1157-1199
King Of England

Absentee Monarch. Richard I (Richard the Lion-Heart) was the third son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He inherited the English throne from his father in 1189; from that date until his death in 1199, he spent only five months in his island kingdom. The rest of the time, Richard I spent either administering his French territories (Aquitaine, Poitou, Normandy, and Anjou) or fighting the Muslims in the Holy Land. Despite Richard I's reputed brave leadership, from which he acquired the sobriquet Lion-Heart, both of these endeavors turned out less than successful, in part because of his impetuous nature and cruelty.

Third Crusade. In 1187 Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and Syria, took the city of Jerusalem, which caused the papacy to call for the Third Crusade (1189-1192). Richard I quickly diminished his royal coffers by purchasing arms and ships and...