General Notes

Plantagenet
John was born on Christmas Eve 1167. His parents drifted apart after hisbirth;his youth was divided between his eldest brother Henry's house,where he learnedthe art of knighthood, and the house of his father'sjusticiar, Ranulf Glanvil,where he learned the business of government.As the fourth child, inherited lands were not available to him, givingrise to his nickname, Lackland. His first marriage lasted but ten yearsand was fruitless, but his second wife, Isabella ofAngouleme, bore himtwo sons and three daughters. He also had an illegitimate daughter, Joan,who married Llywelyn the Great, Ruler of All Wales, from which the Tudorline of monarchs was descended. The survival of the English governmentduring John's reign is a testament to the reforms of his father, as Johntaxed thesystem socially, economically, and judicially.
The Angevin family feuds profoundly marked John. He and Richard clashedin 1184 following Richard's refusal tohonor his father's wishessurrender Aquitane to John. The following year HenryII sent John to ruleIreland, but John alienated both the native Irish and the transplantedAnglo-Normans who emigrated to carve out new lordships for themselves;the experiment was a total failure and John returned home within sixmonths. After Richard gained the throne in 1189, he gave John vastestates in an unsuccessful attempt to appease his younger brother. Johnfailed to overthrow Richard'sadministrators during the German captivityand conspired with Philip II in another failed coup attempt. UponRichard's release from captivity in 1194, John wasforced to sue forpardon and he spent the next five years in his brother's shadow.
John's reign was troubled in many respects. A quarrel with the Churchresulted in England being placed under an interdict in 1207, with Johnactually excommunicated two years later. The dispute centered on John'sstubborn refusal to install the papal candidate, Stephen Langdon, asArchbishop of Canterbury; the issue was not resolved until Johnsurrendered to the wishes of Pope Innocent III andpaid tribute forEngland as the Pope's vassal.
John proved extremely unpopularwith his subjects. In addition to theIrish debacle, he inflamed his French vassals by orchestrating the murderof his popular nephew, Arthur of Brittany. By spring 1205, he lost thelast of his French possessions and returned to England.The final tenyears of his reign were occupied with failed attempts to regain theseterritories. After levying a number of new taxes upon the barons to payfor his dismal campaigns, the discontented barons revolted, capturingLondon in May 1215. At Runnymeade in the following June, John succumbedto pressure from the barons, the Church, and the English people at-large,and signed the Magna Carta. The document, a declaration of feudal rights,stressed three points. First, the Church was free to make ecclesiasticappointments. Second, larger-than-normal amounts of money could only becollected with the consent of the king's feudal tenants. Third, nofreeman was to be punished except within the context of common law. MagnaCarta, although a testament to John's complete failure as monarch, wasthe forerunner of modern constitutions. John only signed the document asa meansof buying time and his hesitance to implement its principlescompelled the nobility to seek French assistance. The barons offered thethrone to Philip II's son,Louis. John died in the midst of invasion fromthe French in the South and rebellion from his barons in the North.
John was remembered in elegant fashion bySir Richard Baker in AChronicle of the Kings of England: ". . .his works of piety were verymany . . . as for his actions, he neither came to the crown by justice,nor held it with any honour, nor left it peace."
MAGNA CARTA The Great Charter of English liberty granted (underconsiderable duress) by King John at Runnymede on June 15, 1215 John, bythe grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy andAquitaine, and Count of An

Matthew Paris wrote, 'Foul as it is, hell itself is defiled by the presence of King John', and this pretty well sums up John's reputation--until 1944, that is. For in that year Professor Galbraith demonstrated in a lecture to an astonished world that the chief chronicle source for the reign of John was utterly unreliable. Since then bad King John has been getting better and better, until now he is nearly well again, and a leading scholar in the field has seriously warned us that the twentieth century could well create it own John myth.



