Plantagenet Kings

 King John I

John was born on Christmas Eve, 1166, at the royal palace in Oxford. He was the youngest son of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Having 3 elder brothers, it would have been very unlikely for the young prince to become king. However, by 1186, 2 of his brothers had died, thus leaving John and Richard the only 2 male heirs of King Henry.

 

Tomb effigy of King John

The Angevin Empire, 1190

Because the relations between Henry and Richard soured, Henry started to consider John as his future successor. As a result, the latter allied with King Philip Augustus of France, and he forced his father to recognize him as his sole heir. In 1189, Richard was crowned King of England after Henry passed away. 

King Richard the Lionheart, John's brother

No sooner had he become king, Richard joined the 3rd Crusade in order to recapture Jerusalem which had been conquered in 1187 by Sultan Saladin. Richard established a regency government in England and named his 4-year-old nephew as heir. During the campaign, he took important cities in the Holy Land such as Acre and Jaffa, but he didn't conquer Jerusalem. However, he signed a peace treaty with Saladin, in which the Sultan allowed Christian pilgrimage into the city. Meanwhile, John allied with King Philip of France and took the throne of England. Upon hearing that, Richard went back home in a hurry, but he was arrested by the Holy Roman Emperor while crossing Germany. He spent 1 year in prison until a huge ransom was paid by his mother. Once released, he arrived in England where he retook control of his kingdom. John was not punished for his treachery and furthermore, he was made heir to the throne by his brother. Eventually, Richard went back to France to wage wars against the French. He died by an arrow in 1199 without any legitimate sons. 

King John 

Having the support of the English barons, John was crowned King at Westminster Abbey. On the other hand, the French nobles had another pretender for the crown, John's nephew, Arthur, Duke of Brittany. Seeing an opportunity, Philip of France decided to support the latter. In 1202, John defeated Arthur at Chateau de Mirabeau. Furthermore, Arthur was taken prisoner by his uncle and throw in jail. A year later, Arthur was assassinated. He was only 16 years old. Despite losing his ally, Philip of France managed to defeat the English armies, and as a result, he conquered Normandy, Anjou and Aquitaine. This was a huge blow for John's reputation, so he started to assemble an army in order to reclaim his possessions. Over the next 10 years, he levied a series of unpopular taxes throughout England which drew harsh criticism from the barons. In 1214, John allied with Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV against Philip. Unfortunately, the French army defeated the Imperials at the Battle of Bouvines and John's ambitions to restore his former empire crashed. 

 

Arthur, Duke of Brittany

King Philip II of France

The consequences of his failure were huge. In 1215, the English Barons from the North rebelled against the King because of the overtaxation. In a short time, they captured the city of London, and persuaded John to enter peace negotiations. The King met with the rebellious barons on the 15th June, 1215, at Runnymede, 20 miles west to London. The demands were simple: 

1. the barons wanted the guarantees of their rights and liberties under the law
2. the rights of the church to be respected by the King
3. protection from illegal imprisonment
4. fair justice system
5. the establishment of limits on king's ability to tax his subjects

Stephen Langton (1150-1228), Archbishop of Canterbury, who mediated the negotiations

King John I signing the Great Charter (Magna Carta) at Runnymede, 1215

Although the charter granted the rights demanded by the Barons, John annulled it a month later, with the support of the Papacy. As a result, the barons revolted once again and the kingdom descended into a total civil war. Furthermore, the Barons asked Philip of France for military aid. The French King rejected the proposal, but his son Louis accepted it. In 1216, Prince Louis of France invaded England and he was proclaimed King of England by the Barons. On the 19th of October, 1216, while preparing to face his enemies on the battlefield, John died of dysentery at Newark Castle in Nottinghamshire. With the king dead, his 9-year-old son Henry was crowned as Henry III. In 1217, Prince Louis was defeated and forced to leave England.