six weeks in his kingdom, seventeen weeks when he landed to
take the crown and to go through the coronation ceremony at Westminster,
and nine weeks when he came back from his imprisonment. It may indeed
reasonably be doubted whether he could speak English. A favourite of his
unprincipled mother, he was induced by her to join his brothers Henry and
Geoffrey in their rebellion (1173) against their father, Henry II.
Henry II had his eldest son,
Prince Henry, crowned king as his successor during his own lifetime; and
in 1183 lie ordered that his younger brothers should do homage to him.
Richard obeyed with the greatest reluctance thereupon the ungrateful
Prince Henry at once picked a quarrel with him, and marched all army into
his duchy of Aquitaine. King Henry hastened to the assistance of the Young
duke, whilst the other brother Geoffrey sided with the prince. But the
sudden sickness and death of the ingrate put an end to the quarrel. In the
spring of 1189 Richard was in his turn in arms against his father. Philip
of France, the pertinacious foeman of King Henry, mingled in the strife;
and eventually Richard joined forces with his father's enemy, did homage
to him, and took the field against the old king. A reconciliation was
rendered more difficult because of Richard's jealousy of John, his
father's favourite.
Richard became king of England, Duke of Normandy, and Count of Anjou on 5th July 1189, and was crowned
king of England on the 3rd September following. But he had already taken
the vows of the crusader; and, besides his coronation, he had another
object in coming to England : he wanted to raise funds for his crusade. He
effected this latter purpose in a brief space of time by selling whatever
he could get a purchaser for. About midsummer 1190 he met Philip of France
at the rendezvous, Vezelai in France; but from Lyons he made his way by a
different route from Philip to Messina in Sicily.
Both kings spent the winter at
Messina, and their mutual jealousy came within a hair's ‑breadth of a
rupture. The throne of Sicily had just been seized by the Norman Tancred,
an illegitimate son of King Roger, though the lawful heir was Henry of
Hohenstaufen, son of Frederick Barbarossa, and afterwards the Emperor
Henry VI. Moreover, Tancred detained in custody Johanna, widow of the late
king (William the Good) and sister of Richard I, together with her very
large dowry. But he made his peace with
Richard by giving up to him his sister and her possessions, and by
betrothing his little daughter to the boy Arthur (son of Richards dead
brother Geoffrey), whom Richard now declared to be his heir. On his way to
Palestine in the spring of 1191, part of the fleet of the English king was
driven on to the island of Cyprus, and the crew were most inhospitably
treated by the reigning sovereign, Isaac Comnenus a nephew of the emperor
of Byzantium, who had revolted from his liege lord. Richard sailed back
from Rhodes, routed Isaac in battle, deposed him, and gave his crown to
Guy of Lusignan. In Cyprus, too, he married Berengaria of Navarre, whom
his mother had brought to him at Messina. At last, on 8th June, the
English king landed near Acre, and shortly afterwards that stronghold
surrendered , the siege having lasted two years. Richard took his full
share of the jealousies, animosities, and disagreements, though not of the
treacheries. that made the Christian crusading host a hotbed of commotion.
The glorious exploits of Richard
the Lion‑hearted - his march to
Joppa along, the seashore, his approach upon Jerusalem at Christmas ‑ his
capture of the fortresses in the south of Palestine, his second advance in
the summer of 1192 on Jerusalem (the city he never beheld) and his relief
of Joppa made his name ring throughout the East and excited the wonder and
admiration of Christendom, but brought no real advantage to the crusading
cause. Richard in September concluded a peace with Saladin for three
years, three months, and three days, and in his impulsive, impatient way,
started off home alone without waiting for his army and fleet. A storm
shipwrecked him near the north end of the Adriatic. In disguise be began
to make his way through the dominions of his bitter enemy, the Archduke of
Austria. He was recognised, seized, and handed over to the Emperor Henry
VI. (March 1193). The emperor demanded a heavy ransom for his release, but
promised to give him the kingdom of Arles in addition to his liberty.
