Release of King Richard I

On 4th February 1194 King Richard "Lionheart" I of England (age 36) was released from his captivity; his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine Queen Consort Franks and England (age 72) having brought the ransom of 100,000 pounds of silver. On release King Philip II of France (age 28) is said to have sent a message to the future King John (age 27) "Look to yourself; the devil is loose".

On 4th March 1194 King Richard "Lionheart" I of England (age 36) and his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine Queen Consort Franks and England (age 72) sailed from Antwerp [Map]. The royal admiral, Stephen of Turnham, who was commanding in person, had to employ experienced pilots to take her through the coastal islets and out into the estuary of the Scheldt. It was a long crossing, perhaps deliberately so, to avoid ambush. The Trenchemer was escorted by a large cog from the Cinque port of Rye [Map].

Chronicum Anglicanum by Ralph Coggeshall. In the year 1194, King Richard, having already paid the greater part of his ransom, and having given many hostages for the remainder that was still to be paid, on the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Mary [2nd February]¹ was freed from all custody of the emperor, and was permitted to return to his own kingdom. Journeying with his mother and the chancellor through the land of the Duke of Louvain toward the British sea, he waited for a long time at Antwerp for a suitable time to cross. On the Sunday[13th February 1194] after the feast of Saint Gregory² he landed in England at the port of Sandwich, with great rejoicing. And at the very hour when the king arrived with his company, namely, the second hour of the day, the sun shining with great brightness, there appeared a most serene and unusual radiance, not far distant from the sun, about the height and breadth of a human body, containing within itself a shining whiteness and a reddish hue, like the likeness of a rainbow. Many who gazed upon this brightness declared that the king had come ashore in England. The king immediately set out for Canterbury, where devoutly he visited Blessed Thomas; then proceeding to London, he was received by the citizens of London with the greatest pomp of joy, the whole city being adorned in many ways and decorated with countless riches in anticipation of the king's arrival. And when news of the king's coming spread, both nobles and commoners hastened eagerly to meet the returning king, longing greatly to see him come back from captivity, whom they had feared would never return.

Anno MCXCIV. Rex Ricardus, maxima jam parte redemptionis suæ persoluta, datisque pluribus obsidibus pro reliqua parte quæ restabat persolvenda, die Purificationis beatæ Mariæ ab omni custodia imperatoris liber effectus est, et ad proprium regnum redire permissus. Qui cum matre sua et cancellario per terram ducis Luvanæ ad mare Britannicum proficiscens, apud Andeworpe aptum tempus transfretandi diutius exspectavit; qui in die Dominica post festum Sancti Gregorii in Angliam cum magno gaudio ad portum Sandwicensem applicuit. Hora autem qua rex cum suis applicuit, scilicet secunda hora diei, sole clarius rutilante, apparuit quidam serenissimus atque insolitus splendor, non longius a sole distans, quasi ad longitudinem et latitudinem humani corporis, candorem præfulgidum atque rubedinem quasi species iridis in se continens; quem splendorem plures intuentes, pronunciabant regem in Anglia fore appulsum. Rex autem illico Cantuariam profectus, beatum Thomam devotus expetiit; deinde Londoniam proficiscens, a civibus Londoniæ cum maxima lætitiæ pompa exceptus est, universa civitate contra regis adventum innumerabilium opum varietate decorata atque multiformiter adornata. Audito autem regis adventu, nobiles pariter et ignobiles adventanti regi cum magna alacritate occurrunt, cernere plurimum cupientes a captivitate regressum, quem pertimuerant nunquam reversurum.

Note 1. The letter from Walter, archbishop of Rouen to Ralph de Diceto has the 4th February: "Let your love know that after we had come to our most beloved lord, the illustrious king of the English, we wrote to no one in England, nor up to the morrow [4th February 1194] of Saint Blaise did we hear anything worth reporting and worthy to be written to you. But on that day the merciful Lord visited his people at Mainz in the liberation of our lord the king. For while we were standing by the lord king until the ninth hour, the archbishops of Mainz and Cologne, speaking before the lord emperor and the lord king and the duke of Austria concerning the king's release, after many anxieties and labours, the same archbishops, who had devoted the greatest effort to securing the king's release, came before the lady queen, and before us, and the bishops of Bath, Ely, and Saintes, and many other nobles, and approached the lord king, bringing him a brief but joyful word. It was this: that the lord emperor signified to him that, though he had long held him in his custody, yet he now released him and set him free, that henceforth he might have power over himself."

Note 2. The Feast of Saint Gregory the Great is 12th March, commemorating the date of his death in 604 AD. He was Pope from 590 to 604AD.

Chronicle of Gervase of Canterbury. 12th March 1194. The King of England embarked at sea in Germany at Antwerp and successfully landed in England on the 4th Ides of March (March 12) at the port of Sandwich.

Rex autem Angliz mare ingressus est in Alemannia apud Andwerpe, et prospere applicuit in Anglia iiii^to idus Martii in portu le Sandwic.

Images of Histories by Ralph Diceto. 20th March 1194. The king, advancing on his journey with favorable speed, landed in England at Sandwich on a Sunday, namely on the 13th day before the Kalends of April (March 20).

Rex prospero cursu tendens in Angliam applicuit apud Sandwicum die Dominica, scilicet xiii^to kalendas Aprilis.