Was Richard the Lionheart a Homosexual?

by Rosanne Lortz

I still remember watching it for the first time. The Lion in Winter. The first historical piece that I encountered which asserted that Richard the Lionheart was a homosexual.

Naturally, I could hardly help wondering whether the portrayal was accurate. What evidence did the playwright and screenwriter James Goldman have for depicting Richard in this manner? Why had none of the history books I had read during my teenage years mentioned it?

Doing a little research, I discovered that no one had seriously mooted the idea that Richard the Lionheart was a homosexual up until the middle of the twentieth century. At this time a case for Richard's homosexuality was made based on these three points:

1. He had no children (except for possibly one illegitimate son);
2. He didn't seem very interested in getting married (deserting his wife Berengaria right after they tied the knot);
3. In his early days, he had a very close relationship with Philip Augustus of France. 

When I saw these three points, I had to wonder if the case they made for Richard’s homosexuality was actually a compelling one. I researched a little more….

The first fact, that Richard had no children, is neither here nor there. It does not take a genius to think of other reasons for childlessness than being a homosexual. And in the medieval world, a homosexual king would have likely also been married (to a woman) and fathered children (the kings Edward II and James I come to mind), because no matter what one’s sexual proclivities were, producing an heir and preserving dynastic succession was paramount.

The second assertion, that Richard wasn’t very interested in marriage or in Berengaria, is, if you believe the well-respected novelist Sharon Kay Penman, surprisingly incorrect. In an interview with the Historical Novel Society, Penman said:

Another myth is that Richard was reluctant to wed Berengaria and Eleanor had to push him into it; he was actually the one who negotiated the marriage with Berengaria’s father…. I was surprised to discover that Richard went to some trouble to have her with him during their time in the Holy Land.

Although their marriage does not appear to have been one of the world’s greatest love matches, there is no evidence of “reluctance to marry” on Richard’s part, a fact which has been used to bolster the argument for his homosexuality.

Philip Augustus and Richard the Lionheart

The final piece of evidence used to prove Richard’s homosexuality is his relationship with the French king Philip Augustus. One of the most pertinent primary source excerpts says:

And after this peace, Richard the Count of Poitou remained with the king of France against the will of his father; and the king of France was honoring him in such a way that each day they would eat together at one table from one dish, and in the night their bed did not separate them. And because of this exceeding love which appeared between them, the king of England [Henry II] was struck with much astonishment and marveled at this, and being on his guard for himself in the future, sent his messengers frequently to France to recall his son Richard....

So, there you have it. “In the night their bed did not separate them.” But does this text give a homosexual connotation to Richard and Philip sharing a bed? Not really. It seems to be just another way that Philip was honoring Richard. Although my husband would probably object to sharing a bed with another man, we must remember that in the Middle Ages, men (yes, heterosexual men) shared beds all the time.

Some have read into this text that Richard's father Henry is upset about the strange relationship developing between his son Richard and Philip, the King of France. The text clearly shows that he is upset, but it does not seem to be from a fear of homosexual activity. His son Richard is befriending the longtime enemy of England, and Henry is trying to stop them from allying against him.

Judging this quote by the standards of the time it was written in, I think it is fair to say that the author is making no implications, veiled or otherwise, of homosexual relations between Richard and Philip.

So, given what we know about the evidence, was James Goldman within his rights to depict a homosexual relationship between Richard the Lionheart and Philip Augustus? Certainly. His play The Lion in Winter is, after all, a work of historical fiction. But viewers (and readers) must always keep in mind that the historical fiction writer deals with the realm of possibility, and not necessarily the realms of plausibility or probability.

____________________________

Rosanne E. Lortz is the author of two books: I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince, a historical adventure/romance set during the Hundred Years' War, and Road from the West: Book I of the Chronicles of Tancred, the beginning of a trilogy which takes place during the First Crusade.

You can learn more about Rosanne's books at her Author Website where she also blogs about writing, mothering, and things historical.