Richard's loyal subjects raised the money; and greatly, to the chagrin of
Philip of France and Richard's brother John, the captive king returned
home (13th March 1194). In England in the meantime Longchamp (q.v.) had
made himself so unpopular that Richard had been obliged to supersede him,
appointing in his place Walter of Coutances, Archbishop of Rouen. It was
John, however, who exercised the greatest power in the realm. And although
he used his utmost endeavours to prevent Richard's return from his
captivity, Richard generously forgave him. After distributing judicious
rewards and punishments, raising what money be could, making arrangements
for the governance of the kingdom, and being crowned again the emperor is
said to have forced his captive to resign his crown and take it back as a
fief of the empire ‑ Richard proceeded to France, and spent the rest of
his life there, warring against Philip. England was governed in his
absence by Hubert Walter, Arch bishop of Canterbury, Who by the measures
he took to raise the vast sums demanded by his master, trained the English
people in habits of self ‑government. The most important constitutional
advances made under Hubert's rule were the formulation of the methods for
electing the county grand juries and an arrangement for keeping the pleas
of the crown by officers who may be regarded as the forerunners of the
modern coroner. Richard was shot, on 7th April 1199 by an archer of the
Viscount of Limoges, whilst besieging that nobleman's castle of Chalus‑Chabrol.
and was buried in the abbey church of Fontevraud.
Richard cannot be called a good
king : his only thought for his subjects was how to get money from them. He
was not a faithful husband : he was an undutiful son, Yet, on the other
hand, he treated his perfidious brother John in the most forgiving spirit
and was not incapable of noble and generous acts. His impulsive,
hot‑headed temperament made him at times cruel, but never vindictive. He
was an adventurer, with a Passionate love for contention and strife; he
fought for warlike glory not for victory or re advantage; he had all the
personal courage and self‑confidence of the born warrior; and a very large
share of that careless indifference or magnanimity that is frequently
associated with a bold and self‑reliant character. In matters of dress and
ceremony he loved magnificence and was both ostentatious and extravagant.
In person he was tall and ruddy, very skilful in the use of his weapons,
and possessed of great personal strength. A fair scholar. he also had the
knack of writing verses and has been called a poet.
**THIRD CRUSADE
To understand the events which ended the tyranny of Isaac Commenus in
Cyprus, it is necessary to return to the history of the kingdom of
Jerusalem. The success of the First Crusade had been largely due to disunion
between the Moslems of Asia and of Egypt, but in 1171 Saladdin made himself
the supreme ruler of Islam in the East and prepared jihad or holy war for
the recovery of Jerusalem from the crusaders.
The marriage of Sybilla, heiress to the kingdom of Jerusalem, to the French
adventurer Guy de Lusignan caused dissension among the crusaders. For Guy
was hated by powerful rivals for the crown and, when he came to the throne
in 1186, he was unable to exercise any real control over his kingdom. The tide had turned, and Saladdin at last delivered his attack with united
forces and with a spirit equal to that which had fired the Christians of the
First Crusade, for to the Moslems also Jerusalem was a holy place.
In 1187, on the sandy plains of Hittin under a scorching July sun, the army
of Guy de Lusignan was utterly defeated and, after a fortnights siege,
Jerusalem was taken. Of the kingdom itself nothing was left except the city
of Tyre, together with the principalities of Antioch and Tripoli in the
north. The fall of Jerusalem sent a shock throughout Christendom. The three
great monarchies of Europe at that time, England, France, and Germany,
sinking their political rivalries for the common aim, collected revenues and
armies for the Third Crusade.
To recover Jerusalem, the first aim was to establish a base of operations on
the coast of Palestine, and for this reason the object of the Third Crusade
was the capture of Acre. The siege of Acre, one of the great sieges of
history, had been begun in 1189 by Guy de Lusignan who, captured by Saladdin
at the battle of Hittin and released on parole, had at once broken his word
and returned to the attack. The Germans marched overland to Acre. Philip,
king of France, and Richard Coeur de Lion, of England, agreed to take the sea route to the Holy Land together, and in 1191 they left Sicily, where
they had wintered.
