Fontevraud Abbey
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Richard I—the world’s greatest kidnapping….?
Anjou, Austria, Berengaria, Blondel, Corfu, Crusades, Durnstein Castle, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Emperor Henry VI, excommunication, Fontevraud Abbey, Henry III. kidnapping, hostages, John, Leopold of Austria, Phillip Augustus, Pope, Richard I, Saladin, Torquay, Torre Abbey, William Brewer, William StubbsWhat links Richard I with Torquay? Well, it seems that when the king was captured and ransomed in Austria, one of those sent to negotiate for him was a certain very unpopular William Brewer, who was local to Torquay, a major landholder, administrator and judge in England during the reigns of Richard I, King John…
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There are two King Richards of England whose marriages are always called into question: Richard I and Berengaria of Navarre, and Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. Richard II’s sexuality is cited as the reason he and Anne had no children. Either he was sexless…or his interests went to the male of the species. Therefore…