View source for John, King of England

{{Short description|King of England from 1199 to 1216}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = John
| image        = Jan tomb.jpg
| alt          = A drawing of the effigy of King John in Worcester Cathedral
| caption      = Tomb effigy, [[Worcester Cathedral]]
| succession   = [[King of England]]
| moretext     = [[Style of the British sovereign#English sovereigns|(more&nbsp;...)]]
| reign        = 27 May 1199&nbsp;– 19 October 1216
| coronation   = 27 May 1199
| predecessor  = [[Richard I]]
| successor    = [[Henry III of England|Henry III]]
| spouses      = <!-- Do not change "spouses" to "consorts" because Isabella of Gloucester was never John's royal consort. -->
{{Plainlist|
* {{Marriage|[[Isabella, Countess of Gloucester]]|1189|1199|end=ann}}
* {{Marriage|[[Isabella, Countess of Angoulême]]|1200}}}}
| issue = {{Plainlist|
* [[Henry III, King of England]]
* [[Richard, King of the Romans]]
* [[Joan of England, Queen of Scotland|Joan, Queen of Scotland]]
* [[Isabella of England|Isabella, Holy Roman Empress]]
* [[Eleanor, Countess of Pembroke]]
}}
{{It col|Illegitimate}}{{Plainlist|
* [[Richard FitzRoy]]
* [[Joan, Lady of Wales]]
}}
| issue-link   = #Issue
| house        = [[Plantagenet]]/[[Angevin kings of England|Angevin]]{{Refn|{{Angevin}}|group=nb}}
| father       = [[Henry II, King of England]]
| mother       = [[Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine]]
| birth_date   = 24 December 1166
| birth_place  = [[Beaumont Palace]], Oxford, England
| death_date   = 19 October 1216 (aged 49)
| death_place  = [[Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire]], England
| burial_place = [[Worcester Cathedral]], England
}}

'''John''' (24 December 1166&nbsp;– 19 October 1216) was [[King of England]] from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the [[Duchy of Normandy]] and most of his other French lands to King [[Philip II of France]], resulting in the collapse of the [[Angevin Empire]] and contributing to the subsequent growth in power of the French [[Capetian dynasty]] during the 13th century. The [[First Barons' War|baronial revolt]] at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of [[Magna Carta]], a document considered a foundational milestone in English and later British [[constitution of the United Kingdom|constitutional history]].

John was the youngest son of King [[Henry II of England]] and Duchess [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]]. He was nicknamed '''John Lackland''' ({{langx|nrf|Jean sans Terre|lit=John without land}})<ref>{{Cite web |title=- Jean sans Terre. |url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/600275/jean-sans-terre |access-date=1 January 2023 |website=www.rct.uk |language=en}}</ref> because, as a younger son, he was not expected to inherit significant lands.<ref>Norgate (1902), pp.&nbsp;1–2.</ref> He became Henry's favourite child following the failed [[revolt of 1173–1174]] by his brothers [[Henry the Young King]], [[Richard I of England|Richard]], and [[Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany|Geoffrey]] against their father. John was appointed [[Lord of Ireland]] in 1177 and given lands in England and on the continent. During the reign of his brother Richard I, he unsuccessfully attempted a rebellion against Richard's royal administrators while the King was participating in the [[Third Crusade]], but he was proclaimed king after Richard died in 1199. He came to an agreement with Philip II of France to recognise John's possession of the continental Angevin lands at the peace [[treaty of Le Goulet]] in 1200.

When war with France broke out again in 1202, John achieved early victories, but shortages of military resources and his treatment of [[Normans|Norman]], [[Bretons|Breton]], and [[County of Anjou|Anjou]] nobles resulted in the [[Invasion of Normandy by Philip II of France|collapse of his empire in northern France]] in 1204. He spent much of the next decade attempting to regain these lands, raising huge revenues, reforming his armed forces and rebuilding continental alliances. His judicial reforms had a lasting effect on the [[English common law]] system, as well as providing an additional source of revenue. His dispute with [[Pope Innocent III]] over the election of [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] [[Stephen Langton]] led to the [[Papal Interdict of 1208]], in which church services were banned until 1214, as well as John's [[excommunication]] the following year, a dispute he finally settled in 1213. John's attempt to defeat Philip in 1214 failed because of the French victory over John's allies at the [[Battle of Bouvines]]. When he returned to England, John faced a rebellion by many of his barons, who were unhappy with his [[fiscal policies]] and his treatment of many of England's most powerful nobles. Magna Carta was drafted as a peace treaty between John and the barons, and agreed in 1215. However, neither side complied with its conditions and civil war broke out shortly afterwards, with the barons aided by [[Louis VIII of France|Prince Louis of France]]. It soon descended into a stalemate. John died of [[dysentery]] contracted while on campaign in eastern England in late 1216; supporters of his son [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] went on to achieve victory over Louis and the rebel barons the following year.

Contemporary chroniclers were mostly critical of John's performance as king, and his reign has since been the subject of significant debate and periodic revision by historians from the 16th century onwards. Historian [[Jim Bradbury]] has summarised the current historical opinion of John's positive qualities, observing that John is today usually considered a "hard-working administrator, an able man, an able general".<ref name="Bradbury 2007, p. 353">Bradbury (2007), p. 353.</ref> Nonetheless, modern historians agree that he also had many faults as king, including what historian [[Ralph H. Turner|Ralph Turner]] describes as "distasteful, even dangerous personality traits", such as pettiness, spitefulness, and cruelty.<ref>Turner, p. 23.</ref> These negative qualities provided extensive material for fiction writers in the [[Victorian era]], and John remains a recurring character within Western popular culture, primarily as a villain in [[Robin Hood]] folklore.

==Early life (1166–1189)==

===Childhood and the Angevin inheritance===
{{Main|Angevin Empire}}John was born on 24 December 1166.<ref name="Handbook37">Fryde, Greenway, Porter and Roy, p. 37.</ref> His father, King [[Henry II of England]], had inherited significant territories along the Atlantic seaboard—[[County of Anjou|Anjou]], [[Duchy of Normandy|Normandy]] and [[Kingdom of England|England]]—and expanded his possessions by exercising his ducal claim over [[Duchy of Brittany|Brittany]].<ref name="WarrenP21">Warren, p. 21.</ref> John's mother was [[Eleanor of Aquitaine|Eleanor]], the powerful [[duchess of Aquitaine]], who had a tenuous claim to [[County of Toulouse|Toulouse]] and [[County of Auvergne|Auvergne]] in southern [[Kingdom of France|France]] and was the former wife of King [[Louis VII of France]].<ref name=WarrenP21/> The territories of Henry and Eleanor formed the [[Angevin Empire]], named after Henry's paternal title as [[Count of Anjou]] and, more specifically, its seat in [[Angers]].{{Refn|The term ''[[Angevin Empire]]'' originates with Victorian historian [[Kate Norgate]].<ref>Norgate (1887), p. 169.</ref>|group=nb}} The Empire, however, was inherently fragile: although all the lands owed allegiance to Henry, the disparate parts each had their own histories, traditions and governance structures.<ref>Barlow, p. 275; Warren, p. 23.</ref> As one moved south through Anjou and Aquitaine, the extent of Henry's power in the provinces diminished considerably, scarcely resembling the modern concept of an empire at all. Some of the traditional ties between parts of the empire such as Normandy and England were slowly dissolving over time.<ref>Barlow, p. 284.</ref> The future of the empire upon Henry's eventual death was not secure: although the custom of [[primogeniture]], under which an eldest son would inherit all his father's lands, was slowly becoming more widespread across Europe, it was less popular amongst the Norman kings of England.<ref name="Barlow, p. 305">Barlow, p. 305.</ref> Most believed that Henry would divide the empire, giving each son a substantial portion, and hoping that his children would continue to work together as allies after his death.<ref>Warren, p. 27.</ref> To complicate matters, much of the Angevin empire was held by Henry only as a [[vassal]] of the king of France of the rival line of the [[House of Capet]]. Henry had often allied himself with the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] against France, making the feudal relationship even more challenging.<ref>Barlow, p. 281.</ref>

Shortly after his birth, John was passed from Eleanor into the care of a [[wet nurse]], a traditional practice for medieval noble families.<ref name="TurnerP31">Turner, p. 31.</ref> Eleanor then left for [[Poitiers]], the capital of Aquitaine, and sent John and his sister [[Joan of England, Queen of Sicily|Joan]] north to [[Fontevrault Abbey]].<ref name="Warren, p. 26">Warren, p. 26.</ref> This may have been done with the aim of steering her youngest son, with no obvious inheritance, towards a future ecclesiastical career.<ref name=TurnerP31/> Eleanor spent the next few years conspiring against Henry and neither parent played a part in John's very early life.<ref name=TurnerP31/> John was probably, like his brothers, assigned a ''magister'' whilst he was at Fontevrault, a teacher charged with his early education and with managing the servants of his immediate household; he was later taught by [[Ranulf de Glanvill]], a leading English administrator.<ref>Turner, p. 31; Warren, p. 26.</ref> John spent some time as a member of the household of his eldest living brother, [[Henry the Young King]], where he probably received instruction in hunting and military skills.<ref name="Warren, p. 26"/>

John grew up to be around {{Cvt|5|ft|5|in}} tall, relatively short, with a "powerful, barrel-chested body" and dark red hair; he looked to contemporaries like an inhabitant of [[Poitou]].<ref>McLynn, pp. 27, 77.</ref> John enjoyed reading and, unusually for the period, built up a travelling library of books.<ref>Warren, p. 140.</ref> He enjoyed gambling, in particular at [[backgammon]], and was an enthusiastic hunter, even by medieval standards.<ref>Warren, pp. 139–40; McLynn, p. 78</ref> He liked music, although not songs.<ref name="McLynn, p. 78">McLynn, p. 78.</ref> John would become a "connoisseur of jewels", building up a large collection, and became famous for his opulent clothes and also, according to French chroniclers, for his fondness for bad wine.<ref>Warren, p. 139; McLynn, p. 78; Danziger and Gillingham, p. 26.</ref> As John grew up, he became known for sometimes being "genial, witty, generous and hospitable"; at other moments, he could be jealous, over-sensitive and prone to fits of rage, "biting and gnawing his fingers" in anger.<ref name="McLynn, p. 78, 94; Turner, p. 30">McLynn, p. 78, 94; Turner, p. 30.</ref>{{Refn|Henry II also bit and gnawed his fingers; extreme rage is considered by many historians to be a trait of the Angevin kings.<ref name="McLynn, p. 78, 94; Turner, p. 30"/>|group=nb}}

===Early life===
[[File:Eleonora Jindra2.jpg|thumb|alt=An illuminated manuscript, showing Henry and Eleanor sitting on thrones, accompanied by two staff. Two elaborate birds form a canopy over the pair of rulers.|John's parents, Henry II and Eleanor, holding court]]
During John's early years, Henry attempted to resolve the question of his succession. Henry the Young King had been crowned King of England in 1170, but was not given any formal powers by his father; he was also promised Normandy and Anjou as part of his future inheritance. His brother [[Richard I of England|Richard]] was to be appointed the count of Poitou with control of Aquitaine, whilst his brother [[Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany|Geoffrey]] was to become the duke of Brittany.<ref name="CarpenterP223TurnerP35">Carpenter (2004), p. 223; Turner, p. 35.</ref> At this time it seemed unlikely that John would ever inherit substantial lands, and he was jokingly nicknamed "Lackland" by his father.<ref>McLynn, p. 36.</ref>

Henry II wanted to secure the southern borders of Aquitaine and decided to betroth his youngest son to Alais, the daughter and heiress of Count [[Humbert III of Savoy]].<ref name="TurnerP36">Turner, p. 36.</ref> As part of this agreement John was promised the future inheritance of [[Savoy]], Piedmont, [[Maurienne]], and the other possessions of Count Humbert.<ref name=TurnerP36/> For his part in the potential marriage alliance, Henry II transferred the castles of [[Château de Chinon|Chinon]], [[Loudun]] and [[Mirebeau]] into John's name; as John was only five years old, his father would continue to control them for practical purposes.<ref name=TurnerP36/> Henry the Young King was unimpressed by this; although he had yet to be granted control of any castles in his new kingdom, these were effectively his future property and had been given away without consultation.<ref name=TurnerP36/> Alais made the trip over the Alps and joined Henry II's court, but she died before marrying John, which left the prince once again without an inheritance.<ref name=TurnerP36/>

In 1173 John's elder brothers, backed by Eleanor, rose in revolt against Henry in the short-lived [[rebellion of 1173 to 1174]]. Growing irritated with his subordinate position to Henry II and increasingly worried that John might be given additional lands and castles at his expense,<ref name=CarpenterP223TurnerP35/> Henry the Young King travelled to Paris and allied himself with Louis VII.<ref name="CarpenterP223">Carpenter (2004), p. 223.</ref> Eleanor, irritated by her husband's persistent interference in Aquitaine, encouraged Richard and Geoffrey to join their brother Henry in Paris.<ref name=CarpenterP223/> Henry II triumphed over the coalition of his sons, but was generous to them in the peace settlement agreed at [[Montlouis-sur-Loire|Montlouis]].<ref name=TurnerP36/> Henry the Young King was allowed to travel widely in Europe with his own household of knights, Richard was given Aquitaine back, and Geoffrey was allowed to return to Brittany; only Eleanor was imprisoned for her role in the revolt.<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 243.</ref>

