King John - Magna Carta, Treachery & Tyranny Documentary

[Music] the man known to history as king john was born during christmas tide in 1166 near either london or oxford john was the eighth and last child and the fifth boy born to his parents john's father was king henry ii of england born on the 5th of march 1133 the eldest son to jeffrey countavon jude terrain and maine in what is today france john's mother eleanor of aquitaine was born in 1122 near bordeaux she was the eldest daughter of william the tenth of aquitaine and eno of chatelaireau her father took special pride in his precocious

daughter who not only received a traditional female education but was taught to read and write latin in addition she learned the workings of government first hand by sitting at her father's side as he managed his holdings when her father died in 1137 eleanor found herself in a precarious situation and needed assistance to protect her father's lands she appealed to king louis vi who promptly betrothed her to his son the king died soon after and louis vii and eleanor were crowned king and queen on christmas day 11 37 although they had two daughters it was a

loveless marriage largely because louis vii was so pious indeed he had intended to be a monk in march of 1152 the council under the archbishop of sauls declared their marriage annulled on the grounds that they were third cousins this released eleanor to find a husband to her liking she did not wait long eight weeks after her divorce she married a man she had seen paying homage to her then husband the year before henry duke of normandy they married in may of 1152 and were destined to become the stuff of legend they were the ultimate power

couple ambitious headstrong and formidable it proved to be a tumultuous yet fruitful relationship eleanor bore eight children five boys and three girls for her sons she was not only a force to reckon with but also a powerful influence on their lives during john's lifetime there were no true nation states as we know them today only a series of ducal and baronial land holdings controlled by powerful leaders who continually fought each other for the right to rule and to expand their power base a king was only the most powerful baron in that region and could be

overthrown at any moment by another baron through armed conflict society was organized around a hierarchical structure what philosophers called the great chain of being in this great chain were three main links those who work these being the peasants and artisans those who fight such as kings nobles and knights and those who pray including the christian clergy bishops and the pope in addition to these divisions there were those who were free or not bound to the land and those who were unfree serfs who were bound to the land controlled by a king baron or bishop and

did his bidding in addition to these layers there was also a hierarchy of obligation where the king could ask his barons for soldiers and resources to help him wage war and those barons would then press those below him for the people and goods needed to fulfill this feudal commitment those who suffered most during conflicts were those who worked or were bound to the land because the powerful considered them expendable women also played a limited role in society only those women connected to powerful men through marriage or family ties or those who served as nuns could

have any significant influence on historical events such as john's mother eleanor who knew how to pull the levers of power and wield military force as well as any man she was the exception however most women served as pawns in the power games of men who routinely used marriage as a way to gain control over more land or build key political connections because of this most women of this time remain anonymous to us today during this period society also experienced explosive population growth that exerted new pressures resulting in heightened creativity economic growth and increased wealth to

accommodate this change huge trade networks formed all over europe and into africa and asia christian religious art and gothic architecture achieved some of their greatest magnificence innovative ideas in political philosophy likewise blossomed these developments changed how people saw their world and their role within it a few of these political ideas led to the societal thunderbolt known today as the magna carta which had lasting implications on how government should be structured including the enduring ideal that no one was above the law not even a king being the fifth son john was not given much consideration by

his father on matters of inheritance and marriage in fact his father would joke that john was sors terre hence the sobriquet lackland that would follow jon throughout his life as a small child john was taken to the monastery at fontevro near chino france accompanied by his sister joan pontevro had some unique attributes that made it possible for john to receive the very best in literate education at that time first it was founded by robert of abricelle whose preaching attracted women from all walks of life he became so popular that in around 1101 he established a

unique benedictine monastery that housed both men and women but unlike most other church structures here it was the women who supervised the men secondly it received patronage from the counts of honju and was considered their spiritual home elena's family also had a connection there john and his sister joan were not abandoned but instead were surrounded and supported by people who functioned as an extension of their immediate family it was an important enough place to the family that eleanor henry ii richard the first and several of john's sisters were buried there it was a perfect place

for john to get the rudiments of education in a nurturing environment john learned to read and write both latin and french based upon the books he owned we know he had a grounding in topics such as astronomy geography biology agriculture medicine and pharmaceuticals the properties of metal and stone art and painting john had a lifelong fascination with gemstones which were often given to him as gifts from those seeking his favor in addition he had read widely in philosophy and literature including authors like pliny saint augustine and hugh of saint victor he played chess regularly and

loved to hunt according to some historians john was probably one of the best educated men of his ear furthermore he was not completely alienated from his family he did travel to england and to other parts of the realm for holidays and important ceremonies at age 12 his family sent john to live with the household of ranoff de glonville a trusted member of henry ii's government and the man who served as his justicia or chief minister in charge of administration in england when he was away on the continent de glanville was a powerful man and expert