While Philip sailed straight for Acre, the fleet of Richard was scattered by
a storm and took refuge in Crete and Rhodes. Three of his ships were driven
to the shores of Cyprus, where they were wrecked and sank in sight of the port of Limassol. hose of the crews who escaped to land were taken prisoners
by the order of Isaac Commenus and their property confiscated. Another
English ship reached the harbour having on board Johanna, the Queen Dowager of Sicily, sister to Richard, and his affianced bride, Berengaria of Navvare.
Isaac was attempting by cajolery and then by threats to induce the
princesses to land, when Richard with the rest of his fleet reached the port
of Limassol. Hearing of the outrages which had been inflicted upon his
shipwrecked subjects and the insults offered to his sister and to his
affianced bride, he instantly demanded satisfaction. Isaac, who had
assembled his forces to repel the English, answered these demands with threats. Richard immediately determined to give battle. Beside the natural
desire to avenge his wrongs, the island of Cyprus offered a convenient base
for the operations in Palestine and a source of men, treasure, and timber
for the prosecution of the campaign. Moreover, it was reported that Isaac, having rebelled against his emperor, was secretly in league with Saladdin.
RICHARD TAKES CYPRUS
Richard thereupon landed his followers in boats, and at the head of his
men,
attacked the Cypriots on the shore. The islanders were ill-equipped and no
match for the English archers and armoured knights, who defeated them with
great slaughter. The fall of night enabled Isaac to withdraw the remnants of
his forces to the hills, where they encamped five miles from Limassol.
Richard attacked their camp before dawn, and taken by surprise, Isaac barely
escaped with a few men. The next day many of the Cypriot nobles came to the
king of England and gave him their allegiance. Three days later Guy de
Lusignan, king of Jerusalem, and many of his counts came to meet Richard in
Cyprus, and swore fealty to him. Isaac, seeing that his people were
deserting him, sent an embassy to Richard offering to pay 20,000 marks of
gold, to send 500 men- at-arms to take part in the crusade, and to surrender
his daughter and his castles as a pledge for his good behaviour. These
conditions being accepted, Isaac came to Limassol and swore solemn
allegiance to the king of England, but the same night, fearing treachery, he
made his escape and denounced the treaty. Richard then placed a large force
under the command of Guy de Lusignan with orders to pursue and capture
Isaac, while he himself with his ships sailed round the island seizing all
the towns and ports on the coast. But Isaac managed to escape to the
stronghold of Kantara.
On 12 May, 1191, Richard, king of England, was married at Limassol to
Berengaria, daughter of the king of Navvare, and on the same day Berengaria
was crowned queen of England by John, bishop of Evereux. After this, hearing
that the daughter of Isaac had taken refuge in Kyrenia, Richard went there
with his army and received her submission. She was entrusted to the care of
Berengaria, and some ten years later married a French knight, a relative of
Baldwin, count of Flanders. Isaac, who had fled to the Karpass in the hope
of escaping by boat to the mainland, was at last taken prisoner in the abbey
of Cape St. Andrea at the eastern point of the island. He was bound in
fetters of silver and imprisoned in the castle of Markappos in Syria, where
he died soon after in captivity.
REVOLT OF THE CYPRIOTS
Richard, with much treasure taken from Isaac, then set sail for Acre,
accompanied by the king of Jerusalem, the prince of Antioch, the count of
Tripoli, and the nobles who had joined him in Cyprus. Garrisons were placed
in the towns and castles of Cyprus, and the island was left in charge of Richard of Camville and Robert of Tornham.
