He was the third of five sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and was therefore not expected to become king, but his two elder brothers predeceased their father. By the age of 16, Richard had taken command of his own army, putting down rebellions in Poitou against his father. Richard probably spoke both French and Occitan. Following his accession, he spent very little time, perhaps as little as six months, in England. Most of his reign was spent on Crusade, in captivity, or actively defending the French portions of the Angevin Empire.
Though regarded as a model king during the four centuries after his death, [ 8 ] and seen as a pious hero by his subjects, [ 9 ] from the 17th century onward he was gradually perceived by historians as a ruler who preferred to use his kingdom merely as a source of revenue to support his armies, rather than regarding England as a responsibility requiring his presence as ruler.
Richard is often depicted as having been the favourite son of his mother. Contemporary historian Ralph de Diceto traced his family's lineage through Matilda of Scotland to the Anglo-Saxon kings of England and Alfred the Great , and from there legend linked them to Noah and Woden.
According to Angevin family tradition, there was even 'infernal blood' in their ancestry, with a claimed descent from the fairy, or female demon, Melusine. While his father visited his lands from Scotland to France, Richard probably spent his childhood in England. His first recorded visit to the European continent was in May , when his mother took him to Normandy.
His wet nurse was Hodierna of St Albans , whom he gave a generous pension after he became king. During his captivity, English prejudice against foreigners was used in a calculated way by his brother John to help destroy the authority of Richard's chancellor, William Longchamp , who was a Norman. One of the specific charges laid against Longchamp, by John's supporter Hugh Nonant , was that he could not speak English. This indicates that by the late 12th century a knowledge of English was expected of those in positions of authority in England.