in government administration and finance he even wrote a manual titled the treaties on the laws and customs of england by living in this man's household john learned important lessons in finance taxation and administration that he would bring with him when he ruled as king he also learned from glanville how to manipulate that system for gain even if it meant misrepresenting the facts or destroying others without just cause in order to reach some larger objective it is striking that although john did have an education in the martial arts and could fight it had never been the

focus of his education unlike his older brothers this would have profound implications during his rule what he gained from his education was an expertise in administration having taken his lessons from de glanville to heart john's grandmother on his father's side was matilda the daughter of henry the first king of england and granddaughter of william the conqueror she was her father's sole legitimate heir when her father died in 1135 the barons who had sworn fealty to her reneged on their allegiance and placed her cousin stephen on the throne she fought a bitter civil war over the

next 20 years known as the anarchy trying to regain the throne that was rightfully hers in 1144 her husband jeffrey conquered normandy in 1150 jeffrey passed the title of duke of normandy onto his son henry who was then 17 years old henry had come of age during this conflict and the lessons he learned during the anarchy created a formidable person both in military prowess and in political adeptness he married eleanor of aquitaine in 1152 adding one of the wealthiest regions in what would later become france to his land holdings the following year henry invaded england

to claim his mother's birthright when stephen's only son died later that year he declared henry as his heir to the throne of england stephen died in october 1154 and henry assumed the throne later that same year on the 19th of december in a ceremony at westminster abbey henry now controlled land from the border with scotland and the north to the pyrenees in the south more than any other king at that time this made him one of the wealthiest landholders in europe and as a result the most powerful ruler in christendom although henry ii was technically

a vassal to the king of france since he only ruled as a duke or count over his continental holdings and was obligated to pay homage he chose to ignore this legal technicality and function as if he were king over all of his territory much to the annoyance of the french kings energetic and authoritative henry spent his entire reign restoring order after the anarchy consolidating power and creating bureaucratic systems to manage his vast land holdings and raising funds to support his government and the army that enforced it this governmental system laid the foundations for what would

happen during john's reign henry also deftly managed many conflicts as king including a rebellion of his sons and wife although he had five sons only two outlived him richard nicknamed the lionheart and john although john was the youngest son henry had not forgotten about him in fact there is some evidence that john was his favorite son yet henry had an equity problem having already divided his lands between his other three living sons because the treaty of montmerry required him to do so he lacked additional land to give john so he looked to marriage as a

way to ensure his youngest son's inheritance even though john was only six henry betrothed him to alice heiress of humbert iii count of mauryan and savoy at the time it was a good political move for henry but alice died the following year in 1174 while henry beat back a rebellion led by his sons and wife once he pacified his sons imprisoned his wife and restored order in his kingdom he searched for another solution for john's livelihood henry took advantage of the deaths of reginald earl of cornwall and william earl of gloucester since neither one had

sired sons who could inherit their lands he betrothed isabella of gloucester to john set aside maintenance funds for the other girls and gave the estates to john then he realized the perfect solution might be found to the west in ireland he had acted there before having invaded in 1155 and again in 1171 following these invasions a few english barons had established estates there in 1177 henry called a council at oxford with the express purpose of pronouncing john as king of ireland at only 10 years old john received direct homage from the english barons with irish

holdings even so he remained largely uninvolved in his father's court this changed in 1183 john's brothers were jockeying for dominance on the continent in this case literally waging war on one another richard resented the fact that henry the oldest living brother had been crowned the young king with his coronation in 1170. during one engagement the young king became ill with dysentery and died on the 11th of june 1183 suddenly the whole inheritance situation fell apart henry made richard his direct heir giving him the lands that henry the young king had held john was to receive

aquitaine which had been under richard's control this reshuffling proved a disaster as richard refused to give up aquitaine having garnered support from the people there neither richard nor henry would yield on this issue that winter henry ordered john and his older brother jeffrey to wage war on richard the two brothers made little headway against their more skilled older brother yet this skirmish bought henry time to rethink the situation his solution was to bring all three sons to england with the excuse that a new archbishop had to be chosen the real intent however was to present

a public show of unity among himself and his sons when the new archbishop presented the kiss of peace on all four men it strengthened the appearance of solidarity henry then sent jeffrey to normandy and kept richard and john with him in england it was clear to richard he would not be moving directly into henry's role as the new young king however as far as henry was concerned with the situation modified for now it was time to revisit ireland although the pope had yet to agree to john's becoming king of ireland henry pressed ahead anyway settling

