worsening relations with the barons

• the dispute with the papacy was just one reason why john's relationship with his barons declined from 1205, as the loss of normandy also caused a growing division between the king and his leading vassals
• as john sought to raise the money to launch a war of re-conquest in france, so his demands for taxes increased and his methods of extracting the money became more cruel
• john faced greater problems in financing his government than his brother had done because the economic situation was worsening in the early 13th century
• there was a steady rise in prices at this time, which lowered the value of royal income, so the money that the king had could buy less
• there was a substantial loss of revenue due to the loss of normandy
• the economic situation meant that john struggled to find the money to fund a war in france, which would include the high cost of hiring mercenaries
• economic matters were not improved by john's spending, as in 1205 he spent over £700 on the robes he wore for the christmas feast, which was a huge sum of money at a time when a typical knight' fee was barely £20 a year
• one way that john raised money was to impose fines on his barons, for example he fined one baron £810 and 12 horses for marrying an heiress without the king's licence and seized the lands of both the baron and his new wife
• john commonly charged £405 as a fine on inheriting feudal lands at the time when £100 was regarded as a reasonable payment for this feudal relief
• using taxation methods, john was able to raise money, but it is little wonder that his barons regarded the policy as unreasonable
• the arbitrary way in which john wielded his power also caused problems, as between 1209 and 1214, john virtually closed down the law court at westminster and the judicial eyres in the countries, with only his approved judges being permitted to hear cases
• the baron's resented john's control over justice because he applied the law according to his own whims and for his own benefit, and john was also accused of selling justice
• arbitrary


  taking action based on a personal whim or prejudice. for example, a king, could be said to use his power in an arbitrary way if, they arrested a person who had angered them, but there was no evidence against that person and the proper process of law was ignored
• judicial eyre


  this involved a judge from the royal courts visiting the local courts and hearing cases, to make sure the king's justice was being put into practice in the same way across the whole kingdom
• one of the ways in which john's barons fell out with him was by failing to repay their debts
• the barons resented the fact that john used their debts to increase his power over them, john's power clearly shown by the fate of william de braose
• william de braose was on of john's most favoured barons in the early years of his reign and he was rewarded with lands in england, wales and ireland
• some time in 1207-8, john turned against william de braose, claiming that he owed him money for land that he held, and ordered to hand over his sons as hostages until the debt was paid
• de braose was chased from his lands and escaped into exile, whereas his wife and eldest son weren't so lucky, as they were captured and put in prison where they were starved to death
• while the barons felt that john was acting unjustly and cruelly, there was little chance of them getting justice, as john was the king and therefore the highest authority in terms of justice
• john's constant presence in england in the years 1205-14 meant that it was impossible for the barons to blame 'evil advisers' for their mistreatment, as subjects had done in the past when the king was absent
• john's arbitrary use of power, his demands for taxes and fines, and his misuse of the justice system, prompted some barons to plot against him
• in the years 1209-12, john led campaigns in ireland and wales to take control of the lands that he had granted to william de braose and to crush any rebel support for his former favourite
• in the campaign of 1211, the welsh prince, llywelyn ap lowerth, had seized land for himself and this enraged john, causing him to invade wales and force llywelyn into submission
• john demanded that llywelyn hand over his son as a hostage as a guarantee of good behaviour, but it was not enough to deter llywelyn, so he made an agreement in 1212 with philip II to work against john
• john was preparing to launch an attack on wales when he learned that llywelyn was in league with some of his barons who had hatched a plot to kill him
• the rebel barons included eustance de vesci and robert fitz walter, who owed money to john and, it was claimed, both men were angry about john's attempts to seduce female relations
• john was very aware about the seriousness of the situation, and cancelled the welsh campaign and marched north to re-establish his authority as king, causing both fitz walter and de vesci to flee into exile
• the plot must have called john to question his own behaviour as, after defeating the plotters, he did make some concessions including relaxing some of his demands for taxes
• it was probably at this time that john decided he needed to make his peace with the pope
• john's main focus was on regaining his lands on the continent, and his harsh taxes were to raise funds for a campaign in france
• the plot of 1212 and the threat of prince louis' invasion in 1213 encouraged john to reach the agreement with the pope; by 1214, he was ready to launch his campaign
• if john were to succeed in retrieving his lands, it was possible that his relationship with his barons would improve, giving faithful barons the chance to gain some reward from a french campaign and the income from normandy would improve john's financial position
• failure of the campaign would make it almost impossible for him to restore his relationship with the barons, especially after he had demanded so much from them in taxes and feudal fines
• in february 1214, john set sail for france, with few of his barons accompanying him, but he did take with him a large treasury, which was described as overflowing with precious gemstones, silver and gold
• in total, john is believed to have spent £135,000 on the campaign in france, which was mainly provided through another scutage and by feudal fines on the barons and knights
• john's carefully planned campaign relied on the support of european allies as without them, he could not defeat philip II
• on 27th july a battle was fought at bouvines, where john's main ally, the holy roman emperor, otto IV, led an army against philip
• otto's army included some of john's men but, despite outnumbering its enemy, otto's army was defeated by the french, which was so decisive that it ended any hope john had of restoring angevin rule in normandy
• after the battle in bouvines, john returned to england without anything to show for the heavy taxes that he had taken from the english people and many barons became rebellious