Richard the Lion-Hearted
1157-1199
Bibliothèque Royale, Brussels


Summarized by one historian as "a bad son, a bad husband and a bad king, but a gallant and splendid soldier," Richard won lasting fame as an ideal knight. He left England within a month of his coronation and did not return for five years. Altogether, he spent only six months of his ten-year reign in England.