on the title of lord of ireland for his son like much of europe at that time ireland was not governed as a nation but was instead in a constant political turmoil with boundaries of kingdoms continually shifting while the english had established some centers of dominance their hold was precarious henry's representative there was hugh de lacy who controlled the irish kingdom of meath and the city of dublin through sheer determination and active involvement in irish politics delasi also gained control of leinster under orders from henry preparations to travel to ireland began in earnest in the summer

of 1184 including sending john cummin the archbishop of dublin with instructions to prepare for john's arrival philip of worcester a key military leader under henry ii became the commander of the expedition on the 31st of march 1185 henry knighted john at windsor castle a clear message to all that john now 18 was ready for adult responsibilities this would prove premature however on april 24th john and his entourage sailed to ireland arriving the following day the young officers in his group approached the irish leaders with disdain poking fun at their huge beards and even going so

far as to tug on them following this display of disrespect these leaders now turned against english rule john compounded the problem further by taking the land of irish supporters as if it were his own and redistributing it to his english cohorts leading to reprisal raids by the irish de lacy who might have modified the situation did little to stop it these conflicts required john to expend the available funds for defense by early autumn he returned to england financially ruined his venture had proved a folly as a result richard rose in henry's eyes a new crisis

hit the onjven dynasty the following year on august the 19th 1186 henry's fourth son jeffrey died during a tournament in paris suddenly john found himself even closer to the throne richard clearly saw the threat john posed to him then to make things even worse for henry the french king philip augustus who had become king in 1180 after his father louis vii had died declared that jeffrey's lands in brittany were to be given back to the french crown if henry failed to relinquish them philip threatened to take normandy by force for the next three years philip

continued to cause trouble richard also pestered his father to declare him official heir even allying himself with philip the situation deteriorated to the point that father and son were at war with each other just before he died on the 6th of july 1189 while on his deathbed henry asked for a list naming all those who had allied themselves against him as the story goes the first name on the list was his favored son john many chroniclers at the time declared it was this shock that killed the king richard's first action as the heir apparent was

to attend the burial of his father at fontrivero he then settled his estates on the continent after richard officially became duke of normandy he returned to england richard knew that john could either be his best friend or his worst foe in an attempt to curry favor richard granted john land in both england and on the continent and permitted him to marry isabella of gloucester on the 3rd of september 1189 richard held his coronation at westminster abbey with both john and their mother eleanor in attendance the next day john along with other nobles of the realm

paid homage and swore failty to the new king richard declared john to be the lord john the king's brother to everyone it appeared that the two brothers would rule england with filial love now richard had to settle his affairs because he had promised the pope he would go on a crusade to the holy land he did not put john in charge because he did not feel his brother was ready for the position he selected two cogestecias instead william de mandeville earl of essex and hugh de prisay bishop of durham both men were older and exceptional

talents in government administration they had also proven consistently loyal to the angevins and more importantly to richard initially richard appointed john as the head of the army john received his first mission which was to pacify a rebellion in south wales led by rhys ap grifford the king of the southern welsh at first things appeared to be going well but then disaster struck william de mandeville died that december and richard now had to find a replacement he appointed william de longshore a long time richard loyalist who had a prickly personality richard's behavior towards john began to

change soon after this appointment the question of naming his heir became even trickier especially as he was losing faith in john but richard did have other options their brother jeffrey had a son named arthur and by the rule of english royal inheritance arthur had a stronger claim although he was only two years old richard's troubles compounded further as his two justice years could not get along early in 1190 he put da puise in charge of the north and appointed de longshore the sole just this year richard then took john to normandy and ordered him to

stay on the continent he would not be permitted to enter england without richard's specific permission richard left on crusade on the 15th of july 1190 and while in sicily declared arthur as his true heir de longstrom continued maneuvering behind the scenes against jon including getting the king of the scots to support arthur's claim to the throne de longshore also placed dupuisei under arrest unaware of de longchamp's behaviour richard asked pope clement iii to make de longshore a legate of the apostolic sea after this he began acting above his station and often behaved as if he

were king at this time he was making powerful enemies including john by the spring of 1191 the conflict between john and de longchamp had become public when de longchamp attacked holdings of john's supporters john counter-attacked he did what he could to keep de longshrom's aggressive behavior at bay when the archbishop of canterbury died confusion erupted over who to appoint richard wanted william of monreal but de los champ wanted the position for himself during this controversy richard began to understand that all was not well in his kingdom he asked one of the men in his group

of crusaders a long-time ongevin supporter who had served four ongevin kings walter of countance to return to england to regain order john continued to play the role of a dutiful brother determined to support richard and his kingdom what finally led to the removal of de longchamp was his arrest and brutal treatment of the archbishop of york after a great council reviewed the events de longchamp was removed as justicia this council also agreed that john be made supreme governor of the whole realm with the consent of walter the archbishop of rumor now the new chief justicia

