John (1166?-1216) was the English king who granted Magna Carta, the famous charter of liberties. Often called John Lackland, he is remembered as one of England’s worst kings. John was inconsistent and sometimes cruel. He did not always administer justice fairly, and he imposed many taxes on his subjects. The growing power of France also made John’s reign difficult.
The youngest son of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, John was probably born in England in 1166. In 1177, Henry made John Lord of Ireland. In 1199, John succeeded his brother Richard the Lion-Hearted as king of England, and, in France, as Count of Anjou and Duke of Aquitaine and Normandy. John’s nephew Arthur also claimed to be heir. In 1200, King Philip II of France accepted John as the rightful heir, and John recognized Philip as overlord of his French lands.
In 1202, a complaint against John by one of his barons led Philip to declare that John no longer had a right to his French lands. He offered to give most of these lands to Arthur and tried to seize Normandy for himself. John then captured and imprisoned Arthur. In 1203, Arthur disappeared mysteriously. Rumors that John had murdered Arthur, and John’s mishandling of his lands in France, angered French barons who had been loyal. Their anger led to the loss of Anjou and Normandy.
In 1207, John and Pope Innocent III disagreed over whose right it was to appoint the archbishop of Canterbury. In 1208, the pope placed England under an interdict, an order banning church services. He excommunicated John in 1209. John made peace with the pope in 1213, and the pope supported John thereafter.
In general, John’s dictatorlike behavior displeased his English barons. To fund his war against Philip, John had taxed his subjects heavily. In 1215, some English barons and clergy revolted after John failed to reconquer lands he had lost to Philip. In June of that year, John reluctantly approved the settlement that became known as Magna Carta. It limited the king’s powers and stated the rights of the English aristocracy. But the civil war that had begun with the barons’ revolt continued. John died on Oct. 18 or 19, 1216, before the war’s end.
See also Innocent III; Magna Carta; Philip II [of France]; Richard I [of England].