John had spent the conflict travelling alongside his father, and was given widespread possessions across the Angevin empire as part of the Montlouis settlement; from then onwards, most observers regarded John as Henry II's favourite child, although he was the furthest removed in terms of the royal succession.<ref name=TurnerP36/> Henry II began to find more lands for John, mostly at various nobles' expense. In 1175 he appropriated the estates of the late [[Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwall|Earl of Cornwall]] and gave them to John.<ref name=TurnerP36/> The following year, Henry disinherited the sisters of [[Isabella of Gloucester]], contrary to legal custom, and betrothed John to the now extremely wealthy Isabella.<ref name="TurnerP37">Turner, p. 37.</ref> In 1177, at the Council of Oxford, Henry dismissed [[William FitzAldelm]] as the [[Lord of Ireland]] and replaced him with the ten-year-old John.<ref name=TurnerP37/>

[[File:The Children of Henry2 England.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.59|alt=An illuminated diagram showing Henry II and the heads of his children; coloured lines connect the two to show the lineal descent|13th-century depiction of Henry II and his legitimate children, left to right: [[William IX, Count of Poitiers|William]], [[Henry the Young King|Henry]], [[Richard I of England|Richard]], [[Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony|Matilda]], [[Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany|Geoffrey]], [[Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile|Eleanor]], [[Joan of England, Queen of Sicily|Joan]] and John]]
Henry the Young King fought a short war with his brother Richard in 1183 over the status of England, Normandy and Aquitaine.<ref name=TurnerP37/> Henry II moved in support of Richard, and Henry the Young King died from [[dysentery]] at the end of the campaign.<ref name=TurnerP37/> With his primary heir dead, Henry rearranged the plans for the succession: Richard was to be made King of England, albeit without any actual power until the death of his father; Geoffrey would retain Brittany; and John would now become the Duke of Aquitaine in place of Richard.<ref name=TurnerP37/> Richard refused to give up Aquitaine;<ref name=TurnerP37/> Henry II was furious and ordered John, with help from Geoffrey, to march south and retake the duchy by force.<ref name=TurnerP37/> The two attacked the capital of Poitiers, and Richard responded by attacking Brittany.<ref name=TurnerP37/> The war ended in stalemate and a tense family reconciliation in England at the end of 1184.<ref name=TurnerP37/>

In 1185 John made his [[John's first expedition to Ireland|first visit to Ireland]], accompanied by 300 knights and a team of administrators.<ref name="WarrenP35">Warren, p. 35.</ref> Henry had tried to have John officially proclaimed King of Ireland, but [[Pope Lucius III]] would not agree.<ref name=WarrenP35/> John's first period of rule in Ireland was not a success. Ireland had only recently been conquered by Anglo-Norman forces, and tensions were still rife between Henry II, the new settlers and the existing inhabitants.<ref name="WarrenP36">Warren, p. 36.</ref> John infamously offended the [[List of Irish kingdoms|local Irish rulers]] by making fun of their unfashionable long beards, failed to make allies amongst the Anglo-Norman settlers, began to lose ground militarily against the Irish and finally returned to England later in the year, blaming the viceroy, [[Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath|Hugh de Lacy]], for the fiasco.<ref name=WarrenP36/>

The problems amongst John's wider family continued to grow. His elder brother Geoffrey died during a tournament in 1186, leaving a posthumous son, [[Arthur I, Duke of Brittany|Arthur]], and an elder daughter, [[Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany|Eleanor]].<ref name="WarrenP37">Warren, p. 37.</ref> Geoffrey's death brought John slightly closer to the throne of England.<ref name=WarrenP37/> The uncertainty about what would happen after Henry's death continued to grow; Richard was keen to join a new [[crusade]] and remained concerned that whilst he was away Henry would appoint John his formal successor.<ref>Turner, p. 39; Warren, p. 38.</ref>

Richard began discussions about a potential alliance with Philip II in Paris during 1187, and the next year Richard gave homage to Philip in exchange for support for a war against Henry.<ref>Turner, p. 38.</ref> Richard and Philip fought a joint campaign against Henry, and by the summer of 1189 Henry made peace, promising Richard the succession.<ref name="WarrenP38">Warren, p. 38.</ref> John initially remained loyal to his father, but changed sides once it appeared that Richard would win.<ref name=WarrenP38/> Henry died shortly afterwards.<ref name=WarrenP38/>

==Richard's reign (1189–1199)==
[[File:Philippe Auguste et Richard Acre.jpg|thumb|alt=A picture showing King Richard sat beside King Philip II, the latter is receiving a key from two Arabs; a castle, presumably Acre, can be seen in the top right of the picture.|Richard I (left) and [[Philip II Augustus]] at [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] during the [[Third Crusade]]]]

When Richard became king in September 1189, he had already declared his intention of joining the [[Third Crusade]].<ref name=WarrenP38/> He set about raising the huge sums of money required for this expedition through the sale of lands, titles and appointments, and attempted to ensure that he would not face a revolt while away from his empire.<ref>Warren, pp. 38–39.</ref> John was made [[Count of Mortain]], was married to the wealthy Isabella of Gloucester, and was given valuable lands in Lancaster and the counties of [[Cornwall]], [[Derby]], Devon, [[Dorset]], [[Nottingham]] and [[Somerset]], all with the aim of buying his loyalty to Richard whilst the King was on crusade.<ref>Warren, pp. 39–40.</ref> Richard retained royal control of key castles in these counties, thereby preventing John from accumulating too much military and political power. The King named his four-year-old nephew Arthur as his heir.<ref>Barlow, p. 293; Warren p. 39.</ref> In return, John promised not to visit England for the next three years, thereby in theory giving Richard adequate time to conduct a successful crusade and return from the [[Levant]] without fear of John seizing power.<ref name="WarrenP40">Warren, p. 40.</ref> Richard left political authority in England—the post of justiciar—jointly in the hands of Bishop [[Hugh de Puiset]] and [[William de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex]], and made [[William Longchamp]], the [[Bishop of Ely]], his chancellor.<ref>Warren, p. 39.</ref> Mandeville immediately died, and Longchamp took over as joint justiciar with Puiset, which would prove a less than satisfactory partnership.<ref name=WarrenP40/> Eleanor, the queen mother, convinced Richard to allow John into England in his absence.<ref name=WarrenP40/>

The political situation in England rapidly began to deteriorate. Longchamp refused to work with Puiset and became unpopular with the English nobility and clergy.<ref>Warren, p. 41.</ref> John exploited this unpopularity to set himself up as an alternative ruler with his own royal court, complete with his own justiciar, chancellor and other royal posts, and was happy to be portrayed as an alternative regent, and possibly the next king.<ref>Warren, pp. 40–41.</ref> Armed conflict broke out between John and Longchamp, and by October 1191 Longchamp was isolated in the [[Tower of London]] with John in control of the city of London, thanks to promises John had made to the citizens in return for recognition as Richard's heir presumptive.<ref>Inwood, p. 58.</ref> At this point [[Walter of Coutances]], the [[Archbishop of Rouen]], returned to England, having been sent by Richard to restore order.<ref>Warren, p. 42.</ref> John's position was undermined by Walter's relative popularity and by the news that Richard had married whilst in Cyprus, which presented the possibility that Richard would have legitimate children and heirs.<ref name="WarrenP43">Warren, p. 43.</ref>

[[File:King John hunting - Statutes of England (14th C), f.116 - BL Cotton MS Claudius D II.jpg|thumb|left|alt=An illuminated picture of King John riding a white horse and accompanied by four hounds. The king is chasing a stag, and several rabbits can be seen at the bottom of the picture.|John on a [[Deer hunting|stag hunt]]]]
The political turmoil continued. John began to explore an alliance with King [[Philip II of France]], who had returned from the crusade in late 1191. John hoped to acquire Normandy, Anjou and the other lands in France held by Richard in exchange for allying himself with Philip.<ref name=WarrenP43/> John was persuaded not to pursue an alliance by his mother.<ref name=WarrenP43/> Longchamp, who had left England after Walter's intervention, now returned, and argued that he had been wrongly removed as justiciar.<ref name="WarrenP44">Warren, p. 44.</ref> John intervened, suppressing Longchamp's claims in return for promises of support from the royal administration, including a reaffirmation of his position as heir to the throne.<ref name=WarrenP44/> When Richard still did not return from the crusade, John began to assert that his brother was dead or otherwise permanently lost.<ref name=WarrenP44/> Richard had in fact been captured shortly before Christmas 1192, while en route to England, by [[Duke Leopold V of Austria]] and was handed over to [[Emperor Henry VI]], who held him for ransom.<ref name=WarrenP44/> John seized the opportunity and went to Paris, where he formed an alliance with Philip. He agreed to set aside his wife, Isabella of Gloucester, and marry Philip's sister, [[Alys, Countess of the Vexin|Alys]], in exchange for Philip's support.<ref name="WarrenP45">Warren, p. 45.</ref> Fighting broke out in England between forces loyal to Richard and those being gathered by John.<ref name=WarrenP45/> John's military position was weak and he agreed to a truce; in early 1194 the King finally returned to England, and John's remaining forces surrendered.<ref name="Warren, p. 46">Warren, p. 46.</ref> John retreated to Normandy, where Richard finally found him later that year.<ref name="Warren, p. 46"/> Richard declared that John—despite being 27 years old—was merely "a child who has had evil counsellors" and forgave him, but removed his lands with the exception of Ireland.<ref>Warren, pp. 46–47.</ref>

For the remaining years of Richard's reign, John supported his brother on the continent, apparently loyally.<ref name="WarrenP47">Warren, p. 47.</ref> Richard's policy on the continent was to attempt to regain through steady, limited campaigns the castles he had lost to Philip II whilst on crusade. He allied himself with the leaders of [[County of Flanders|Flanders]], [[County of Boulogne|Boulogne]] and the [[Holy Roman Empire]] to apply pressure on Philip from Germany.<ref>Fryde (2007), p. 336.</ref> In 1195 John successfully conducted a sudden attack and siege of [[Évreux]] castle, and subsequently managed the defences of Normandy against Philip.<ref name=WarrenP47/> The following year, John seized the town of [[Gamaches]] and led a raiding party within {{Convert|50|mi}} of Paris, capturing the Bishop of [[Beauvais]].<ref name=WarrenP47/> In return for this service, Richard withdrew his {{Lang|la|malevolentia}} (ill-will) towards John, restored him to the county of Gloucestershire and made him again the Count of Mortain.<ref name=WarrenP47/>

==Early reign (1199–1204)==

===Accession to the throne, 1199===
[[File:Donjonvuegénérale.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of a tall grey castle, with a taller keep visible beyond the main walls.|The [[donjon]] of [[Château Gaillard]]; the loss of the castle would prove devastating for John's military position in Normandy]]
After Richard's death on 6 April 1199 there were two potential claimants to the Angevin throne: John, [[proximity of blood|whose claim]] rested on being the sole surviving son of Henry II, and young Arthur I of Brittany, who held a claim as the son of John's elder brother Geoffrey.<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 264.</ref> Richard appears to have started to recognise John as his heir presumptive in the final years before his death, but the matter was not clear-cut and medieval law gave little guidance as to how the competing claims should be decided.<ref>Barlow, p. 305; Turner, p. 48.</ref> With Norman law favouring John as the only surviving son of Henry II and Angevin law favouring Arthur as the only son of Henry's elder son, the matter rapidly became an open conflict.<ref name="Barlow, p. 305"/> John was supported by the bulk of the English and Norman nobility and was crowned at Westminster Abbey, backed by his mother, Eleanor. Arthur was supported by the majority of the Breton, Maine and Anjou nobles and received the support of Philip II, who remained committed to breaking up the Angevin territories on the continent.<ref name="WarrenP53">Warren, p. 53.</ref> With Arthur's army pressing up the [[Loire Valley]] towards [[Angers]] and Philip's forces moving down the valley towards [[Tours]], John's continental empire was in danger of being cut in two.<ref>Warren, p. 51.</ref>

Warfare in Normandy at the time was shaped by the defensive potential of castles and the increasing costs of conducting campaigns.<ref>Barrett, p. 91.</ref> The Norman frontiers had limited natural defences but were heavily reinforced with castles, such as [[Château Gaillard]], at strategic points, built and maintained at considerable expense.<ref>Warren, pp. 57–58; Barlow, p. 280.</ref> It was difficult for a commander to advance far into fresh territory without having secured his lines of communication by capturing these fortifications, which slowed the progress of any attack.<ref>Warren, p. 57.</ref> Armies of the period could be formed from either feudal or mercenary forces.<ref>Warren, p. 59.</ref> Feudal levies could be raised only for a fixed length of time before they returned home, forcing an end to a campaign; mercenary forces, often called [[Brabançons]] after the [[Duchy of Brabant]] but actually recruited from across northern Europe, could operate all year long and provide a commander with more strategic options to pursue a campaign, but cost much more than equivalent feudal forces.<ref>Huscroft, pp. 169–170.</ref> As a result, commanders of the period were increasingly drawing on larger numbers of mercenaries.<ref>Huscroft, p. 170.</ref>

