AR Denier, 1189 - 1199, Melle (Poitou), 19mm, .80g, ~15°, Elias 8; Poey D'Avant 2506.
Obv: +RICARDVS REX. Cross pattée.
Rev: PIC/TAVIE/NSIS.
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Richard I "Lionheart" was born on September 8 1157 and was King of England from July 6 1189 until his death on April 6 1199. He was also the Duke of Normandy and of Aquitaine. Richard is one of the best remembered of English monarchs but perhaps that is nothing more than a grand, romantic ideal. While he was certainly a great warrior and military leader, he was quite lacking as an administrator of the throne. He lived in Aquitaine and spent very little time in England, using it merely as a source of revenue to support his armies. Most of his time, and money, was spent in grand military campaigns; notably as a central commander in the Third Crusade. Daily affairs in England were left to his brother John who became increasingly unpopular due to the taxes he was forced to levy to pay for Richard's debts. It has been said of Richard that "he was a bad son, a bad husband, and a bad king, but a gallant and splendid soldier."

In March 1199, Richard was suppressing a revolt by Viscount Aimar V of Limoges. In the early evening of March 25, Richard was walking around the castle perimeter without his chainmail, investigating the progress of sappers on the castle walls. One particular defending bowman amused the king greatly who deliberately aimed at the king, which the king applauded; however, another bowman then struck the king in the left shoulder near the neck. He tried to pull this out in the privacy of his tent but failed; a surgeon later removed it, 'carelessly mangling' the King's arm in the process. The wound swiftly became gangrenous. Richard asked to have the archer brought before him. The archer turned out to be a boy who claimed that Richard had killed his father and two brothers, and that he had fired on Richard in revenge. The boy expected to be executed; Richard, as a last act of mercy, forgave the boy of his crime, saying, "Live on, and by my bounty behold the light of day," before ordering the boy to be freed and sent away with 100 shillings. Richard then set his affairs in order and died on April 6 1199 in the arms of his mother. The infamous mercenary captain Mercadier had the bowman flayed alive and hanged as soon as Richard died.