“Such a King seems born to command the whole world,” said my peasants. I was the first Plantagenet, or son of Henry II. I was King of England living from 1157-1199 and ruling from 1188-1199. Though I was King of England I cared more for France and only spent seven months in England. I was a brave, courageous King and the leader of the Third Crusade. I am Richard the First or “Richard the Lion-Hearted.”

            During my time, the twelfth century, wars and sieges were very common. Many men died in battles every day. This was because of the feudal system. Many greedy lords would hold goods from their peasants and refuse to give it to their superior. This gives their superior the right to start a feud or fight with this lord. There were also many thieves who would steal from nobles. Some problems with my time period were the Politics, the Economics, the Religion and the Aesthetics.

 The feudal system was a political system of ownership and it was a big problem because it was not that great of a system and was not really thought about. It was where the peasants would pay taxes to a lord for the lord’s protection and that lord in return would pay taxes to a higher lord in turn till it reached me, the king. The lord would protect the peasants with a small army of knights, these knights were the peasants children trained by the lord for a lot of money. This did not make sense because it was like the peasant’s protecting the untrained peasants for money they shouldn’t have even had to pay.

The crusades were a big part of the English culture. They were invented by Pope Urban ΙΙ for religious reasons but mostly turned into a way for England to capture land. Many lords and nobles went on the crusades upsetting the feudal system and Political stability.  The Crusades were when the knights of England and peasants of England would gather into a large army and set out to capture a part of land they thought was important to their religion like Acre and Jerusalem, I, Richard the Lionheart captured both I might add. The cost of the crusades was expensive for both the people and England. Anyone in the Crusades was supposed to bring their own weapons and armor for the battle while England had to supply the food and the shelter for the knights and peasants. Castles must be built and siege weapons such as Ballista’s and Trebuchets for battle must be built and brought along with cattle and oxen to pull and wind them. I can proudly say that I was the leader of the third crusade against the forces of Saladin my Muslim enemy who had control of Jerusalem, the True Cross as well as thousands of weak but maneuverable soldiers.