1718265

Alias:<ALIA> /Lackland/
[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 19, Ed. 1, Tree #1362, Date of Import: Apr 26, 1999]
[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 3, Ed. 1, Tree #2553, Date of Import: Jun 20, 1997]
Lackland
JOHN OF ENGLAND (1167-1216). Vicious, shameless, and ungrateful, King
John has been called the worst king ever to rule England. Yet the very
excesses of his reign proved positive in that they provoked such a
violent reaction that his subjects revolted and forced him to put his
seal on the Magna Carta. This document became the safeguard of English
liberty. John's nickname was Lackland because at first he owned no land.
Later his father, King Henry II, gave him castles, lands, and revenues in
both England and France. John plotted against his father, however, and
the discovery of this conspiracy was a factor in the king's death. John's
brother, Richard the Lion-Hearted, became king and added to John's
possessions (see Richard, Kings of England). While Richard was absent
from England on the Third Crusade, John conspired against him also.
When Richard died in 1199, the barons selected John to be their king.
This denied the royal claim of Arthur, son of another brother, Geoffrey.
Two French provinces fought for young Arthur, but the boy fell into the
hands of John and died soon after. During the war John lost all his
French possessions except Aquitaine. John then quarreled with Pope
Innocent III about the appointment of Stephen Langton as archbishop of
Canterbury. John was excommunicated, and England was forbidden all
religious services except baptism and extreme unction. The growing
discontent of his subjects finally forced John to recognize the new
archbishop.
When John went to France seeking to regain his lands in Normandy, the
barons marched against the king and demanded a charter of liberties. All
but a handful of followers deserted John. He was forced to meet the
barons at Runnymede on June 15, 1215, and to sign the Great Charter (see
Magna Carta).
John had no intention of supporting the charter, however. He recruited a
new army and destroyed the estates of the barons. The barons then offered
the English crown to Louis, a French prince. In the midst of a war for
the throne, John died of a fever. The task of restoring the torn kingdom
fell to his nine-year-old son, Henry III (see Henry, Kings of England).
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Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia
Copyright c 1993, 1994 Compton's NewMedia, Inc.
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John (of England), called John Lackland (1167-1216), king of England
(1199-1216), best known for signing the Magna Carta.
John was born in Oxford on December 24, 1167, the youngest son of King
Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Henry provided for the eventual
inheritance of his lands by his older sons before John was born. By 1186,
however, only Richard I, the Lion-Hearted, and John were left as Henry's
heirs. In 1189, as Henry neared death, John joined Richard's rebellion
against their father, and when Richard was crowned, he gave John many
estates and titles. John tried but failed to usurp the Crown while
Richard was away on the Third Crusade: Upon returning to England, Richard
forgave him. When his brother died in 1199, John became king. A revolt
ensued by the supporters of Arthur of Brittany (1187-1203), the son of
John's brother, Geoffrey (1158-86). Arthur was defeated and captured in
1202, and John is believed to have had him murdered. King Philip II of
France continued Arthur's war until John had to surrender nearly all his
French possessions in 1204. In 1207 John refused to accept the election
of Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury. Pope Innocent III then
excommunicated him and began negotiating with Philip for an invasion of
England. Desperate, John surrendered England to the pope and in 1213
received it back as a fief