5. The Murder of Richard I
Richard I loved war. He also realized war cost a lot of money and he couldn’t raise it all through taxes…so he went looking for a pot of gold at the Castle Chalus-Chabrol in France. When Richard attempted to seize the castle he was shot by a bow and arrow. Richard congratulated the boy who shot him on his aim.
Days later in April of 1199, Richard died of wounds that turned gangrenous at the age of 41. Although he gave the boy a reward, the boy was still later hanged for the murder. Had Richard survived, how much land would he have conquered? Would Europe’s borders have been much different? How many more lives would be lost to war?
Richard was also a Christian crusader who spread an anti-Jewish message. His sexuality was also widely questioned by historians and he did not produce any heirs to the throne.
This caused him to be succeeded by his brother John. The French territories did not accept John as King, and this resulted at the beginning of the dissolution of the Angevin Empire.