After his coronation, John moved south into France with military forces and adopted a defensive posture along the eastern and southern Normandy borders.<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 264; Turner, p. 100.</ref> Both sides paused for desultory negotiations before the war recommenced; John's position was now stronger, thanks to confirmation that the counts [[Baldwin IX of Flanders]] and [[Renaud of Boulogne]] had renewed the anti-French alliances they had previously agreed to with Richard.<ref name=WarrenP53/> The powerful Anjou nobleman [[William des Roches]] was persuaded to switch sides from Arthur to John; suddenly the balance seemed to be tipping away from Philip and Arthur in favour of John.<ref name="WarrenP54">Warren, p. 54.</ref> Neither side was keen to continue the conflict, and following a papal truce the two leaders met in January 1200 to negotiate possible terms for peace.<ref name=WarrenP54/> From John's perspective, what then followed represented an opportunity to stabilise control over his continental possessions and produce a lasting peace with Philip in Paris. John and Philip negotiated the May 1200 [[Treaty of Le Goulet]]; by this treaty, Philip recognised John as the rightful heir to Richard in respect to his French possessions, temporarily abandoning the wider claims of his client, Arthur.<ref name="TurnerP98">Turner, p. 98.</ref>{{Refn|Nonetheless, the treaty did offer Arthur certain protections as John's vassal.<ref name=WarrenP55/>|group=nb}} John, in turn, abandoned Richard's former policy of containing Philip through alliances with Flanders and Boulogne, and accepted Philip's right as the legitimate feudal overlord of John's lands in France.<ref name="WarrenP55">Warren, p. 55.</ref> John's policy earned him the disrespectful title of "John Softsword" from some English chroniclers, who contrasted his behaviour with his more aggressive brother, Richard.<ref>Warren, p. 63.</ref>

===Second marriage and consequences, 1200–1202===
[[File:IsabelledAngouleme.jpg |thumb|alt=A photograph of a medieval tomb with a carving of Isabella on top. She is lying with her hands clasped, wearing a blue dress.|The effigy of Isabella of Angoulême, John's second wife, in [[Fontevraud Abbey]] in France]]
The new peace would last only two years; war recommenced in the aftermath of John's decision in August 1200 to marry [[Isabella of Angoulême]]. In order to remarry, John first needed to abandon his wife Isabella, Countess of Gloucester; the King accomplished this by arguing that he had failed to get the necessary [[papal dispensation]] to marry the Countess in the first place—as a cousin, John could not have legally wedded her without this. It remains unclear why John chose to marry Isabella of Angoulême. Contemporary chroniclers argued that John had fallen deeply in love with her, and John may have been motivated by desire for an apparently beautiful, if rather young, girl (Isabella of Angoulême was either 12 or 14 at the time of their marriage).<ref name=TurnerP98/> On the other hand, the Angoumois lands that came with her were strategically vital to John: by marrying Isabella, John was acquiring a key land route between Poitou and Gascony, which significantly strengthened his grip on Aquitaine.<ref name="TurnerP99">Turner, p. 99.</ref>{{Refn|Angoulême and Limoges were strategically located counties that had traditionally exercised a high degree of autonomy. They formed a key route for communications between Anjou and Gascony. Many of the details surrounding these counties during this period are uncertain and subject to historical debate, but it would appear that both the English and French dynasties had been attempting to apply influence and build alliances with the key families in the region for many years before the flash point in 1202.<ref>Vincent, pp.&nbsp;168–182.</ref>|group=nb}}

Isabella of Angoulême, however, was already engaged to [[Hugh IX of Lusignan]], an important member of a key Poitou noble family and brother of [[Raoul I, Count of Eu]], who possessed lands along the sensitive eastern Normandy border.<ref name=TurnerP98/> Just as John stood to benefit strategically from marrying Isabella, so the marriage threatened the interests of the [[Lusignans]], whose own lands currently provided the key route for royal goods and troops across Aquitaine.<ref>Turner, pp. 98–99.</ref> Rather than negotiating some form of compensation, John treated Hugh "with contempt"; this resulted in a Lusignan uprising that was promptly crushed by John, who also intervened to suppress Raoul in Normandy.<ref name=TurnerP99/>

Although John was the Count of Poitou and therefore the rightful feudal lord over the Lusignans, they could legitimately appeal John's actions in France to his own feudal lord, Philip.<ref name=TurnerP99/> Hugh did exactly this in 1201 and Philip summoned John to attend court in Paris in 1202, citing the Le Goulet treaty to strengthen his case.<ref name=TurnerP99/> John was unwilling to weaken his authority in western France in this way. He argued that he need not attend Philip's court because of his special status as the Duke of Normandy, who was exempt by feudal tradition from being called to the French court.<ref name=TurnerP99/> Philip argued that he was summoning John not as the Duke of Normandy, but as the Count of Poitou, which carried no such special status.<ref name=TurnerP99/> When John still refused to come, Philip declared John in breach of his feudal responsibilities, reassigned all of John's lands that fell under the French crown to Arthur—with the exception of Normandy, which he took back for himself—and began a fresh war against John.<ref name=TurnerP99/>

===Loss of Normandy, 1202–1204===
{{Main|Normandy campaigns of 1200–1204}}
[[File:1202 French campaign.svg|thumb|upright=1.25|alt=A map of France showing John's bold sweep towards Mirebeau with a red arrow.|John's successful 1202 campaign, which culminated in the victory of the [[battle of Mirebeau]]; red arrows indicate the movement of John's forces, blue those of Philip II's forces and light blue those of Philip's Breton and Lusignan allies]]
John initially adopted a defensive posture similar to that of 1199: avoiding open battle and carefully defending his key castles.<ref name="TurnerP100">Turner, p. 100.</ref> John's operations became more chaotic as the campaign progressed, and Philip began to make steady progress in the east.<ref name=TurnerP100/> John became aware in July that Arthur's forces were threatening his mother, Eleanor, at Mirebeau Castle. Accompanied by William de Roches, his [[seneschal]] in Anjou, he swung his mercenary army rapidly south to protect her.<ref name=TurnerP100/> His forces caught Arthur by surprise and captured the entire rebel leadership at the [[battle of Mirebeau]].<ref name=TurnerP100/> With his southern flank weakening, Philip was forced to withdraw in the east and turn south himself to contain John's army.<ref name=TurnerP100/>

John's position in France was considerably strengthened by the victory at Mirebeau, but John's treatment of his new prisoners and of his ally, William de Roches, quickly undermined these gains. De Roches was a powerful Anjou noble, but John largely ignored him, causing considerable offence, whilst the King kept the rebel leaders in such bad conditions that twenty-two of them died.<ref>Turner, pp. 100–101.</ref> At this time most of the regional nobility were closely linked through kinship, and this behaviour towards their relatives was regarded as unacceptable.<ref name="TurnerP101">Turner, p. 101.</ref> William de Roches and others of John's regional allies in Anjou and Brittany deserted him in favour of Philip, and Brittany rose in revolt.<ref name=TurnerP101/> John's financial situation was tenuous, once factors such as the comparative military costs of [[materiel]] and soldiers were taken into account. While Philip enjoyed a considerable, although not overwhelming, advantage of resources over John.<ref>Holt (1984), p. 94; Turner, p. 94; Bradbury (1998), p. 159; Moss, p. 119.</ref>{{Refn|This interpretation has been challenged by John Gillingham, whose minority view is that Richard, unlike John, successfully defended Normandy with a similar level of military resources.<ref>Gillingham (1994), p. 76.</ref>|group=nb}}

Further desertions of John's local allies at the beginning of 1203 steadily reduced his freedom to manoeuvre in the region.<ref name=TurnerP101/> He attempted to convince [[Pope Innocent III]] to intervene in the conflict, but Innocent's efforts were unsuccessful.<ref name=TurnerP101/> As the situation became worse for John, he appears to have decided to have Arthur killed, with the aim of removing a potential rival and to undermine the rebel forces in Brittany.<ref name=TurnerP101/> Arthur had initially been imprisoned at Falaise and was then moved to Rouen. After this, Arthur's fate remains uncertain, but modern historians believe he was murdered by John.<ref name=TurnerP101/> The annals of [[Margam Abbey]] suggest that "John had captured Arthur and kept him alive in prison for some time in the castle of Rouen&nbsp;... when John was drunk he slew Arthur with his own hand and tying a heavy stone to the body cast it into the [[Seine]]."<ref name="McLynnP306">McLynn, p. 306.</ref>{{Refn|Although all modern biographers of John believe that he had his rival, Arthur, killed, the details of the [[Margam Abbey]] account can be questioned; as Frank McLynn points out, the Welsh monks appear "curiously well-informed" about the details of the incident in France.<ref name=McLynnP306/>|group=nb}} Rumours of the manner of Arthur's death further reduced support for John across the region.<ref name=WarrenP83/> Arthur's sister, Eleanor, who had also been captured at Mirebeau, was kept imprisoned by John for many years, albeit in relatively good conditions.<ref name="WarrenP83">Warren, p. 83.</ref>

[[File:Normandy campaign 1204.png|thumb|upright=1.59|left|alt=A map of Normandy, showing Philip's invasion with a sequence of blue arrows, and the Breton advance from the west shown in light blue.|Phillip II's successful invasion of [[Duchy of Normandy|Normandy]] in 1204; blue arrows indicate the movement of Philip II's forces and light blue Philip's Breton allies]]
In late 1203, John attempted to relieve [[Château Gaillard]], which although [[Siege of Château Gaillard|besieged by Philip]] was guarding the eastern flank of Normandy.<ref name=TurnerP102/> John attempted a synchronised operation involving land-based and water-borne forces, considered by most historians today to have been imaginative in conception, but overly complex for forces of the period to have carried out successfully.<ref name="TurnerP102">Turner, p. 102.</ref> John's relief operation was blocked by Philip's forces, and John turned back to Brittany in an attempt to draw Philip away from eastern Normandy.<ref name=TurnerP102/> John successfully devastated much of Brittany, but did not deflect Philip's main thrust into the east of Normandy.<ref name=TurnerP102/>

Opinions vary amongst historians as to the military skill shown by John during this campaign, with most recent historians arguing that his performance was passable, although not impressive.<ref name=TurnerP98/>{{Refn|For positive interpretations of John's military skills in the campaign see Kate Norgate, who argues that John's attempt to [[Siege of Château Gaillard|relieve Château Gaillard]] was a "masterpiece of ingenuity"; Ralph Turner terms his performance as a general "capable"; Lewis Warren places the blame on John's inability to inspire loyalty amongst the local nobles, rather than a simple lack of military skill. Frank McLynn is more damning, describing the military aspects of the campaign as a "disastrous failure".<ref>Norgate (1902), p. 96; Turner, p. 98; Warren, p. 88; McLynn, p. 473.</ref>|group=nb}}
John's situation began to deteriorate rapidly. The eastern border region of Normandy had been extensively cultivated by Philip and his predecessors for several years, whilst Angevin authority in the south had been undermined by Richard's giving away of various key castles some years before.<ref>Power, pp. 135–136.</ref> His use of {{Lang|fr|[[Routiers|routier]]}} mercenaries in the central regions had rapidly eaten away his remaining support in this area too, which set the stage for a sudden collapse of Angevin power.<ref>Power, p. 135.</ref>{{Refn|David Carpenter provides an accessible summary of Power's argument on the collapse of Normandy.<ref>Carpenter (2004), pp. 264–265.</ref>|group=nb}} John retreated back across the Channel in December, sending orders for the establishment of a fresh defensive line to the west of Chateau Gaillard.<ref name=TurnerP102/> In March 1204, Gaillard fell. John's mother Eleanor died the following month.<ref name=TurnerP102/> This was not just a personal blow for John, but threatened to unravel the widespread Angevin alliances across the far south of France.<ref name=TurnerP102/> Philip moved south around the new defensive line and struck upwards at the heart of the Duchy, now facing little resistance.<ref name=TurnerP102/> By August, Philip had taken Normandy and advanced south to occupy Anjou and Poitou as well.<ref>Turner, pp. 102–103.</ref> John's only remaining possession on the Continent was now the Duchy of Aquitaine.<ref>Turner, p. 103.</ref>

==John as king==

===Kingship and royal administration===
[[File:Pipe roll 1194.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of a hand written medieval pipe roll, with a handwritten list of entries and a formal stamp in the centre of the document|A [[pipe roll]], part of the increasingly sophisticated system of royal governance at the turn of the 13th century]]
{{Further|Government in Norman and Angevin England}}

The nature of government under the Angevin monarchs was ill-defined and uncertain. John's predecessors had ruled using the principle of {{Lang|la|vis et voluntas}} ("force and will"), taking executive and sometimes arbitrary decisions, often justified on the basis that a king was above the law.<ref name="TurnerP149">Turner, p. 149.</ref> Both Henry II and Richard had argued that kings possessed a quality of "[[Divine right of kings|divine majesty]]"; John continued this trend and claimed an "almost imperial status" for himself as ruler.<ref name=TurnerP149/> During the 12th century, there were contrary opinions expressed about the nature of kingship, and many contemporary writers believed that monarchs should rule in accordance with the custom and the law, and take counsel of the leading members of the realm.<ref name=TurnerP149/> There was as yet no model for what should happen if a king refused to do so.<ref name=TurnerP149/> Despite his claim to unique authority within England, John would sometimes justify his actions on the basis that he had taken council with the barons.<ref name=TurnerP149/> Modern historians remain divided as to whether John had a case of "royal [[schizophrenia]]" in his approach to government, or if his actions merely reflected the complex model of Angevin kingship in the early 13th century.<ref>Warren, p. 178; Turner, p. 156.</ref>

