Blog
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#OTD 20 (or 21) December 1192 – Richard the Lionheart captured near Vienna
Pirates, shipwrecks, evil dukes, emperors, kings, and a dastardly brother… Truth. Not fiction. Check out my post on English Historical Fiction Authors about the Lionheart’s attempt to return home after his departure from the Holy Land in October 1192.
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Joanna Plantagenet
Joanna Plantagenet was Queen of Sicily, and the Countess of Toulouse. She was the daughter of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, born in October 1165. She died on 4 September 1199. At age eleven, Joanna (or Joan) wed William II, King of Sicily. Widowed at 24, she was held under house arrest for…
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#OTD 27 May 1199 – John crowned King of England at Westminster
Richard I, the Lionheart, died on April 6, 1199. His brother John was in Brittany at the time visiting a possible rival to the crown, the young Duke Arthur, son of Richard and John’s late brother Geoffrey. John fled the Breton court secretly after a messenger delivered the news. Had the Bretons heard it earlier, we might…
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#OTD 6 April 1199 – Richard the Lionheart dies
Richard was crowned king in September 1189, succeeding his father Henry II. He ruled less than 10 years. Histories written in the 19th-20th centuries complain he spent only 6 months of his reign in England, but Richard was a man of his times and should be judged according to 12th century standards. His realm stretched…
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#OTD 29 March 1194 – Richard the Lionheart visits Sherwood Forest
The siege of Nottingham ended, so what’s a king to do? Relax! Go hunting in Sherwood Forest. “On the twenty-ninth day of March, Richard, king of England, went to Clipston and the forests of Sherwood, which he had never seen before, and they pleased him greatly; after which, on the same day, he returned to…
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#OTD 26 March 1199 – Richard the Lionheart wounded at Chalus
Richard I of England had been at war with the French since his return from the Crusades and his captivity in Germany. While a truce had been signed with King Philip of France, Richard marched south to lay siege to the Viscount of Limoges’ castle at Chalus-Chabrol and to others at nearby Nontron and Montagut. This area…
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#OTD 25 March 1194 – Richard the Lionheart arrives at the Siege of Nottingham
King Richard I, the Lionheart, had taken the Cross and journeyed to the Holy Land in 1190. He led his army of approx. 15,000 men to within 12 miles of Jerusalem, but did not re-take the holy city. After a truce with Salah-al-Din, Richard attempted to return home, but was faced with enemies on his path.…