Of splendid stature and physique, King Richard was unquestionably the finest man of his time.

He was handsome, with a frank face, but with a fierce and passionate eye.

He wore his mustache with a short beard and closely-cut whisker.

His short curly hair was cropped closely to his head, upon which he wore a velvet cap with gold coronet, while a scarlet robe lined with fur fell over his coat of mail, for the emperor had deemed it imprudent to excite the feeling of the assembly in favor of the prisoner by depriving him of the symbols of his rank.
King Richard strode to the place prepared for him, and then turning to the assembly he said, in a voice which rang through the hall: "Counts and lords of the Empire of Germany, I, Richard, King of England, do deny your right to try me.

I am a king, and can only be tried by my peers and by the pope, who is the head of Christendom.