Richard I

**Richard I**, King of Angelona, of House Beaumont, born in Bourgenay in 1366, died 1421, was an Angelonian King from 1401 to his death in 1421. Richard was given the nickname, the 'Bear of Angelona,' due to his size and viciousness in battle.

## Early life

Richard was born in 1366 in Bourgenay, the son of Hugh I and Louisa of Sicily. Richard's father ensured that Richard had a strict upbringing and spent the majority of his childhood learning the arts of war and to fight. Richard was said to be a great wrestler thanks to his size and physique and by 16 was beating fully grown men. His weapon of choice was a large battle axe.

Richard married Sophia of Bohemia, the daughter of King Charles IV of the Holy Roman Emperor in 1281. Sophia became a popular feature of Angelonian royal family due to her grace, beauty and kindness.

## Ottoman Wars

In 1394, Pope Boniface IX proclaimed a new crusade against the Turks, although the Western Schism had split the papacy in two, with rival popes at Avignon and Rome, and the days when a pope had the authority to call a crusade were long past.

Hugh raised an army of around 6,000 men and set sail from Angelona in January 1396 along with his son and heir, Prince Richard. The Angelonian army landed in Thessaloniki and marched north sacking a number of Turkish settlements, cutting a swathe of destruction through Ottoman territory. On the 15 September, the army arrived at the city of Nicopolis and joined with the main Crusader army who had besieged Nicopolis.

Two weeks later, Sultan Bayezid arrived with a large army to the south of the town and took up a strong defensive position, challenging the crusaders to meet him. The crusader army moved to confront him on 24 September, but poor discipline and fractured leadership between the national factions resulted in a premature assault by the French force against the bluffs controlled by Ottoman troops. With the allied army strung out, Bayezid marshaled his reserves and defeated the crusaders in a furious engagement in which fell most of the allied army.

Thousands more were captured and executed after the battle by the victorious Turkish troops. Richard was captured whilst his father managed to escape the battlefield along with around 200 of his men and fled to Constantinople where he awaited the arrival of Angelonian ships.

### Captivity

The Ottoman Sultan, Bayezid toured the battlefield later that day, hoping to find the corpse of the King of Hungary, and "torn by grief" at his losses, which outnumbered that of the Crusaders. His rage was only heightened by the discovery of the massacred prisoners from Rahovo. He ordered all of the prisoners assembled before him the following morning (26 September). The Turks recognized Jacques de Helly, a French knight who had served under Murad I, and had him identify the chief nobles for ransom. Prince Richard Coucy, Bar, D'Eu, Gui de La Tremoïlle and several other nobles were grouped with Nevers to be spared. Those judged to be under age 20 were also spared and put into forced servitude.

The rest, thought to number several thousand, were bound together in groups of three or four and had their hands tied to be marched naked before the Sultan. Ordered to proceed, a group of executioners proceeded to kill each group in turn, either by decapitation or by severing their limbs from the body. Nevers and the rest of the noble captives were forced to stand beside Bayezid and watch the executions. Jean Le Maingre, called "Boucicaut", was recognized in the line, and Nevers fell to his knees before the Sultan and indicated with intertwined fingers that they were like brothers. Thus convinced that Boucicaut was worth a noble ransom, he was spared and grouped with the other high nobles. The killing continued from early morning until late afternoon, at which point Bayezid, either himself sickened by the bloodshed or convinced by his ministers that he was unnecessarily enraging Christendom against him, called off the executioners. Leaving aside the more hyperbolic account, the number of dead is said to have ranged from 300 to 3000, though the number of dead on the battlefield was much more.

The captives were forced to march the 350-mile length to Gallipoli, stripped of clothing down to their shirts and most without shoes, with hands tied and beaten by their captors. At Gallipoli, the noble captives were kept in the upper rooms of a tower while the 300 prisoners that were the Sultan's share of the common captives were kept below. The ship carrying Sigismund passed within half a mile of the tower as it went through the Hellespont, for which the Turks lined the captives along the shore and mockingly called out for Sigismund and Hugh to come and rescue their comrades.

After two months in Gallipoli, the prisoners were transferred to Bursa, the joint Ottoman capital located in Asia, where they awaited word of their ransom. In Bursa, Richard was said to have killed a French noble prisoner and an Ottoman prison guard with his barehands and as a result was placed in captivity and beaten close to death.

