11 Most Expensive Ransoms Ever Paid

10.Richard the Lionheart, 1192

Nominal value of the ransom: 150,000 marks (65,000 pounds of silver)

Value in 2015 USD: 13.8 million (based on the price of silver)

In 1192, King Richard I of England was returning from a crusading in the Middle East. Storms forced him to take an overland route, which led him through lands of Duke Leopold V of Austria. Duke held Richard accountable for the murder of one of his cousins and when the news of King’s voyage was brought to him, he took his chance. Richard was captured and ransom demand in the amount of 150,000 marks was sent to London. It took 2 years to gather the money and Richard was finally released in 1194. His capture was a very significant event in English history and led to the rise of the Robin Hood legend, as well as to coining of the term “the King’s ransom”. Historian David Boyle suggests that true value of the ransom was much higher. The sum represented 2 or even 3 years’ worth of the English crown’s entire income. It should also be noted that silver had much higher value, as this was before the Spanish flooded Europe with riches from their American colonies and drove the price of precious metals into the ground. Boyle estimates that Richard’s ransom would be worth more than $3 billion today.

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