General Notes

His mother was well over forty when John, his parent's youngest  child, was born. He was not only his mother's favourite but he also  inherited many of her characteristics. He grew up enjoying the good  things of life: food, women and fashion. His parents indulged him but,  when at 18 he was sent to Ireland to complete its conquest, he was  recalled when he aggravated the situation by making fun of the beards  and clothes of the Irish chieftains.  His father denied him any lands and nicknamed him John Lackland;  but when John's brother, Richard I, became king, he granted him the  county of Mortain in Normandy. Richard I also found him a wife,  Isabella of Gloucester. However, the Archbishop of Canterbury declared  the marriage void as John and Isabella were second cousins. The Pope  reversed this decision but that did not improve the marriage and they  soon lived apart, the marriage to be annulled in 1200.  When Richard I went on crusade, being aware of John's character,  he appointed William de Longchamp as Regent. However, as soon as  Richard was gone, John found support not only by the people of England  but also by his illegitimate half-brother Geoffrey, Archbishop of  York. Marching on London, he won the city by allowing the people to  elect their mayor. Realizing he could not withstand his sovereign's  brother, Longchamp fled disguised as a woman. He was ready to sail  from Dover when an amorous sailor discovered who he was.  Before Richard I died, he declared John to be his heir, by-passing  Arthur of Brittany whose deceased father, Geoffrey, was John's elder  brother. On 25 April 1199 he was invested as Duke of Normandy as well.  In 1200 he divorced his unwanted wife as he had become enamoured of  the 12-year-old Isabella of Angouleme. Her parents, keen to see their  daughter become queen, assisted and they were married by the  Archbishop of Bordeaux.  As king he had a great concern and interest in the administration  of his territories. Ralph of Coggeshall recorded that he ruled  'energetically enough'. He travelled widely in England, often dealing  with mundane financial and legal matters. He was munificent and  liberal to outsiders but a plunderer of his own people, trusting  strangers rather than his subjects, wherefore he was eventually  deserted by his own men and, in the end, little mourned.  John produced some eight illegitimate children and, according to  William of Newburgh, lusted after the wife of Eustace de Vesci, but  who contrived to smuggle a prostitute into the king's bed in her  place. Next day when John coarsely told him how good his wife had been  in bed, de Vesci confessedÄÄÄthen fled.  In 1203 John was responsible for the murder of his nephew and  rival, Arthur. King Philippe of France, overlord for both Normandy and  Brittany, was enraged by this action and, forfeiting Normandy,  attacked and conquered Rouen.  In 1205 John quarrelled with Pope Innocent III as he did not want  to accept Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury. As a result  John was excommunicated in 1208. This lasted until 1213 when he had to  accept England as a fief from the pope.  Campaigns in 1214 in France were disastrous. While he was in  France his enemies in England joined forces under the banner of  Stephen Langton, then forced John to accept the Magna Carta which was  sealed by John on 15 June 1215 at Runnymnede near Windsor. Infuriated,  John gained the support of the pope and gathered an army to fight his  barons who were supported by the French king. Landing in England, King  Louis marched on London. The Barons promised the crown to the French  king and a civil war was begun. During John's travels through England,  one of his baggage-trains was swept away while crossing a river and he  lost all his valuables including his crown. This caused so great a  depression that he fell seriously ill. His illness was aggravated by  his gluttony and he was then taken by litter to Newark Castle where he  died, aged nearly forty-nine, on 18 October 1216.
Source: Leo van de Pas