Description

King John of England was the fifth and youngest son of King Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine. John was nicknamed ‘Lackland’ due to his not receiving any significant property allocation from his father King Henry.

In 1199 with the death in battle of his brother King Richard I, the Lionheart, John ascended the English throne. With Richard’s frequent absences from England (the Crusades, etc.) John was often called on to deal with affairs of the Crown. The results of his action both before and after his achieving the crown were disastrous, especially when John dealt with the brilliant and aggressive King of France Philip August.

In addition to his mismanagement of England’s land ownerships, he lost most of England’s property on the Continent, i.e. Normandy and Anjou. John was engaged in years-long quarrels with the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton. John’s quarrels with his barons and various townships due to his abusive behavior and his extortion of the heavy tax revenues, a major domestic crisis ensued between king and country.

In 1215 the English barons forced John to sign at Runnymede the document they had drafted, the Magna Carta. Once away from the armed barons, John rebelled at adhering to the Magna Carta creating further distress. In this atmosphere of unrest in 1217, John died.