From the Emperor’s Desk: Today and Tomorrow I will assesses the reign of Richard the Lionheart.
Character and sexuality
Contemporaries considered Richard as both a king and a knight famed for personal martial prowess; this was, apparently, the first such instance of this combination. He was known as a valiant, competent military leader and individual fighter who was courageous and generous. At the same time, he was considered prone to the sins of lust, pride, greed, and above all excessive cruelty. Ralph of Coggeshall, summarising Richard’s career, deplores that the King was one of “the immense cohort of sinners”. He was criticised by clergy chroniclers for having taxed the clergy both for the Crusade and for his ransom, whereas the church and the clergy were usually exempt from taxes.
Richard was a patron and a protector of the trouvères and troubadours of his entourage; he was also a poet himself…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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