Plausibility Check - Richard I of England Executed

I am writing a collaboration with someone else, we want a time travel adventure, this is the background.

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On his way back from his failed crusade to Jerusalem, Richard I was kidnapped by Leopold V, Duke of Austria and Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor. IOTL, he was ransomed for 2 year's of England's income (raised through taxing the church and peasants), but in my story there is an assassin who commits to the family of Richard I to kill both Henry and Leopold. Without England offering the ransom, Henry accepts the offer of Prince John of 60k to execute the captured king.

The tension happens between the church and the king as IOTL, but the difference is that facing the French invasion (allied by the Danes), the Emir of Cordoba accepts John's vassalage. Prince Arthur, instead of being murdered, stays in exile in France and avoids extradition and capture (narrowly), and is given the vacant title of Duke of Normandy. (All of England's land in mainland Europe is reclaimed by the French).

The assassin returns as a failure, but he makes things right by killing the tyrant King John and giving the throne to Arthur, Duke of Normandy.

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So, plausibility check -- is this possible? I still have a lot of holes to fill with this story, and a lot of figures to research. Interestingly enough it would butterfly away the magna carta.
 
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The obvious problems:

1) Why on earth would England not offer a ransom for the king?

2) How is Philip taking the entirety of the Angevin inheritance? That's a lot to bite off.

3) Why would this assassin (the concept of is questionable, but I'm going to leave that for someone else to examine) kill John?

So honestly, I'm voting for no to the "Is this plausible?"
 
Well king Richard did insult the representative of the Holy Roman Emperor, the duke of Austria and thereby the Holy Roman Emperor while at a crusade. Traveling back over their lands was a huge mistake, even though IIRC the Pope did punish the Holy Roman Emperor and the duke of Austria for doing so.

I'm not sure whether these rulers would frightened by an assassin, they would very much value the ransom; IOTL the duke of Austria invested his share in the development of his duchy. Assassinating either of these rulers wouldn't be well for John, in fact being in a German cell might just be the place, where he wanted his brother.

However pure in terms of governance (maybe in light of more modern standards), John might have been a better ruler than the ruler Richard.
 
Well king Richard did insult the representative of the Holy Roman Emperor, the duke of Austria and thereby the Holy Roman Emperor while at a crusade. Traveling back over their lands was a huge mistake, even though IIRC the Pope did punish the Holy Roman Emperor and the duke of Austria for doing so.

Excommunication, which Henry VI somehow managed to get lifted and I'm not sure on Leopold.

I'm not sure whether these rulers would frightened by an assassin, they would very much value the ransom; IOTL the duke of Austria invested his share in the development of his duchy. Assassinating either of these rulers wouldn't be well for John, in fact being in a German cell might just be the place, where he wanted his brother.

Yeah. If memory serves, OTL John offered money to just keep Richard locked up - not to get rid of him permamently.
 
Back then, a king executing another king was unthinkable. It sets a precedent that no monarch would ever want set. If no ransom was paid, he'd just be held prisoner indefinitely.
 
Back then, a king executing another king was unthinkable. It sets a precedent that no monarch would ever want set. If no ransom was paid, he'd just be held prisoner indefinitely.

You have to remember that John tried to pay for Richard to be killed. I am wondering what would happen if Richard's captors accepted the deal.
 
I don't think it's even especially plausible for John to want Richard killed, and for him to get someone (as in another ruler) to do it seems even more unlikely.

Richard wasn't even treated as "locked in a deep, dark dungeon" OTL - why would anyone go even beyond that?
 
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