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GayHeroes.com: Gay and Lesbian People in History
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Richard
I, also called
Richard the Lionhearted, was king of England from 1189 to
1199. His knightly manner and his prowess in the Third
Crusade (1189-92) made him a popular king in his own time as
well as the hero of
countless romantic legends.
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The third
son of Henry IIand Elanor of
Aquitane (rent the Academy Award-winning movie "Lion in
Winter" with Peter O'Toole, Katherine Hepburn, and young
Anthony Hopkins as Richard), Richard was precocious
politically and militarily and soon outstripped his brothers
and even his father to obtain the crown. Though he spent
most of his time fighting with various lords and barons, he
couldn't wait to realize his one ambition: to lead the
Crusade to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims. Displaying
no concept of planning for England, he sold everything to
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money
and lit out for the Holy Land with his allies. The theory
that a common heathen foe would unite these brave Christian
soldiers was short-lived and they fought like, well,
heathens among themselves. Richard was brilliant in the
campaign but never quite recaptured Jerusalem. At one point
he was stuck with over three thousand Muslim prisoners; not
being able to ransom or keep them, he had their throats
slit! On his way home he was shipwrecked and spent over a
year imprisoned in Austria and Germany before he was
ransomed. (This imprisonment was the inspiration for the
romantic legend of the minstrel-lover finding Richard by
singing outside his prison walls, which was written a
hundred years later.) He returned to England only briefly to
reassert his kingship after his long absence, then leftfor
France never to return,
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How do we know Richard was gay? Richard was irresponsibleand hot-tempered, possessed tremendous energy, and was capable of great cruelty. He was more accomplished than most of his royal family, a soldier of consummate ability, a skillful politician, and capable of inspiring loyal service. In striking contrast with his father and King John his brother, he was, there seems no doubt, a homosexual. He had no children by Queen Berengaria, with whom his relations seem to have been merely formal. -- Encyclopedia
Britannica |
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 A contemporary account of Richard and King Philip of France: "They ate every day at the same table and from the same dish, and at night their beds did not separate them. And the king of France loved him as his own soul; and they loved each other so much that the king of England [Richard's father] was absolutely astonished at the passionate love between them and marveled at it." |
Encyclopedia
Britannica
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"There was nothing remotely effeminate about Richard, of course, a crusader and warrior devoted to hand-to-hand combat. Another of his lovers was a young knight, a crusader, one Raife de Clermon, whom he freed from Saracen captivity. Richard was undoubtedly pious and constantly in the company of prelates; there was no shame attached to his predilections and nothing hidden. Though he did repent on several occasions of 'that sin,' public confessions being a tradition of the church, there is no sign that it was regarded as a more serious sin than many others. |
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"A valiant prince, a mighty warrior, and a noble king, his character was strongly flawed by all-too-human vices. It was perhaps this very combination of great courage and great strengths with common failings that endows him with perennial appeal." -- James A. Brundage |
"Worthy, by the consent of all men, to sit with King Arthur and Roland and other heroes of martial romance at some Eternal Round Table, which we trust The Creator of the Universe in His comprehension will not have forgotten to provide." -- Winston Churchill |
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And
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being Lionhearted about life? Fill out a HERO FORM and tell
the world what you're up to. We'll post your story here at
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it's fun, it's self-aggrandizing!
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