Richard I of England
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Richard I of England (8 September 1157 - 6 April 1199), or Richard the Lionheart, was the King of England from 1189 to his death in 1199. He was the leader of the Crusader army during the Third Crusade, and was considered a great military leader and warrior.
Biography
Background
Richard was born as the third of five brothers, and so he was not expected to be King, instead being raised in northern France (which belonged to the King of England at the time). As a result, Richard spoke very little English.[1]
When his two older brothers died without children of their own, Richard was the next in line and became heir apparent. Even before he became King, Richard had earned the nickname "Lionheart" for his ferocity and utter fearlessness in battle.[1]
Third Crusade
Richard landed in Acre on 8 June 1191, quickly forcing that city to surrender to the Crusaders.[1]
Later in 1191, Richard departed Acre with his army to move south. Richard left William of Montferrat as Regent Lord of Acre, unaware that William was secretly part of the Templar conspiracy, intending to betray the king. Fortunately for the oblivious king, William was killed by the Assassin Altaïr soon after Richard left Acre.
Under Richard, the Crusaders eventually reached Arsuf where they engaged Saladin's army. Here they were approached by Altaïr, the Assassin responsible for killing not only William of Montferrat, but the Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitalier (Garnier de Naplouse) and Teutonic (Sibrand) as well. Altaïr claimed that Robert de Sable, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and one of the generals working alongside Richard, intended to betray the King; though Robert insisted that Altaïr's story was merely a ruse to keep Richard from interfering in the Assassin's mission.
Richard left the decision in the hands of God, leaving Robert and his Templars to fight Altaïr in a trial by combat. Altaïr proved the victor, and so Richard accepted the Assassin's version of events. Richard and Altaïr then discussed the politics and philosophy of war and peace, in which Richard admitted he was not yet ready for peace with Saladin, before Altair departed to take down Al Mualim, the Grand Master of the Assassin Order and the secret tenth Templar.
Characteristics and personality
Richard was a man strong in faith, and relied upon God for crucial decisions. He did, however, seem tolerant towards non-believers, as Altaïr denying the help of God over his victory against Robert did not trouble him.
Richard believed that mankind could never change. In his mind, the only way for him to have brought peace was for his men to crush the enemy: Saladin and the Saracens.
Trivia
- When you observe King Richard through Eagle Vision he appears to be red, which implies that he is an enemy, even though he appears to be friendly towards Altaïr.
- Richard can be attacked, but he will not die. In order for you to do this, you have to throw one soldier to him. He will fall down. Then that soldier will stand up and try to attack you from inside the barrier. He will hit Richard and force him out of the barrier. You can attack him, but not kill him.
- In game, Richard is portrayed with a French accent. This is mostly due to the fact that he was brought up in France and hence spoke little English.
- Richard was given the name "Lionheart" because of his kindness to his prisoners and because he was fierce in combat.
See Also
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wikipedia entry for Richard the Lionheart