John, King of England
King of England from 1199 to 1216 · United Kingdom · Historical Figures · Lived 1166 to 1216 · aged 49
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Something wrong?The king who lost an empire and signed away absolute power under duress. John's territorial collapse in France and the baronial revolt that forced Magna Carta in 1215 made him the template for royal failure - and a fixture in every Robin Hood story since.
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John's parents, Henry II and Eleanor, holding court
13th-century depiction of Henry II and his legitimate children, left to right: William, Henry, Richard, Matilda, Geoffrey, Eleanor, Joan and John
Richard I (left) and Philip II Augustus at Acre during the Third Crusade
John on a stag hunt
The donjon of Château Gaillard; the loss of the castle would prove devastating for John's military position in Normandy
The effigy of Isabella of Angoulême, John's second wife, in Fontevraud Abbey in France
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 alliesFamily
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Born Christmastide 1166/7, the youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, John was nicknamed Lackland because no inheritance awaited him. He became his father's favourite after his older brothers revolted, received the title Lord of Ireland in 1177, and took the throne in 1199 when Richard I died. Philip II of France recognised John's continental holdings at Le Goulet in 1200, but war resumed in 1202 and by 1204 John had lost Normandy and most of the Angevin Empire in northern France. He spent the next decade raising vast revenues and reforming his military and judiciary - his legal changes shaped English common law - but a dispute with Pope Innocent III led to England being placed under interdict from 1208 to 1214 and John's own excommunication from 1209 to 1213. His attempt to reclaim French lands failed at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, and when he returned home the barons revolted over his fiscal demands and autocratic treatment of nobles. The rebellion forced him to seal Magna Carta in 1215 as a peace treaty, but neither side honored it and civil war broke out with aid from Philip's son Louis. John died of dysentery on 19 October 1216 in eastern En
Historical Figures from the United Kingdom 6
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