King John of England
Known as John Lackland (in French, Jean sans Terre), also count of Mortain, King John was the son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the younger brother of Richard I. During his reign, he was forced to sign the Magna Carta and lost most of England's possessions in France.
John was Henry's favorite son, though Henry was not able to bestow on him the lands he had hoped; this is where John's nickname of "Lackland" originated. Nevertheless he was given the lordship of Ireland and the succession to the earldom of Gloucester. In 1185 John visited Ireland for several months and earned a reputation for recklessness and irresponsibility, which appeared to do nothing to lessen his father's affections.
In June of 1189, Richard rebelled against Henry (motivated in part, no doubt, by Henry's favoritism toward John). For reasons that remain less than clear, John joined Richard's rebellion. A month later Richard became king. John was made count of Mortain, confirmed as lord of Ireland, and married Isabella, heiress to Gloucester, in return for promising to stay out of England while Richard was away on crusade.
John did not keep his promise. When Richard named their nephew Arthur (son of their late brother Geoffrey) as his heir, John returned to England. When word of Richard's capture by Emperor Henry VI reached him, John joined forces with King Philip II of France and tried to take control of the country. Upon Richard's return in 1194, John was banished and all his lands were taken from him. In May of that year he reconciled with his brother and recovered some of his lands. However, only after Arthur fell into Philip's hands and Richard was forced to recognize John as his heir did John reacquire all his holdings.
Shortly after Richard's death, John was invested as duke of Normandy, and in May he was crowned King of England. However, Arthur, with Philip's support, was recognized as Richard's heir in Anjou and Maine. A year later John signed the Treaty of Le Goulet, and, in return for some funds and for ceding some territory to Philip, John was recognized as the rightful successor to all Richard's French holdings.
In 1199 John had his marriage to Isabella dissolved on the grounds of consanguinity. Then, after intervening in the politics of Poitou and attempting to settle a problem between the rival families of Lusignan and Angoulême, he married another Isabella, the heiress to Angoulême, who up to that point had been betrothed to Hugh IX de Lusignan. The following year the Lusignans, very likely provoked by John's marriage, rebelled and appealed to Philip. King Philip ordered John to appear before him, but John refused and a war ensued. John saw success at Mirebeau and captured his nephew, Arthur, but lost Normandy, Anjou, Maine, and parts of Poitou to the French king.
With virtually all of his French holdings gone, John was forced to stay in England, where his prestige had dropped due to the loss of lands. In an attempt to make up for his reduced revenue, he cracked down on finances, taxing revenues, taxing the Jews, conducting investigations into the royal forests and feudal tenures, and exploiting his prerogatives, all of which would later serve as the basis for the charges of tyranny brought against him.
The death of Hubert Walter, chancellor and archbishop of Canterbury, opened the way for John to promote members of his household to important offices. It also precipitated trouble with the Church. Pope Innocent III rejected John's nominee for Walter's replacement as archbishop and effected the election of Stephen Langton instead. John refused to accept Langton, so Innocent excommunicated him and put an interdict on England.
The split continued for five years, during which time John accumulated more than £100,000 from the revenues of vacant or appropriated clerical offices. But, though the rift was monetarily advantageous, it threatened John's plans to recover his lands in Europe as well as damaging his prestige at home. In November of 1212 John agreed to accept Langton and the Pope's terms. He surrendered his kingdom to the papal nuncio and received it back as a vassal, rendering an annual tribute of 1,000 marks. In the summer of 1213, Langton absolved John from excommunication, and in 1214 the interdict on England was lifted.
John's reconciliation with Innocent secured the papacy as an ally in his conflict with Philip, but his treatment of the Church angered monastic chroniclers, who charged him with sacrilege in their writings as well as tyranny and cruelty. His planned invasion of France resulted in no decisive victories, and John was compelled to accept a truce that lasted til after his death.
On the heels of this second poor outcome in France, John's return to England was not a happy one. The barons, never particularly fond of John, had grown more discontent, and in 1215 civil war broke out. When London went over to the rebels, John was forced to negotiate, and on June 15, 1215, at Runnymede, he accepted the terms in the document known as the Articles of the Barons. This document was further revised over the next few days, until both John and the barons accepted the provisions embodied within it, and it became known as the Magna Carta (the great charter).