John was a paunchy little man, five feet five inches tall, with erect head, staring eyes, flaring nostrils and thick lips set in a cruel pout, as his splendid monument at Worcester shows. He had the tempestous nature of all his family, and a driving demoniac energy: Professor Barlow says that 'he prowled around his kingdom,' which is an evocative phrase, but it would be truer to say that he raced around it. He was fastidious about his person--taking more baths than several other medieval kings put together, and owning the ultimate in luxury, for that time, a dressing-gown. He loved good food and drink, and gambled a great deal, though he usually lost--the results of his typical impatience and carelessness are recorded on his expense rolls; above all things he loved women. Some say his 'elopment' was the cause of his loss of Normandy. He was generous to the poor (for instance, he remitted to them the penalties of the forest law), and to his servants; at the least he went through the motions of being a Christian king. He was extortionate, though if one considers the terrific increase in his outgoings (a mercenary soldier cost him 200 per cent more in wages than he would have in Henry II's day) one can understand some of his actions in the field. He was deeply concerned about justice, took care to attend to court business, and listened to supplicants with sympathy; he had also an urgent desire for peace in the land, saying that his peace was to be observed 'even if we have granted it to a dog.' But for all that, he had two totally unredeeming vices; he was suspicious, and enjoyed a cloak-and-dagger atmosphere--simply he did not inspire trust in his subjects. Dr. Warren says of him with some justice that if he had lived in the twentieth centure he would have adored to run a secret police.

He was born at Oxford on Christmas Eve 1167. He was oblated for a monk at the abbey of Fontevrault at the age of one year, but was back at court by the time he was six--plainly he had no vocation, but he probably picked up at this early stage his fastidiousness and his passion for books: his library followed him wherever he went. He was his father's favourite, but he turned against the old man when his chance came, as he did against Richard (who had been very generous to his brother) when the latter was in captivity in 1193. The episode was a miserable failure, but it possibly sowed the seeds of distrust for John in England, where they began to sprout luxuriantly in 1199 when Richard died and John came to the throne.

Immeditaely the challenge came: Philip Augustus, the wily King of France, was backing John's nephew, Prince Arthur of Brittany (son of John's elder brother Geoffrey) as a contender for the throne, and England's French possessions fell prey to civil war. John found grave difficultly in dealing with the situation for a number of reasons, but in 1202 he made the remarkable coup of capturing Arthur by force-marching his troups eighty miles in forty-eight hours; but then his prosecution of the war became listless, and he lost much sympathy by his brutal murder of Arthur whilst in a drunken rage. By 1204 Normandy was lost.

The loss of Normandy seemed to wake John up, and he now deployed his every energy in building up the coastal defences of Britain, now faced with an enemy the other side of the Channel, instead of just more of her own territory. The navy was built up, and the army, and John poured a quarter of his annual revenue into defence. But he could not persuade the baronage to support him in a counterstroke to regain Normandy: the barons of the north country had never owned land in Normandy and did not see why they should pay to regain southerners's castles for them. These 'Northerners' as they called themselves, were a hive of discontent, and more was to be heard from them. Meanwhile, John sailed angrily about in the Channel, cursing ineffectually.

Other troubles were to come first, however. In 1205 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Hubert Walker, died, and John assumed that he would have the choice of the new archbishop. However, Pope Innocent III was no man to support secular control over church appointments, and supported the right of the monks of Canterbury to select their own archbishop. For two years the storms blew betwen England and Rome, then Stephen Langton was appointed. Meanwhile John had driven the monks into exile and appropriated the revenues of the archdiocese. He had fallen out also with his half-brother, Geoffrey Archbishop or York, over tax-collection, and he too fled abroad while John collected his revenues. Four bishops joined in his fight--tension was growing to the snapping point. In 1208 the Pope put an Interdict on England, which in effect meant the clergy went on stike, or, in certain cases and areas, worked to rule. John began negotiations with Innocent, but, finding that he demanded unconditional surrender, stopped them and took over all ecclesiastical properties and incomes. He did leave the clergy sufficient to live, though barely; but he still gained a large increment to his usual finances. In November 1209 the Pope took the final step of excommjunicating the King, which, in that it made him an outlaw in Christendom, did far more damage than the Interdict.

