Description Richard I's reign is both controversial and seemingly contradictory.
One of England's most famous medieval monarchs and a potent symbol of national identity, he barely spent six months on English soil during a ten-year reign and spoke French as his first language.
Contemporaries dubbed him the 'Lionheart', reflecting a carefully cultivated reputation for bravery, prowess and knightly virtue, but this supposed paragon of chivalry butchered close to 3,000 prisoners i.
Penguin Books Ltd Richard i, paperback/thomas asbridge
