Richard I the Lionheart, King of England (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
My vote goes to Richard I. For some reason he has gone down in history as a hero – the Lionheart – but he didn’t speak English and in his 10 years as King of England he spent only a few months in the country. Famed as a warrior and Crusader he failed to capture Jerusalem and angered fellow Crusaders – to such an extent that he was taken captive by the Duke of Austria and the Holy Roman Emperor and his ransom payment nearly bankrupted the country.
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This is a really hard question, as there are so many to choose from. My favourite bad monarch would be Charles I – he led the country into Civil War, which led to the death of so many, and I think had few if any redeeming features, other than establishing the basis of a modern Monarchy.
Going back a bit but I’d nominate Ethelred the Unready. Spends the countries gold trying to appease the Danes, then when that doesn’t work orders the St Bryce’s Day massacre – the killing of all Danes living in the country. This act of genocide causes a brutal response from the Vikings who invade laying waste to large parts of East Anglia, undoing the work of King Edgar. Incompetent, weak and murderous – its a pretty bad combination.