Cultural depictions of Richard I of England

Richard I of England has been depicted many times in romantic fiction and popular culture.

Robin Hood

The Scots philosopher and chronicler John Mair was the first to associate Richard with the Robin Hood legends in his Historia majoris Britannae, tam Angliae quam Scotiae (1521). In the earliest Robin Hood ballads the only king mentioned is "Edward our comely king", most probably Edward II or Edward III. However, Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe popularised Mair's linking of the Hood legends to Richard's reign, and it was taken up by later novelists and by cinema. Typically Robin is depicted upholding justice in Richard's name against John and his officials during the king's imprisonment.

Other literature

Richard has appeared frequently in fiction, as a result of the 'chivalric revival' of the Romantic era.

• In 1822, he was the subject of Eleanor Anne Porden's epic poem, Cœur de Lion.
• After Ivanhoe, in which he is depicted as initially adopting the pseudonym of Le Noir Fainéant ("The Black Sluggard"), Sir Walter Scott portrayed Richard in The Talisman, a highly fictionalised treatment of the Third Crusade.
• The young Richard is also a major character in James Goldman's play The Lion in Winter (1966), which depicts him as homosexual.
• He features in Graham Shelby's The Kings of Vain Intent and, more centrally, in The Devil is Loose, Norah Lofts' The Lute-Player, Margaret Campbell Barnes's The Passionate Brood, Jean Plaidy's The Heart of the Lion, Cecelia Holland's The King's Witch, and Sharon Kay Penman's The Devil's Brood and Lionheart.
• Swedish author Jan Guillou depicts Richard as a merciless Muslim killer in The Knight Templar (Crusades trilogy), while Rachel Bard's Queen Without a Country portrays him as Berengaria of Navarre's reluctant husband.
• Richard is referenced in Jennifer Roberson's novels Lady of the Forest and Lady of Sherwood.
• In children's fiction, such as Ronald Welch's Knight Crusader, Richard is generally depicted as a hero.

Opera

• Richard Coeur-de-lion (1784) by André Grétry
• Riccardo Primo by George Frideric Handel (1719) is based on Richard's invasion of Cyprus.

Film

Richard has been portrayed on film by:

• Arthur Hollingsworth in the silent short Robin Hood (1912)
• Walter Craven in the silent adaptation of Ivanhoe (1913)
• Walter Gibbs in the silent Robin Hood (1913)
• Wallace Beery in the silent films Robin Hood (1922), with Douglas Fairbanks as Robin, and Richard the Lion-Hearted (1923), based on The Talisman
• S. J. Bingham in the silent Robin Hood, Jr. (1923)
• Henry Wilcoxon in Cecil B. DeMille's The Crusades (1935)
• Ian Hunter in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), with Errol Flynn as Robin
• Patrick Barr in The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952), with Richard Todd as Robin
• Norman Wooland in Ivanhoe (1952), with Robert Taylor as Ivanhoe
• Patrick Holt in The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954)
• George Sanders in King Richard and the Crusaders (1954), loosely based on The Talisman
• Hamdi Geiss in Egyptian director Youssef Chahine's El Naser Salah el Dine (1963)
• Anthony Hopkins in the film adaptation of The Lion in Winter (1968), for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor
• Lars Bloch in the Italian film L'Arciere di Sherwood (1970)
• Frankie Howerd in the comedy Up the Chastity Belt (1971), in which Richard is revealed to be the double of the main character, Lurkalot (also played by Howerd)
• Peter Ustinov in the Disney animated film Robin Hood (1973), in which he also voiced Prince John. Both were lions, in reference to his title 'Lionheart'.
• Richard Harris in Robin and Marian (1976)
• Neil Dickson in Lionheart (1987)
• Sean Connery briefly (and uncredited) at the end of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
• Aleksandr Baluyev in the Russian film Richard the Lion-Hearted (1992), based on The Talisman
• Patrick Stewart in Mel Brooks's parody Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
• Iain Glen briefly (and uncredited) at the end of Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
• Danny Huston in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood (2010)
• Chandler Maness in Richard The Lionheart (2013) and Richard the Lionheart: Rebellion (2015)

