King Richard I "the Lionheart" of England was the king who led his men during the Third Crusade. In the game, Dante and Francesco accompanied the king on the Crusades into the Holy Land.
Background
After the Siege of Acre, Richard captured the city and kept 3,000 Muslim prisoners (both military and civilian) hostage as a way to negotiate with Saladin for a fragment of the True Cross, thinking that Saladin had possession of this holy artifact. As the negotiations went on, an enraged Dante in his fanatic-driven bloodlust slaughtered all of them by the time King Richard returned. Horrified, Richard demanded to know who was responsible for the killings. In an attempt to protect Dante,
Francesco stepped forward as the perpetrator, giving his future brother-in-law a chance to escape. Furious, the King ordered Beatrice's brother to be executed by hanging.
Trivia
- King Richard I of England was a member of the House of Plantagenet, a family whose noble heritage originated in France. This bloodline continued until the 1700s when the last of the offshoot families, the Houses of Tudor and Stuart died out.
- Richard was considered one of the greatest military tacticians and at the time of the Crusades, he was matched only by his adversary, Saladin. From an early age, having to quell rebellions in his inherited territories of Aquitaine and Poitiers, Richard became a highly formidable warrior. Unlike most leaders of the time (including Saladin), Richard led from the front.
- Despite being crowned King of England and Duke of Normandy, among other titles, many historians now believe that King Richard never learned to speak a word of English, having been the child of two high-ranking French nobles and spending the majority of his time governing his rebellious duchies in mainland France.
- In spite of being enemies, Richard had an immense amount of respect for Saladin and vice versa. When Richard became ill during the Crusade, Saladin had fruit and gifts sent to comfort the English king. Even though they fought several battles against each other, the two men never met face-to-face, a fact they both regretted to their dying days.
- In history, King Richard himself was the one who ordered the deaths of all 3,000 hostages in retaliation when the negotiations crumbled. The game shifted the blame for the Massacre at Acre from King Richard to Dante, despite the fact that such savagery was not out of character for the real-life Richard, who was notorious for his acts of extreme cruelty against any who opposed him.
- He was voiced by H. Richard Greene in the animated film.