General Notes

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