John, King of England

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 ch…