John was born at Beaumont Palace in Oxford , certainly in 1166 , not 1167 , as has been claimed . King Henry and Queen Eleanor were not together during the nine months preceding December 1167, but in March 1166. In addition, Jean was born in Oxford to Christmas , but Eleanor and Henry spent Christmas in Normandy in 1167. The canon of Laon , writing a century later, stated that John was named after the apostle John , whose feast day is celebrated on December 27. Dicet Raoul also believes that John was born in 1166 and that Queen Eleanor who chooses his first name.

It was the half-brother of Marie de France and Alix de France , girls born during the first marriage of his mother with Louis VII of France , brother of William, Count of Poitiers , of Henry the Younger , of Matilda d England , of Richard Lion heart of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany , of Eleanor of England and Joan of England , Queen of Sicily.

Youth

While John was the favorite son of Henry, being the youngest he could expect a significant share of the inheritance. Family life was tumultuous, his older brothers coming into rebellion against their father in 1173-1174. Henry had Eleanor imprisoned in 1173, when Jean was a child.

Her mother gave part of his education at the Abbey of Fontevraud . In 1185, his father sent him to govern the lordship of Ireland , he was forced to leave after only eight months. For his insolence, he had managed to alienate the Irish. However, he kept his father's favor, a favor which caused the revolt of his brother Richard in 1188. Finally, John gave the king to support the rebel. Henry II died shortly after this betrayal, in July 1189.

Richard became the new king of England. Shortly before his coronation in September 1189, he made John Count of Mortain . The County of Mortain is a set of land lying in Normandy and England (Cornwall) . On 29 August 1189 , he married Isabella of Gloucester , Countess of Gloucester and became his right count. Shortly after his accession to the throne in 1199 , he got rid of his wife by the marriage void by Pope Innocent III because of consanguinity (they were second cousins, both descendants of Henry ^I of England ).

The absence of Richard the Lionheart

During Richard's absence, when the Third Crusade between 1190 and 1194 , John tried to overthrow William of Longchamps, Bishop of Ely , appointed regent by Richard. This is one of the events that led later writers to portray him as a traitor in their accounts of the legend of Hereward the Exile , which became Robin Hood , who is originally a century before the time of John.

John was more popular than Longchamp in London and in October 1191 , the chief citizens of London opened its doors in the city, while Longchamp was imprisoned in the Tower. John promised the city to grant him the right to govern itself in return for recognition as heir presumptive to Richard . On his return from the Crusade, Richard was captured by Leopold V , duke of Austria and imprisoned by Emperor Henry VI. It was said that John had sent a letter to Henry asking him to keep Richard away from England as long as possible, but fans of Richard paid with a ransom for his release because they thought that John would be a bad king. Upon his return to England in 1194 , Richard forgave John and designated as his heir.

Many historians argue that John had not attempted to overthrow Richard, but, instead, doing his best to improve the situation of a country ruined by excessive taxes levied by Richard to finance the crusade. It is more likely that this image of treason committed to the character of John is coming later, by the pens of monks writers outraged by his refusal to take part in the Fourth Crusade.

The reign

Conflict with the King of France and Arthur of Brittany

When Richard the Lionheart died on 6 April 1199 , during the siege of the castle of Chalus-Chabrol in the Limousin, John was recognized duke of Normandy on April 25 in Rouen and crowned king of England on May 27 in London but not all were willing to acknowledge. Several watched his young nephew, Arthur I of Brittany , son of his brother Geoffrey, as the rightful heir. And indeed it was. Son of the third son of Henry II, Geoffrey, died in 1186, he prevailed in the list of succession to the crown of England on his uncle John, the fourth son of Henry II. But Arthur was young (he was only twelve years old in 1199, the death of his royal uncle) and seemed not to be equal in the eyes of Richard the Lion Heart, John and his grandmother Eleanor Aquitaine. Arthur went in competing against his uncle and claimed the throne with the support of King Philip Augustus. The conflict between Arthur and King John had fatal consequences. By the treaty of Goulet , in May 1200 , recognized Jean Philippe Arthur cons, and both rulers agreed to terms on conditions of vassalage to John about Normandy and Anjou territories. However, peace was ephemeral.

The blunders of John against some barons of Poitou led them to seek redress from the king of France, Jean overlord for his continental possessions. In 1202 , John was summoned to the court of France to answer the charges against him. One of them was the fact that he kidnapped the young Isabella of Angouleme , the only daughter of Aymar Taillefer , Count of Angouleme , then betrothed to Hugh X de Lusignan , married to the 24 August 1200 at Bordeaux. Faced with this treason , Hugh IX of Lusignan , the father of the young Hugh X, then called the King of France. Asked to justify himself before the court of Philip the 28 April 1202 , John does not appear. According to feudal law, the king of France delivered the commission - forfeiture - of his property Continental (1202). He still had possession of these territories. Uprisings, inspired by Philip burst into Anjou, Touraine and Poitou, Maine, he also threw Arthur of Brittany at the head of a troop to attack Anjou.

