Today in History

March 26, 1199

The Death of Richard the Lionheart

Richard I was king of England for ten years, starting in 1189. The king spent only five months of that time in his kingdom. In March 1199, Richard I was in France suppressing a revolt at the castle of Chalus-Chabrol. On the evening of March 25th, he walked around the perimeter of the castle without his armor. On the castle walls, a young soldier aimed an arrow at the king and loosed the projectile, hitting Richard in the shoulder. A surgeon botched the extraction and the wound became gravely infected.

Richard the Lionheart, so named for his military exploits, called the cross bowman before him. The soldier was a boy of 14 and claimed to have intentionally shot the king in revenge of the death of his father at Richard's hands. Richard, sensing death at hand himself, forgave the boy. The King named his brother John as his successor. He died on April 6th.

Soldiers seized the young bowman who had killed the king and had him flayed, or skinned, alive and hanged. Richard's brain was buried in Poitou, his heart in Normandy and his body in Anjou.

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