RICHARD THE LIONHEART’S DEATH

                In 1199, Richard the Lionheart was besieging a castle in France because he heard it contained great wealth (it didn’t) and he was in need of money.  On March 26, he was out scouting the castle when one of the defenders fired a crossbow at him from the battlement.  The bolt struck Richard in the shoulder.  Removal of the bolt was mangled by Richard’s doctor and gangrene set in.  It was clear the infection was taking Richard’s life.  Meanwhile, the castle fell and the crossbowman named Bertram de Gourdon was captured.  Richard ordered the man brought to him as he lay in his deathbed.  Upon asking Bertram why he shot at him, Bertram declared that Richard killed his father and two brothers and would have killed him, too.  He was glad he got the chance and was ready for any revenge Richard had in mind.  “I shall cheerfully suffer all the torments that can be inflicted, were I sure of having delivered the world of a tyrant who filled it with blood and carnage.”  As a chivalrous warrior, Richard accepted the motivation of his assassin and forgave him.  He ordered his men to set the man free and let no harm come to him.  However, after Richard died, his men tortured Bertram to death.

–  The Oxford Book of Military Anecdotes by Max Hastings  p. 72