Richard I
1189-1199
(d. 1199)
Richard, King John’s brother, was a wonderful, successful man; he was nicknamed ‘Richard the Lionheart’ because he was so brave and courageous in battle.
How John hated him! Everyone thinks Richard was a hero because he fought in the ‘Crusades’ and defeated the French king. People forgot that taxes had to be paid to fund the Crusades. He left John to run the country, to do all the hard work while he was on the wildest of adventures.
Arthur
(d. 1204)
Arthur never became king because he was thrown into prison by his Uncle, John, who didn’t want him to be king. However, there was a reason for this; when Richard died Arthur thought he should be king so he tried to plot against John but he wouldn’t have any of it so that is how Arthur became imprisoned. He led a sad but guilty life and died in prison in 1204.
Main events in King John’s Life
John breaks his father’s heart
In 1189, John secretly joined Richard and King Philip II of France in a rebellion against his father. When Henry was shown a list of rebels he was absolutely flabbergasted to see John’s name on it. I can imagine him saying,
“Oh my Lord, why is my son’s name on this piece of paper, what am I supposed to do?” Such shame on him, what thoughts Henry must have had to throw upon his son!
John plots against his brother
Richard was crowned king in 1189, he gave John a lot of land, money and wealth, but that did not stop John plotting against him. John and King Philip II of France worked as a team and tried to take control of Richard’s land while he was away on Crusade. (This was unfair to take advantage of the time they had away, from Richard). When Richard was captured on the way back from Holy Land, John did nothing to help. That is so awful, to think that Richard’s own brother would have the nerve to ignore, neglect and turn his back on his own brothers needs just when he needed him. But it is rather understandable that John neglected his brother, because after plotting against him and perhaps Richard finding out, I don’t think Richard would appreciate his help at this point in time.
Richard returns
Richard was released from prison in 1194, on a payment of a huge ransom. He claimed back the land that King Philip had taken from him, and John was forced to ask his brothers forgiveness. Richard did not punish John because of his thoughtfulness and forgiving ways. In 1199, Richard was badly wounded and named John as his heir to the throne.
A rival for the throne
After Richard’s death John’s claim to the throne was supported by the barons of England and Normandy, but the barons in the rest of the empire chose Arthur of Brittany, John’s 12 year old nephew, to be their ruler. John captured Arthur and imprisoned him in 1202, Arthur was never seen again! How sad. One source claims John murdered Arthur in a drunken rage, tied him to a stone and drowned him in the River Seine. But many people say he was murdered by someone whether it was John or someone else!
Soft ~ sword
In 1200, John divorced Eleanor and married a French girl called Isabella. This caused problems because Isabella had already proposed to the French baron, Hugh of Lusignan. Hugh was annoyed and complained to King Philip II of France, so Philip invaded John’s land where he ruled, because of Hugh’s complaining. By 1205 John had lost most of his land in France. These defeats gave John the nickname, ‘Soft ~ sword.
Ruling England
John was determined to regain the land he had lost in France. He forced the English people to pay huge taxes so as to create an amazingly strong army. He fined people big money when they couldn’t pay their debts. If there was someone he liked he would use his courts to help them, but if there was someone he didn’t like then he would throw them in the dungeon or punish them in some nasty way. His favourite way of punishing them was by torturing them in dirty dungeons. This was John’s ideal way to punish people he didn’t like. For John, putting people behind bars was becoming obsessive, it was becoming a habit. It was very cruel!
John quarrels with the Pope
In 1205, John quarrelled with the Pope on who should be the next ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, John wouldn’t let Stephen Langton, the Pope’s choice, enter the country. The Pope punished John by passing an INTERDICT over England and Wales in 1208. This meant that church services ceased and no marriages or burials could take place. John retaliated by taking away all the Church’s property and punishing many monks. In 1209, the Pope EXCOMMUNICATED John which meant he would go to hell when he died. A load of bunkum if you ask me! Finally, in 1213 John gave into the Pope.
John argues with France ~ not again!
John attacked France in 1214; his army was crushed by King Philip II of France at the battle of Bouvines. John failed and now it was in his wildest of dreams that he would regain his land in France! All his money and taxes down the drain. Was this a sensible idea? I don’t think so somehow, simply because if he had a vague idea of losing, which I think he did, then why did he try to regain his land in battle in the first place? I have absolutely no idea! But on the other hand, if he was desperately determined to get his land back then he might as well try, but I would argue that he had no common sense when planning this outrage.
The baron’s rebel
John’s defeat in France angered a lot of barons. Supposing John had won, the barons would have forgiven John for the way he ruled England, instead they rebelled. In May 1215, the rebel barons captured London and forced John to follow a set of rules about how to govern the country. These laws were written in a charter known as the MAGNA CARTA.
The death of King John
John did not alter his ways after MAGNA CARTA; instead he broke the agreement so the barons invited Prince Louis to take over kingship. During the war against Louis, John lost many of the crown jewels when his baggage train sank in the quick sands of the Wash. Shortly afterwards John died in 1216 at Newark. It is thought that he died from dysentery (fever with serious diarrhoea) after eating too many peaches and drinking too much beer.
My first impressions of King John
I think that John was a bad, mad king but in a way slightly misunderstood.
He must have had huge problems during his life but I think he dealt with some of them illogically. Also, on the other hand John dealt with them the way he thought was right and we have to appreciate others views on how to treat an event, in his case, the event we might disagree with John on was when he tried to invade France to regain his lost land. I agree that he needed to gain back some land but perhaps he should have done it in a bribe, for example, giving Philip II of France a limited amount of money and trading for a certain amount of land. This example of what John has done cannot be altered but it can be learnt from. So back to my first impressions of John; I understand what he needed to do and that he had to do it somehow but perhaps instead of being cruel he should have been a more gentle ruler!
To me it seems John made a lot of mistakes. The evidence shows that he lost land and quite a few battles, also during his reign he lost popularity. John wanted to put things right, he didn’t always follow advice but nor was he given good advice either. Therefore some of the decisions he made were poor ones.
