ABSTRACT

Richard Lionheart served a long apprenticeship in war and government in his mother's territories. The young count did not take charge immediately after his designation as heir to Poitou and Aquitaine in 1169. Richard Lionheart served his military apprenticeship combating Aquitanian lords based in the counties along the southern frontier of Poitou, where their predecessors had carved out regional lordships. In 1182 Richard had to face a rebellion by his subjects on the southern fringes of Poitou, one that soon merged into the rivalry between Henry II's sons. In enemies' hands, they could block the old Roman roads that linked Poitou and Gascony, connecting Richard's three chief administrative centres in the south: Poitiers, Saintes and Bordeaux. The fall of Chateauroux in mid-June 1188 diverted Richard from Toulouse in order to attend to his eastern frontier of Poitou. Richard succeeded to rule over his father's domains, experienced in warfare and already known as 'Lionheart'.