with the assistance of william marshall another trusted orangevin supporter who had served in many key government posts under henry ii de longchamp protested mightily against his ill treatment and declared his downfall the result of the scheming john john found himself in the seat of power and knew that richard might not return from the crusade so he began to solidify his support being careful not to make de longchamps mistakes the realm appeared quiet and secure for a short time under john's care until philip augustus now king of france returned early from the third crusade although richard

and he had made a peace treaty while they were on crusade philip chose not to keep his word and began maneuvering to take back lambs from the english king that he felt rightfully belonged to him rumors flew about john and who he might truly support de longchamp even reappeared briefly under a bribing scheme that john supposedly used to gain supporters some rumors hinted that john had gone over to phillip's side in an attempt to take the throne richard left the holy land on the 9th of october 1192. he made great progress until he was captured

near vienna by duke leopold of austria who passed him to the holy roman emperor henry vi who held richard hostage and demanded a ransom to be paid for his release john learned about this in january of 1193 his impulsive nature failed him this time for he thought that this meant that richard might never return and it was his chance to claim the throne john went to paris to create an alliance with king philip then returned to england and did the same with the king of scots eleanor his mother built up the defenses along the coast

in kent and prepared to repel flemish or french invaders philip attacked normandy only to be repelled civil war broke out in england but was stopped by the new archbishop of canterbury hubert walter who had instructions on how the ransom was to be paid he insisted that the effort now had to be the raising of the necessary funds to get richard released resulting in john leaving england to meet with philip in order to reestablish the truths between the king and richard in the end henry vi released richard on the 4th of february 1194. in april john

and richard met in lisiere with their mother mediating john begged forgiveness and richard provided a patronizing response to his younger brother according to chroniclers he said john have no fear you are a child and you had bad men looking after you despite john being 27 years old both richard and eleanor did not see good things in john eleanor said that john had the shallow mind of an adolescent richard's assessment that john lacked the ability to stand up to someone who opposed him proved prophetic richard pulled lands away from john as punishment it took time for

richard to forgive john for his betrayal but eventually he did john gradually played more important roles in richard's court starting in may 1195 when richard returned john's lands to him in gloucester and morton by trade coffee trade connects people with the country's best craft roasters to help them find their own personal perfect cup of coffee we took the quiz on their website to find out our perfect coffee we got peru inca from drink coffee do stuff with notes of chocolate nuts and ripe fruit it's delicious for freshly roasted coffee that you will love try trade

they are awesome they send you the beans ground or whole and they ship them to you for free so you can have your perfect coffee in the comfort of your own home plus they guarantee you'll love your first order or they will replace it for free trades coffee expert team taste test thousands of coffees and limit this to 450 of the best which are ready to ship fresh to you every day right now trade is offering new subscribers a total of thirty dollars off your first order plus free shipping when you go to drinktrade.com peopleprofiles

or click the link in the description below that's more than 40 cups of coffee for free get started by taking their quiz at drinktrade.com peopleprofiles and let trade find you a coffee you'll love that's drinktrade.com peopleprofiles for 30 off by july 1197 richard had forgiven john for his poor judgment and declared that he was to be his preferred successor john received more land grants and other signs of favor from his brother john also began to pull powerful allies around him including two men hubert walter and william marshall the rumor that jon had fallen into phillips

camp never died in early 1199 philip told richard this and showed him some documents that backed up his claim when john heard of this accusation he sent two nights to the french court to repudiate the charges richard was relieved by this and again declared john his true and only heir it proved an important moment as on the 6th of april 1199 richard died of gangrene after being hit by a crossbow bolt in his shoulder while attacking the castle of shalu chabrol in limosa although richard's wishes had to be taken into consideration it did not mean

that powerful men had to honour them it did not help that richard throughout his reign had been fickle in his opinion on the matter presenting both arthur and otter brunswick the son of their sister matilda as possible heirs during this succession confusion elena made sure that john received the region of aquitaine another problem stemmed from the fact that no one in the realm fully trusted john especially after his power grab during richard's captivity it took the stellar reputations of hubert walter and william marshall to ensure john obtained the english crown and with it the onjven

lands on the 25th of april john was invested as the duke of normandy his mother then moved to secure the rest of the continental lands meanwhile philip moved his troops against normandy but failed to make any headway john hurriedly sailed to england to secure his position as king on the 27th of may 1199 ascension day john became the anointed king of england crowned by hubert walter at westminster abbey after he received oaths of allegiance from his barons and established his administration it was time to address outstanding issues on the continent namely arthur at this time

