Lionheart: The True Story of England's Crusader King

by Douglas Boyd

When people think of Richard the Lionheart they recall the scene at the end of every Robin Hood epic when he returns from theCrusades to punish his treacherous brother John and the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham. In reality Richard detested England andthe English, was deeply troubled by his own sexuality and was noted for greed, not generosity, and for murder rather than mercy.In youth Richard showed no interest in girls; instead, a taste for cruelty and a rapacity for gold that would literally be the death of him. To save his own skin, he repeatedly abandoned his supporters to an evil fate, and his indifference to women saw the part of queen at his coronation played by his formidable mother, Queen Eleanor.His brief reign bankrupted England twice, destabilised the powerful empire his parents had put together and set the scene for his brother’s ruinous rule. So how has Richard come to be known as the noble Christian warrior associated with such bravery and patriotism? Lionheart reveals the scandalous truth about England’s hero king – a truth that is far different from the legend that has endured for eight centuries.

Genres: History, Biography, France, British Literature, Medieval, European History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2014

Reviews

[Blair Hodgkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Douglas Boyd's Lionheart: The True Story Of England's Crusader King is a strange animal. Reveals the dark side of England's most celebrated monarch, reads the tagline. In fact, his goal seems to have been to undo much of the rehabilitation of King Richard's reputation and return to the state of scholarship over a century ago. Modern scholars (few of whom are consulted by Boyd) have disproven many of the old chestnuts the author treats like fact in this disappointing biography.

I have not read Boyd's biography of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard's mother, but Boyd seemed to be determined to stretch his research for that finished book as far as he could in his completion of this one, as most of the first five chapters are the backstory of King Henry II and Queen Eleanor. While I can appreciate some family background is relevant to any discussion of the biographical subject, this excess of introductory detail could have been considerably reduced; it feels exactly like what it is: padding to fill out a page count.

Over the years, Richard's historical reputation has been subject to considerable revision, but thanks to the research and interpretation of John Gillingham in several books and articles, Richard has gone from being thought one of England's worst medieval kings to one much better than previously understood. Gillingham's work has been so widely disseminated and accepted in both popular (inspiring his characterization in several modern novels for instance) and academic circles, that it is utterly incredible that Boyd references Professor Gillingham only twice in his bibliographical notes. It is fine to disagree with Gillingham and argue a different case, but to simply ignore Gillingham's enormous volume of influential and scholarly work when publishing a new biography is simply unimaginable. No reference is made to Kate Norgate's scholarly and influential (and fairly balanced) biography of Richard, published roughly contemporary with Alfred Richard's work.

At the same time, Boyd relies heavily on the writing of Alfred Richard's History Of The Counts Of Poitou, written in 1903. One can only wonder why a modern writer would refer so extensively to a work more than a century old in a field which has made enormous strides in analysis of 12th century warfare, administration and biography, setting aside the works of scholars like John Gillingham and W.L. Warren (a biographer of Henry II and King John).

I advanced this an extra star because there is some interesting speculation to be found in the last two chapters around the death of Richard and John's succession as well as on Richard's fertility and a possible explanation why he never conceived a legitimate heir.

[Deity World · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read of the history of Richard 1st what he did forget to mention is that he was also a musician and composer (hence one of my exam pieces)

[Taylor's♡Shelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've literally spent the last 20 minutes just sitting here blinking. I'm so confused.

Last chapter aside, Boyd's biography of Richard was actually surprisingly decent, for the most part. Any biography that is subtitled as "the true story" is usually a red flag for me. That being said, most of Boyd's account is pretty much no different than any other biography of the same subject. He did leave out some of Richard's gentler acts, but I sort of expected that going in. So, I'm not exactly happy, but not exactly surprised either. Nothing is new here.

I suppose I shouldn't say nothing. After Boyd finishes chronicling Richard's death and the aftermath thereof, he inserts a short essay about why he believes the king died without more issue. In short, my head is about an ounce of pressure away from exploding.

There are literally so many holes in his theory I don't even know why he bothered to record it. I won't summarize his theory here in case some are reading this before reading the book. And to be honest, you really need to be taken off-guard by this one. Without spoiling anything, I'll just mention these two points:

1) Henry spent even more time in the saddle than Richard;

2) If Richard's interactions with women really were as the chroniclers Roger of Howden and Alfred Richard suggest, he wouldn't have been able to claim paternity for any bastards that he may had gotten, as the child could have literally been anyone's.

This is in no way a review, more of a reaction to jog my memory later. But I really don't think I'll need to be reminded of this one. Unfortunately, I think this one will stick with me for a long time to come. Yikes.

[Pirate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting account of one of England's most fammous kings but one who barely spent any time there and only when he wished to tax them a bit more to finance his wars. Puts classics such as Robin Hood and Ivanhoe in their rightful place of classical fiction as the character portrayed here is little better than his odious brother John appropriately as Boyd says called Lackland. Effective warrior and brave but the myth of the Crusades being an honourable mission is exposed for what it was to shed oneself of ones guilt back home. Indeed it is Saladin who emerges from that episode with the most credit, even sending ice and fruits to Richard when he was suffering with a fever. Very well written,the real star personality of the book is Eleanor of Aquitaine a remarkable lady. The only reason I didn't give five stars is probably a bit mivvy but a lack of a family tree made the various relations a bit confusing without reference to it and maps too were a bit basic but a cracking read overall.

[Jaffareadstoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating glimpse into the life and times of one of England's warrior kings. Easily readable and very accessible in easy to navigate chapters this true story of England's crusader King really does flesh out his life story in minute detail.

Well worth a read.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why but this book just didn't do it for me. Boyd is trying to make a case for Richard being worse than usually portrayed. But I didn't feel that anything he wrote about Richard was something that I hadn't already picked up somewhere.

[Marcus Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a pretty quick and interesting read, does everything I want from a historical biography, gives you facts and analysis and a good account of the person it focuses on.

[Raynald Provost · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mais un livre beaucoup trop dense: l'incroyable énumération de noms de personnage et de lieux donne le tournis et rend difficile la lecture.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10

[Melanie Vidrine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched but not well written, I do love that era of course!