The conquest of Cyprus by Richard had far-reaching results. It was the first
step in the subjection of the eastern empire to the crusades, which was to
be followed fifteen years later by the capture of Constantinople itself by
the crusaders and the division of the empire into feudal fiefs. For Cyprus,
it was the beginning of a domination by western powers for nearly 400 years
and the introduction of the feudal system of Normans and of the Latin Church
into an island which hitherto been Orthodox in its faith.
The Cypriots, on the departure of the English king, began to realise that
their ancient freedom was in danger and resolved to attempt to regain their
independence. They proclaimed as emperor of Cyprus a monk who was said to be a relative of Isaac Commenus, and raised the standard of revolt. But, Robert
of Tornham, the king’s lieutenant, was aware of the projected rising and
made a sudden attack on the insurgents before their plans were matured. The
Cypriots were defeated and their leader was taken and hanged. The news of
this revolt caused Richard to regard the possession of Cyprus as a doubtful
gain. He could not spare the troops for holding the island by force, nor was
it of any use as a base unless it were securely held. Being greatly in need of money for carrying on the campaign in Palestine, he therefore sold the
island to the Templars for the sum of 100,000 bezants, of which 40,000 were
to be paid at once and the remainder by instalments.
THE TEMPLARS
The Knights Templar formed one of the three great military orders of
knighthood, founded in the twelfth century to protect the pilgrims who
flocked to Jerusalem after the First Crusade. At the head of the order was
the Master of the Temple at Jerusalem until 1291, when, on the fall of the
Latin kingdom, the headquarters of the order moved to Cyprus.
In 1128 the rule of the order was sanctioned by the Council of Troyes. In a
few years, the order was established in almost every kingdom of Latin
Christendom, each establishment being richly endowed with lands by kings and
princes and with the gifts of grateful pilgrims. Spiritual privileges were
granted by the Popes. As defenders of the Church, the Templars were exempted
from payment of tithes and gradually became free from the jurisdiction of
the diocesan bishops, owning spiritual allegiance to the Pope alone. The
result was that scarce twenty-five years after its foundation the order was
at open feud with the bishops and clergy. But, protected by the Pope and
endowed with great wealth, the Position of the Templars was secure so long
as the crusading spirit lasted in Europe.
It was with the support of the Templars that, on the death of Baldwin V,
Sybilla and Guy de Lusignan were crowned at Jerusalem, without the knowledge
or consent of the barons of the realm. The rule of the Templars in Cyprus
was marked by great severity and they quickly incurred the hatred of the
Cypriots by their harsh exactions. At length, in despair at their treatment
and seeing that Templars were few in number, the islanders determined to
attempt a general massacre of the knights on Easter Day, 1192. The Templars
became aware of the plot and took refuge in their stronghold at Nicosia,
since they were too few to meet the insurgents in the open. They offered to
leave the island if their lives were spared, but as this offer was rejected,
they determined to fight rather than to be starved into submission.
Sallying into the streets at dawn, they took the Cypriots unawares and
slaughtered great numbers, sparing neither age nor sex. The rebellion was
crushed, but the Templars felt unable to hold Cyprus by force and they
therefore asked Richard to take back their purchase. This he agreed to do,
and the Templars retired to Syria, retaining, however, some of their
possessions in Cyprus.
Meanwhile Sybilla, the hereditary queen of Jerusalem, had died and the
opposition to the rule of Guy, her husband, increased. The crusaders
determined to elect a new king, and their choice fell on Richard's nephew,
Henri, count of Champagne, who with the consent of his uncle, was elected
king of Jerusalem. Guy de Lusignan thus lost the crown of Jerusalem, but as
he had originally come from Richard's duchy of Aquitaine and had long been a
vassal of the English king, Richard offered him the sovereignty of Cyprus in
compensation for the loss of his kingdom. It is uncertain, however, whether
Cyprus was transferred to him as a free gift or on the same terms as the
island had been sold to the Templars. It is probable that Guy undertook the
debt, but it is unlikely that he ever paid it.
**From: Newman, P., (1940), " A Short History of Cyprus ", Longmans, Green &
Co., London.
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