Hugh agreed to pay the Ottomans 100,000 florins to secure the release of Prince Richard and around 300 Angelonian prisoners, before departing for Angelona. Upon his release Richard is said to have shouted to the Ottomen's, "The only thing I hate more than the heathen Turks is the disgusting coward French, I will have my vengeance."

## Siege of Smyrna

In 1399, Hugh raised a fleet of 200 Angelonian ships, supported by the Knights of Rhodes and began a two year campaign of raiding the Turkish coast. The Angelonian naval force caused huge destruction along the Turkish coast and Hugh raised huge amounts of loot from Turkish coastal settlements. Hugh placed Prince Richard in command of the Angelonian army and was said to have enjoyed his raids and sacking of Ottomen settlements.

In 1401 the Angelonian's laid siege to the city of Smyrna. After a two month siege the city fell and was sacked. Richard had set siege weapons going night and day until the south wall fell and Richard stormed through the collapsed wall leading his men. Large amounts of loot and captives were shipped back to Angelona, but whilst in Smyrna, Hugh fell ill and died on the return voyage to Angelona. Upon arrival in Angelona, Richard was crowned King.

## King of Angelona

Upon being crowned King, Richard conducted an extensive review of Angelona's defences and toured the Kingdom. He directed large scale construction of new defences and a number of new castles were built during this period.

In December 1401, the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel II, travelled to Angelona to seek assistance against the Ottoman Empire. The following year, Richard departed Angelona with an army of 10,000 and travelled to Constantinople. The Ottoman Empirr at the time were suffering attacks from a large Mongol army and the Sultan left a small siege army at Constantinople. The remaining Ottoman army was crushed by Richard and the siege was broken. The Ottoman Empire entered a period of chaos of civil war and Richard departed Constantinople sacking Ottoman cities all the way to the Meditterran coast.

Richard campaigned in Turkey for around a year, before returning to Angelona. The following year, in 1403, he began a two year campaign of attacks and raids along the Barbary Coast of North Africa. In 1405, Richard laid siege to the Hafsid city of Mahdi, which had been the target of the unsuccessful Franco-Genoese Crusade in 1390. Richard however was prepared for the siege and relieved regular supplies for his army from Angelona and Malta. The city walls finally gave way in December 1405 and Richard's army stormed the city. Over 5,000 Christian slaves were liberated and placed on ships bound for Angelona. Richard ordered the destruction of the city defenses and executed hundreds of Muslim soldiers and nobles. Around 2,000 Muslim slaves were taken back to Angelona along with a bounty of gold and pirate ships which Richard had acquired on his raids.

Richard waited a further 10 years before setting out on his next campaign. Richard's army landed in Tlemcem (in modern day Algeri) and laid siege to the city. After a year long siege the ruling family of Tlemcem surrendered to Richard, who agreed not to sack the city in return for 1,000 Christian slaves and a large payment.

Richard was forced to depart Algeria early after news reached him of Jewish uprisings in his lands in northern Egypt. The cities of Rosetta and Damietta both had large Jewish populations who in 1416 began an uprising due to tax rates imposed by the local Lord's. Richard arrived in Rosetta with his large army and quickly suppressed the revolt. His son, Prince Hugh arrived in Damietta at around the same time and quelled the Damiettan Jewish revolt. King Richard ordered all Jewish men to be rounded up and be put on trial for treason. Around 8,000 Jew's were imprisoned and were spared death after Queen Sophia begged her husband to show clemency. Instead, Richard executed the ring leaders, banished others involved and imposed a financial penalty on other families supporting the revolt.

## Death and legacy

Richard returned from the Jewish revolts to Angelona with his health deteriorating. Richard had suffered many battle wounds over the years and in 1418 announced that he was too old to go on any further campaigns. He retired to his favoured palace of Burgonia and left the affairs of state to his wife, sons and royal council. Richard died at the Palace of Burgonia in 1421 and his eldest son, Prince Hugh was crowned King.

## Children

Richard had six children by his wife Sophia of Bohemia.

* Hugh II of Angelona - 1383
* Edward, Prince of Scotneyshire - 1386
* James, Prince of Avindeanshire - 1392
* Maria of Angelona - 1397
* Sophia of Angelona 1401
* Henry, Prince of Monfortshire - 1407