John used his enlarged treasury to restore order in Scotland, Ireland and Wales, and to rebuild the old alliance with Otto IV of Germany and the Count of Flanders against Philip Augustus. He planned a two-pronged attack on France, to take place in 1212. But that year turned out an unlucky one for John, for the barons again refused to serve abroad, and the army he had was needed to put down a revolt in Wales; the Pope was threatening to demote him, and Philip Augustus was planning a massive invasion of England. John had to give in in one direction, for the prssure was much too great: he chose the Pope, and wisely so. He agreed to return to the status quo in the matter of church property and establishment, and to pay compensation; he further resigned his kingdom into the hands of the Pope, to receive it back in return for his homage and an annual tribute of 1,000 marks (a mark being two-thirds of a pound].

He had won a notable ally in Innocent III, who supported him faithfully throughout his troubles. Then his fleet, his own creation, had the good luck to find the French fleet at anchor and unprotected, destroyed it, and so made a French invasion impossible. On the crest of a wave, John determined to put his two-pronged invasion plan into action, but once more the northern barons refused to play, and he set off to punish them. Stephen Langton had arrived on the scene by now and managed to persuade John not to provoke the barons further.

In 1214 he finally managed to put his long cherished plan into action, but the two attacks were not properly coordinated; Otto was defeated at Bouvines, and John was deserted by his Poitevin knights.

In 1215 John faced a baronage in turmoil: they could point to the failure of his expensive schemes, he ascribed his failure to their total lack of support. The situation could not be more tense. John's nervousness can be seen in his taking of the cross, a blatant attempt to reinforce his alliance with the papacy. In April the Northerners met at Stamford; they were by now a mixture of northerners and southerners--the name was now merely a nickname--but by and large they were the younger element in the kingdom, roughnecks out for a spree. They moved south and were let into London by a faction, and received the expected encouragement from Philip Augustus in the form of siege engines brought over by one Eustace, a renegade monk turned pirate.

John offered arbitration, but the barons turned it down, and while he put his faith in an appeal to Rome, Stephen Langton, in cooperation with William Marshal and other more stable and sensible barons, were working on the Northerners' demands to incorporate them into a general charter, which would not only govern feudal relationships, but would also lay down a more general pattern of legality in government. On 15 June John fixed his seal to the draft of Magna Carta, and on 19 June attested copies were sent to all parts of the kingdom.

The King did his part thoroughly, though for how long he would have continued is another matter, but the barons continued to distrust him. They remained in arms, organising tournaments as their excuse, saying that the prize would be 'a bear a certain lady would send.' This was civil war, and John took to it with a fiendish glee. He reduced the north and the east, and was about to mop up the remainder of the opposition in London when Philip Augustus' son Louis landed in force to help the barons (May 1216). John had been riding hard for months, and was sick with dysentery after a bout of over-eating; whilst crossing the Wash, the whole of his baggage-train was lost. At Neward Castle on 18 October, he died, desiring to be buried near his patron saint Wulfstan in Worcester Cathedral.

He was by no means a good man, and his energies could well have been put to a better use, but in a different situation he might well have made a great king. His constant failure was discipline, over himself first, and others second. John reminds me of nothing so much as the type of person who is brilliant in many ways, and has many gifts, but leaves after two terms 'not suited to teaching in this type of school.' [Who's Who in the Middle Ages, John Fines, Barnes & Noble Books, New York, 1995]

"Lackland" refered to John's status as the youngest son, resulting in nosignificant inherited fiefs from his Father. His titles included King ofIreland 1177, Count of Mortain 1189, Earl of Gloucester. John succeededhis brother Richard I as King in 1199. In 1215 he put his seal on theMagna Carta (Great Charter). The Magna Carta is the foundation of EnglishConstitutional law and liberties and placed the King, like the subjectshe ruled, subject to the rule of law. He is Interred in WorcesterCathedral. "The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages" Norman F. Cantor,General Editor.

This is King John of the Magna Charta.