english kings had a peculiar relationship with the king of france they did not have full control over the angevin lands but had to pay homage to the king of france this is why john always signed his letters as king of england lord of ireland duke of normandy and aquitaine and count of onju for obvious reasons this created great strain between the two rulers and philip augustus unlike his forebears had determined he would fight until he had returned all angevin continental lands to his direct control removing the component of the english king if possible or finding

a more pliable puppet if not philip saw the perfect tool to do so by supporting arthur as the true heir to the english throne for john although he served as the king of england his ancestral heart was in and aquitaine so losing these lands would hurt him personally john headed to normandy to meet with philip their three-day meeting started on the 17th of august and did not go as either one would have liked philip did not negotiate in good faith and made it clear whom he had chosen to support since arthur paid homage to philip

for his control over honju puerto main terrain brittany and normandy philip insisted that john relinquish control over these lands especially the most eastern portion of normandy the vexa the vexa region had been fought over for years because the river seine which connected paris with the sea flowed through there for philip's security it was critical that the french king controlled it but john balked at all of philip's demands it was clear that john had to marshal his continental supporters to block attacks from philip john also contacted foreign leaders for their support including the count of flanders

as well as his nephew otto of brunswick by august john had received enough homage from many of richard's former supporters in his continental realms that it appeared that he had the upper hand when philip tried to test their resolve such as in le mans john's supporters repelled his attack john at one point almost had arthur in his grasp until he and his mother fled back to britain john also used his time to arrange for himself a new wife after his marriage to isabella of gloucester had been annulled due to their being related soon after his

coronation he settled on 12 year old isabella daughter of the count of angulem and eres to his lambs isabella was already betrothed to count hugh lebron of the lucion family but that did not seem to deter john because he saw the alliance with her father as strategically expedient he failed to consider that he might alienate the powerful lucio clan by his actions john would pay for his impulsiveness since john had now solidified his control over the southern portion of his realm he focused on addressing the issue of who controlled normandy john and philip met in

a place called le goulet the resulting treaty of lagulae completed in may 1200 proved to be a triumph for john not only did philip acknowledge that john was richard's rightful heir but it also placed brittany firmly in the hands of john with his nephew arthur obligated to pay him homage moreover jon retained his claim on both puerto and onju for these benefits jon gave philip some key concessions these included john's refusal to aid his nephew otto in his struggle against philip the counts in flanders and bologna had to pay homage to the french king and

the treaty instituted a complete ban on castle building throughout normandy he also agreed to pay philip fees of 20 000 mark sterling although they established a new border in the vexa neither side got what they wanted to cement the deal john's niece blanche daughter of his sister eleanor was betrothed to philip's son and heir louie john pleased with his diplomatic work headed south to collect his bride lebron furious that no one consulted him nor compensated him for his financial loss switched to arthur's camp john and isabella were hastily married on st bartholomew's day the 24th

of august 1200 at the sao pierre cathedral in ongolem once she reached childbearing age isabella and john would have five children two of them boys not everyone saw john's actions at lagulae or in angulem as a strategic success with the high payment to king philip losing portions of the vexa and other concessions they felt he had given away too much a few resurrected the nickname richard once gave john soft sword implying that he had let philip walk all over him as his brother said john had a hard time standing up to others and john had

made powerful enemies with his impulsive short-sighted actions such as alienating lebron who fermented trouble throughout honju and aquitaine king philip saw an opportunity in this rebellion tensions increased so much that john returned to normandy and began private conversations with philip while remaining polite on the surface philip worked behind the scenes providing support to anyone in the region that asked for his help against john he also began a campaign of defaming john declaring he had mistreated his men and was not fit to rule he insisted that jon gave up his lands in puerto ongju and aquitaine

to emphasize this point he knighted arthur and pronounced him the liege lord of these lands fighting increased since arthur's supporters now had the french king's public support and a reason to fight that is to push jon out it did not help that isabella's father the count of odama died in july elena john's mother clearly understood the gravity of the situation and moved to mirabeau in puerto in august 1202 to manage the war effort only to find herself under siege by her own nephew arthur upon discovering this john dropped everything and raced 90 miles to rescue

her with overwhelming force and surprise on their side john managed to crush arthur's troops and save his mother an added bonus was his capture of both lebron and arthur yet the troubles did not end there another siege arose at this time it was against shinon where his wife was visiting her mother this rebellion was put down and he and his wife stayed with count robber of says in also thinking all was well they left to head north but phillip had been waiting to pounce the day after john left philip seized this strategic city angered john

