Monarchs – King Richard I of England on side of city hall - Bradford, UK - Monarchs of the World on Waymarking.com

The statues are the rulers of England from King William I in 1066 up to and including Queen Victoria who was on the throne when the then Town Hall was built in 1873.

Richard was born on 8 September 1157 and reigned as King of England from 6th July 1189 to 6th April 1199.

Richard was the son of Henry II and from the age of 16 was commanding his own army defending some of Henry’s French territories. He had a reputation as a great warrior and became known as Couer de Lion or Richard the Lionheart even before he ascended to the throne.

In 1170 King Henry fell ill and put in plans to divide his territories between Richard, his older brother Henry and his younger brother Geoffrey. As part of this plan Richard became the Duke of Aquitaine.

After this the three brothers made various attempts to take their allotted territories early and made a number of unsuccessful rebellions. In 1183 when his elder brother died, Richard became the eldest son and heir to the English Crown. He became the King of England in 1188.

In the same year Saladin had recaptured Jerusalem. In order to try and regain it Richard and King Philip of France agreed jointly to go on the Third Crusade.

On the way to the crusade they stopped at Cyprus in 1190. By coincidence Tancred of Lecce had just seized power there after the death of King William II of Scicily. There were many rival claims to the throne. Richard intervened and conquered the whole island.

It may seem strange that Richard would take the time to get involved whilst en route to the Holy Land, but it was a key strategic position and it was vital for supplying his forces.

Shortly after leaving Cyprus he landed in the Holy Land and within a month had captured Acre. However disputes arose between the joint forces of England France and Germany. Richard was left to fight on his own and he never managed to capture Jerusalem.

On his way home he was shipwrecked and had to try making his way back overland. He was captured near Vienna by Leopold V, Duke of Austria who had been involved in the disputes in the Holy Land. Despite being excommunicated by the pope for imprisoning a member of the Crusades he sold Richard to Henry VI, the Holy Roman Emperor who was opposed to Richard’s taking of Cyprus.

Henry VI was also excommunicated, but he continued to hold Richard for a ransom of 65,000 pounds of silver. Although this was a huge ransom, the money was raised and Richard was freed.

Whilst Richard was being held his brother John helped King Philip of France capture Normandy. After being freed Richard spent his remaining years fighting against King Philip.

He was eventually shot with an arrow whilst besieging the castle of Chalus-Chabrol, and died on the 6th April 1199.

Monarch Ranking: King / Queen Proper Title and Name of Monarch: King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitane, Count of Anjou and Maine. Country or Empire of Influence: England and Normandy, Aquitaine, Anjou and Maine in France Website for additonal information: [Web Link]

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