John Gillingham's Book Of The Order Of Chivalry

As John Gillingham states, “no other king of England ever caught the imagination of his age as did Richard Coeur de Lion. Troubadour, knight-adventurer, war-lord, Crusader-king, he was all of these things.”1 Undoubtedly, Richard's military skills were exceptional, as his numerous military successes as a knight and captain prove it. However, even as a knight, Richard was far from irreproachable. As John Gillingham says himself, Richard “was a warrior who lived all his life at the centre of the political stage only to die in an obscure sideshow in a place no one had ever heard of.”2
Chronicles of the Third Crusade (1189-1192) praised the courage and virtues of Richard I. One account especially, called the Itinerarium and probably due to several …show more content…
Geoffroi de Charny's Knight own Book of Chivalry (1351) and Ramon Llull's Book of the Order of Chivalry (1274-76) were, of course, written after Richard's death, in critical times for chivalry in general, the failure of the eight Crusade and the bitter defeats of the French knights during the first phase of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), but reflected on past experiences and are drawn from previous examples, perhaps even Richard's own life. Both authors emphasized piety in their books. For Llull, “to believe in one God is the first article” of chivalry.6 Richard, of course, through the Crusade should appear as an extremely pious figure, but it is far more complex than that. According to Roger of Howden, one of the king's cleric, while he was sick in 1195, Richard confessed his sins to an hermit who told him “to be mindful of the destruction of Sodom and abstain from what is unlawful; for, if thou dost not, God's vengeance shall overtake thee.”7 Likewise, Richard is said to have confessed on his death bed in 1099, for the first time in nearly seven years. Richard's relation to Christianity seems conflicted and the mention of Sodom by the priest led few scholars to think that the English king might have been homosexual. This is probably not true, but mentioning it is enough to challenge Richard's legend, especially since knights were expected to pursue women's affection, which Richard clearly ignored. Indeed, Richard “seems to have paid little attention to [women], either before of after his marriage” to Berrengeria of Navarre.8 However, as John Gillingham states, “in recent decades it has become increasingly accepted that an important part of the art of kingship was the ruler's management of his own family.”9 Richard clearly neglected this aspect of his life as a knight and as king. Knights were also expected to show mercy for their defeated enemies. On July 12 1191, Acre