The Face of Richard I (Photoshop Reconstruction)

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Richard, later to be known as the "Lion Heart" was the second born to parents Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine on September 8, 1157 in Oxford, England. Home life was turbulent and fraught with conspiracy and intrigue as his siblings (and ultimately, though not entirely willingly, his mother Eleanor) staged a revolt against his father Henry II in 1173, resulting in his mother's imprisonment. The death of the elder brother Henry III in 1183 put Richard in position to claim the throne, but his father wanted his youngest son John to take his place instead. Richard was furious, and set out to "break" his father with the help of Philip II of France, with whom their combined efforts eventually rushed the king into an early grave on July 6, 1189.

An accomplished political and military strategist, the newly crowned King of England set his sights on joining the Third Crusade, after hearing the news that Saladin had captured Jerusalem in 1187. Richard auctioned off sheriffdoms and other offices to gather the money for the journey, and in 1190 he at last set off for the Holy Land. In the course of his journey, a stop at Cyprus gifted him with his first bride, Berengaria, who was the daughter of the King of Navarre. Though Richard's arrival in the Holy Land in 1191 soon won him a triumph at Acre and a victory at Arsuf which awarded the crusaders posession of Joppa, the biggest prize, Jerusalem, never came within his grasp. Bitter and bloodthirsty arguments amidst the French, German, and English forces kept Jerusalem in a stalemate for over a year. Eventually, Richard condescended to make a truce with Saladin and left for home empty-handed.

It is difficult for royalty to travel unnoticed, and even more so when severe weather banked the king unexpectedly near Venice, where Duke Leopold of Austria captured and imprisoned him, then turning him over to German emperor Henry VI who put out a ransom on Richard I for the astounding amount of 150,000 marks. Incredibly, the amount was raised (with the negotiations for his release overseen by his mother, Eleanor, who had acted as regent in his absence) and Richard was finally released in February, 1194.

When Richard finally arrived in England he asked that he be crowned King a second time to ward off any misconception that his independence was compromised by his bail from imprisonment. That accomplished, he set off for Normandy for what no one realized would be his last time. Philip II of France, once his partner in conspiracy to wear his father down and win him the crown, was now a bitter adversary with whom Richard fought frequent battles over the course of five years. It was in fact during the attempted seizing of the castle of Chalus in central France that Richard was fatally injured, and he died on April 6, 1199. In a droll twist of fate, his youngest brother John, whom Richard had conspired so elaborately to steal the crown from, became the next King of England. It may or may not have ever reached Richard's attention that John himself had been scheming against him for the past five years to reclaim the throne that had been promised to him by their father.

(source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic...)

*Richard's effigy shows him to have dark, even black hair, which clashes with established accounts of his appearance which describe him as being attractive with reddish-blonde hair, light eyes and complexion, thin nose, strong chin, and a thick jaw.