Man of a thousand castles, Part III

Last time we talked about the castles of the Third Crusade and Richard’s time in the Holy Land. This time we’re going to see the castles that factored in his life after the Crusade.

To end the Third Crusade, Richard negotiated a 3-year truce with Saladin, and in October of 1192 sailed for home. His kingdom was in danger. His brother John, the so-called Bad King John, was attempting to take control, and Richard needed to get home. Richard was also in conflict with most of the royalty of Europe. King Philip Augustus of France had spread poisonous rumors about him, and most of the rulers were on the lookout for Richard. Richard first sailed for Sicily, where he had allies, then sailed for the main coast of Europe.

In an irony too strange for fiction, Richard shipwrecked on the coast of Austria, the kingdom of Duke Leopold, whom he had disrespected in the Holy Land, and he was quickly taken prisoner by Leopold, and held in Dürnstein Castle.

Today, Dürnstein is a craggy mountain ruin, but in its day it was a magnificent fortress with a commanding view of the Danube river. Leopold gloated as Richard was held prisoner there, guarded by men with swords who rarely left his side. Dürnstein was home to Hadmar II, one of Leopold’s key ministers.

It is at Dürnstein that Richard composed his famous troubadour song Ja Nus Hons Pris, referenced at the top of this post.

There is a popular legend involving Richard that occurs at Dürnstein. The troubadour Blondel was said to have wandered Europe looking for Richard, approaching castles and singing a song only he and Richard knew. When he sang at Dürnstein, the legend goes, he heard the second verse coming a castle window, and knew that he had discovered Richard. Like many great stories, this one is a little too good to be true. There really is no historical justification for this story, and in any case Richard’s location was not really a secret. But like many things with Richard, truth and fiction are hard to separate. I wrote more on this legend here:

Soon, in March of 1193, Leopold had sold Richard to Henry VI, the Holy Roman Emperor. Richard was a valuable commodity and eventually a hostage ransom was agreed with England, to the tune of 100,000 pounds of silver—about three times the annual revenue of the Crown of England. An enormous sum!

Richard would be moved from Dürnstein Castle and eventually sent to Trifels Castle in Germany, where he remained for the better part of the year.

While Richard was held at Trifels, there was eventually a “show trial” held at the court of Henry VI. Surprisingly, Richard dominated this trial, earning the respect of friend and foe alike.1 Still, Henry was not letting such a valuable commodity go. By July there was an agreement for Richard’s release, and in February of 1194, after payment of a substantial portion of the ransom, he was actually released. There is another famous, possibly apocryphal story from this time, when Philip Augustus wrote to Bad King John, “Look to yourself, for the devil is loosed.”

After being released, Richard returned to England to re-assume control. He went north to Nottingham Castle to subdue a rebellion led by a number of John’s henchmen. Nottingham Castle is a formidable fortress controlling much of the north of England, but as with his other sieges, Richard quickly brought it to heel. Nottingham and the castle are not far from Sherwood Forest, home of a certain green-robed archer. While Robin Hood is likely fictional, Richard’s visit to Sherwood Forest is not, as reported in Roger of Hoveden’s histories.2 Nothing much remains of Nottingham Castle of this era, as it was razed in the 17th century, and eventually rebuilt. But the below gives you some ideas.

You can find a detailed account of the siege here, and more about the history of the castle here.

In my book, my protagonist is granted the lordship of Peveril Castle, not far from Nottingham. My character is fictional; the castle is not. It was originally constructed by Richard’s father Henry II and granted to Richard’s brother John, who was forced to release it to Eleanor, along with Windsor and Nottingham, after Richard was sprung from captivity. Today it is a brooding but beautiful ruin looking over a steep gorge and beautiful valley.

OK Substack is saying this post is too long for email, so next time, and last time, we will cover the last two castles for Richard, including his architectural masterpiece, Château Gaillard.