moved arthur to raw castle in april 1203 following this arthur disappeared and rumors began to fly around europe some said john tried to talk reason with him but then killed him in a drunken rage throwing him into the seine the more lurid tales included poking out arthur's eyes and cutting off his genitals before disposing of his body in the river following this incident john's bad reputation plummeted even further john now worked to repair the damage on the continent but had little success although he was able to get the new pope innocent iii support to help

mediate his disputes with philip the discussions went nowhere as philip knew he had a chance to remove the english from france he attacked normandy in earnest and removed john as his vassal in this region effectively eliminating his right to the territory the barons there had to choose between following a disgraced duke or upholding their legal duty by supporting their liege lord seeing no other option john returned to england making landfall on the 7th of december 1203 this action was a mistake on two accounts first his supporters who were left behind to continue the fight against

philip felt abandoned by their king second it reinforced the view that john had no backbone john assumed he would be back soon after he had raised funds and marshaled enough troops to continue the fight he also pulled in allies abroad including ottowa brunswick and sent delegations to the pope asking for assistance pope innocent wrote to philip to cease his attack on normandy or face harsh consequences but philip ignored this on the 1st of march 1204 one of the strongest fortresses in normandy fell the chateau gayard by june king philip had full control over normandy and

john had lost all of his continental inheritance at first he had interpreted this as the result of god's anger and tried to appease him through payments to holy houses such as the cistercian abbey of beuli feeling he had bribed god enough he then focused all of his efforts on regaining his inheritance he took everything he had learned from de glanville and began to pull money from his barons the royal forests and even the church in order to raise funds for an invasion force in july the faithful hubert walter the archbishop of canterbury died john saw

this as an opportunity to replace him with a trusted supporter john de gray the bishop of knowledge the monks who usually played a key role in this decision wanted their sub-prior reginald to be the new archbishop instead the pope disagreed on both counts preferring stephen langton who was a scholar of theology in paris and had promoted new ideas about the rights of kings tensions grew however because no one in england wanted langton meanwhile john made preparations to return to puerto throughout 1205 and into 1206. he also worked on a flurry of correspondence with the pope

including sending a delegation to try to persuade the pope to understand that a king must have some say in a political appointment as important as the archbishop of canterbury in june 1206 john set sail to la rochelle his goal was to regain his lost homeland but phillip made sure he did not while john did have some success in regaining gascony and some of puerto he did not pull his father's homeland of anjou away from philip john sailed home with a two-year truce and a better understanding of what kind of military he would need to build

in order to defeat philip throughout 1207 john developed innovative ways to extract funds from his barons church and royal forests to finance an attack on france while he did raise a great deal of money it also led to the decrease of coinage in the country which increased the cost of living hurting everyone financially it was at this time that isabella gave birth to john's first son henry on the 1st of october 1207. pope innocent determined it was time to press john into accepting langton as the new archbishop and had him consecrated john's reaction was a

military one taking canterbury by force innocent sent letters to english barons and bishops insisting they convinced john to accept langton between john also pressing his case and the pope demanding compliance the english bishops split over who to support this was a consequential issue for them as the ability to control who could select leaders in the church was at stake in march 1208 while john prepared again to go to puerto the pope placed england under an interdict which meant that the sacraments could no longer be administered in england denying the populace the comforts of the church

rather than bowing to this pressure as innocent had hoped he might john saw it as an opportunity to seize church property to raise funds for his military campaign in france and to shore up his english defenses he pressed his countrymen for money even harder including calling in all debts from his barons in england threatening to throw them into prison if they failed to pay he even attacked long time supporters such as richard's point man william de bruys and even william marshall john also increased fines and fees for legal actions and violations in royal forests the

situation in england continued to deteriorate when isabella gave birth to their second son richard on the 5th of january 1209. in august john headed north to confront william king of scotland after hearing rumors of an alliance between scotland and france confronted with military force william yielded to john's demands and submitted his country to england through the treaty of norham to ensure william's compliance his two daughters were taken as hostages meanwhile furious that john still refused to yield to his demands innocent excommunicated him in november 1209 placing john in grave political danger in desperation he set

to flush out the enemies in his midst first in 1210 john returned to ireland to collect debts and to reaffirm his control of the region this turned ugly especially john's treatment of debris and fearful of his life debris fled to normandy in response john arrested his wife and son throwing them into the stronghold of cough on the southern coast of england where he starved them to death as the story goes the jailer found them holding each other as they died but it appeared that lady de bruys had nibbled on her son's face in hungary desperation

in 1211 with ireland under his control john then turned to wales where he put down a rebellion led by lewellyn aberworth of gwyneth who was forced to submit to john and recognize him as overlord of wales although these actions appeared to be violent acts of a desperate man john had managed to pull all four countries together under one sovereign for the first time in history by the summer of 1212 john's efforts to build his military and naval fleet had gone well his diplomatic efforts had also borne fruit with agreements with the count of bologna the