John inherited a sophisticated system of administration in England, with a range of royal agents answering to the Royal Household: the [[Chancery (medieval office)#In England|Chancery]] kept written records and communications; the Treasury and the [[Exchequer]] dealt with income and expenditure respectively; and various judges were deployed to deliver justice around the kingdom.<ref>Warren, p. 127.</ref> Thanks to the efforts of men like [[Hubert Walter]], this trend towards improved record keeping continued into his reign.<ref>Bartlett, p. 200.</ref> Like previous kings, John managed a [[wikt:peripatetic|peripatetic]] court that travelled around the kingdom, dealing with both local and national matters as he went.<ref>Warren, p. 130.</ref> John was very active in the administration of England and was involved in every aspect of government.<ref name="WarrenP132">Warren, p. 132.</ref> In part he was following in the tradition of [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] and Henry II, but by the 13th century the volume of administrative work had greatly increased, which put much more pressure on a king who wished to rule in this style.<ref name=WarrenP132/> John was in England for much longer periods than his predecessors, which made his rule more personal than that of previous kings, particularly in previously ignored areas such as the north.<ref>Warren, p. 132; Huscroft, p. 171.</ref>

The administration of justice was of particular importance to John. Several new processes had been introduced to English law under Henry II, including ''[[novel disseisin]]'' and ''[[mort d'ancestor]]''.<ref>Huscroft, p. 182.</ref> These processes meant the royal courts had a more significant role in local law cases, which had previously been dealt with only by regional or local lords.<ref>Huscroft, p. 184.</ref> John increased the professionalism of local sergeants and bailiffs, and extended the system of coroners first introduced by Hubert Walter in 1194, creating a new class of borough coroners.<ref>McLynn, p. 366; Hunnisett, pp. 1–3.</ref> The King worked extremely hard to ensure that this system operated well, through judges he had appointed, by fostering legal specialists and expertise, and by intervening in cases himself.<ref name="WarrenPP143">Warren, pp. 143–144.</ref> He continued to try relatively minor cases, even during military crises.<ref>Warren, p. 144.</ref> Viewed positively, [[Lewis Warren]] considers that John discharged "his royal duty of providing justice&nbsp;... with a zeal and a tirelessness to which the English common law is greatly endebted".<ref name=WarrenPP143/> Seen more critically, John may have been motivated by the potential of the royal legal process to raise fees, rather than a desire to deliver simple justice; his legal system also applied only to free men, rather than to all of the population.<ref name="McLynn, p. 366">McLynn, p. 366.</ref> Nonetheless, these changes were popular with many free tenants, who acquired a more reliable legal system that could bypass the barons, against whom such cases were often brought.<ref name="CarpenterP273">Carpenter (2004), p. 273.</ref> John's reforms were less popular with the barons themselves, especially as they remained subject to arbitrary and frequently vindictive royal justice.<ref name=CarpenterP273/>

===Economy===
{{Main|Economy of England in the Middle Ages}}
[[File:Penny john.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of the front and back of a silver penny, the design dominated by a triangle in the centre of each coin. One side shows King John's head.|A silver King John [[penny]], amongst the first struck in [[Dublin]]]]

One of John's principal challenges was acquiring the large sums of money needed for his proposed campaigns to reclaim Normandy.<ref>Turner, p. 79.</ref> The Angevin kings had three main sources of income available to them, namely revenue from their personal lands, or ''[[demesne]]''; money raised through their rights as a feudal lord; and revenue from taxation. Revenue from the royal demesne was inflexible and had been diminishing slowly since the [[Norman Conquest]]. Matters were not helped by Richard's sale of many royal properties in 1189, and taxation played a much smaller role in royal income than in later centuries. English kings had widespread feudal rights which could be used to generate income, including the [[scutage]] system, in which feudal military service was avoided by a cash payment to the King. He derived income from fines, court fees and the sale of [[charter]]s and other privileges.<ref>Lawler and Lawler, p. 6.</ref> John intensified his efforts to maximise all possible sources of income, to the extent that he has been described as "avaricious, miserly, extortionate and moneyminded".<ref>McLynn, p. 288.</ref> He also used revenue generation as a way of exerting political control over the barons: debts owed to the crown by the King's favoured supporters might be forgiven; collection of those owed by enemies was more stringently enforced.

[[File:John penny.jpg|left|thumb|alt=A photograph of the "heads" side of a silver coin|A silver King John penny]]
The result was a sequence of innovative but unpopular financial measures.{{Refn|The degree to which John was a genuine innovator in financial matters, as opposed to simply embracing expediency, has been contested. Frank Barlow, for example, argues that he was exercising a policy of expediency rather than genuine reform.<ref>Barlow, p. 331.</ref>|group=nb}} John levied scutage payments eleven times in his seventeen years as king, as compared to eleven times in total during the reign of the preceding three monarchs.<ref name="TurnerP87">Turner, p. 87.</ref> In many cases these were levied in the absence of any actual military campaign, which ran counter to the original idea that scutage was an alternative to actual military service.<ref name=TurnerP87/> John maximised his right to demand relief payments when estates and castles were inherited, sometimes charging enormous sums, beyond barons' abilities to pay.<ref name=TurnerP87/> Building on the successful sale of sheriff appointments in 1194, the King initiated a new round of appointments, with the new incumbents making back their investment through increased fines and penalties, particularly in the forests.<ref name="CarpenterP272">Carpenter (2004), p. 272.</ref> Another innovation of Richard's, increased charges levied on widows who wished to remain single, was expanded under John.<ref name=CarpenterP272/> John continued to sell charters for new towns, including the planned town of [[Liverpool]], and charters were sold for markets across the kingdom and in [[Gascony]].<ref>Hodgett, p. 57; Johnson, p. 142.</ref>{{Refn|One consequence of this was an expansion of the wine trade with the Continent. In 1203, the citizens and merchants of [[Bordeaux]] were exempted from the [[Grande Coutume]], which was the principal tax on their exports. In exchange, the regions of Bordeaux, [[Bayonne]] and [[Dax, Landes|Dax]] pledged support against the French Crown. The unblocked ports gave Gascon merchants open access to the English wine market for the first time. The following year, John granted the same exemptions to [[La Rochelle]] and [[Poitou]].<ref>Johnson, p. 142.</ref>|group=nb}} The King introduced new taxes and extended existing ones. The Jews, who held a [[Economy of England in the Middle Ages#Jewish contribution to the English economy|vulnerable position]] in medieval England, protected only by the King, were subject to huge taxes; £44,000 was extracted from the community by the [[tallage]] of 1210; much of it was passed on to the Christian debtors of Jewish moneylenders.<ref name=CarpenterP272/>{{Refn|Medieval financial figures have no easy contemporary equivalent, due to the different role of money in the economy.|group=nb}} John created a new tax on income and movable goods in 1207—effectively a version of a modern income tax—that produced £60,000; he created a new set of import and export duties payable directly to the Crown.<ref>Turner, p. 95.</ref> He found that these measures enabled him to raise further resources through the confiscation of the lands of barons who could not pay or refused to pay.<ref>Turner, p. 148.</ref>

At the start of John's reign there was a [[Economy of England in the Middle Ages#Development of estate management|sudden change in prices]], as bad harvests and high demand for food resulted in much higher prices for grain and animals. This inflationary pressure was to continue for the rest of the 13th century and had long-term economic consequences for England.<ref>Danziger and Gillingham, p. 44.</ref> The resulting social pressures were complicated by bursts of [[deflation]] that resulted from John's military campaigns.<ref>Bolton pp. 32–33.</ref> It was usual at the time for the King to collect taxes in silver, which was then re-minted into new coins; these coins would then be put in barrels and sent to royal castles around the country, to be used to hire mercenaries or to meet other costs.<ref>Stenton, p. 163.</ref> At those times when John was preparing for campaigns in Normandy, for example, huge quantities of silver had to be withdrawn from the economy and stored for months, which unintentionally resulted in periods during which silver coins were simply hard to come by, commercial credit difficult to acquire and deflationary pressure placed on the economy. The result was political unrest across the country.<ref>Bolton, p. 40.</ref> John attempted to address some of the problems with the English currency in 1204 and 1205 by carrying out a radical overhaul of the coinage, improving its quality and consistency.<ref>Barlow, p. 329.</ref>

===Royal household and {{Lang|la|ira et malevolentia}}===
{{Main|List of nobles and magnates of England in the 13th century}}
[[File:John of England (John Lackland).jpg|thumb|upright|King John presenting a church, painted c.&nbsp;1250–1259 by [[Matthew Paris]] in his {{Lang|la|Historia Anglorum}}]]
John's royal household was based around several groups of followers. One group was the {{Lang|la|familiares regis}}, his immediate friends and knights who travelled around the country with him. They also played an important role in organising and leading military campaigns.<ref>Turner, pp. 144–145; Church (1999), p. 133.</ref> Another section of royal followers were the {{Lang|la|[[curia regis]]}}; these {{Lang|la|curiales}} were the senior officials and agents of the King and were essential to his day-to-day rule.<ref>Turner, p. 144.</ref> Being a member of these inner circles brought huge advantages, as it was easier to gain favours from the King, file lawsuits, marry a wealthy heiress or have one's debts remitted.<ref>Turner, p. 147.</ref> By the time of Henry II, these posts were increasingly being filled by "new men" from outside the normal ranks of the barons. This intensified under John's rule, with many lesser nobles arriving from the continent to take up positions at court; many were mercenary leaders from Poitou.<ref name="TurnerP145">Turner, p. 145.</ref> These men included soldiers who would become infamous in England for their uncivilised behaviour, including [[Falkes de Breauté]], [[Gérard d'Athée]], [[Engelard de Cigogné]], and [[Philip Marc]].<ref>Barlow, p. 326.</ref> Many barons perceived the King's household as what Ralph Turner has characterised as a "narrow clique enjoying royal favour at barons' expense" staffed by men of lesser status.<ref name=TurnerP145/>

This trend for the King to rely on his own men at the expense of the barons was exacerbated by the tradition of Angevin royal {{Lang|la|ira et malevolentia}} ("anger and ill-will") and John's own personality.<ref>Huscroft, p. 70.</ref> From Henry II onwards, {{Lang|la|ira et malevolentia}} had come to describe the right of the King to express his anger and displeasure at particular barons or clergy, building on the Norman concept of {{Lang|la|malevolentia}}—royal ill-will.<ref name="HuscroftP170MasonP128">Huscroft, p. 170; Mason, p. 128.</ref> In the Norman period, suffering the King's ill-will meant difficulties in obtaining grants, honours or petitions; Henry II had infamously expressed his fury and ill-will towards [[Thomas Becket]], which ultimately resulted in Becket's death.<ref name=HuscroftP170MasonP128/> John now had the additional ability to "cripple his vassals" on a significant scale using his new economic and judicial measures, which made the threat of royal anger all the more serious.<ref name="WarrenP184">Warren, p. 184.</ref>

John was deeply suspicious of the barons, particularly those with sufficient power and wealth to potentially challenge him.<ref name=WarrenP184/> Numerous barons were subjected to his {{Lang|la|malevolentia}}, even including the famous knight [[William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke]], normally held up as a model of utter loyalty.<ref>Warren, p. 185.</ref> The most infamous case, which went beyond anything considered acceptable at the time, was that of the powerful [[William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber]], who held lands in Ireland.<ref>Warren, p. 184; Turner, p. 23.</ref> De Braose was subjected to punitive demands for money, and when he refused to pay a huge sum of 40,000 [[Mark (money)|marks]] (equivalent to £26,666 at the time),{{Refn|Both the mark and the pound sterling were accountancy terms in this period; a mark was worth around two-thirds of a pound.|group=nb}} his wife, [[Maud de Braose|Maud]], and one of their sons were imprisoned by John, which resulted in their deaths.<ref name="WarrenP185TurnerP169">Warren, p. 185; Turner, p. 169.</ref> De Braose died in exile in 1211, and his grandsons remained in prison until 1218.<ref name=WarrenP185TurnerP169/> John's suspicions and jealousies meant that he rarely enjoyed good relationships with even the leading loyalist barons.<ref>Turner, p. 139.</ref>

===Personal life===
[[File:John family.jpg|thumb|upright=1.59|alt=A family tree, with John in a circle and his children's heads represented in circles, linked by coloured lines.|A 13th-century depiction of John and his legitimate children, (l to r) [[Henry III of England|Henry]], [[Richard of Cornwall|Richard]], [[Isabella of England|Isabella]], [[Eleanor of England, Countess of Leicester|Eleanor]] and [[Joan of England, Queen of Scotland|Joan]]]]

John's personal life greatly affected his reign. Contemporary chroniclers state that John was sinfully lustful and lacking in [[piety]].<ref name="TurnerP166">Turner, p. 166.</ref> It was common for kings and nobles of the period to keep mistresses, but chroniclers complained that John's mistresses were married noblewomen, which was considered unacceptable.<ref name=TurnerP166/> John had at least five children with mistresses during his first marriage, and two of those mistresses are known to have been noblewomen.<ref>Turner, p. 166, Vincent, p. 193.</ref> John's sexual behaviour after his second marriage is less clear, however. None of his known illegitimate children were born after he remarried, and there is no actual documentary proof of adultery after that point, although John certainly had female friends amongst the court throughout the period.<ref name="VincentP193">Vincent, p. 193.</ref> The specific accusations made against John during the baronial revolts are now generally considered to have been invented for the purposes of justifying the revolt; nonetheless, most of John's contemporaries seem to have held a poor opinion of his sexual behaviour.<ref name=TurnerP166/>{{Refn|The most notable piece of evidence for any later royal affairs is the famous entry on the fine roll of Christmas 1204 involving Hugh de Neville's wife. This entry notes that de Neville's wife offered the King 200 chickens if she could spend a night with her husband, Hugh. This is conventionally interpreted as implying that she was having an affair with the King but in this case wished to have sex with her husband instead – thus the humorous fine. An alternative explanation is that she was tired of Hugh being sent away on royal service and the fine was a light-hearted way of convincing John to ensure that her husband remained at court for a night.<ref>Vincent, p. 197, attributing the original idea to a private communication from Sir James Holt.</ref>|group=nb}}

