King John of England 1199 to 1216

King John signing Magna Carta

King John was one of England’s most controversial monarchs and is generally put in a bad light. Much of this is harsh as the years of his reign 1199 to 1216 were not for the meek hearted. His predecessors; Henry II (Father) and Richard I (brother) could be argued to have had overinflated reputations.

King John’s 17-year reign was marred by a string of political events that would portray him in a historical bad light, much of which is unfair. The kingdom of England had been a possession of Normandy, won by a Duke called William (the conqueror). The man had won the kingdom in 1066 and his Norman dynasty still, flourishes to this day. He was, of course, King William I of England who spoke only French as did his Norman followers. These French-speaking nobles still ruled with a firm hand over 100 years later when King John came to rule in 1199.

There is evidence to suggest that the English subjects were no different in their views of King John then they were of previous kings – maybe less resentful as he had not gone off on crusades and did spend more time in England than most. The English serfs might not have been overwhelmed with love for him, but the bad reputation of his reign in fiction might be exaggerated from many English historical perspectives.

He was unpopular with King Phillip II of France and the French king supported his nephew Arthur – allowing him to govern some of the Norman French provinces. This caused a conflict between King John and his nephew Arthur. The dispute ended with King John capturing Arthur and holding him prisoner. The young man perished under ominous circumstances. Some say King John killed him and had his body weighed down and buried in a moat. Others believe that Arthur was castrated and died of the effects. In truth – no one knows the whole truth except that Arthur perished.

Phillip II of France later took the Norman provinces forcing King John back into England where he taxed his English subjects all the more to make up for the lost revenue of his northern French provinces now in Phillip II control. King John imposed these unpopular tax increases with the ambition of re-invading and winning Normandy, Brittany and other lands back.

Further disruption was caused when he fell into dispute with Pope Innocent III in 1205. The Archbishop of Canterbury died and King John – his bishops and barons all had a choice of a new Archbishop. Pope Innocent III wanted his own choice of Stephan Langton. Things got worse when King John expelled the Chapter who supported Stephan Langton and the Pope immediately placed an interdict on the kingdom of England.

In this day and age; the only people who wrote were monks and priests all under the control of Rome and the Pope's censorship. This resulted in more unfavourable writings during the interdict. It was even rumoured that he tried to broker an alliance with the king of Morocco and convert to Islam in order to win back his status and Norman lands. However, this was written by people who wanted to give him a bad press. In 1213, King John was forced to yield to the Pope and let holy Rome have its way. He also had a major dispute with his barons which brought about the signing of the Magna Carta. All in all, the reign of King John was very turbulent and full of political intrigue.

A few hundred years after he died, the play writer William Shakespeare had poetic licence to write what he liked on Plantagenet Monarchs. For the new Tudor dynasty had destroyed the Plantagenets and of course, stories like Richard III (another Plantagenet) and plays of the diabolical King John were applauded.

In defence of this king; he was more substantial than history generally reports him to be. He had many enemies from the start and tried to stand his ground unsuccessfully on a number of occasions. His reign seems to have become a sequence of damage limitation rather than reclaiming what was taken from him.