Kristie Alvarado
E04/Garmon/06
Outline Rough Draft
24 Feb 2012
Richard I the Lionheart I. Introduction of paper A. Hook (Attention Getting Statement) B. Background Information C. Thesis II. It would have been hard to find a more driving, ambitious and fiercely competitive family to be born into, but Richard would hold his own. A. Richard was the third surviving child of Henry II, one of the most astute and formidable of all English kings and the ruler of more of France than the French king himself. 1. Henry’s domains stretched from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. He was twenty-four when Richard was born and the ravishingly beautiful, accomplished and willful Eleanor of Aquitaine, (Richard’s mother) was around thirty-five. 2. Both Eleanor and Henry were French and neither spoke English. 3. Their first son, William, had died in infancy. Their second child, Hennery, later known as the Young King, was two when Richard was born, and their daughter Matilda was one. There would be two more daughters and two more sons. B. Richard was born in Oxford, in Beaumont Palace which his Grandfather Henry I had built thirty years or so before. 1. There was no university yet at Oxford and the palace stood where Worcester College is today. 2. Out of all of Eleanor’s children, Richard was her favorite, but he didn’t see much of his mother or father as a child, as he grew older they were around more often. C. Fierce family quarrels gave Richard his first experience of war. 1. Eleanor was determined that Richard should be lord of Aquitaine when the lime came. She effectively governed Poitou and Aquitaine form 1168, with Richard at her side, and he learned the trade of ruling from her. 2. At the age of twelve he was invested as Count of Poitou and at fourteen as Duke of Aquitaine. III. Despite his faults, which were many, Richard I was the archetypal medieval warrior king of his age. A. Noble, fierce and matchless courage, he captured the imagination of his generation. 1. Richard the Lionheart has left behind a name which echoes down the centuries and has passed into the realms of legend. 2. Richard was so brave and strong that he was nicknamed the Lionheart; he was very noble and good in ways, but his fierce, passionate temper did him a great deal of harm. B. Richard and his brothers constantly fought with their father King Henry II who had incarcerated their mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. 1. Richard cared much more for the continental possessions of his mother than for England - he also cared much more for his mother than for his father. 2. In 1173 he, the young King and a younger brother, Geoffrey, backed by their mother, took up arms against their father in a war that lasted eighteen months until Henrey II fought them to a standstill and was formally reconciled with his sons. Richard was then just past his seventeenth birthday. He and his bothers soon began fighting each other, but when he was twentyfive his situation was changed by the unexpected death of the Young King, of dysentery. 3. Richard was now heir to England, he fought a final war against his father until the latter’s death in 1189 gave Richard the throne of England at the age of thirty one. 4. When King Henry II died Richard was greatly grieved at his father's death. 5. He visited Fontevraud Abbey Church and when he saw his father's dead body, he cried out, "Alas! it was I who killed him!" But it was too late and he could not make up for what he had done. IV. In 1191, Richard fought brilliantly and cruelly in the third Crusade, and conquered Cyprus en route to Jerusalem and performed admirably against Saladin, nearly taking the holy city twice. A. The Crusade failed in its primary objective of liberating the Holy Land from Moslem Turks, but did have a positive result easier access to the region for Christian pilgrims through a truce with Saladin. 1. On his way home Richard was captured by a personal enemy, Leopold of Austria. 2. King John (Richard’s brother) was reluctant to pay the ransom, and left to Dowager Queen Elenaor, and Hugh Walter, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to raise the required £60,000 to free Richard from his captivity. B. Richard was freed only to die a short time later fighting in France. Richard’s later population rests as much on romantic wishful thinking as it does on facts. 1. During his reign, however, the first known merchant guild was founded, in 1193. 2. The guilds were to play a major role in medieval society. V. Conclusion A. Restatement of Thesis B. Summary of Research you discovered C. Refer back to hook