Cultural depictions of Richard I of England

Cultural depictions of Richard I of England

Richard I of England has been depicted many times in romantic fiction and popular culture.

Contents

Robin Hood

The Scots philosopher and chronicler John Mair was the first to associate Richard with the Robin Hood legends in his Historia majoris Britannae, tam Angliae quam Scotiae (1521). In the earliest Robin Hood ballads the only king mentioned is "Edward our comely king", most probably Edward II or Edward III. However, Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe popularised Mair's linking of the Hood legends to Richard's reign, and it was taken up by later novelists and by cinema. Typically Robin is depicted upholding justice in Richard's name against John and his officials during the king's imprisonment.

Other literature

Richard has appeared frequently in fiction, as a result of the 'chivalric revival' of the Romantic era. In 1822, he was the subject of Eleanor Anne Porden's epic poem, Cœur de Lion. After Ivanhoe, in which he is depicted as initially adopting the pseudonym of Le Noir Fainéant ("The Black Sluggard"), Sir Walter Scott portrayed Richard in The Talisman, a highly fictionalised treatment of the Third Crusade.

The young Richard is also a major character in James Goldman's play The Lion in Winter (1966), which depicts him as homosexual. He features in Graham Shelby's The Kings of Vain Intent and, more centrally, in The Devil is Loose, Norah Lofts' The Lute-Player, and Jean Plaidy (Eleanor Hibbert)'s The Heart of the Lion. He is portrayed as a merciless Muslim killer in a novel that follows Arn Magnusson in the Knight Templar Crusade Trilogy written by Swedish author Jan Guillou. He is seen as the reluctant husband of Berengaria of Navarre, and as Crusader, in Rachel Bard's Queen Without a Country. He is generally represented in a heroic role in children's fiction, such as Ronald Welch's Knight Crusader. Jennifer Roberson also makes reference to Richard in her novels Lady of the Forest and Lady of Sherwood.

Opera

Film

Richard has been portrayed on film by:

Television

Richard has been portrayed on television by:

Radio

Richard is played by Ed Stoppard in Mike Walker's BBC Radio 4 series Plantagenet (2010).

Video games

  • In the Robin Hood-inspired adventure game Conquests of the Longbow, Richard is featured as a prisoner of Leopold of Austria. As in the previously-mentioned legends, Robin Hood is working to raise 100,000 marks in ransom to release Richard.
  • The strategy game Medieval: Total War features two battles based on his encounters with his rival Saladin: the battle of Jaffa and the battle of Arsuf.
  • The sequel, Medieval II: Total War shows Richard on the box cover, and the player has the opportunity to play the Battle of Arsuf. Richard is also included the expansion pack Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms where he makes an appearance during the Crusades campaign.
  • In Empires: Dawn of the Modern World his campaign is pre-1190 and sees him fight French King Philip II.
  • He also appears in the real-time strategy game Stronghold: Crusader.
  • In Age of Empires 2, Richard can be played in battle against Saladin.
  • In Age of Empires: The Age of Kings for Nintendo DS, Richard the Lionheart is a usable hero and the final campaign features six missions based upon him, including the Battle of Arsuf and a fictional assault on Jerusalem.
  • He also appears in the game as an important character. The player character is one of his forebears. Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader.
  • In the 2007 action-adventure video game Assassin's Creed (set in the time of the third crusade) Richard plays a major part in the game, making several appearances and at one point interacting with the main character. Richard speaks English with a French accent in the game as a reference to the fact that he spoke only French in real life.
  • In Civilization II, King Richard's Crusade is one of the Wonders of the World. This Wonder provides increased production.

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