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King John (1199 - 1216)
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Name: King John
Born: December 24, 1166 at Beaumont Palace : Oxford
Parents: Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine
Relation to Elizabeth II: 21st great-grandfather
House of: Angevin
Ascended to the throne: April 6, 1199 aged 32 years
Crowned: May 27, 1199 at Westminster Abbey
Married: 1) Isabella of Gloucester, (annulled 1199), (2) Isabella, Daughter of Count of Angouleme
Children: Two sons including Henry III, three daughters and several illegitimate children
Died: October 18, 1216 at Newark Castle, aged 49 years, 9 months, and 24 days
Buried at: Worcester
Reigned for: 17 years, 6 months, and 13 days
Succeeded by: his son Henry III
King of England from 1199 and acting king from 1189 during his brother Richard the Lion-Heart's absence on the Third Crusade.He lost Normandy and almost all the other English possessions in France to Philip II of France by 1205. His repressive policies and excessive taxation brought him into conflict with his barons, and he was forced to seal the Magna Carta in 1215. Later repudiation of it led to the first Barons' War (1215–17), during which he died. He was succeeded by his son Henry III.
John was nicknamed Lackland, probably because, as the youngest of Henry II's five sons, it was difficult to find a portion of his father's French possessions for him to inherit.
In 1205 he disputed the pope's choice of Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury, and Pope Innocent III placed England under an interdict, suspending all religious services, including baptisms, marriages, and burials. John retaliated by seizing church revenues, and was excommunicated. Eventually, John submitted, accepting the papal nominee, and agreed to hold the kingdom as a fief of the papacy; an annual monetary tribute was paid to the popes for the next 150 years by successive English monarchs. In 1215 he John meets the English barons at Runnymede, and seals the Magna Carta.
John's subsequent bad reputation was only partially deserved. It resulted from his intrigues against his brother Richard I, his complicity in the death of his nephew Arthur, Duke of Brittany (1187–1203), a rival for the English throne, and the effectiveness of his ruthless taxation policy, as well as his provoking Pope Innocent III to excommunicate England from 1208 to 1213. John's attempt to limit the papacy's right of interference in episcopal elections, which traditionally were the preserve of English kings, was resented by monastic sources, and these provided much of the evidence upon which his reign was later judged.
1199 | John accedes to the throne on the death of his brother, Richard I. | 1204 | England loses most of its possessions in France. | 1205 | John refuses to accept Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury | 1208 | Pope Innocent III issues an Interdict against England, banning all church services except baptisms and funerals | 1209 | Pope Innocent III excommunicates John for his confiscation of ecclesiastical property | 1209 | Cambridge University founded | 1212 | Innocent III declares that John is no longer the rightful King | 1213 | John submits to the Pope’s demands and accepts the authority of the Pope | 1214 | Philip Augustus of France defeats the English at the Battle of Bouvines | 1215 | Beginning of the Barons' war. The English Barons march to London to demand rights which they lay down in the Magna Carta. | 1215 | John meets the English barons at Runnymede, agrees to their demands, and seals the Magna Carta which set limits on the powers of the monarch, lays out the feudal obligations of the barons, confirms the liberties of the Church, and grants rights to all freemen of the realm and their heirs for ever. It is the first written constitution. | 1215 | The Pope decrees that John need not adhere to the Magna Carta, and civil war breaks out | 1216 | The barons seek French aid in their fight against John. Prince Louis of France lands in England and captures the Tower of London | 1216 | John flees North and loses his war chest of cash and jewels in the Wash estuary | 1216 | John dies of a fever at Newark and is buried Worcester Cathedral |
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