5. Crusade

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we explore Richard's involvement in the Third Crusade, focusing in particular on his journey to the Crusader States (including important stop-offs at Sicily and Cyprus), his involvement in the Siege of Acre (June–July 1191), the Battle of Arsuf (September 1191), and the Treaty of Jaffa (1192).

Course

In this course, Dr Hugh Doherty (University of East Anglia) explores the reign of King Richard I (1189-99). We begin by considering Richard's reputation among modern historians, focusing in particular on the three main criticism levelled at the king – that he spent too much time in France, that he spent too much time on Crusade, and that he failed to provide an heir. In the second module, we consider the impact of John Gillingham's biography of Richard I in rehabilitating the king's reputation, before moving on in the third module to consider his education and upbringing as the third son of the formidable Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. In the fourth module, we turn to Richard's handling of the succession, before moving on in the fifth module to consider probably the most well-known event in Richard's life – his participation in the Third Crusade, including his role in the Siege of Acre (1189-91) and the Battles of Arsuf (September 1191) and Jaffa (August 1192). In the final module, we think about Richard's return to England, his attempts to hold his kingdom together under intense pressure from Philip II of France and his own brother, John, up to his untimely death in 1199.

Lecturer

Hugh Doherty is Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of East Anglia. He was taught at King’s College, London, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford, where he completed a thesis under Rees Davies and Richard Sharpe. He has worked on two ARHC-funded research projects on royal writs and charters in the twelfth and early thirteenth century, and between September 2008 and September 2013 was a research fellow at Jesus College, Oxford. He joined the School of History at UEA in September 2013.