Richard I (Penguin Monarchs): The Crusader King by Thomas Asbridge (PDF)

Description

Richard I’s reign is both controversial and seemingly contradictory. One of England’s most famous medieval monarchs and a potent symbol of national identity, he barely spent six months on English soil during a ten-year reign and spoke French as his first language. Contemporaries dubbed him the ‘Lionheart’, reflecting a carefully cultivated reputation for bravery, prowess and knightly virtue, but this supposed paragon of chivalry butchered close to 3,000 prisoners in cold blood on a single day. And, though revered as Christian Europe’s greatest crusader, his grand campaign to the Holy Land failed to recover the city of Jerusalem from Islam.Seeking to reconcile this conflicting evidence, Thomas Asbridge’s incisive reappraisal of Richard I’s career questions whether the Lionheart really did neglect his kingdom, considers why he devoted himself to the cause of holy war and asks how the memory of his life came to be interwoven with myth. Richard emerges as a formidable warrior-king, possessed of martial genius and a cultured intellect, yet burdened by the legacy of his dysfunctional dynasty and obsessed with the pursuit of honour and renown.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I’m a huge fan of the Penguin Monarchs series, which I first encountered in a bookstore on a trip to London and have been trying to assiduously cobble together a set off of Amazon as they come available. Each short book is done by a different author, which leads to some ups and downs depending on the content and structure chosen by the individual author for the particular monarch in question.Asbridge does a tremendous job here of describing the world of Richard I and in doing so sketches out a complex portrait of the man known mainly in the United States for appearing at the end of a Robin Hood movie. Richard I is a great man as defined by his particular time, having to live and thrive in the complex world of his father Henry II, the challenges of Anglo-French dynamics, and the call to the Crusades. A well done short biography which hits all of the main points of Richard I’s reign, and it will leave you with a greater appreciation of both the monarch and his times. Heartily recommend!

⭐Not worth the price.

⭐This latest Allen lane penguin Monarchs Title Focuses upon the dramatic life of Richard the Lionheart one of the most famous Kings in our history and a legendary warrior of the crusades. Richard only spent six months of his entire ten year reign actually in England! Richard’s’ focus on life was essentially European in fact he was born in Aquitaine, France in 1157 then part of his Father’s’ vast Angevian Empire! Richard’s’ family was notoriously unstable and Richard and his two eldest brothers all rebelled against their Father King Henry II without any huge success. Furthermore, their parents marriage collapsed and Eleanor of Aquitaine sided with her sons and was imprisoned by her husband for the last sixteen years of his reign.This dramatic upbringing steeled Richard into a supremely able soldier and he became renowned for his chivalry and honour throughout Europe! Richard’s’ guiding ambition was to take the holy land of Jerusalem back from its Arab forces led by his great adversary the mighty Saladin. It was his lifetimes work and yet he ultimately failed to win back his ultimate ambition! Richard married in 1191 to Berengaria of Navarre but the union proved loveless and barren.Richards reign was dramatic and he had to contend constantly with his younger brother John’s’ repeated attempts to seize his throne! also in 1192, Richard was kidnapped by Leopold of Austria on his way home from the Crusades, he spent over a year in prison and the huge ransom paid by his mother for his release almost bankrupted the kingdom of England! Richard’s’ rule was not a success and the kingdom was blighted with instability and baronial discord! Richard lived as he had died fatally wounded at Chalus in France which turned Septic and from which he died a few days later at the age of 42 to be succeeded by his treacherous brother John. Renowned medieval historian,Thomas Asbridge’s’paints a vivid, engrossing portrait of the real Richard, less glamorous then history would have you believe but nonetheless engrossing and completely absorbing of the great legend that is Richard ‘The Lionheart’. I would urge you to order your copy from Amazon now you will not be disappointed by this little gem of a book!

⭐Thomas Asbridge gives us a lively account of the Lionheart, dissecting the truth about the great warrior king from the fanciful legends that abounded after his death, such as his encounter with Robin Hood and the story of the Minstrel Blondin. Richard Couer de Lion emerges as a great warrior and general, and a shrewd politician who was primarily concerned about achieving fame and glory, but who probably neglected England and only spent 6 months of his ten year reign actually in England.This book is commendably short (104 pages) but tells us a useful amount about one of our most charismatic monarchs. Recommended.

⭐Thomas Asbridge is an excellent historical author. I bought this book after reading The Greatest Knight, another of his fabulous works. Clear and well written, this book is interpreted from contemporary chronicles, and where editorial licence is called upon, supported with reasoned supposition. This is a very good book indeed; for any interested in medieval history and the life and doings of the ultimate warrior king, this is a must-read.

⭐This book was very enlightening. Wonderfully written Thomas Ashworth who writes his beginnings as loyal supporter of King Henry II but who rebelled to claim the throne. He then goes on to describe his epic battles and sieges in the Levant and why this was the making of him. Finally, the author details his military campaigns to win back his French lands signed away by his brother John.

⭐Another good book in this splendid series. If I found it heavier going than some, it is because Richard’s life was a trifle one-paced, with his constant wars, and I ended up with my opinion of him somewhat downgraded! But well written and recommended nonetheless.

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