John, a born cynic had a puckish sense of humor, with a carefree and deceitful personality. John obtained some of distinctive qualities of his father, such as Henry’s high energy and extreme anger. However, unlike Henry, John consisted of a very unstable, cruel, and selfish character. Henry had always loved John the most out of all his sons, but John’s distrust and his resulting paranoia brought about major dents in their relationship. Early in John’s childhood, Henry placed him in the Abbey of Fontevrault with hope of instilling his career in the church. John reacted rebelliously so Henry was forced to abandon that objective. Then, Henry appointed his own Chief Justiciar, Ranulf de Glanvill to educate and teach John. Providing such a highly skilled and able person to educate John shows Henry’s love for John.
Henry had numerous different plans to improve John’s position as a landless son. In 1176, Henry betrothed John at the age of nine to Isabella of Gloucester, a wealthy heiress of the Earl of Gloucester. Thus, Henry had always been thinking of bettering John’s life. Henry even went to the extent that, in 1777, he gave John lordship of Ireland. However, John’s incompetence resulted in a rebellion in Ireland led by Irish chieftains and forced John to leave Ireland. John, once again, dashed his father’s high expectations and brought the royal family to shame.
John’s treacherous side was shown when he supported a rebellion in 1189 against his father. John had realized that Henry was going to die very soon, so he decided to acquaint himself with Richard, the son that Henry would choose as king upon his death. Although Henry II loved and preferred John the most, he realized that John was incapable of being king. The rebellion consisted of Richard, John, Eleanor, and King Phillip of France conspiring against Henry. The rebellion ended in a failure and Henry’s rebellious family members had to surrender their effort and move on under his rule. Nonetheless, Henry had now seen the true faces of his sons. Henry was the most disappointed with John’s role in the rebellion because he thought John loved him as much as he did John. Upon realizing the true colors of his son, Henry’s love for John had forever been disintegrated.