Richard the Lionhearted and His Holy Grail

Richard the Lionhearted and His Holy Grail

By Christy English

Author of The Queen’s Pawn and

To Be Queen: A Novel of the Early Life of Eleanor of Aquitaine

Richard I, Eleanor of Aquitaine’s favorite son, is one of England’s most famous kings. In the fairy tales that surround Robin Hood, Good King Richard returns from the Holy Land to right the wrongs done by his nefarious brother, Prince John. Beyond the realm of fairy tales, Richard I is perhaps best known for leading the Third Crusade to the Holy Land.

King Richard I

Richard I was a brilliant military strategist. He found his only equal in Saladin in the Levant as both armies fought to a stand still in the effort to reclaim Jerusalem for Christian Europe. The goal of freeing Jerusalem was Richard’s dream for most of his adult life, and when he failed to bring that city under European control, like Moses before him, he refused to enter the promised land. Richard managed to negotiate safe passage for Christian pilgrims into the city that they might be blessed at the holy sites, but Richard refused to enter Jerusalem to obtain a blessing for himself. By failing to conquer Jerusalem, he failed to fulfill the duty he owed to his people and to his Church, and thus he felt unworthy to enter the city for which he had fought so hard.

Richard I: Old Palace Yard at Westminster

As a fan of Richard’s, I am sorry that he did not allow himself to enter Jerusalem. Though he had not managed to defeat Saladin, he had fought better any other general, Christian or Muslim, against a man who simply could not be defeated. Richard met his match in Saladin, both in military prowess and in honor. At the first battle of Jaffa, when Richard’s horse was killed beneath him, Saladin held his knights back from attacking the Christian king, and sent him two fine Arabian horses to replace the mount he had lost. Once Richard was mounted on one of these fine steeds, the battle resumed.

Though Richard did not succeed in his quest to reclaim Jerusalem, though the Holy Grail of a Levant united under Christian rule eluded him, he is remembered still in story and in song for his valiant effort.

Eleanor of Aquitaine: Mother of Kings

by Christy English

When researching my first novel, The Queen's Pawn, I began my obsession with Eleanor of Aquitaine. A woman who ruled the Duchy of Aquitaine in her own right, Eleanor wore two crowns in her lifetime, the first as Queen of France in 1137 and her second as Queen of England in 1154. She only gave birth to two daughters with her first husband, Louis VII, but three of her sons with Henry II went on to wear the English crown.

By Frederick Sandys -
scan of painting, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6448030

Henry the Younger was crowned during his father's lifetime. A drinker, a gambler, and a man who enjoyed the company of the ladies, young Henry was often too busy to pay strict attention to politics, though that did not stop him from joining Eleanor's rebellion against his father in 1173. All the sons were forgiven for the roles they played in that rebellion; Eleanor was handed all the blame. But Henry the Younger never sat on the throne alone as he wished. In 1183, he died unexpectedly, leaving his younger brother, Prince Richard, as the heir.

By Mattbuck (talk · contribs) -
This file was derived from: 
London MMB »0Z1 Palace of Westminster.jpg, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35346739

On the death of Henry II in 1189, Prince Richard became Richard the Lionhearted, King Richard I. Richard spent only six months of his reign in England. Most of his rule was spent trying to reclaim Jerusalem on the Third Crusade and escaping captivity when one of his "brother kings" decided to hold him for ransom on his way home. Eleanor bought Richard out of captivity, and he returned to his domains to fight King Philippe Auguste in France. Richard died in the siege of Chalus from an arrow wound that festered in his shoulder.

Though no doubt Eleanor grieved deeply for her favorite son, she came out of self-imposed retirement to make sure that her youngest and last remaining son, Prince John, took the throne of England.

John Lackland, now King John of England, had many adventures, losing much of his father's land in France to Philippe Auguste, warring constantly with the Irish and the Welsh, and being forced by his barons to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. John was the last son of Henry and Eleanor, and his own son went on to become Henry III.