Title: Richard I of England Content: Richard I of England (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was the King of England from 1189 to 1199. He was also Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overlord of Brittany at various times . He is sometimes called Richard the Lionheart or Richard coeur de lion which means the same thing in French. Richard was the son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. As the third son, he was not expected to inherit the throne, and he was a replacement child. At the age of 11, he became Duke of Aquitaine. Later, Richard was one of the leaders of the Third Crusade against Saladin. During his journey, he conquered Sicily and Cyprus. He fought in the Siege of Acre_ and the Battle of Arsuf. In the end, the crusade never succeeded: Richard was never able to win back Jerusalem from the Muslims. He decided to return home to England. On his way back from the crusade, Richard was captured by Duke Leopold of Austria. The English people had to pay a huge ransom to set him free. He was considered a brave and noble king, but he spent only six months of his eleven-year reign in England. He died after being shot with a crossbow while besieging a castle in Limousin. King Richard’s remains were buried in different places. His body was buried at Fontevraud Abbey near Saumur in France, with his father and mother. His internal organs were buried at Châlus, (at The Château de Châlus-Chabrol), near Limoges in central France. His heart was buried in the Notre Dame Cathedral at Rouen. King Richard’s heart was found in 1838 and was examined by scientists in 2012. They did tests for poisons, because one medieval story claimed Richard had died from a poisoned arrow. They found no evidence to support this idea. Richard probably died from gangrene or septicaemia from the arrow wound. Richard was succeeded by his younger brother, John. thumb|Richard I of England ==Legacy== King Richard I of England left an indelible imprint on the imagination extending to the present, in large part because of his military exploits and his popular image tended to be dominated by the positive qualities of chivalry and military competence. Contemporaries considered Richard as both a king and a knight famed for personal martial prowess, this was apparently the first instance of such a combination. He was known as a valiant, competent military leader and individual fighter who was courageous and generous. Victorian England admired King Richard I as a crusader and a man of God, erecting a heroic statue of him outside the Westminster Palace. King Richard I of England was seen as a pious hero by his subjects, he remains one of the few kings of England remembered by his epithet, rather than regnal number and he is an enduring iconic figure both in England and in France. == Photo gallery == File:Richard I of England.png|King Richard I of England File:Edith Matilda of Scots.JPG|thumb|left|Matilda of Scotland (1080 - 1118), Queen of England - great-grandmother of King Richard I of England File:Henry II of England - Illustration from Cassell's History of England - Century Edition - published circa 1902.jpg|King Henry II of England - father of King Richard I of England File:Berengaria of Navarre, queen of England.jpg|Berengaria of Navarre - wife of King Richard I of England File:Joan of England.jpg|Joan of England, Queen of Sicily - sister of King Richard I of England File:Durnstein castle.jpg|Ruins of Dürnstein Castle - the first castle where King Richard was kept captive (while on his way back to England) File:20080510-Ochsenfurt Rathaus.jpg|Ochsenfurt, Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany - the second place where King Richard was imprisoned (while on his way back to England) File:Trifels - aus der Hubschrauberperspektive.JPG|Trifels Castle, Annweiler, Germany - the third place where King Richard was imprisoned (while on his way back to England) File:Château Gaillard (Les Andelys), vu du ciel.JPG|Château Gaillard (The Strong Castle), Normandy, France - the most favourite residence of King Richard I of England (build by him in the years 1196 - 1198) File:ChatoGaillardPano1.jpg|Château Gaillard File:Chateau gaillard.JPG|Château Gaillard File:Chateau Gaillard.jpg|Château Gaillard File:Châlus château (1).JPG|Château de Châlus-Chabrol (The Castle of Châlus- Chabrol), Châlus, Haute-Vienne, France - the place where King Richard I of England was mortally wounded on 25.03.1199 and subsequently died of that injury on 06.04.1199 File:Royal Arms of England (1189-1198).svg|Royal Arms of England (1189 - 1198) File:Richard I of England - Palace of Westminster - 10092009 crop.jpg|Richard Coeur de Lion outside the Palace of Westminster, in London