Television

Richard has been portrayed on television by:

• David Markham in the BBC series Robin Hood (1953), with Patrick Troughton as Robin
• Bruce Seton in the British series Ivanhoe (1958)
• Dermot Walsh in the British children's series Richard the Lionheart (1962–1963)
• Jon Cypher in the "Robin Hood" episode of the American series Children's Theater (1964)
• Julian Glover in the Doctor Who story "The Crusade" (1965), set during Richard's conflict with Saladin, and again in the TV film Ivanhoe (1982)
• Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in the American TV musical film The Legend of Robin Hood (1968)
• Bernard Horsfall in the BBC series Ivanhoe (1970)
• Michael J. Jackson in the BBC series The Legend of Robin Hood (1975)
• Lawrence Clark (aged 7), Paul Rose (aged 13), Glen Barlow (aged about 18), and Michael Byrne (as an adult) in the BBC series The Devil's Crown (1978), which dramatised his reign and that of his father and brother
• Stephan Chase in the BBC series The Talisman (1980)
• Robert Hardy in the American TV film parody The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood (1984)
• John Rhys-Davies in "The King's Fool" episode of the British series Robin of Sherwood (1984)
• Forbes Collins in "The Whitish Knight" episode of the BBC children's comedy series Maid Marian and her Merry Men (1989), in which he also played Prince John
• Marek Vasut in the TV film Young Ivanhoe (1995)
• Rory Edwards in the British series Ivanhoe (1997)
• Andrew Howard in the TV film adaptation of The Lion in Winter (2003)
• Steven Waddington in the "We Are Robin Hood!" episode of the BBC series Robin Hood (2007) He also portrayed King Richard in the BBC drama documentary "Heroes and Villains: Richard the Lionheart" (2008)
• Mathew Baynton and Adam Riches in the British children's sketchshow Horrible Histories (2009 - 2015)

Radio

Richard is played by Ed Stoppard in Mike Walker's BBC Radio 4 series Plantagenet (2010).

Video games

• In the Robin Hood-inspired adventure game Conquests of the Longbow, Richard is featured as a prisoner of Leopold of Austria. As in the previously-mentioned legends, Robin Hood is working to raise 100,000 marks in ransom to release Richard.
• The strategy game Medieval: Total War features two battles based on his encounters with his rival Saladin: the battle of Jaffa and the battle of Arsuf.
• The sequel, Medieval II: Total War shows Richard on the box cover, and the player has the opportunity to play the Battle of Arsuf. Richard is also included the expansion pack Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms where he makes an appearance during the Crusades campaign.
• In Empires: Dawn of the Modern World his campaign is pre-1190 and sees him fight French King Philip II.
• He is one of the main Crusader characters in the real-time strategy game Stronghold: Crusader, appearing on the box cover, in one of the historical campings and as a AI Lord in Skirmish mode.
• In Age of Empires 2, Richard can be played in battle against Saladin.
• In Age of Empires: The Age of Kings for Nintendo DS, Richard the Lionheart is a usable hero and the final campaign features six missions based upon him, including the Battle of Arsuf and a fictional assault on Jerusalem.
• In Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader, the player character is a 16th-century descendant of Richard I. The game follows an alternate history timeline in which Richard's execution of the prisoners after the capture of Acre completed a ritual that unleashed magic and demons into the world. (2003)
• In the 2007 action-adventure video game Assassin's Creed (set in the time of the third crusade) Richard plays a major part in the game, making several appearances and at one point interacting with the main character. Richard speaks English with a French accent in the game as a reference to the fact that he spoke only French in real life.
• In Civilization II, King Richard's Crusade is one of the Wonders of the World. This Wonder provides increased production.