Richard l

Simon Schama states in his History of Britain: ‘Nothing remains of Richard in England, save the Victorian statue outside the House of Lords, which gives the utterly misleading impression that he was, somehow, a quintessentially English king. But barely a year out of the nine and a half of his reign, was spent in England’. 

This may be, but the equestrian statue referred to is a fine one. It shows Richard I with his sword raised in a regal gesture of leadership. During World War II, the blast from a bomb bent, but did not break, the sword. This was thought to be symbolic. 

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