The character of John's relationship with his second wife, Isabella of Angoulême, is unclear. John married Isabella whilst she was relatively young—her exact date of birth is uncertain, and estimates place her between at most 15 and more probably towards nine years old at the time of her marriage.<ref name="VincentPP174-5">Vincent, pp. 174–175.</ref>{{Refn|These estimates are based on chronicler accounts, the date of Isabella's parents' marriage and on the date of birth of her first child.<ref name=VincentPP174-5/>|group=nb}} Even by the standards of the time, she was married whilst very young.<ref>Vincent, p. 175.</ref> John did not provide a great deal of money for his wife's household and did not pass on much of the revenue from her lands, to the extent that historian Nicholas Vincent has described him as being "downright mean" towards Isabella.<ref>Vincent, p. 184.</ref> Vincent concluded that the marriage was not a particularly "amicable" one.<ref name="VincentP196">Vincent, p. 196.</ref> Other aspects of their marriage suggest a closer, more positive relationship. Chroniclers recorded that John had a "mad infatuation" with Isabella, and certainly the King and Queen had conjugal relations between at least 1207 and 1215; they had five children.<ref>Turner, p. 98; Vincent, p. 196.</ref> In contrast to Vincent, historian William Chester Jordan concludes that the pair were a "companionable couple" who had a successful marriage by the standards of the day.<ref>Jordan, cited in Turner, p. 12.</ref>

John's lack of religious conviction has been noted by contemporary chroniclers and later historians, with some suspecting that he was at best impious, or even [[atheistic]], a very serious issue at the time.<ref>McLynn, p. 290.</ref> Contemporary chroniclers catalogued his various anti-religious habits at length, including his failure to take communion, his blasphemous remarks, and his witty but scandalous jokes about church doctrine, including jokes about the implausibility of the [[Resurrection of Jesus]]. They commented on the paucity of John's charitable donations to the Church.<ref>McLynn, pp. 78, 290.</ref> Historian [[Frank McLynn]] argues that John's early years at Fontevrault, combined with his relatively advanced education, may have turned him against the church.<ref name="McLynn, p. 78"/> Other historians have been more cautious in interpreting this material, noting that chroniclers also reported his personal interest in the life of [[St Wulfstan]] and his friendships with several senior clerics, most especially with [[Hugh of Lincoln]], who was later declared a saint.<ref name="TurnerP120">Turner, p. 120.</ref> Financial records show a normal royal household engaged in the usual feasts and pious observances—albeit with many records showing John's offerings to the poor to atone for routinely breaking church rules and guidance.<ref>Turner, p. 120; Carpenter (2004), p. 276.</ref> The historian Lewis Warren has argued that the chronicler accounts were subject to considerable bias and the King was "at least conventionally devout", citing his [[Christian pilgrimage|pilgrimages]] and interest in religious scripture and commentaries.<ref>Warren, pp.&nbsp;171–172.</ref>

==Later reign (1204–1214)==

===Continental policy===
{{Main|Anglo-French War (1202–1214)}}

[[File:BitvaLincoln1217.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|alt=A drawing of a medieval castle, with a tall tower with a flag on top; a crossbowman is firing an arrow from the battlements at two horsemen.|An early-13th-century drawing by Matthew Paris showing contemporary warfare, including the use of castles, [[crossbow]]men and mounted [[knight]]s]]

During the remainder of his reign, John focused on trying to retake Normandy.<ref name="TurnerP106">Turner, p. 106.</ref> The available evidence suggests that he did not regard the loss of the Duchy as a permanent shift in Capetian power.<ref name=TurnerP106/> Strategically, John faced several challenges:<ref name="TurnerPP106-7">Turner, pp. 106–107.</ref> England itself had to be secured against possible French invasion,<ref name=TurnerPP106-7/> the sea-routes to Bordeaux needed to be secured following the loss of the land route to Aquitaine, and his remaining possessions in Aquitaine needed to be secured following the death of his mother, Eleanor, in April 1204.<ref name=TurnerPP106-7/> John's preferred plan was to use Poitou as a base of operations, advance up the [[Loire Valley]] to threaten Paris, pin down the French forces and break Philip's internal lines of communication before landing a maritime force in the Duchy itself.<ref name=TurnerPP106-7/> Ideally, this plan would benefit from the opening of a second front on Philip's eastern frontiers with Flanders and Boulogne—effectively a re-creation of Richard's old strategy of applying pressure from Germany.<ref name=TurnerPP106-7/> All of this would require a great deal of money and soldiers.<ref name="TurnerP107">Turner, p. 107.</ref>

John spent much of 1205 securing England against a potential French invasion.<ref name=TurnerP106/> As an emergency measure, he recreated a version of Henry II's [[Assize of Arms of 1181]], with each [[shire]] creating a structure to mobilise local levies.<ref name=TurnerP106/> When the threat of invasion faded, John formed a large military force in England intended for Poitou, and a large fleet with soldiers under his own command intended for Normandy.<ref name=TurnerP107/> To achieve this, John reformed the English feudal contribution to his campaigns, creating a more flexible system under which only one knight in ten would actually be mobilised, but would be financially supported by the other nine; knights would serve for an indefinite period.<ref name=TurnerP107/> John built up a strong team of engineers for siege warfare and a substantial force of professional crossbowmen.<ref name="Barlow, p. 336">Barlow, p. 336.</ref> The King was supported by a team of leading barons with military expertise, including [[William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury]], [[William the Marshal]], [[Roger de Lacy (1170–1211)|Roger de Lacy]] and, until he fell from favour, the [[marcher lord]] William de Braose.<ref name="Barlow, p. 336"/>

John had already begun to improve his [[English Channel|Channel]] forces before the loss of Normandy and he rapidly built up further maritime capabilities after its collapse. Most of these ships were placed along the [[Cinque Ports]], but [[HMNB Portsmouth|Portsmouth]] was also enlarged.<ref name="Warren, p. 123">Warren, p. 123.</ref> By the end of 1204 he had around 50 large [[galley]]s available; another 54 vessels were built between 1209 and 1212.<ref>Turner, p. 106; Warren, p. 123</ref> [[William of Wrotham]] was appointed "keeper of the galleys", effectively John's chief admiral.<ref name=TurnerP106/> Wrotham was responsible for fusing John's galleys, the ships of the Cinque Ports and pressed merchant vessels into a single operational fleet.<ref name=TurnerP106/> John adopted recent improvements in ship design, including new large transport ships called ''buisses'' and removable [[forecastle]]s for use in combat.<ref name="Warren, p. 123"/>

Baronial unrest in England prevented the departure of the planned 1205 expedition, and only a smaller force under William Longespée deployed to Poitou.<ref name=TurnerP107/> In 1206 John departed for Poitou himself, but was forced to divert south to counter a threat to [[Gascony]] from [[Alfonso VIII of Castile]].<ref name=TurnerP107/> After a successful campaign against Alfonso, John headed north again, taking the city of Angers.<ref name=TurnerP107/> Philip moved south to meet John; the year's campaigning ended in stalemate and a two-year truce was made between the two rulers.<ref>Turner, pp. 107–108.</ref>

During the truce of 1206–1208, John focused on building up his financial and military resources in preparation for another attempt to recapture Normandy.<ref name="TurnerP108">Turner, p. 108.</ref> John used some of this money to pay for new alliances on Philip's eastern frontiers, where the growth in Capetian power was beginning to concern France's neighbours.<ref name=TurnerP108/> By 1212 John had successfully concluded alliances with his nephew [[Otto IV of Germany]], a contender for the crown of [[Holy Roman Emperor]], as well as with the counts Renaud of Boulogne and [[Ferdinand of Flanders]].<ref name=TurnerP108/> The invasion plans for 1212 were postponed because of fresh English baronial unrest about service in Poitou.<ref name=TurnerP108/> Philip seized the initiative in 1213, sending his elder son, [[Louis VIII of France|Louis]], to invade Flanders with the intention of next launching an invasion of England.<ref name=TurnerP108/> John was forced to postpone his own invasion plans to counter this threat. He launched his new fleet to attack the French at the harbour of [[Damme]].<ref name="TurnerP109">Turner, p. 109.</ref> The attack was a success, destroying Philip's vessels and any chances of an invasion of England that year.<ref name=TurnerP109/> John hoped to exploit this advantage by invading himself late in 1213, but baronial discontent again delayed his invasion plans until early 1214, in what was his final Continental campaign.<ref name=TurnerP109/>

===Scotland, Ireland and Wales===
[[File:Jan Anglie psici.jpg|thumb|alt=A drawing of King John wearing a crown and a red robe. The king is sat down and stroking two hunting dogs.|A 13th-century depiction of John with two [[hunting dog]]s]]
In the late 12th and early 13th centuries [[Anglo-Scottish border|the border]] and political relationship between England and Scotland was disputed, with the kings of Scotland claiming parts of what is now northern England. Henry II had forced [[William the Lion]] to swear fealty to him at the [[Treaty of Falaise]] in 1174.<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 224.</ref> This had been rescinded by Richard I in exchange for financial compensation in 1189, but the relationship remained uneasy.<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 255.</ref> John began his reign by reasserting his sovereignty over the disputed northern counties. He refused William's request for the earldom of [[Northumbria]], but did not intervene in Scotland itself and focused on his continental problems.<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 277; Duncan, p. 251.</ref> The two kings maintained a friendly relationship, meeting in 1206 and 1207,<ref>Duncan, p. 252.</ref> until it was rumoured in 1209 that William was intending to ally himself with Philip II of France.<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 277; Duncan, p. 260</ref> John invaded Scotland and forced William to sign the Treaty of Norham, which gave John control of William's daughters and required a payment of £10,000.<ref name="CarpenterP277">Carpenter (2004), p. 277.</ref> This effectively crippled William's power north of the border, and by 1212 John had to intervene militarily to support William against his internal rivals.<ref name=CarpenterP277/>{{Refn|William's son, [[Alexander II of Scotland]], would later state that he had been betrothed in 1212 to John's daughter [[Joan of England, Queen of Scotland|Joan]]. Current scholarship considers Alexander's claim unreliable.<ref>Carpenter, p. 277; Duncan, p. 264.</ref>|group=nb}} John made no efforts to reinvigorate the Treaty of Falaise, though, and William and his son [[Alexander II of Scotland]] in turn remained independent kings, supported by, but not owing fealty to, John.<ref>Duncan, p. 268.</ref>

John remained Lord of Ireland throughout his reign. He drew on the country for resources to fight his war with Philip on the continent.<ref name="CarpenterP278">Carpenter (2004), p. 278.</ref> Conflict continued in Ireland between the Anglo-Norman settlers and the indigenous Irish chieftains, with John manipulating both groups to expand his wealth and power in the country.<ref name=CarpenterP278/> During Richard's rule, John had successfully increased the size of his lands in Ireland, and he continued this policy as king.<ref>Carpenter (2004), pp. 278–279.</ref> In 1210 the King crossed into Ireland with a large army to crush a rebellion by the Anglo-Norman lords; he reasserted his control of the country and used a new charter to order compliance with English laws and customs in Ireland.<ref>Carpenter (2004), pp. 280–281.</ref> John stopped short of trying to actively enforce this charter on the native Irish kingdoms, but historian David Carpenter suspects that he might have done so, had the baronial conflict in England not intervened. Simmering tensions remained with the native Irish leaders even after John left for England.<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 282; Duffy, pp. 242–243.</ref>

Royal power in Wales was unevenly applied, with the country divided between the [[marcher lords]] along the borders, royal territories in [[Pembrokeshire]] and the more independent native Welsh lords of North Wales. John took a close interest in Wales and knew the country well, visiting every year between 1204 and 1211 and marrying his illegitimate daughter [[Joan, Lady of Wales|Joan]] to the Welsh prince [[Llywelyn the Great]].<ref>Carpenter (2004), pp. 282–283.</ref> The King used the marcher lords and the native Welsh to increase his own territory and power, striking a sequence of increasingly precise deals backed by royal military power with the Welsh rulers.<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 283.</ref> A major royal expedition to enforce these agreements occurred in 1211, after Llywelyn attempted to exploit the instability caused by the removal of William de Braose, through the [[Welsh uprising of 1211]].<ref name="CarpenterP284">Carpenter (2004), p. 284.</ref> John's invasion, striking into the Welsh heartlands, was a military success. Llywelyn came to terms that included an expansion of John's power across much of Wales, albeit only temporarily.<ref name=CarpenterP284/>

===Dispute with the Pope and excommunication===
[[File:Innozenz3.jpg|thumb|alt=A painting of Pope Innocent III, wearing his formal robes and a tall, pointed hat.|[[Pope Innocent III]], who excommunicated John in 1209]]
When the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], Hubert Walter, died on 13 July 1205, John became involved in a dispute with Pope Innocent III that would lead to the King's [[excommunication]]. The Norman and Angevin kings had traditionally exercised a great deal of power over the church within their territories. From the 1040s onwards, however, successive popes had put forward a reforming message that emphasised the importance of the Church being "governed more coherently and more hierarchically from the centre" and established "its own sphere of authority and jurisdiction, separate from and independent of that of the lay ruler", in the words of historian Richard Huscroft.<ref>Huscroft, p. 190.</ref> After the 1140s, these principles had been largely accepted within the English Church, albeit with an element of concern about centralising authority in Rome.<ref name="HuscroftP189TurnerP121">Huscroft, p. 189; Turner, p. 121.</ref> [[Investiture Controversy|These changes]] brought the customary rights of lay rulers such as John over ecclesiastical appointments into question.<ref name=HuscroftP189TurnerP121/> Pope Innocent was, according to historian Ralph Turner, an "ambitious and aggressive" religious leader, insistent on his rights and responsibilities within the church.<ref>Turner, p. 119.</ref>