The Magna Charta is recognized today as one of the most important documents in
the history of human freedom. Coming near the end of the Dark Ages, it
challenged the "divine right" of kings to rule arbitrarily.

King John of England was a tyrant who seized the throne in 1199 by imprisoning
and probably murdering young Prince Arthur, the rightful heir. King John threw
people into prison at the drop of a hat, confiscated their property by heavy
taxes and unjust decrees, and despoiled the wives and daughters of his Nobles.
His quarrels with the pope caused the pope to excommunicate all England for a
period of six years.  The King had a tiresome habit of forcing th e peasants to
buildbridges over streams he might wish to cross while hunting, and at one time
he made the whole of England his own private game preserve, so that none of the
starving peasantry could kill even a rabbit for supper.

The King's Nobles finally refused to fight for him abroad, and as a result he
was utterl y defeated at the Battle of Bouvines during the summer of 1214. The
King then turned in fury on his Barons at home, but he underestimated the
powers arrayed against him. The Barons, as sembled in conference by the
Archbishop of Canterbury, each took a solemn oath on the altar that they would
stand united and not relinquish their efforts until they had either compelle d
the King to confirm their liberties or had waged war against him to the death.

During the winter of 1214-15, the Barons prepared and presented to King John a
list of their demands.  When the King saw the Articles, heis supposed to have
sworn by "God's teeth" , his favorite oath, that hewould never agree to such
demands or any part of them.  But the Barons were not to be denied.  They
raised an army and launched a "holy crusade"against the King to recover their
rightful liberties.  The King was finally forced to surrender at Runn emede on
June 15, 1215.  After four days of negotiations, the King's seal was affixed to
all copies of the historic Magna Charta.

The Magna Charta is recognized today as a foundation stone of free government
and has been referred to as "The Mother of Constitutions." It was an important
forerunner of the United States Constitution. Sections39 anbd 40 of the Charter
state: "No free man shall be taken , orimprisoned, or dispossessed, or
outlawed, or banished, or in any waydestroyed...excep t by the legal judgment
of his peers or by the law ofthe land.  To no one will we sell, to n o one will
we deny, or delay,right of justice." The Barons offered to their sub-tenants
the same concessions that they were demanding from the King.

Section 61 authorized the election of 25 Surety Barons to see that the
provisions of th e Charter were enforced.  These Sureties were given the right
to distress and harass the King by any means in their power if he did not keep
his pledges.  Several of these Sureties are included inthis royal line
pedigree: Hugh Bigod,  Robert De Vere,  Roger Bigod, Alan Galloway,  [ Lord]
Gilbert De Clare, William De Albini,  Richard De Clare[Sir] William Marshal
(Marshall) John De Lacy William De Warren Sahar DeQuincy William [Earl Of
Salisbury] etc...

King John was given a interdict by Pope Innocent III.  King John did notrespond
as agreed upon so his excommunication was soon to follow. WhenKing John still
would not agree to live up to his agreements, (such asthe will of the dead King
Richard) the Pope in 1212 absolved all subjectsof John from their oaths of
allegiance, coupling with this declarationthat the ban of excommunication would
thenceforth apply to anyone whocontinued to serve him, who lived in his
household, who sat or served athis table, who held the stirrup when he set orth
to ride or who everspoke a word to him in public or private.

Signer of the Magna Charta.aka: John of England

Frederick Lewis Weis, "Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists",

7th  ed.

John was the youngest of the 4 sons of King Henry. He first claimed

the crown in 1193 when news broke that his brother, King Richard (theLion
Hearted), was held prisoner "somewhere in Germany." In April 1193Richard was
offered for ransom by the Holy Roman Emperor. (See WinstonChurchill's detailed
account of this  episode in Vol. 1 of "A History ofthe English Speaking

Peoples - The Birth of Britain" at pgs.236-237) Richard reclaimed thecrown in
1194 after his release. Richard was killed by a crossbow in asmall skirmish in
1199. He died on April 6, 1199 from the wound, and John had been declared his
heir before Richard died.