Before waging war on the continent, in 1203 , John ordered all shipyards in England (including the interior, as in Gloucester ) to provide at least one boat, several cities, such as the new naval base of Portsmouth , with responsibility for several projects. He made Portsmouth the new headquarters of the Navy (kings Anglo-Saxon , as Edward the Confessor , had royal port to Sandwich in Kent ). In late 1204 , forty-five large galleys were available, with an average of four new ships per year. It also created an admiralty four admirals to command the new navy. During the reign of John, significant improvements were made in the design of boats, including the addition of sails and removable front castles. He also created the first big transport ships, called Buisses. John is sometimes credited with the founding of the Royal Navy today. The evidence we have on this navy came from official records of the time, which explains that these successes were completely ignored by the chroniclers and early historians.

As part of the war, Arthur attempted to seize his grandmother, Eleanor of Aquitaine , which do not admit that it has its areas, had sided with his son and had just left Fontevrault to Poitiers. Besieged in the castle of Mirebeau , she was rescued by John, who, taking troops from the rear of Arthur, annihilates the ¹ April 1203 and captured his nephew . Arthur was imprisoned first at Falaise and then at Rouen. No one is sure what happened to Arthur later. According to the Annals of Margam, on 3 April 1203 : "After King John had captured Arthur and was thrown alive for some time in prison in the castle of Rouen ... as John had been drinking, he killed Arthur with his own hand and threw the body attached to a heavy stone into the Seine. . However, Hubert de Burgh , the officer commanding the Rouen fortress, claimed to have delivered Arthur around Easter 1203 , agents of the king, sent to castrate; Arthur died after the operation. Subsequently, Hubert recanted and said that Arthur was still alive, but nobody ever saw Arthur alive, and the rumor of his assassination provoked in Britain, then in Normandy, a revolt against Jean.

Besides Arthur, John also captured his niece, Eleanor of Brittany. Eleanor remained a prisoner for the rest of his life (which ended in 1241 ) by this gesture, John acquired a reputation for ruthlessness.

Hoping to avoid trouble in England and Wales , while he would fight off to recover his French possessions, Jean formed in 1205 an alliance by marrying his illegitimate daughter, Joan, the Prince of Wales Llywelyn the Great.

In three years, the King of France Philip Augustus was able to capture a good half of the continental possessions of the King of England, particularly of Normandy and of Anjou (1204-1205). Chateau Gaillard fell on 6 March 1204 , Rouen on June 24 , while Britons furious at the murder of Arthur, burning the Mont Saint-Michel . The " Plantagenet empire "had created her father was seriously cut.

Portrait of King John of England in the Historia Anglorum (1250-1259), British Library, Royal

Relations with Bordeaux

In 1203 , John exempted the citizens and merchants of Bordeaux from the "Great Custom", which was the main tax on their exports. In exchange, the regions of Bordeaux, Bayonne and Dax pledged themselves to support him against the Capetian kings. This measure gave only Gascon merchants free access to wine market in England at first. In subsequent years, John granted the same privileges to La Rochelle and Poitou .

John and the Papacy

After death, 13 July 1205 , Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury , the monks of the cathedral chapter only assert a right to elect his successor. However, the English bishops and King had an interest in the choice of this strategic function. The king wished to see access to the office his friend John Gray , Bishop of Norwich. For their part, the monks, who supported the candidacy of Reginald, one of them, elected him secretly. A second election imposed by John resulted in another election. When the two candidates following appeared in Rome , Pope Innocent III disavowed any other and devoted an English theologian, Stephen Langton , despite the objections of the ambassadors of John. Innocent went so off the king's rights to choose their own vassals. The English barons and many bishops supported him and the king refused to accept Langton.

John expelled the monks of Canterbury Cathedral in July 1207 and Langton refused entry to England. In response, the Pope uttered the forbidden kingdom on the 23 March 1208. John reacted immediately confiscating church property, on behalf of the breakdown of feudal oath. The Pope, however, was aware of the dangers that the withdrawal of the Church posed to people's faith and gave permission to several churches to host their flocks in 1209. In 1212 , he allowed last rites to the dying. Despite its weight, the ban does not reach any rebellion against John.

In November 1209, John himself was excommunicated, and in February 1213 , Innocent threatened to take tougher measures if John did not submit. In May 1213 , he was obliged to submit to a humiliating surrender in the presence of the papal legate (according to Matthew Paris , church of the Templars of Dover ): The favorite of the pope, Stephen Langton, was admitted as archbishop, John was pay compensation to the clergy and to recognize a vassal of the Pope, while agreeing to pay him tribute every year equivalent to about one-sixtieth of direct taxes in the kingdom (1000 marks the annual, 700 for England and 300 for Ireland ) . With this submission, formalized in the Bulla Aurea (Golden Bull), John could get the support of the Pope in the quarrel that opposed the English barons.