duke of limburg the count of flanders and his nephew now emperor otto iv in place to help him defeat philip john felt ready to head back to france to regain his birthright but more pressing issues intruded with the people increasingly exasperated with their excommunicated king and his brutal taxation rumors spread across the country that a prophet peter of wakefield predicted that john could not survive past ascension day the 23rd of may 1213. if this story had not made him paranoid then the discovery of a real plot to murder him surely did hatched by disgruntled northern

nobles the plot was put down but the culprits escaped capture as a result of this incident john realized he had gone too far and began to relax some of his harshest administrative actions john also clearly understood that philip wanted to go beyond sweeping him out of france he wanted to sweep him out of england and was making preparations to achieve this philip could easily acquire the support of the pope to depose an excommunicated king and so in late 1212 john sent representatives to pope innocent to negotiate early compromises were struck including permitting the church to

fill vacancies and the priests could perform last communion on the dying yet innocent insisted that john agree to his terms including allowing langton to become archbishop with the threat of philip on the horizon john capitulated on the 15th of may 1213 john not only submitted to the pope officially via his papal legate pando ferraccio but handed all of england and ireland into the care of the pope and agreed to pay him one thousand marks per year on ascension day 1213 john celebrated his return to the christian fold he had survived the prophecy of his demise

however philip ignored recent events and continued to prepare his ships to sail to england on the 30th of may while philip attacked the city of ghent the english navy pulled up to the near empty french ships in the harbour and set them ablaze destroying philip's fleet known today as the battle of dumb when word of this action reached john it must have felt as if he had regained god's favor and so he prepared to sail to la rochelle to reclaim his family's patrimony john planned a pincer-like attack to squeeze philip on two fronts using his

forces in southern france and his allies forces in the north he arrived in la rochelle on the 15th of february 1214 to great praise from the mayor and citizens he began to work his way through aquitaine and puerto including taking down key supporters of philip such as the lucinol family and capturing philip's cousin robert of drew things moved quickly until july during his siege of rashomon for some unknown reason john after hearing that philip's son louis was on his way retreated fearing a large force surprisingly louis had made the same decision because he was not

prepared to attack john in an open engagement yet on the 15th of july when john wanted to re-engage he asked former supporters who had not turned out to come to his aid but no one arrived to support him and so john turned south to solidify his control there meanwhile a decisive open field battle happened several hundred miles away in bhuvan north of paris where a coalition of key western european powers attacked philip on the 27th of july 1214 in what would become known as the battle of bhuvan it was a brutal conflict with numerous casualties

on both sides in the end it was philip who came out on top not only was it one of the most critical battles in the lives of john and philip but it also helped to reshape the map of europe upon hearing the result of this battle john headed home arriving in korff on the 18th of october 1214 while he had been away unrest amongst the barons of northern england had arisen john wanting to engage them militarily discovered he had few financial resources at his disposal because almost no one had made their payments to the exchequer

he had little choice but to meet with his barons with the first meeting scheduled for january 1215. at that meeting the delegation of barons explained to john that he had to agree to henry the first's charter john delayed responding by agreeing to meet again on the 26th of april which he did not honor he also failed to respond to the baronial demands denoted in a document that would become known as the unknown charter which read like the charter of henry the first but with additional clauses added meanwhile john prepared for war against his barons knowing

that innocent wanted a fifth crusade jon contacted the pope and pledged himself to go on crusade much to innocence delight the pope responded with two letters one to the barons telling them to back down and swear allegiance to their king and the second to langton and his bishops ordering them to ensure a peaceful settlement everyone now knew that john had papal support and therefore might not negotiate in good faith on the 5th of may the barons renounced their feudal obligations in response and armed themselves john then issued two letters one stating that disputes should be

brought before the pope who would act as arbiter the other stated that during the time of negotiations there would be a moratorium on engagement against his barons on the 17th of may the barons responded by taking control of london cheered on by the citizens of the city now that john no longer controlled his capital he had to parley with his barons he could stall no longer and john asked lankton to facilitate negotiations it was agreed to meet at a neutral place called runnymede along the thames river between windsor castle and stains on the 10th of

june john offered safe conduct to the barons but just for a short duration to permit time for talks yet most of the negotiations had already happened between langton and the barons the document that was placed before john on that fateful day of the 15th of june 1215 was a document called the articles of the barons which spelled out their demands a few days later on the 19th of june a group of the barons met john at runymed where they paid homage to the king and renewed their oaths of loyalty the document they agreed upon promised