Much is written about King John in Chapter 15 of Churchill's book

(above) because it was he who was king at the signing of the Magna Carta on
June 15, 1215. He died the following summer.

Our Noble & Gentle Families of Royal Descent Together with Their Paternal
Ancestry by Joseph Foster p 178 1884 Edition: Crowned at Westminster 27May
1199; signed Magna Charta 15 Jun 1215;
Pedigrees of some Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants - Langston-Buck
The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy by Cannon andGriffith.
Our Noble & Gentle Families of Royal Descent Together with Their Paternal
Ancestry by Joseph Foster p 178 1884 Edition: Crowned at Westminster 27May
1199; signed Magna Charta 15 Jun 1215;

[daddy5.FTW]

[daddy3.FTW]

[daddy2.FTW]

King of England, 1199-1216

King of England, 1199-1216

[daddy5.FTW]

[daddy3.FTW]

[daddy2.FTW]

King of England, 1199-1216

[daddy5.FTW]

[daddy3.FTW]

[daddy2.FTW]

King of England, 1199-1216

[daddy5.FTW]

[daddy3.FTW]

[daddy2.FTW]

King of England, 1199-1216

pg 3, "Ancestral Roots of Sixty Colonists" by Frederick Lewis Weiss, 6th Edition

pg lii, Burkes'e "Peerage etc", 1970 edition

pg 4, "The Plantagenet Ancestry" by W.H. Turton, published 1928

In 1215 John faced a baronage in turmoil: they could point to the failure of his expensive schemes, he ascribed his failure to their total lack of support. The situation could not be more tense. John's nervousness can be seen in his taking of the cross, a blatant attempt to reinforce his alliance with the papacy. In April the Northerners met at Stamford; they were by now a mixture of northerners and southerners--the name was now merely a nickname--but by and large they were the younger element in the kingdom, roughnecks out for a spree. They moved south and were let into London by a faction, and received the expected encouragement from King Philip Augustus of France  in the form of siege engines brought over by one Eustace, a renegade monk turned pirate. John offered arbitration, but the barons turned it down, and while he put his faith in an appeal to Rome, Stephen Langton, in cooperation with William Marshal and other more stable and sensible barons, were working on the Northerners' demands to incorporate them into a general charter,which would not only govern feudal relationships, but would also lay down a more general pattern of legality in government. On 15 June John fixed his seal to the draft of Magna Carta, and on 19 June attested copies were sent to all parts of the kingdom. King John was called "LackLand"

John and Magna Carta

John (reigned 1199-1216) was an able administrator interested in law and
government but he neither trusted others nor was trusted by them. Heavy
taxation, disputes with the Church (John was excommunicated by the Pope
in 1209) and unsuccessful attempts to recover his French possessions made
him unpopular. Many of his barons rebelled and in June 1215 they forced
the King to sign a peace treaty accepting their reforms.

This treaty, later known as Magna Carta, limited royal powers, defined
feudal obligations between the King and the barons, and guaranteed a
number of rights. The most influential clauses concerned the freedom of
the Church; the redress of grievances of owners and tenants of land; the
need to consult the Great Council of the Realm so as to prevent unjust
taxation; mercantile and trading relationships; regulation of the
machinery of justice so that justice be denied to no one; and the
requirement to control the behaviour of royal officials. The most
important clauses established the basis of habeas corpus ('you have the
body'), i.e. that no one shall be imprisoned except by due process of
law, and that 'to no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay
right or justice'.

The Charter also established a council of barons who were to ensure that
the Sovereign observed the Charter, with the right to wage war on him if
he did not. Magna Carta was the first formal document insisting that the
Sovereign was as much under the rule of law as his people; and that the
rights of individuals were to be upheld even against the wishes of the
sovereign. As a source of fundamental constitutional principles, Magna
Carta came to be seen as an important definition of aspects of English
law, and in later centuries as the basis of the liberties of the English
people.

As a peace treaty Magna Carta was a failure and the rebels invited Louis
of France to become their king. When John died in 1216 England was in the
grip of civil war.

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