John wanted [[John de Gray]], the [[Bishop of Norwich]] and one of his own supporters, to be appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, but the [[cathedral chapter]] for [[Canterbury Cathedral]] claimed the exclusive right to elect the Archbishop. They favoured [[Reginald (sub-prior)|Reginald]], the chapter's [[sub-prior]].<ref name="Turner, p. 125">Turner, p. 125.</ref> To complicate matters, the bishops of the [[province of Canterbury]] also claimed the right to appoint the next archbishop.<ref name="Turner, p. 125"/> The chapter secretly elected Reginald and he travelled to Rome to be confirmed; the bishops challenged the appointment and the matter was taken before Innocent.<ref>Turner, pp. 125–126.</ref> John forced the Canterbury chapter to change their support to John de Gray, and a messenger was sent to Rome to inform the papacy of the new decision.<ref name="TurnerP126">Turner, p. 126.</ref> Innocent disavowed both Reginald and John de Gray, and instead appointed his own candidate, [[Stephen Langton]]. John refused Innocent's request that he consent to Langton's appointment, but the Pope consecrated Langton anyway in June 1207.<ref name=TurnerP126/>

John was incensed about what he perceived as an abrogation of his customary right as monarch to influence the election.<ref name=TurnerP126/> He complained both about the choice of Langton as an individual, as John felt he was overly influenced by the Capetian court in Paris, and about the process as a whole.<ref name="TurnerP127">Turner, p. 127.</ref> He barred Langton from entering England and seized the lands of the archbishopric and other papal possessions.<ref name=TurnerP127/> Innocent set a commission in place to try to convince John to change his mind, but to no avail. Innocent then placed [[Papal Interdict of 1208|an interdict]] on England in March 1208, prohibiting clergy from conducting religious services, with the exception of baptisms for the young, and confessions and absolutions for the dying.<ref>Turner, p. 128; Harper-Bill, p. 304.</ref>

[[File:RochesterCastle.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|left|alt=A photograph of a tall stone castle keep; most of the towers are square, but one, rebuilt after a siege, is circular.|[[Rochester Castle]] in Kent, one of the many properties owned by the disputed [[archbishopric of Canterbury]], and an important fortification in the final years of John's reign]]
John treated the interdict as "the equivalent of a papal declaration of war".<ref name="Turnerp128">Turner, p. 128.</ref> He responded by attempting to punish Innocent personally and to drive a wedge between the English clergymen who might support John and those allying themselves firmly with the authorities in Rome.<ref name=Turnerp128/> John seized the lands of the clergymen unwilling to conduct services, as well as estates linked to Innocent himself; he arrested the illicit concubines that many clerics kept during the period, releasing them only after the payment of fines; he seized the lands of members of the church who had fled England, and he promised protection for those willing to remain loyal to him.<ref name=Turnerp128/> In many cases, individual institutions were able to negotiate terms for managing their own properties and keeping the produce of their estates.<ref>Poole, pp. 446–447.</ref> By 1209 the situation showed no signs of resolution, and Innocent threatened to excommunicate John if he did not acquiesce to Langton's appointment.<ref name="TurnerP131">Turner, p. 131.</ref> When this threat failed, Innocent excommunicated the King in November 1209.<ref name=TurnerP131/> Although theoretically a significant blow to John's legitimacy, this did not appear to worry the King greatly.<ref name=TurnerP131/> Two of John's close allies, Emperor Otto IV and Count [[Raymond VI of Toulouse]], had already suffered the same punishment themselves, and the significance of excommunication had been somewhat devalued.<ref name=TurnerP131/> John simply tightened his existing measures and accrued significant sums from the income of vacant sees and abbeys. One 1213 estimate, for example, suggested the church had lost an estimated 100,000 marks (equivalent to ~£67,000 at the time) to John.<ref>Harper-Bill, p. 306.</ref> Official figures suggest that around 14% of the annual income from the English church was being appropriated by John.<ref>Harper-Bill, p. 307.</ref>

Innocent gave some dispensations as the crisis progressed.<ref name="HarperBillP304">Harper-Bill, p. 304.</ref> Monastic communities were allowed to celebrate Mass in private from 1209 onwards, and late in 1212 the [[Holy Viaticum]] for the dying was authorised.<ref>Harper-Bill, pp. 304–305.</ref> The rules on burials and lay access to churches appear to have been steadily circumvented, at least unofficially.<ref name=HarperBillP304/> Although the interdict was a burden to much of the population, it did not result in rebellion against John. By 1213, though, John was increasingly worried about the threat of a French invasion.<ref name="TurnerP133">Turner, p. 133.</ref> Some contemporary chroniclers suggest that in January of that year, Philip II of France had been charged with deposing John on behalf of the papacy, although it appears that the Pope had merely prepared secret letters in case he needed to claim the credit if Philip successfully invaded England.<ref>Bartlett, pp. 404–405; Turner, p. 133.</ref>

Under mounting political pressure, John finally negotiated terms for a reconciliation, and the papal terms for submission were accepted in the presence of the [[papal legate]] [[Pandulf Verraccio]] in May 1213 at the [[Knights Templar in England#Churches|Templar Church]] at [[Dover]].<ref>Turner, p. 133; Lloyd, p. 213.</ref> As part of the deal, John offered to surrender the Kingdom of England to the papacy for a feudal service of 1,000 marks (equivalent to ~£700 at the time) annually; 700 marks (~£500) for England and 300 marks (~£200) for Ireland, as well as compensation to the Church for any revenue lost during the crisis.<ref>Turner, p. 133; Harper-Bill, p. 308.</ref> The agreement was formalised in the {{Lang|la|Bulla Aurea}}, or Golden [[Papal bull|Bull]]. This resolution produced mixed responses. Although some chroniclers felt that John had been humiliated by the sequence of events, there was little public reaction.<ref>Turner, pp. 133–134.</ref> The Pope benefited from the resolution of his long-standing English problem, but John probably gained more, as Innocent became a firm supporter of John for the rest of his reign. Backing him in both domestic and continental policy issues.<ref name="TurnerP134">Turner, p. 134.</ref> Innocent immediately turned against Philip, calling upon him to reject plans to invade England and to sue for peace.<ref name=TurnerP134/> John paid some of the compensation money he had promised the Church, but he ceased making payments in late 1214, leaving two-thirds of the sum unpaid; Innocent appears to have conveniently forgotten this debt for the good of the wider relationship.<ref>Harper-Bill, p. 308.</ref>

==Failure in France and the First Barons' War (1215–1216)==
[[File:Bataille de Bouvines.jpg|thumb|alt=An illuminated picture of two armies of mounted knights fighting; the French side are on the left, the Imperial on the right.|The French victory at the [[battle of Bouvines]] doomed John's plan to retake Normandy in 1214 and led to the [[First Barons' War]].]]

===Tensions and discontent===
Tensions between John and the barons had been growing for several years, as demonstrated by the 1212 plot against the King.<ref name="TurnerPP173-4">Turner, pp. 173–174.</ref> Many of the disaffected barons came from the north of England; that faction was often labelled by contemporaries and historians as "the Northerners". The northern barons rarely had any personal stake in the conflict in France, and many of them owed large sums of money to John; the revolt has been characterised as "a rebellion of the king's debtors".<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 273, after Holt (1961).</ref> Many of John's military household joined the rebels, particularly amongst those that John had appointed to administrative roles across England; their local links and loyalties outweighed their personal loyalty to John.<ref>Church (1999), p. 154.</ref> Tension also grew across North Wales, where opposition to the 1211 treaty between John and Llywelyn was turning into open conflict.<ref>Rowlands, pp. 284–285.</ref> For some the appointment of [[Peter des Roches]] as [[justiciar]] was an important factor, as he was considered an "abrasive foreigner" by many of the barons.<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 287.</ref> The failure of John's French military campaign in 1214 was probably the final straw that precipitated the baronial uprising during John's final years as king; [[J. C. Holt|James Holt]] describes the path to civil war as "direct, short and unavoidable" following the defeat at Bouvines.<ref>Turner, pp. 173–174; Holt (1961), p. 100.</ref>

===Failure of the 1214 French campaign===
In 1214 John began his final campaign to reclaim Normandy from Philip. He was optimistic, as he had successfully built up alliances with Emperor Otto IV, Renaud of Boulogne and Ferdinand of Flanders; he was enjoying papal favour; and he had successfully built up substantial funds to pay for the deployment of his experienced army.<ref>Barlow, p. 335.</ref> Nonetheless, when John left for Poitou in February 1214, many barons refused to provide military service; mercenary knights had to fill the gaps.<ref name="CarpenterP286">Carpenter (2004), p. 286.</ref> John's plan was to split Philip's forces by pushing north-east from Poitou towards Paris, whilst Otto, Renaud and Ferdinand, supported by William Longespée, marched south-west from Flanders.<ref name=CarpenterP286/>

The first part of the campaign went well, with John outmanoeuvring the forces under the command of Prince Louis and retaking the county of Anjou by the end of June.<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 286; Warren, p. 221.</ref> John besieged the castle of [[Roche-au-Moine]], a key stronghold, forcing Louis to give battle against John's larger army.<ref name="WarrenP222">Warren, p. 222.</ref> The local Angevin nobles refused to advance with John; left at something of a disadvantage, John retreated back to [[La Rochelle]].<ref name=WarrenP222/> Shortly afterwards, King Philip won the hard-fought [[battle of Bouvines]] in the north against Otto and John's other allies, bringing an end to John's hopes of retaking Normandy.<ref name="WarrenP224">Warren, p. 224.</ref> A peace agreement was signed in which John returned Anjou to Philip and paid him compensation; the truce was intended to last for six years.<ref name=WarrenP224/> John arrived back in England in October.<ref name=WarrenP224/>

===Pre-war tensions and Magna Carta===
[[File:Magna Carta (British Library Cotton MS Augustus II.106).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|alt=A photograph of a page of Magna Carta, a wide page of dense, small medieval writing.|One of four surviving original copies of Magna Carta, agreed by John and the barons in 1215. [[British Library]], London.]]

Within a few months of John's return, rebel barons in the north and east of England were organising resistance to his rule.<ref>Turner, p. 174.</ref> John held a council in London in January 1215 to discuss potential reforms and sponsored discussions in Oxford between his agents and the rebels during the spring.<ref name="TurnerP178">Turner, p. 178.</ref> He appears to have been playing for time until Pope Innocent III could send letters giving him explicit papal support. This was particularly important for John, as a way of pressuring the barons but also as a way of controlling Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury.<ref>Turner, p. 179.</ref> In the meantime, John began to recruit fresh mercenary forces from Poitou, although some were later sent back to avoid giving the impression that John was escalating the conflict.<ref name=TurnerP178/> The King announced his intent to become a crusader, a move which gave him additional political protection under church law.<ref>Warren, p. 233.</ref>

Letters of support from the Pope arrived in April but by then the rebel barons had organised. They congregated at [[Northampton]] in May and renounced their feudal ties to John, appointing [[Robert fitz Walter]] as their military leader.<ref>Turner, pp. 174, 179.</ref> This self-proclaimed "Army of God" marched on London, taking the capital as well as [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]] and [[Exeter]].<ref name="TurnerP180">Turner, p. 180.</ref> John's efforts to appear moderate and conciliatory had been largely successful, but once the rebels held London they attracted a fresh wave of defectors from John's royalist faction.<ref name=TurnerP180/> John instructed Langton to organise peace talks with the rebel barons.<ref name=TurnerP180/>

John met the rebel leaders at [[Runnymede]], near [[Windsor Castle]], on 15 June 1215.<ref name=TurnerP180/> Langton's efforts at mediation created a charter capturing the proposed peace agreement; it was later renamed [[Magna Carta]], or "Great Charter".<ref>Turner, pp. 180, 182.</ref> The charter went beyond simply addressing specific baronial complaints, and formed a wider proposal for political reform, albeit one focusing on the rights of free men, not serfs and [[unfree labour]].<ref>Turner, p. 182.</ref> It promised the protection of church rights, protection from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, new taxation only with baronial consent and limitations on [[scutage]] and other feudal payments.<ref>Turner, pp.&nbsp;184–185.</ref> A council of twenty-five barons would be created to monitor and ensure John's future adherence to the charter, whilst the rebel army would stand down and London would be surrendered to the King.<ref name="TurnerP189">Turner, p. 189.</ref>

Neither John nor the rebel barons seriously attempted to implement the peace accord.<ref name=TurnerP189/> The rebel barons suspected that the proposed baronial council would be unacceptable to John and that he would challenge the legality of the charter; they packed the baronial council with their own hardliners and refused to demobilise their forces or surrender London as agreed.<ref>Turner, pp. 189–190.</ref> Despite his promises to the contrary, John appealed to Innocent for help, observing that the charter compromised the Pope's rights under the 1213 agreement that had appointed him John's feudal lord.<ref name="TurnerP190">Turner, p. 190.</ref> Innocent obliged; he declared the charter "not only shameful and demeaning, but illegal and unjust" and excommunicated the rebel barons.<ref name=TurnerP190/> The failure of the agreement led rapidly to the [[First Barons' War]].<ref name=TurnerP190/>

