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King '''Richard I''' of England lived September 8, 1157 – April 6, 1199. He was King of [[England]] from 1189 to 1199. Some consider him a great and very popular king despite the fact that he did not accomplish much for his people. He is an important figure in many stories about the [[crusades]] such as ''Ivanhoe''.
He was from the Royal House of Plantagenet, although this name was not adopted until later. At the time his Father (King Henry II) and brother (King John) were collectively known as the House of Anjou (or the Angevins) as they descended from County Geoffrey of Anjou, (whose nickname was Plantagenet) who married the Empress Matilda, a descendent of the English King Henry I, who fought her cousin King Stephen, for the English throne. The treaty which ended this struggle saw her cede the throne to Stephen in return for her son (King Henry II) being made his heir.
King Richard was known as Couer de Lion (the Lionheart). At this time, the English was court was almost entirely French in character and language, being directly descended from King William the Duke of Normany and including the lands of Anjou and Aquitaine in modern day France.
It is sometimes recorded that King Richard was homosexual, but there exists much debate on this issue. This seems unlikely as whilst away fighting Crusades he was accused of raping women and although he showed little interest in his wife and Queen, she was deeply in love with him.
The British monarchy website makes no mention of his homosexuality http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page60.asp
[[Category:UK Monarchs]]