While being held captive at Durnstein, Austria, Richard I Lion Heart (1157-99) supposedly fell in love with the daughter of Leopold V of Austria–or at least that is the legend. When Leopold found out, he was infuriated and decided to stage an accident to do away with Richard. Leopold had a private zoo in which he owned a mature Lion. He arranged with the keepers to starve the Lion for a few days then they were to allow the lion to escape and find its way into Richard’s cell. According to the story, the daughter overheard the plan and warned Richard and offered several bold options for escape. Richard refused to leave and instead asked her to bring him forty silk handkerchiefs. He wrapped the handkerchiefs around his right forearm, and when the Lion broke into the cell he thrust his hand down the Lion’s throat and pulled out his heart! The door having been left open to allow the beast to enter, Richard took the Lion’s heart in his hand, still beating (!) and went to the Great Hall of Leopold, where he smacked the heart down on the table in front of him! Not done yet, he snatched the salt cellar, salted the heart and ate it raw in front of the astonished king!
That is just a tall tale circulated for centuries in establishing Richard’s reputation, but here are the hard facts of his imprisonment: England paid the ransom for Richard, 100,00 silver crowns, equivalent to three years total taxation, and this was already on top of the heavier taxes his subjects had to pay to allow him to go crusading. Richard didn’t even speak English, and he was fatally wounded by a crossbow arrow in France besieging a castle in France, leaving the throne to his blockhead brother John of Robin Hood and Magna Carta fame.
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