Page:EB1911 - Volume 23.djvu/311

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
294
RICHARD OF CORNWALL—RICHARD I.

buried in his cathedral. See the article by W. Hunt in the Dial. Nat. Blog. vol. xlviii. (1896); and W. F. Hook, Lives of the Archbishop.: of Canterbury.


RICHARD, earl of Cornwall and king of the Romans- (1209-1272), was the second son of the English king John by Isabella of Angouléme. Born in 1209, Richard was the junior of his brother, Henry III., by fifteen months; he was educated in England and received the earldom of Cornwall in 1225. From this date to his death he was a prominent figure on the political stage. In the years 1225-27 he acted as governor of Gascony; between 1227 and 12 38, owing to quarrels with his brother and dislike of the foreign favourites, he attached himself to the baronial opposition and bade fair to become a popular hero. But in 1240 he took the command of a crusade in order to escape from the troubled atmosphere of English politics. 9 He was formally reconciled with Henry before his departure; and their amity was cemented on his returnby his marriage with Sancha of Provence, the sister of Henry's queen (1243). Henceforward Richard, though by no means blind to the faults of the government, was among the most constant supporters of Henry III. Whileaffecting to remain neutral in the quarrels of the barons with the Poitevins and Savoyards he constantly assisted the king with loans, and thus enabled him to withstand the pressure of the Great Council for reform. In 1257 a bare majority of the German electors nominated Richard as king of the Romans, and he accepted their offer at Henry's desire. He was elected partly on account of his wealth, but also because his family connexion with the Hohenstaufen and his friendly relations with the papacy made it probable that he would unite all German parties. In the years 1257-68 Richard paid four visits to Germany. He obtained recognition in the Rhineland, which was closely connected with England by trade relations. Otherwise, however, he was unsuccessful in securing German support. In the English troubles of the same period he endeavoured to act as a mediator. On the outbreak of civil war in 1264 he took his brotheri's side, and his capture in a windmill outside Lewes, after the defeat of the royalist army, is commemorated in the earliest of English vernacular satires; he remained a prisoner till the fall of Montfort. But after Evesham he exerted himself, not without success, to obtain reasonable terms for those who had suffered from the vengeance of the royalist party. He died on the 2nd of April' 1272. His end is said to have been hastened by grief for his eldest son, Henry of Almain, who had been murdered in the previous year by the sons of Simon de Montfort at Viterbo. The earldom of Cornwall passed to Richard's eldest surviving son Edmund, who was guardian of, England from 1286 to 1289. On Edmund's death, in October 1300, it became extinct.

Authorities.-The original sources and general works of reference are the same as for the reign of Henry III. G. C. Gebauer's Leben und T haten Herrn Richards von Cornwall (Leipzig, 1744), H. Koch's Richard von Cornwall, 1209-1257 (Strassburg, 1888), and A. Busson's Doppelwahl des Jahres, 1257 (Münster, 1866) are useful mono ra hs. (H. w. E. B.)


RICHARD I. (1157-1199), king of England, nicknamed “Coeur de Lion” and “Yea and Nay,” was the third son of Henry II. by Eleanor of Aquitaine. Born in September II 57, he received at the age of eleven the duchy of Aquitaine, and was formally installed in 1172. In his new position he was allowed, probably from regard to Aquitanian susceptibilities, to govern with an independence which was studiously denied to his brothers in their shares of the Angevin inheritance. Yet in 1173 Richard joined with the young Henry and Geoffrey of Brittany in their rebellion; Aquitaine was twice invaded by the old king before the unruly youth would make submission. Richard was soon pardoned and reinstated in his duchy, where he distinguished himself by crushing a formidable revolt (1175) and exacting homage from the count of Toulouse. In a short time he was so powerful that his elder brother Henry became alarmed and demanded, as heir-apparent, that Richard should do him homage for Aquitaine. Richard having scornfully rejected the demand, a fratricidal war ensued; the young Henryinvaded Aquitaine and attracted to his standard many of Richard's vassals, who were exasperated by the iron rule of the duke. Henry II. marched to Richard's aid; but the war terminated abruptly with the death of the elder prince (1183). Richard, being now the heir to England and Normandy, was invited to renounce Aquitaine in favour of Prince John, The proposal led to a new civil war; and, although a temporary compromise was arranged, Richard soon sought the help of Philip Augustus, to whom he did homage for all the continental possessions in the actual presence of his father (Conference of Bonmoulins, 18th of November 1188) In the struggle which ensued the old king was overpowered, chased ignominiously from Le Mans to Angers, and forced to buy peace by conceding all that was demanded of him; in particular the immediate recognition of Richard as his successor.

But the death of Henry II. (1 189) at once dissolved the friendship between Richard and Philip. Not only did Richard continue the continental policy of his father, but he also re. fused to fulfil his contract with Philip's sister, Alais, to whom he had been betrothed at the age of three. An open breach was only delayed by the desire of both kings to fulfil the crusading vows which they had recently taken. Richard, in particular, sacrificed all other interests to this scheme, and raised the necessary funds by the most reckless methods. He put up for auction the highest offices and honours; even remitting to William the Lion of Scotland, for a sum of 15,000 marks, the humiliating obligations which Henry II. had imposed at the treaty of Falaise. It is true that Richard indemnihed himself on his return by resuming some of his most important grants and refusing to return the purchase money; but it 'is improbable that he had originally planned this repudiation of his ill-considered bargains. By such expedients he raised and equipped a force whichi may be estimated at 4000 men-at-arms and as many foot-soldiers, with a fleet of loo transports (1191).

Richard did not return to his dominions until 1194. But his stay in Palestine was limited to sixteen months. On the outward journey he wintered in Sicily, where he employed himself in quarrelling with Philip and in exacting satisfaction from the usurper Tancred for the dower of his widowed sister, Queen Joanna, and for his own share in the inheritance of William the Good. Leaving Messina in March 1191, he interrupted his voyage to conquer Cyprus, and only joined the Christian besiegers of Acre in June. The reduction of that stronghold was largely due to his energy and skill. But his arrogance gave much offence. After the fall of Acre he inflicted a gross insult upon Leopold of Austria; and his relations with Philip were so strained that the latter seized the first pretext for returning to France, and entered into negotiations with Prince John (see JOHN, king of England) for the partition of Richard's realm. Richard also threw himself » into the disputes respecting the crown 'of Jerusalem, and supported Guy of Lusignan against Conrad of Montferrat with so much heat that he incurred grave, though unfounded, suspicions of complicity when Conrad was assassinated by emissaries of the Old Man of the Mountain. None the less Richard, whom even the French crusaders accepted as their leader, upheld the failing cause of the Frankish Christians with valour and tenacity. He won a brilliant victory over the forces of Saladin at Arsuf (1191), and twice led the Christian host Within a few miles of Jerusalem. But the dissensions of the native Franks and the crusaders made it hopeless to continue the struggle; and Richard was alarmed by the news which reached him of John's intrigues in England and Normandy. Hastily patching up a truce with Saladin, under which the Christians kept the coast-towns and received free access to the Holy Sepulchre, Richard started on his return (9th October 1192).

His voyage was delayed by storms, and he appears to have been perplexed as to the safest route. The natural route overland through Marseilles and Toulouse was held by his enemies; that through the empire from the head of the Adriatic was little safer, since Leopold of Austria was on the watch for him. Having adopted the second of these alternatives, he was cap-