King John was born in 1167 and died in 1216. Like William I, King John is ane of the more controversial monarchs of Medieval England and is most associated with the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215.

John was born on Christmas Eve, the youngest son of Henry Two and his married woman Eleanor of Aquitaine. Equally a child, John tended to be overshadowed by is older brother Richard. Like his father, John adult a reputation for violent rages which pb to him foaming at the mouth. Henry left no land to John when he died and so John was given the nick-proper noun John Lackland. In 1189, all of Henry's territory went to his oldest son, Richard I, better known as Richard the Lionheart.

In 1191, Richard left England to commence on the Tertiary Crusade. He left John in charge of the country. John's reputation every bit a leader had been severely dented as far back as 1185 when Henry II sent him to Republic of ireland to rule. John proved to be a disaster and within six months he was sent domicile.

In 1192, Richard was imprisoned past Duke Leopold of Austria as he returned from the Crusades. John tried to seize the crown from his blood brother but failed. In 1194, when Richard finally returned to England, John was forgiven by his blood brother.

In 1199, Richard was killed in France and John became the king of England. His reign started in an unfortunate way. In 1202, John'south nephew, Arthur of Brittany, was murdered. Many in Brittany believed that John was responsible for his murder and they rebelled against John. In 1204, John'south army was defeated in Brittany and John had no choice but to retreat. His military standing among the nobles fell and he was given a new nickname – John Softsword. The defeat in northward France was a major accident for John and a costly 1. To pay for the defeat, John increased taxes which was not popular with everyone other than John and his treasurers.

John also succeeded in falling out with the pope in 1207. John quarreled with the pope over who should be Archbishop of Canterbury. The pope excommunicated John and put England under a Church constabulary that stated that no christening or marriage would exist legal until the time the pope said that they would be. Church law said that only christened people could go to Heaven while children born out of marriage were doomed to Hell. This placed people in England under a terrible strain and they blamed 1 person for this – John.

In 1213, John had to requite in and surrender the spiritual well-being of the whole country to the pope. Still, the pope never fully trusted John and in 1214, the pope proclaimed that everyone who tried to overthrow John would exist legally entitled to do so. In the same year, John lost another battle to the French at Bouvines. This defeat resulted in England losing all her possessions in France. This was too much for the powerful barons in England. In 1214, they rebelled.

John was forced to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215. This guaranteed the people of England rights that the male monarch could not go dorsum on. In 1216, John tried to go dorsum on the Magna Carta but this only provoked the barons into declaring war on him. By 1216, John was ill. During the state of war, he suffered from dysentery. He also lost all of his treasure when he tried to have a shortcut across a stretch of water in the Wash, Lincolnshire. As the tide rose faster than he expected, his baggage train was engulfed. Merely a few days subsequently, John died and was succeeded past Henry III.

Despite the obvious failings of John, there is notwithstanding some testify that he was not equally bad as some have tried to make him out to exist since his death. It certainly was not uncommon for kings to have their names tarnished when they were not alive to defend themselves!

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