Feud with the barons

King John of England signed the Magna Carta

Having successfully defeated the Welsh rebellion in 1211 and resolved its dispute with the papacy, John turned his attention to its continental interests. Allied with Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV , his nephew, against the king of France, he landed in 1214 with an army to La Rochelle. After making Rochefort-sur-Loire its base of operations , he was defeated by the son of Philippe Auguste , Louis , the Roche aux Moines (in fact he did not fight but chose to flee before the enemy) while Otto was losing the battle of Bovines. Defeated, Jean had to accept an unfavorable peace with the King of France.

This failure and that peace led to the revolt of the barons (several had already rebelled against him after his excommunication). He met their leaders at Runnymede , near London , on 15 June 1215 , where he signed the Magna Carta in Latin called Magna Carta , a document limiting the royal powers. Through this charter, which is one of the foundations of British democracy, the monarchy in England is now absolute. Claiming to have signed under duress, John decided, with the Pope's approval, to resume his speech. Discontented part of the English barons offered the crown to Louis , the son of Philip Augustus. However, the latter, he succeeded in landing on the island in 1216 , failed to conquer the kingdom offered to him. John crossed the country to oppose the rebel forces, notably during the two-month siege against the castle of Rochester.

Death

Retreating before the forces of Prince Louis, John borrowed a clear road to the country's swampy Wash. , to avoid the rebel region of East Anglia. Slower, however, the baggage train (including the crown jewels ), took a direct route through the region, where it was swept by a tide unexpectedly. This loss caused John a great sadness that affected his health and state of mind. Suffering from dysentery and moving in small steps, he stayed overnight at the castle of Sleaford , before dying in the night of 18 to 19 October 1216 at Newark Castle in Nottinghamshire (at that time, in Lincolnshire , now on the border of Nottinghamshire with the county). Soon, many stories, all fictional, circulated after his death, saying he was murdered, killed by the poisoned beer or plums, or "excess fishing" .

Buried in the cathedral of Worcester , he became the first king of Dynasty Plantagenet to be buried in England.

He left a son aged nine, who succeeded him in the name of Henry III of England. Although Louis might continue to claim the English throne, the barons swore allegiance to new king, forcing the prince to renounce his French projects and to sign the Treaty of Lambeth in 1217.

Unions and progeny

On 29 August 1189 , John married Isabella of Gloucester , daughter and heiress of William Fitz Robert ^, 2nd Earl of Gloucester , with whom he had no children. Shortly after his accession to the throne in 1199, he made the marriage void by Pope Innocent III because of inbreeding. Isabelle then married Geoffrey de Mandeville, then Hubert de Burgh.

John remarried in Bordeaux , on 24 August 1200 , with Isabella of Angouleme , twenty years his junior, daughter of Aymer Taillefer, Count of Angouleme , then was crowned Queen of England at Westminster on October 8 . John had removed when she was betrothed to Hugh X of Lusignan. Together they had five children:

• Henri (1207 - 1272) who succeeded him,
• Richard of Cornwall (1209 - 1272), who in 1231 married Isabella of Pembroke ( 1240). In 1243, he married Sancha de Provence (1228 - 1261) daughter of Raymond Berenger V Count of Provence. In 1269, he married Beatrice of Falkenstein (1253? - 1277), and has a legitimate daughter,
• Joan of England (1210-1238), who married in 1221 Alexander II of Scotland (1214-1249)
• Isabella of England (1214 - 1241), who married in 1235 Frederick II , German Emperor (1194-1250)
• Eleanor of England (1215 - 1275), who married in 1224 William Pembroke (1190-1231) and then remarried in 1239 Simon de Montfort V (1208 - 1265), Earl of Leicester.

The chroniclers of his time to give John a taste very sensual, adding various embellishments for their story. Matthew Paris accuses him of being envious of many of his barons and seducing their daughters and sisters more attractive. Roger Wendover describes an incident that took place when Jean fell in love with Margaret, the wife of Eustace Vesci and illegitimate daughter of King William I of Scotland. Eustace would have placed a prostitute instead of his wife at the time, taking advantage of the darkness of the night, the king would become a bed of Margaret and the next morning, when John would come brag to Vesci gifts of his wife in bed, Vesci have confessed the deception and would have fled.

John had several illegitimate children:

• Joan , Princess of Wales, wife of Prince Llywelyn Fawr of Wales
• Richard Fitz Roy , (with Adela, daughter of his uncle Hamelin de Warenne )
• Oliver FitzRoy, (with a mistress named Hawise) who accompanied him in 1218 the papal legate Pelayo to Damietta , where he never returned.

