ABSTRACT
Richard Lionheart's departure for the Third Crusade in 1190 presented England with its greatest challenge at any time during the Angevin period. Outbursts of anti-Semitism in northern England prior to the Norman council had provided evidence of the ineffectiveness of the bishop of Durham's government. Longchamp's problems did not originate with John, however; for Richard's absentee government earlier had contained the count, and Coutances would continue to frustrate his efforts to exercise any real power. Hubert's experience on the Third Crusade changed the course of his life, for close association with the king won him Richard's undying trust. Angevin government of England has won praise for its judicial innovations. The development of English governmental institutions has occupied historians, resulting in countless specialised works. The English government operated through the exchequer, an agency that dated to Henry I's reign. In December 1192 Richard fell captive to the Austrian duke, who delivered his prisoner to the German emperor, Henry VI.
