Why was King John famous?
Walt Disney made his in to a Villon in a cartoon and lots of people think its historic ,ly right nicking the thrown from king richard King John (1167 – 1216) John I © Famous as the king who signed the Magna Carta in 1215, John was the youngest and favourite son of Henry II. On his father’s death in 1189 his brother, Richard, became king. John received titles, lands and money, but this was not enough. In October 1190 Richard recognized his nephew, Arthur, as his heir. Three years later, when Richard was imprisoned in Germany, John tried to seize control. He was unsuccessful and, when Richard returned in early 1194, was banished. The two were soon reconciled and, when Arthur was captured by Philip II in 1196, Richard named John heir. Three years later Richard was dead and John was king. War with France was renewed, triggered by John’s second marriage. While asked to mediate between the rival families of Lusignan and Angoulême, he married the Angoulême heiress Isabella, who had been betro
John wasn’t incompetent, he simply wasn’t liked as much as the romanticized version of his brother, Richard the Lionheart. Richard went on Crusade and came back successful while John stayed at home. He had some successes in Ireland, which is not insignificant, AND he began to centralize law courts throughout the kingdom to make them more responsible to the crown and less focused on whim of the barons. For example, he removed the power of the local sheriffs and established salaried employees called custodians who were responsible for collecting payments and depositing them in the exchequer. It was his loss of battles in Normandy that gave him the title of John Softsword–again, stereotypical because he had conquered parts of Ireland. Known as John Lackland, because he “lacked land” under inheritance laws established by his father, he is often perceived as coveting his brother’s kingdom. He taxed people, like all kings before 1694, through royal prerogative in order to fight wars, etc. I