===War with the barons===
{{Main|First Barons' War}}
[[File:King John's campaign 1215-6.png|thumb|upright=1.13|alt=A map of England showing King John's march north and back south with solid black and dashed arrows.|John's campaign from September 1215 to March 1216]]
The rebels made the first move in the war, seizing the strategic [[Rochester Castle]], owned by Langton but left almost unguarded by the archbishop.<ref name="TurnerP192">Turner, p. 192.</ref> John was well prepared for a conflict. He had stockpiled money to pay for mercenaries and ensured the support of the powerful [[marcher lords]] with their own feudal forces, such as William Marshal and [[Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester]].<ref>Turner, p. 191.</ref> The rebels lacked the engineering expertise or heavy equipment necessary to assault the network of royal castles that cut off the northern rebel barons from those in the south.<ref>Turner, p. 191; Barlow, p. 354.</ref> John's strategy was to isolate the rebel barons in London, protect his own supply lines to his key source of mercenaries in Flanders, prevent the French from landing in the south-east, and then win the war through slow attrition.<ref name=TurnerP192/> John put off dealing with the badly deteriorating situation in North Wales, where Prince Llywelyn was leading a rebellion against the 1211 settlement.<ref>Rowlands, pp. 286–287.</ref>

John's campaign started well. In November John retook Rochester Castle from rebel baron [[William d'Aubigny (rebel)|William d'Aubigny]] in a sophisticated assault. One chronicler had not seen "a siege so hard pressed or so strongly resisted", whilst historian Reginald Brown describes it as "one of the greatest [siege] operations in England up to that time".<ref>Turner, p. 192 citing Brown, pp. 10–11; Turner, p. 193.</ref> Having regained the south-east John split his forces, sending William Longespée to retake the north side of London and East Anglia, whilst John himself headed north via [[Nottingham]] to attack the estates of the northern barons.<ref name="TurnerP193">Turner, p. 193.</ref> Both operations were successful and the majority of the remaining rebels were pinned down in London.<ref name=TurnerP193/> In January 1216 John marched against Alexander II of Scotland, who had allied himself with the rebel cause.<ref name="DuncanP267">Duncan, p. 267.</ref> John took back Alexander's possessions in northern England in a rapid campaign and pushed up towards [[Edinburgh]] over a ten-day period.<ref name=DuncanP267/>

The rebel barons responded by inviting Prince Louis of France to lead them: Louis had a claim to the English throne by virtue of his marriage to [[Blanche of Castile]], a granddaughter of Henry II.<ref name="TurnerPP191-2">Turner, pp. 191–192.</ref> Philip may have provided his son with private support but refused to openly support Louis, who was excommunicated by Innocent for taking part in the war against John.<ref name=TurnerPP191-2/> Louis' planned arrival in England presented a significant problem for John, as Louis would bring with him naval vessels and siege engines essential to the rebel cause.<ref>Barlow, p. 356.</ref> Once John contained Alexander in Scotland, he marched south to deal with the challenge of the coming invasion.<ref name="DuncanP267"/>

Louis intended to land in the south of England in May 1216, and John assembled a naval force to intercept him.<ref name=TurnerP193/> Unfortunately for John, his fleet was dispersed by bad storms and Louis landed unopposed in [[Kent]].<ref name=TurnerP193/> John hesitated and decided not to attack Louis immediately, either due to the risks of open battle or over concerns about the loyalty of his own men.<ref name="TurnerP193"/> Louis and the rebel barons advanced west and John retreated, spending the summer reorganising his defences across the rest of the kingdom.<ref name="TurnerP194">Turner, p. 194.</ref> John saw several of his military household desert to the rebels, including his half-brother William Longespée. By the end of the summer the rebels had regained the south-east of England and parts of the north.<ref name=TurnerP194/>

==Death==
[[File:King John's tomb.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of the tomb of King John; a large carved, square, stone block supports a carved effigy of John lying down.|King John's tomb in [[Worcester Cathedral]]]]
In September 1216, John began a fresh, vigorous attack. He marched from the [[Cotswolds]], feigned an offensive to relieve the besieged Windsor Castle, and attacked eastwards around London to [[Cambridge]] to separate the rebel-held areas of [[Lincolnshire]] and East Anglia.<ref>Turner, p. 194; Warren, p. 253.</ref> From there he travelled north to relieve the rebel siege at Lincoln and back east to [[King's Lynn|Lynn]], probably to order further supplies from the continent.<ref name="WarrenP253">Warren, p. 253.</ref> In Lynn, John contracted [[dysentery]], which would ultimately prove fatal.<ref name=WarrenP253/> Meanwhile, Alexander II invaded northern England again, taking Carlisle in August and then marching south to give homage to Prince Louis for his English possessions; John narrowly missed intercepting Alexander along the way.<ref>Turner, p. 194; Duncan, p. 267; Warren, p. 253.</ref> Tensions between Louis and the English barons began to increase, prompting a wave of desertions, including William Marshal's son [[William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke|William]] and William Longespée, who both returned to John's faction.<ref>McLynn, p. 455; Warren, p. 253.</ref>

=== Crown Jewels ===
John returned west but is said to have lost much of his baggage train along the way.<ref name="WarrenP254">Warren, p. 254.</ref> [[Roger of Wendover]] provides the most graphic account of this, suggesting that the King's belongings, including the [[English Crown Jewels]], were lost as he crossed one of the tidal estuaries which empties into [[the Wash]], being sucked in by [[quicksand]] and [[whirlpool]]s.<ref name=WarrenP254/> Accounts of the incident vary considerably between the various chroniclers and the exact location of the incident has never been confirmed; the losses may have involved only a few of his pack-horses.<ref>Warren, pp. 284–285; Barlow, p. 356.</ref> Modern historians assert that by October 1216 John faced a "stalemate", "a military situation uncompromised by defeat".<ref>Turner, p. 195; Barlow, p. 357.</ref>

John's illness grew worse and by the time he reached [[Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire]], he was unable to travel any farther; he died on the night of 18/19 October.<ref name=Handbook37/><ref>Warren, pp. 254–255.</ref> Numerous—probably fictitious—accounts circulated soon after his death that he had been killed by poisoned ale, poisoned plums or a "surfeit of peaches".<ref>Given-Wilson, p. 87.</ref> His body was escorted south by a company of mercenaries and he was buried in [[Worcester Cathedral]] in front of the altar of St Wulfstan.<ref>Warren, p. 255; McLynn, p. 460.</ref> A new [[sarcophagus]] with an [[effigy]] was made for him in 1232, in which his remains now rest.<ref>Danziger and Gillingham, p. 270.</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:English and French holdings 1180-1223.png|thumb|upright=1.36|Changes in [[Angevin kings of England|Angevin]] and [[House of Capet|Capetian]] holdings in France. Blue: French royal domains, Yellow: Church lordships, Red: [[Fief]]s held by the king of England in vassalage from the French crown, Green: other fiefs held on behalf of the French crown
]]

In the aftermath of John's death, William Marshal was declared the protector of the nine-year-old Henry III.<ref name="McLynnP460">McLynn, p. 460.</ref> The civil war continued until loyalist victories at the battles of [[Battle of Lincoln (1217)|Lincoln]] and [[Battle of Dover (1217)|Dover]] in 1217. Louis gave up his claim to the English throne and signed the [[Treaty of Lambeth]].<ref name=McLynnP460/> The failed Magna Carta agreement was resuscitated by Marshal's administration and reissued in an edited form in 1217 as a basis for future government.<ref>Danziger and Gillinham, p. 271; Huscroft, p. 151.</ref> Henry III continued his attempts to reclaim Normandy and Anjou until 1259, but John's continental losses and the consequent growth of Capetian power in the 13th century proved to mark a "turning point in European history".<ref name="CarpenterP270">Carpenter (2004), p. 270.</ref>

John's niece Eleanor of Brittany would remain treated with honours due a princess, but according to his will, she would never be released from prison, for she might have a potential claim to the throne of Henry III.<ref>Tuten, Belle S.; Billado, Tracey L. ''Feud, violence, and practice: Essays in medieval studies in honor of Stephen D. White'', pp. 280–285 {{ISBN missing}}</ref>

John's first wife, Isabella of Gloucester, was released from imprisonment in 1214; she remarried twice, and died in 1217. John's second wife, Isabella of Angoulême, left England for [[Angoulême]] soon after the King's death; she became a powerful regional leader, but largely abandoned her children by John.<ref>Vincent, p. 206.</ref> Their eldest son, Henry III, ruled as King of England for the majority of the 13th century. Their other son, [[Richard of Cornwall]], became a noted European leader and ultimately the [[King of the Romans]] in the Holy Roman Empire.<ref>Carpenter (1996), p. 223.</ref> Their daughter [[Joan of England, Queen of Scotland|Joan]] became Queen of Scotland on her marriage to Alexander II.<ref name="CarpenterP277"/> Another daughter, [[Isabella of England|Isabella]], was Holy Roman Empress as the wife of [[Emperor Frederick II]].<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 344.</ref> The youngest daughter, [[Eleanor of England, Countess of Leicester|Eleanor]], married William Marshal's son, also called William, and later the famous English rebel [[Simon de Montfort]].<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 306.</ref>

By various mistresses, John had eight, possibly nine, sons—[[Richard FitzRoy|Richard]], Oliver, John, Geoffrey, Henry, Osbert Gifford, Eudes, Bartholomew and probably Philip—and two or three daughters—Joan, Maud and probably Isabel.<ref>Richardson, p. 9.</ref> Of these, Joan became the most famous, marrying Prince Llywelyn the Great of Wales.<ref>Carpenter (2004), p. 328.</ref>

===Historiography===
[[File:BritLibRoyal14CVIIFol006rMattParisSelfPort.jpg|thumb|alt=A medieval sketch of Matthew Paris, dressed as a monk and on his hands and knees.|A self-portrait of Matthew Paris, one of the first historians of John's reign]]
Historical interpretations of John have been subject to considerable change over the centuries. Medieval [[chronicle]]rs provided the first contemporary, or near contemporary, histories of John's reign. One group of chroniclers wrote early in John's life, or around the time of his accession, including [[Richard of Devizes]], [[William of Newburgh]], [[Roger of Hoveden]] and [[Ralph de Diceto]].<ref>Gillingham (2007), p. 2.</ref> These historians were generally unsympathetic to John's behaviour under Richard's rule, but slightly more positive towards the very earliest years of John's reign.<ref>Holt (1963), p. 19, cited Gillingham (2007) p. 4.</ref>

Reliable accounts of the middle and later parts of John's reign are more limited, with [[Gervase of Canterbury]] and [[Ralph of Coggeshall]] writing the main accounts; neither of them were positive about John's performance as king.<ref>Warren, p. 7; Gillingham (2007), p. 15.</ref> Much of John's later, negative reputation was established by two chroniclers writing after his death, [[Roger of Wendover]] and [[Matthew Paris]], the latter claiming that John attempted conversion to Islam in exchange for military aid from the [[Almohad]] ruler [[Muhammad al-Nasir]]—a story modern historians consider untrue.<ref>Warren, pp. 11, 14.</ref>

In the 16th century, political and religious changes altered the attitude of historians towards John. [[Tudor period|Tudor]] historians were generally favourably inclined towards the King, focusing on his opposition to the Papacy and his promotion of the special rights and prerogatives of a king. Revisionist histories written by [[John Foxe]], [[William Tyndale]] and [[Robert Barnes (martyr)|Robert Barnes]] portrayed John as an early Protestant hero, and Foxe included the King in his ''[[Book of Martyrs]]''.<ref name="Bevington, p. 432">Bevington, p. 432.</ref> [[John Speed]]'s ''Historie of Great Britaine'' in 1632 praised John's "great renown" as a king; he blamed the bias of medieval chroniclers for the King's poor reputation.<ref>Gillingham (2007), p. 4.</ref>

[[File:Foxe's Book of Martyrs title page.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=A photograph of the wood block print of the Book of Martyrs. The book's title is in the centre and various scenes from the book are depicted around it.|[[John Foxe]]'s ''[[Book of Martyrs]]'', officially titled ''Acts and Monuments'', which took a positive view of John's reign]]
By the Victorian period in the 19th century, historians were more inclined to draw on the judgements of the chroniclers and to focus on John's moral personality. [[Kate Norgate]], for example, argued that John's downfall had been due not to his failure in war or strategy, but due to his "almost superhuman wickedness", whilst James Ramsay blamed John's family background and his cruel personality for his downfall.<ref>Norgate (1902), p. 286; Ramsay, p. 502.</ref> Historians in the "[[Whiggish]]" tradition, focusing on documents such as the [[Domesday Book]] and Magna Carta, trace a progressive and [[universalist]] course of political and economic development in England over the medieval period.<ref name="DyerP4CossP81">Dyer, p. 4; Coss, p. 81.</ref>

These historians were often inclined to see John's reign, and his signing of Magna Carta in particular, as a positive step in the constitutional development of England, despite the flaws of the King himself.<ref name=DyerP4CossP81/> [[Winston Churchill]], for example, argued that "[w]hen the long tally is added, it will be seen that the British nation and the English-speaking world owe far more to the vices of John than to the labours of virtuous sovereigns".<ref>Churchill, p. 190.</ref>

