The English King Richard I the Lionheart (1157-1199) set off on the Third Crusade in 1190. En route, he conquered the island of Cyprus the following year. There he met and fell in love with the famous sweet wine Commandaria. During the joint siege of the fortress of Acre (according to another source, Ascalon), Richard the Lionheart mortally offended the Babenberg Duke Leopold V (1157-1194) of Austria (Ostarichi). Leopold was involved with a total of eight comrades-in-arms and attached his Babenberg banner to a castle tower after the fall of the fortress. Lionheart then had the banner torn down and thrown into the dung heap, as in his opinion the minor involvement did not justify attaching the banner.
On his return journey, he was recognised for the first time in Carinthia, but managed to escape. On 21 December 1192, he arrived in the Viennese suburb of Erdberg (3rd district). He sent a confidant into the city to buy food. He made himself suspicious with Byzantine gold coins. He was followed to an inn, where the king was recognised and arrested. Richard was brought to Hadmar II von Kuenring (1140-1218) and detained by him at Dürnstein Castle in the Wachau. However, this was not (as legend has it) in a dark dungeon, but in keeping with his high rank. He was provided with plenty of food and Wachau wine.
After a few months, Richard was handed over to the German Emperor Henry VI (1165-1197). After long negotiations, he was finally released in February 1194 in return for a ransom of six thousand buckets of silver, equivalent to 23,300 kilograms of silver, as well as a number of political demands. The value was roughly equivalent to twice the annual income of the English crown. Today, this amount of silver would be worth around 10 million euros. However, the value at the time cannot be compared with today's standards.
The ransom was divided between Emperor Henry VI and Duke Leopold. Leopold used part of it to build the first city wall in Vienna. In order to be able to mint the large remainder, he had the first Viennese mint "Münze Wien" built at the court in Vienna in 1194, which is today's "Austrian Mint".
Richard the Lionheart: Art copy
Dürnstein: By Bwag - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
