Download The Gruesome Death of Richard Lionheart

The Gruesome Death of Richard
Lionheart
Richard the I – the Lionheart – died on the
6th of April in 1199 near Chalus, a castle
located at the border between Aquitaine
and the French kingdom.
Richard the Lionheart’s Heart Photo: Philippe Charlier
According to legend, Richard III had gone treasure-hunting in the South of France. Rumour had it that a
peasant had discovered life-size statues in gold of a French emperor and his family seated around a
golden table. This he brought to the local magnate at the castle at Chalus-Chabrol. As Richard coveted it
and the count of Chalus would not release it, he laid a siege of the castle.
However, in 1979 John Gillingham went through the many sources and identified the one, which
presented the best description of the events: the Coggeshall Chronicle. This was written before 1202 by
an author who had himself met – and vividly remembered – the lion-king.
According to the description rendered by Ralph of Coggeshall the tale of this treasure was nothing but a
rumour. Instead the cause of the king’s military intervention was an alliance, which the Viscount of
Limoges had entered into with the French king, Phillipe Auguste, in January. Richard’s response was
immediate. He tried to butt it by violently attacking as was his habit. At least, that is how the Coggeshall
Chronicle has it:
… during Lent King Richard took advantage of the opportunity of peace with King Philip to lead an army of his own against
the Viscount of Limoges, who had rebelled against him during the time of war and had made a treaty of alliance with Philip.
Moreover there are some who say that a treasure of incalculable value was found on the viscount’s lands; that the king
ordered it to be handed over to him; nd that when the viscount refused, the king’s anger was further aroused. The he
devastated the Viscount’s land with fire and sword, as though he did not know that arms should be laid aside during Lent,
until at last he came to Chalus-Chabrol… (Translation after Gillingham 1979 p. 323)
For three days attacks were mounted on the castle, after which the castle walls were in imminent danger
of collapsing. It was at this point a soldier named Peter Bru also known as Peter Basil was lucky to hit the
king in his shoulder with a bolt from a crossbow, which could not be wholly extracted “without great
violence”. After this the wound deteriorated quickly in spite of the herbs and plasters, which were
applied. Inside 12 days the king had died. It is believed he died of septicaemia.
Afterwards the entrails of Richard Lionheart were buried in the Abbey at Chalus, his heart in the
Cathedral of Rouen and his embalmed body in the Abbey of Fontevraud.
His Heart
Richard the Lionhearted. Heart at rouen-Shrine of lead.
Photo: Philippe Charlier
In 1838 a lead box containing the remains of his heart was discovered close to the funeral effigy of the
king in Rouen. The sealed box was engraved with the funerary inscription: “Hic Iacet Cor Ricardi Regis
Anglorum.”
In 2012 the contents of the shrine underwent a complete biomedical analysis (chemistry, palynology,
anthropology, paleopathology, microscopy, etc)
Finds consisted of:
Tiny remains of textiles made of linen (a thin equilibrated cloth of 50
threads pr cm in both directions – chain and weft).
Various pollen grains: myrtle, daisy, mint, which were part of the treating
of the heart; and pine, oak, poplar, plantain and bell-flowers, probably the
result of chance contamination.
Residue of copper and mercury, probably used in the embalmment of the
heart.
Gum-resins characteristic of frankincense (olibanum).
SOURCES:
The embalmed heart of Richard the Lionheart (1199 A.D.): a biological and anthropological analysis
Philippe Charlier, Joël Poupon, Gaël-François Jeannel, Dominique Favier, Speranta-Maria Popescu,
Raphaël Weil, Christophe Moulherat, Isabelle Huynh-Charlier, Caroline Dorion-Peyronnet, Ana-Maria
Lazar, Christian Hervé & Geoffroy Lorin de la Grandmaison
In: Nature: Scientific Reports 3, 2013.
The Unromantic Death of Richard I
By John Gillingham
In: Speculum, Vol. 54, No. 1, Jan., 1979, pp. 18-41
DOI: 10.2307/2852987
Richard I
By John Gillingham
Yale University Press 2002
ISBN: 9780300094046