Villains and Virgins History Podcast
The Return of King Richard the Lionheart: Legends of the Third Crusade
April 20, 20261h 32m · 14,735 words
Show notes
The Third Crusade is over and King Richard the Lionheart is making his way home, escorted by the Knights Templar. After a daring journey in disguise, he will end up becoming a prisoner, as enemies he has made settle scores. When he is ransomed and returns to his kingdom, he has a few scores of his own to settle. This story is a crazy ride through the politics of medieval Europe, where serving the wrong man can get you improsoned, hanged, or even worse.
Highlighted moments
the Templar Knights and the Hospitaller Knights, who were locals in the region, advised Richard that even if he succeeded in taking Jerusalem, he would never be able to hold it. Once the armies of the Third Crusade got into the city, they would consider their Crusader oaths fulfilled and happily turn around and return to their homes
“Richard allowed his men to throw Count Leopold's banner into the mud and trample it. And this was not just a grave insult to Count Leopold himself. It was a statement about how the spoils of the city were going to be divided.”
“he spent a grand total of six months out of his ten-year reign in England. He viewed England as his domain and a place to be taxed”
“the problem with people telling these romantic stories about Saladin, embodying all of these much-admired chivalric virtues, was the fact that it was difficult to account for someone who was not a Christian having all of the virtues that Christian Europe so intensely admired.”
Transcript
Transcript not available for this episode yet.
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