John almost immediately appealed against the charter to the pope, who took the king's side, and yet another civil war ensued. John captured Rochester castle and devastated the northern counties and the Scottish border lands. But Prince Louis of France (later Louis VIII), at the barons' request, invaded England. John fought on until he died in October, 1216. His death paved the way for peace; the rebels were restored, John's son Henry was assured the succession, and Louis withdrew his forces.
John's reputation has never been a good one, even (and perhaps especially) during his lifetime. His suspicious nature hindered his diplomatic abilities; his vengefulness made healing the numerous rifts with his barons difficult and even impossible. In a time when a man's integrity was of the utmost importance, his contemporaries clearly viewed him as untrustworthy. John is suspected of murdering his nephew Arthur, and there is no doubt that he starved the wife of a recalcitrant Marcher baron to death, along with her son, in a royal prison.
On the other hand, John was literate, cultured, well-traveled, and more knowledgeable about England than any prior Norman king (and some later ones). He took a keen interest in judicial and financial matters of state, and made important advances in military organization, taxation, in the grant of chartered privileges to towns, and in the administration of justice. He had acute political judgment, and many of the barons fought on his side in the civil wars.
But on balance, John's better qualities (recognized by sympathetic Protestant historians of the 16th century as well as more modern scholars) cannot outweigh his treachery in the eyes of many, and his reputation as a bad king still stands.
Important Dates
Born: Dec. 24, 1167
Becomes king on death of his brother: April 6, 1199
Crowned: May 27, 1199
Signs the Magna Carta: June 15, 1215
Died: Oct. 18 (or 19), 1216
Dynastic Table
Medieval & Renaissance Monarchs of England
Use this table to see the progression of Kings and Queens from Egbert of Wessex in the ninth century to Elizabeth I in the sixteenth. Hyperlinks lead to entries in Who's Who.
Image
King John of England
This portrait from Cassell's History of England - Century Edition is free for your use. Part of the Medieval and Renaissance History Portrait Gallery here at this site.
At About
King John
The complete text of Shakespeare's neglected masterpiece, placed online at the About Shakespeare site by Guide Amanda Mabillard.
On the Web
John (r. 1199-1216)
Concise biography at the official site of the British Monarchy.John of England
Substantive, heavily-hyperlinked biography at Wikipedia.King John and Richard I: Brothers and Rivals
Ten-page in-depth examination of the brothers by Dr Mike Ibeji focuses primarily on John. Nicely done at the BBC site.King John, the Lusignan Affair and the Early Years
Another illumninating article at the BBC site by Dr Mike Ibeji.
Primary Source
King John of England and the Jews
Confirmation of the Charters of the Jews (10 Apr. 1201), from.Joseph Jacobs, The Jews of Angevin England: Documents and Records (London, 1893), p. 215. Online at Paul Halsall's Medieval Sourcebook.
Of Special
Interest
The Magna Carta
Informative background, image and translation at the National Archives.
In Print
The links below will take you to a site where you can compare prices at merchants across the web. More in-depth info about the book or film may be found by clicking on to the item's page at one of the online merchants.
King John
by W. L. Warren
On Film
The Lion in Winter
Henry II must choose which of his three surviving sons will succeed him, and a vicious verbal battle ensues between himself and his strong-willed queen. Katharine Hepburn won an Oscar® for her portrayal of Eleanor; Nigel Terry snivels delightfully as John.The Adventures of Robin Hood
So much fun! and still my favorite version of Robin Hood after 70 years. Dashing Errol Flynn, lovely Olivia de Havilland, sinister Basil Rathbone, gorgeous technicolor Merrie Men, and Alan Hale Sr. stealing scenes right and left -- what more could anyone ask? Don't miss Claude Rains as a scheming, treacherous John.
Related Resources
Medieval Britain
Sites that focus on general British medieval history, people, places, events, documents, the Norman Conquest, the Wars of the Roses, and other aspects of Britain in the Middle Ages.
|
|
|
Index |
or Role in Society |
Index |
|
Who's Who |
|
in Who's Who |
|
|