In the 1940s, new interpretations of John's reign began to be published, based on research into documents dating to his reign, such as [[pipe roll]]s, charters, court documents and similar primary records. Notably, an essay by [[Vivian Galbraith]] in 1945 proposed a "new approach" to understanding the ruler.<ref>Galbraith, pp. 128–130, cited Gillingham (2007), p. 1.</ref> The use of recorded evidence was combined with an increased scepticism about two of the most colourful chroniclers of John's reign, Roger of Wendover and Matthew Paris.<ref>Turner, pp. 22–23.</ref> In many cases, the detail provided by these chroniclers, both writing after John's death, was challenged by modern historians.<ref>Warren, pp. 11–16.</ref>

Interpretations of Magna Carta and the role of the rebel barons in 1215 have been significantly revised: Although the charter's symbolic, constitutional value for later generations is unquestionable, in the context of John's reign, most historians now consider it a failed peace agreement between "partisan" factions.<ref>Huscroft, p. 174; Barlow, p. 353.</ref> There has been increasing debate about the nature of John's Irish policies. Specialists in Irish medieval history, such as Sean Duffy, have challenged the conventional narrative established by [[Lewis Warren]], suggesting that Ireland was less stable by 1216 than was previously supposed.<ref>Duffy, pp. 221, 245.</ref>

Most historians today, including John's recent biographers Ralph Turner and Lewis Warren, argue that John was an unsuccessful monarch, but note that his failings were exaggerated by 12th- and 13th-century chroniclers.<ref name="Bradbury 2007, p. 353"/> [[Jim Bradbury]] notes the current consensus that John was a "hard-working administrator, an able man, an able general", albeit, as Turner suggests, with "distasteful, even dangerous personality traits", including pettiness, spitefulness and cruelty.<ref>Bradbury (2007), p. 353; Turner, p. 23.</ref> [[John Gillingham]], author of a major biography of Richard I, follows this line too, although he considers John a less effective general than do Turner or Warren, and describes him "one of the worst kings ever to rule England".<ref>Gillingham (2001), p. 125.</ref>

Bradbury takes a moderate line, but suggests that in recent years modern historians have been overly lenient towards John's numerous faults.<ref>Bradbury (2007), p. 361.</ref> Popular historian [[Frank McLynn]] maintains a counter-revisionist perspective on John, arguing that the King's modern reputation amongst historians is "bizarre", and that, as a monarch, John "fails almost all those [tests] that can be legitimately set".<ref>McLynn, pp. 472–473.</ref> According to [[C. Warren Hollister]], "The dramatic ambivalence of his personality, the passions that he stirred among his own contemporaries, the very magnitude of his failures, have made him an object of endless fascination to historians and biographers."<ref>Hollister, p. 1.</ref>

===Popular representations===
{{See also|Cultural depictions of John of England}}
[[File:FirstFolioKingJohn.jpg|thumb|alt=A photograph of the first page of Shakespeare's play "King John", with two columns of text below.|Shakespeare's play ''[[The Life and Death of King John]]'']]
Popular representations of John first began to emerge during the Tudor period, mirroring the revisionist histories of the time.<ref name="Bevington, p. 432"/> The anonymous play ''[[The Troublesome Reign of King John]]'' portrayed the King as a "[[proto-Protestant]] martyr", similar to that shown in [[John Bale]]'s morality play ''[[John Bale#Kynge Johan|Kynge Johan]]'', in which John attempts to save England from the "evil agents of the Roman Church".<ref>Curren-Aquino (1989a), p. 19.; Harris, p. 91.</ref> By contrast, Shakespeare's ''[[King John (play)|King John]]'', a relatively anti-Catholic play that draws on ''The Troublesome Reign'' for its source material, offers a more "balanced, dual view of a complex monarch as both a proto-Protestant victim of Rome's machinations and as a weak, selfishly motivated ruler".<ref>Curren-Aquino (1989a), p. 19; McEachern, p. 329; Bevington, p. 454.</ref>

[[Anthony Munday]]'s play ''[[The Downfall and The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington]]'' portrays many of John's negative traits, but adopts a positive interpretation of the King's stand against the Roman Catholic Church, in line with the contemporary views of the Tudor monarchs.<ref>Potter, p. 70.</ref> By the middle of the 17th century, plays such as [[Robert Davenport (dramatist)|Robert Davenport]]'s ''[[King John and Matilda]]'', although based largely on the earlier Elizabethan works, were transferring the role of Protestant champion to the barons and focusing more on the tyrannical aspects of John's behaviour.<ref>Maley, p. 50.</ref>

Nineteenth-century fictional depictions of John were heavily influenced by Sir [[Walter Scott]]'s historical romance, ''[[Ivanhoe]]'', which presented "an almost totally unfavourable picture" of the King; the work drew on 19th-century histories of the period and on Shakespeare's play.<ref>Tulloch, p. 497.</ref> Scott's work influenced the late-19th-century children's writer [[Howard Pyle]]'s book ''[[The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood]]'', which in turn established John as the principal villain within the traditional [[Robin Hood]] narrative.<ref>D'Ammassa, p. 94.</ref>

During the 20th century, John was normally depicted in fictional books and films alongside Robin Hood. [[Sam De Grasse]]'s role as John in the black-and-white [[Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood|1922 film version]] shows John committing numerous atrocities and acts of torture.<ref>Aberth, p. 166.</ref> [[Claude Rains]] played John in the [[The Adventures of Robin Hood|1938 colour version]] alongside [[Errol Flynn]], starting a trend for films to depict John as an "effeminate&nbsp;... arrogant and cowardly stay-at-home".<ref name="PotterP210">Potter, p. 210.</ref> The character of John acts either to highlight the virtues of King Richard, or contrasts with the [[Sheriff of Nottingham]], who is usually the "swashbuckling villain" opposing Robin.<ref name=PotterP210/>

An extreme version of this trend can be seen in the 1973 [[Robin Hood (1973 film)|Disney cartoon version]], for example, which depicts John, voiced by [[Peter Ustinov]], as a "cowardly, thumbsucking lion".<ref>Potter, p. 218.</ref> Popular works that depict John beyond the Robin Hood legends, such as [[James Goldman]]'s play and later film, ''[[The Lion in Winter]]'', set in 1183, commonly present him as an "effete weakling", in this instance contrasted with the more masculine Henry II, or as a tyrant, as in [[A. A. Milne]]'s poem for children, "King John's Christmas".<ref>Elliott, pp. 109–110; Seel, p. 7.</ref>

==Issue==
John and Isabella of Angoulême had five children:

# [[Henry III, King of England]] (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272)
# [[Richard, King of the Romans]] (5 January 1209 – 2 April 1272)
# [[Joan of England, Queen of Scotland|Joan, Queen of Scotland]] (22 July 1210 – 4 March 1238)
# [[Isabella of England|Isabella, Holy Roman Empress]] (1214 – 1 December 1241)
# [[Eleanor, Countess of Pembroke]] (1215 – 13 April 1275)

John had several mistresses, including one named Suzanne.<ref name="W189n">Warren, p. 189n</ref> His known illegitimate children are:

# [[Richard FitzRoy]] ({{Circa|1190}} – June 1246),<ref name=W189n/> whose mother was [[Adela de Warenne]], John's half-first cousin
# [[Joan, Lady of Wales]] ({{Circa|1191}} – February 1237),<ref name=W189n/> also known by her Welsh name of Siwan
# John (fl. 1201), who became a clerk<ref name=Painter232/>
# Geoffrey (died 1205), held the honour of Perche<ref name=W189n/><ref name="Painter232">Painter, p. 232</ref>
# [[Oliver fitz Regis]] (bef. 1199 – 1218/1219), whose mother was Hawise, sister of [[Fulk FitzWarin]]<ref name=W189n/>
# Osbert Giffard<ref name=W189n/><ref name=Painter232/>

==Genealogical table==
{{England's Norman rulers family tree}}

==See also==
* [[List of earls in the reign of King John]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="nb"|30em}}

==References==
{{Reflist|22em}}

==Bibliography==
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* {{Cite book |last=Lloyd |first=Alan |title=The Maligned Monarch: a Life of King John of England |date=1972 |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, US |oclc=482542 |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |title=The Cambridge History of Early Modern English Literature |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5216-3156-3 |editor-last=Loewenstein |editor-first=David |editor-last2=Mueller |editor-first2=Janel M.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Maley |first=Willy |title=This England, That Shakespeare: New Angles on Englishness and the Bard |date=2010 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-0-7546-6602-8 |editor-last=Maley |editor-first=Willy |location=Farnham, UK |chapter='And bloody England into England gone': Empire, Monarchy, and Nation |editor-last2=Tudeau-Clayton |editor-first2=Margaret |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mason |first=Emma |title=King Rufus: The Life and Murder of William II of England |date=2008 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-0-7524-4635-6 |location=Stroud, UK |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=McEachern |first=Claire |title=Literature and national identity |date=2002 |ref=none}} in {{Harvnb|Loewenstein|Mueller|2002}}
* {{Cite book |last=McLynn |first=Frank |title=Lionheart and Lackland: King Richard, King John and the Wars of Conquest |date=2007 |publisher=Vintage Books |isbn=978-0-7126-9417-9 |location=London |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Marc |title=King John: Treachery and Tyranny in Medieval England: The Road to Magna Carta |date=2015 |publisher=Pegasus Books |location=New York |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Moss |first=V. D. |title=The Norman Exchequer Rolls of King John |date=2007 |ref=none}} in {{Harvnb|Church|2007}}
* {{Cite book |last=Norgate |first=Kate |title=England Under the Angevin Kings |date=1887 |publisher=Macmillan |volume=2 |location=London |oclc=373944 |ref=none}}
*: {{Cite book |last=Norgate |first=Kate |title=John Lackland |date=1902 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |oclc=1374257 |author-mask=2 |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Painter |first=Sidney |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/71692 |title=The Reign of King John |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-4214-3516-9 |author-link=Sidney Painter |orig-year=1949 |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Poole |first=Stephen |title=From Domesday Book to Magna Carta 1087–1216 |date=1993 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-1928-5287-6 |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Potter |first=Lois |title=Playing Robin Hood: the Legend as Performance in Five Centuries |date=1998 |publisher=University of Delaware Press |isbn=978-0-8741-3663-0 |location=Cranbury, US |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Power |first=Daniel |title=King John and the Norman Aristocracy |date=2007 |ref=none}} in {{Harvnb|Church|2007}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ramsay |first=James Henry |title=The Angevin Empire |date=1903 |publisher=Sonnenschein |location=London |oclc=2919309 |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Richardson |first=Douglas |title=Plantagenet Ancestry: a Study in Colonial and Medieval Families |date=2004 |publisher=Genealogical Publishing |isbn=978-0-8063-1750-2 |location=Salt Lake City |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rowlands |first=Ifor W. |title=King John and Wales |date=2007 |ref=none}} in {{Harvnb|Church|2007}}
* {{Cite book |last=Scott |first=Walter |title=Ivanhoe |date=1998 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-0573-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Seel |first=Graham E. |title=King John: An Underrated King |date=2012 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-0-8572-8518-8 |location=London |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Stenton |first=Doris Mary |title=English Society in the Early Middle Ages (1066–1307) |date=1976 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=0-1402-0252-8 |location=Harmondsworth, UK |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tulloch |first=Graham |title=Historical Notes |date=1988 |ref=none}} in {{Harvnb|Scott|1998}}
* {{Cite book |last=Turner |first=Ralph V. |title=King John: England's Evil King? |date=2009 |publisher=History Press |isbn=978-0-7524-4850-3 |location=Stroud, UK |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Vincent |first=Nicholas |title=Isabella of Angoulême: John's Jezebel |date=2007 |ref=none}} in {{Harvnb|Church|2007}}
* {{Cite book |last=Warren |first=W. Lewis |title=King John |date=1991 |publisher=Methuen |isbn=0-4134-5520-3 |location=London |ref=none}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [https://www.royal.uk/john-lackland John Lackland] at the official website of the British monarchy
* {{NPG name|name=King John}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[House of Plantagenet]]|24 December|1166|19 October|1216}}
{{S-reg|}}
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{{English, Scottish and British monarchs}}
{{Norman Dukes}}
{{House of Plantagenet|john}}
{{Robin Hood}}
{{Subject bar |commons=y |commons-search=John of England |s=y |s-search=Concession of England to the Pope |portal1=Biography |portal2=England |portal4=Monarchy |portal5=Middle Ages}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Featured article}}
[[Category:John, King of England| ]]
[[Category:1166 births]]
[[Category:1216 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century dukes of Normandy]]
[[Category:12th-century English monarchs]]
[[Category:13th-century dukes of Normandy]]
[[Category:13th-century English monarchs]]
[[Category:13th-century peers of France]]<!--as Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine-->
[[Category:Burials at Worcester Cathedral]]
[[Category:Children of Henry II of England]]
[[Category:Deaths from dysentery]]
[[Category:Earls of Cornwall]]
[[Category:Earls of Gloucester]]
[[Category:English people of French descent]]
[[Category:English people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Somerset]]
[[Category:House of Anjou]]
[[Category:House of Plantagenet]]
[[Category:Infectious disease deaths in England]]
[[Category:Jure uxoris counts]]
[[Category:Lords of Glamorgan]]
[[Category:Medieval governors of Guernsey]]
[[Category:People excommunicated by the Catholic Church]]
[[Category:People from Oxford]]
[[Category:People of the Barons' Wars]]
[[Category:Proto-Protestants]]
[[Category:Robin Hood characters]]