Durnstein Castle Ruins

24″ x 18″
Oil on canvas

This castle located in the Wachau region of Austria on the Danube River is notorious as the location Richard the Lionheart was held captive, after his return from the disastrous adventure he called a Crusade. Much of the history of King Richard is intermingled with folklore and fiction. King Richard was imprisoned in this castle for about a year while Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine negotiated for Richard’s release. A ransom of about twice the gross domestic product of England at the time was paid. Maybe this is where the expression “A King’s Ransom” began. Russell Crowe’s movie of Robin Hood is probably one of the closest historical representations of Richard and this time period. Whether your opinion of Richard the Lion heart is pro or con depends on whether your French or English. They say the reason Richard is so beloved by the English is that he never stayed home and did all warring and marauding in other lands. Richard the lion heart only spent about nine months of his life in England. Richard died April 6, 1199. A Lion in Winter starring Catherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Peter O’Toole as Henry II and Anthony Hopkins as Richard the Lionheart is a classic overview of this time. Richard was not considered homosexual until much later. He, his brothers, and his father went around raping indiscriminately.