Richard I's Case

Richard I was the King of England for the years of 1189 - 1199. During this time he only spent around 6 months in England. Throughout the remaining time of his reign he spent most of his time ruling Normandy, on Crusades and being held as a prisoner in Austria. While King Richard I was absent, Prince John was left in control of England. As well as Prince John, the county was also run by several experienced ministers like William Longchamp and William Marshall.

Historians have often criticised Richard I's absences from the country as ruining the English government. But this can be argued because Richard left the country to be watched over by his most skilled and knowledgeable ministers. Although, Longchamp was not as effective as the King had hoped, even though he had a lot of experience. Longchamp showed that he had little respect for the customs in England. As a result of this Longchamp was removed from this post by several senior nobles and Prince John. Luckily for the King, Hubert Walter demonstrated to Richard I that he was a loyal and efficient replacement oh Longchamp. The strength and the loyalty of the English central government had been proved at how easily the ransom for releasing Richard from being held hostage in Austria had been raised. The effectiveness and devotion that had been shown by the English government during a time of insecurity of their King shows that the consistencies of the government was not altered by the reoccurring absences of Richard I.

However, compared to the central government, Prince John was not as loyal as he tried to cause a rebellion attack against King Richard in 1193. As well as this, John also attempted to try and pay Leopald of Austria to keep his brother prisoner for longer. This deceitfulness shown by the Prince can be blamed on Richard for over rewarding Prince John after leaving for Crusade. Richard gave the Prince many titles and land within England and in France. Nevertheless, Richard had to make sure that with what he granted John with enough power to rule England with in his absence but not too much that it would make Prince John too powerful. During Richard I's absence, Prince John and the justiciars could not sustain the peace in England. This is shown in 1190 by the destruction of hundreds of Jews. While Richard was in England he used these Jews to raise money for the crown by charging interest on loans. However, this was a practice that was outlawed by Christianity. But with the absence of Richard, the Jews has no protection when the Jewish community was attacked by the English mobs. These attacks were in response to the English mobs not being able to pay their debts to Jewish loaners. There was also a feeling of general feeling among the English of anti - Semitism at the time in relation