"Cruel, Anti-English And Almost Certainly Gay: Meet The Real " Topic

….Richard The Lionheart

"As the young Pierre Basile gazed down from the windy battlements of Châlus-Chabrol castle, he could barely believe his eyes. It was the 25th of March 1199, and there, within crossbow range, was the infamous warlord who had killed his father and two brothers. And he was not even wearing his chainmail.

Pierre did what any self-respecting twelfth-century boy from the Limousin would have done. He took the shot, and hit one of the most famous warriors of all time.

When the festering shoulder wound began to turn gangrenous, the 42-year-old soldier pardoned young Pierre, and gave him a bag of money. Then, on the 6th of April 1199, a full 11 days after having been shot, the celebrated duke of Aquitaine and Normandy, count of Anjou and king of England, died of the wound.

Eight hundred and fifteen years later, Richard the Lionheart remains a shining national hero, with a unique place in popular culture — a name every schoolchild repeats with conviction when asked for a great medieval English king. Richard inspires a misty reverence, and somehow, like Arthur, personifies a certain historic Englishness. An indomitable equestrian bronze statue of him even prances outside the Palace of Westminster, patrolling with a drawn sword — daring anyone to challenge the good government of this country…."
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Amicalement
Armand

Haven't considered him to be hero since I studied medieval history for my A levels. His only good feature was that he was hardly ever in the country. It was his demands for funds for his wars that caused the unrest in England over taxation. A typical result of the Norman invasion, a Frenchman ruling England.

He was a happy man?

Reading crusades history, learning of Ayideah (sp?), where he ordered his army to butcher 10,000 old men, women, and children, first by arrows and bolts, then by cavalry, and finally by foot soldiers because it took too long, and they ran out of missile ammunition… That opened my eyes to what he was really like.

Visited the castle, in Germany, where he was imprisoned, and ransomed, on his way to England, after fighting in the Holy Land. Though I know his true history, I still found it exciting to walk where he walked, to go through rooms of the castle he likely walked in, to touch the stone walls he touched. Could not shake his history, even in the castle. A decidedly mixed experience. Cheers!

The castle … nice place… or horrible one?….

Amicalement
Armand

Two points to consider;

Don't judge him by modern standards and conventions. I've no doubt that what he did in the Holy Land was terrifying and horrific.

Secondly, he wasn't French, there's a big difference between France and Normandy!