Richard I of England

About Richard I of England

Richard I of England, often romanticized as Richard the Lionheart, was a crucial medieval political figure and King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. His high ranking at #299 on the HPI reflects his immense historical footprint, primarily driven by his role as a major military leader during the Third Crusade, where he famously clashed with Saladin, and his subsequent, though less secure, administration of the Angevin Empire. Though he spent relatively little time in England, his reputation as a warrior king cemented his place in global historical narratives.

In the modern attention economy of 2025, Richard I receives 1.3 million annualized Wikipedia views, which, when benchmarked against his #299 historical importance rank, results in a surprising attention gap of +3x—meaning he is currently *overattended* relative to his documented historical impact when compared to the average figure in the Pantheon database. Interestingly, he garners significantly less attention than contemporary political figures like John F. Kennedy (#328 importance) who received 7.2M views, or Joe Biden (#329 importance) who recorded 11.0M views this year. This suggests that while Richard is historically relevant, the contemporary internet is overwhelmingly focused on more recent political history.

There are signs of modest current interest, as his Year-over-Year change is a positive +2.5%, indicating a slight uptick in digital curiosity surrounding the medieval king.