Richard (I) the Lion-Heart (1157-1199)

The Great Seal of King Richard I, who spent most of his reign away from England. He was a notable soldier who fought in the third Crusade 1191-92, defeating the Muslim leader Saladin and capturing Acre.

King of England 1189-99. He spent all but six months of his reign abroad. He was the third son of Henry II, against whom he twice rebelled. In the Third Crusade 1191-92 he won victories at Cyprus, Acre, and Arsuf (against Saladin), but failed to recover Jerusalem. While returning overland he was captured by the Duke of Austria, who handed him over to the emperor Henry VI, and he was held prisoner until a large ransom was raised. He then returned briefly to England, where his brother John had been ruling in his stead. His later years were spent in warfare in France, where he was killed by a crossbow bolt while besieging Châlus-Chabrol in 1199. He left no heir.

Richard's experience in warfare came from controlling his rebellious vassals in Poitou in the 1170s and against his father, Henry II, in 1183. He took up Henry's plans to recover Jerusalem on his accession in 1189 and set out to establish bases for crusades in Sicily in 1190 and Cyprus, which he took in 1191. Engaging in the Siege of Acre, which he brought to a swift conclusion, he set off down the coast to Jaffa, conducting a fighting march against Saladin. Once ransomed from the Germans, Richard recovered lands in France taken by Philip. In the Vexin, where he built Chateau Gaillard, the great castle on the Seine, and in the Touraine and Poitou, he thwarted the French king's every manoeuvre.

Accusations of homosexuality are modern.