access to swift justice to the barons it limited the king's rights over taxation and feudal payments as well as providing protection from unlawful imprisonment and protection of church rights there was also a security clause whereby the barons could check that john was adhering to the demands laid down by the charter these articles form the basis of what we today know as the magna carta or the great charter in english and this document would be rewritten and elaborated over the coming years although the magna carta is seen today as one of the cornerstones of western liberty

an inspection of the document itself demonstrates that it lacks the poetic verses of the declaration of independence as it was in essence a peace treaty between john and his barons which simply listed the limitations of john's power indeed the magna carta would be reissued several times after john's death each time in a shorter format eliminating the most contentious clauses john did not sign the document because that was not typical at the time instead the document was folded and formally sealed with john's royal seal the sealed document had to be revised to sound like it came

from the king before it was copied and distributed throughout the land yet no one believed this was the end of the conflict between john and the barons king john sent a copy of the document to the pope complaining about the barons the pope shocked that a king would have to capitulate to his subjects declared the charter null and void and by september a civil war had broken out with the king laying siege to the strategically critical rochester castle which was under the control of the barons meanwhile some of the barons asked louis to become their

king since many of the rebellious barons hailed from the northern counties they chose to pay homage to alexander ii the son of william who was the new king of scotland and asked him to move south to support them john finally took rochester castle and then built upon that success by making other conquests in both east anglia and the northern counties of england yet his naval blockade had failed to stop louis from landing in england on the 21st of may 1216. a few days later louis triumphantly entered the city of london his troops then besieged dover

lincoln and windsor while scottish forces wreaked havoc in the north john did his best to keep up the defenses and keep the french troops away with the help of guala bichieri the papal legate who was sent by the pope to protect john from the french while louis found himself bogged down at dover castle in late summer john swept through the loyal heartlands in the western and central parts of england trying to rally support to push the french out on the 9th of october john arrived in east anglia and was received well by those at lynn

who invited him to a large feast at which john contracted dysentery even though he was starting to feel ill he continued to move north on the 12th of october near the nunnery of swine's head he received word that a portion of his baggage train had been lost in the wash and quicksand of the wellstream estuary apparently john's mobile altar including holy relics along with his crown were lost by the 14th of october he was too sick to get out of bed and wrote letters to the new pope onorius iii explaining the situation requesting aid and

reminding honorius that england had been placed under papal care on the 16th of october too sick to ride john was transported on a litter to newark although medical administrations such as bleeding were applied nothing could be done to help the king on the 18th of october john furiously worked to settle his estate reward his stalwart supporters and ensure the safety of his two sons king john died on the 19th of october 1216 knowing his reign had been a catastrophic failure at his request he was buried in the cathedral of worcester where his crypt can be

seen today although his death did not end the baronial civil war it did change the stakes considerably it was no longer a fight to rid england of john but the question remained of who would replace him the choice became either the french louis or the english heir nine-year-old henry william marshall had been made guardian of john's sons henry and seven-year-old richard having served several angevin kings he knew what the stakes were henry iii's first coronation hurriedly took place in gloucester on the 18th of october with guala bichiri performing the ceremony no one in the land

could dispute the integrity or the ability of the now regent william marshall who was 70 and would rule for the benefit of the young king with the assistance of a council of 13 able barons and bishops now that king john was dead louis assumed that he had won and stopped at dover castle to demand that hubert de berg a staunch orangevin loyalist should come out and talk de berg refused and prepared to continue fighting while louis just walked away the final nails and the coffin for louise kingship in england were two decisive battles the battle

of lincoln castle where the forces under marshall resoundingly defeated the baronial and french adversaries on the 20th of may 1217 and the battle of sandwich in which the naval forces under de berg defeated the french on the 24th of august on the 20th of september the treaty of lambeth ended the hostilities and louis headed home to france although the document that would become known as the magna carta had failed in its original intent william marshall and guala bichieri clearly understood its importance as a tool to create a covenant between the king and his people they

reissued the document on the 6th of november 1217 along with the charter of the forest a similar agreement about the king's right to use and tax royal forest lands in 1225 henry iii reissued both documents in his request to tax movable items and in 1237 henry again presented the document at a meeting in westminster that had been promoted as a parliament the angevins had abused their power to promote their own personal interests at the expense of their nobles and the common people of england tension had built with each successive reign john an excellent administrator but

a poor strategist took this abuse to new heights and forced the barons to turn on their king yet the resulting agreement became an important tool to reach mutual agreements without bloodshed as we know from english history it did not always work out that way even so the magna carta established a written covenant between the people and their rulers that served as a model for the democratic governments we treasure today what do you think of king john was he truly evil and the worst king england ever had or was he a victim of circumstance and a

product of the time in which he lived please let us know in the comment section and in the meantime thank you very much for watching you