Despite his faults, which were many, Richard I was the archetypal medieval warrior king. Noble, fierce and of matchless courage, he captured the imagination of his age. Richard 'the Lionheart' has left behind a name which echoes down the centuries and has passed into the realms of legend.
Parentage and Early Life
Richard was born at Beaumont Palace, Oxford, on 8th September, 1157, the third son of Henry II and his French wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, the daughter of William X, Duke of Aquitaine and ex wife of King Louis VII of France. Henry was Eleanor's second husband, she was eleven years his senior and their marriage proved to be a stormy one.
From the first, Richard was his mother's favourite son. His wet nurse, Hodierna, was the mother of Alexander Neckham, who was to become Abbot of Cirencester and a famous writer. After the birth of their youngest child, John, Richard's parents drifted into open enmity. King Henry made the beautiful Rosamund Clifford his mistress, it was said that he truly loved her, deeply wounding Richard's mother, Queen Eleanor. The neglected Queen returned to her native Aquitaine, there establishing her own court and taking Richard along with her, who was designated her heir.
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