Third Crusade
Richard Goes Home
Richard recovered from his fever and he quickly returned to Acre. His sister and his wife left the city on September 29, and Richard followed on October 9.
It's generally believed that Richard suffered from sea-sickness. The Mediterranean certainly didn't agree with him, for once again he was plagued by storms. He had to put in at Corfu. There, he donned the disguise of a Templar knight, for his was now in waters controlled by the Emperor of Byzantium, an enemy. He then sailed up the Adriatic and was shipwrecked near Aquilaea.
That was enough sea travel for Richard. Keeping his disguise, he and four companions went over the Alps and into Germany, trying to sneak into Saxony, which was ruled by his brother-in-law. On December 11, though, at an inn near Vienna, he was recognized and taken prisoner.
He was in the lands of Duke Leopold of Austria—the same man whose standard Richard's troops had thrown into the mud at Acre. Leopold was delighted to have Richard as a prisoner, and he only reluctantly yielded the king up to Emperor Henry VI. The Emperor, for his part, was glad to keep Richard a prisoner, for the English king was friend to some of the Emperor's worst enemies.
Richard Lionheart was finally ransomed in March 1194 for a huge amount of money. He arrived in England in April and soon brought his wayward brother to heel. This is the famous return of Richard that figures so largely in the legends of Robin Hood and the story of Ivanhoe.