History - King John

• Chronicler - Roger of Wendover

  A monk of St Albans Abbey who began writing in 1226

  Aimed to emphasise the wickedness of King John in daring to attack the Church

  Tries to indicate that some officials were more lenient towards the Church, as long as they did not directly defy the King
• Chronicler - Gervase of Canterbury

  Active from 1180 - 1210

  Claimed to ’compile’ Rather than ‘write up’

  Biased as his writing comes from a Monks perspective

  Gervase did not actually mean for it to ever reach or persuade wider audiences
• Ralph of Coggeshall

  Was a monk at Coggeshall Abbey, an Essex foundation of the Cistercian order

  Towards John he was uniformly hostile due to being a Cisterian whom would inherently dislike John due to his taxations on them and Papal interference
• William the Breton

  1165 - 1225

  Chaplain to the french King - Philip Augustus, whilst being French born.

  Personal knowledge of the King and so able to provide us interesting details on him and in particular his military matters.

  Often praises Philip in his works. Would have an obvious pro-French bias.
• The Barnwell Chronicle

  Anonymous author - deemed the most valuable of his time

  Gave the fairest account of King Johns reign from any contemporary

  Indication that Johns reforms of 1213 were worthy of being remembered

  Dislike of foreigners and Johns uses of foreign mercenaries ( he blames these for Johns initial failures against the French )

  The Chronicle overall implies that Johns failures were down to bad luck
• Ralph Diceto

  The dean of St Paul’s cathedral and outlines Johns early reign

  1120 - 1202

  Ymagines Historiarum - noted for its cautious and balanced approach to events.

  As a member of the Clergy he tended to be critical of John

  Interested in Law and Government