One or more teacher (s) unknown (s), John also had several other children:

• Geoffrey FitzRoy, who took part in the expedition of Poitou in 1205, where he died.
• John FitzRoy, became clerk in 1201.
• Henry FitzRoy, who died in 1245.
• Osbert Gifford, who received land in Oxfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk , and in Sussex , and lived until at least 1216.
• Eudes FitzRoy, who accompanied his half-brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall and died on a crusade to the Holy Land in 1241.
• Bartholomew FitzRoy, a member of the Order of Preachers.
• Maud FitzRoy, abbess of Barking , died in 1252.
• Isabel FitzRoy, wife of Richard Fitz Ives.
• Philip FitzRoy, still alive in 1263.

The Norman French nickname FitzRoy means son of the king (cf. Fitz ).

Reputation and overview

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John signed the Magna Carta. Original fresco by Ernest Normand (1900). Reproduction of 1910.

The reign of King John is traditionally regarded as the most disastrous in English history: it begins with the loss of Normandy to Philip Augustus in its first five-year reign ended with England and sinking into civil war itself is ready to be forced to relinquish power. In 1213, he made England a fief for papal resolve the conflict which opposes the church , and his barons in rebellion forced him to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, the act for which he remains the most remembered. Several historians have argued, however, that the government of Jean was neither better nor worse than that of kings Richard ^I or Henry III , adding that he spent (unlike Richard) the majority of his reign in England. However, his reputation remains so flawed that no English monarch has not named John, his heir apparent.

In the administration of his kingdom, John was a competent ruler, but he won the disapproval of the English barons by taxing them beyond the traditional rules of feudal suzerainty. The tax known as the "scutage", which was paid in exchange for the fighters that we could provide (as required by feudal law) became particularly unpopular. King John was a fair and knowledgeable. Many complainants appealed to the royal justice .

John of England in the literature

John of England is represented in many accounts. It is found in the room of William Shakespeare , King John , in the novel by Sir Walter Scott , Ivanhoe , in the novel by Thomas Love Peacock , Maid Marian , and other versions of the legend of Robin Hood where he is usually represented at the time of his regency in the absence of Richard, and cited as "Prince John". It appears again in the cycle entitled The River of Eternity of Philip Jose Farmer , where he is the archetypal cruel tyrant and calculator.

External Links

• (En) Graph of the family tree of John's children
• (In) Tomb of King John
• (En) The Great Charter (Magna Carta) or Great Charter of Liberties of England, 15 June 1215.
• (En) John Lackland, king of chess! on Historia Nostra

Sources

Bibliography

• WL Warren, King John, Yale University Press, 1997, 376 p.
• Frank Barlow, The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042-1216, London , Longman, 1972, 475 p.
• C. Warren Hollister, Medieval Europe: A Short History, McGraw-Hill, 1994, 456 p.
• Matthew Paris, the great chronicle of England, Volume 4 John Lackland 1199-1216, Paleo Publishing Collection Sources of English History, 2004

References

Preceded by	Jean	Followed by
Richard I.	King of England 1199-1216	Henry III
Richard I.	Duke of Normandy 1199-1204	Royal domain of the crown of France

Chronology of the Dukes of Normandy and jarls of 911 to 1204

911 927 943 996 1026 1027 1035 1087 Rollo William I Richard I. Richard II Richard III Robert I. William the Conqueror

1087 1106 1135 1144 1150 1189 1199 1204 Robert II Courteheuse Henry I Stephen Geoffroy Henry II Richard IV John Lackland

Portal Normandy Duchy of Normandy Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte Conquest of England

English monarchs and the British since 1066
Normans	1066 William I the Conqueror 1087 William II 1100 Henry I 1135 Stephen of Blois 1141 Empress Matilda 1141 Stephen of Blois
Plantagenet	1154 Henri II 1170 Young Henry 1189 Richard I Lion Heart 1199 1216 John Lackland Henry III in 1272 Edward I 1307 Edward II 1327 Edward III 1377 Richard II 1399 Henry IV 1413 Henry V 1422 Henry VI 1461 Edward IV 1471 Henri VI 1471 Edward IV 1483 Edward V 1483 Richard III
Tudor	1485 Henry VII 1509 Henry VIII 1547 Edward VI 1553 Jeanne 1553 Mary I and Philip 1558 Elizabeth I
Stuart	1603 Jacques I. 1625 Charles I ( English Interregnum from 1649 to 1660) 1660 Charles II 1685 Jacques II 1688 Mary II and William III 1702 Anne
Hanover	1714 George I 1727 George II 1760 George III 1820 George IV 1830 William IV 1837 Victoria
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha	1901 Edward VII
Windsor	1910 George V 1936 Edward VIII 1936 George VI 1952 Elizabeth II
Kings Stuart are also kings of Scotland

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