King John

• Reign 


  1166-1216
• John was a good king

  fought well

  clever, diplomat, smart

  Developed English law and goverment

  Bad reputation might not be true

  Tried to help the jews

  Nice to foreign

  Great prince and was actually in England
• John was not a good king

  Bad temper and inconsiderate

  Lost lands

  Excommunicated himself and got interdict placed on England (silly john)

  Betrayed by BArons

  Murdered people

  Many enemies

  lost crown jewels in the sea
• Primogeniture

  • the right of succession belonging to the firstborn child, especially the feudal rule by which the whole real estate of an intestate passed to the eldest son
• What John did after being crowned

  1. Took an oath to protect the church

  2. Abolish bad laws

  3. Protect the people

  4. Showed religious devotion by visiting shrines

  5. Appointed a trusted baron to protect north England against the Scots

  6. Left the government in trusted hands of those who had served Richard loyally

  7. Left for France to secure the Angevin empire
• Peace treaty with Philip

  John agreed to give some Angevin land to Philip, do homage to Philip, pay him £13,500 as a fee for inheriting French lands, as well as recognising Philip was above him
• John paid homage to Philip


  Philip could take away John's lands if he was disobedient
• Philip agreed not to support Arthur

  In return for John's concessions
• John's government and financial policies


  • Kept many of Richard's trusted advisors who were capable of ruling in his absence and raising him large sums of money
  • Gradually replaced them with his own friends (however as they were mostly French, many barons felt anger, jealousy and resentment)
• By 1204, John had lost most of his lands in France (to Philip)
• John's rule in England

  • Spent most of his time in England (unlike Richard)
  • Improved the government and administration by overseeing the day-to-day running of the country and attending many important court cases (as well as having regular contact with the shires)
• John's motivation for improving government and administration was money
• Average yearly revenue


  • Between 1199 and 1202: £24,000
  • Between 1207 and 1214: £49,000
• By 1214, John had saved up £130,000
• John virtually closed down the Court of the King's Bench (a royal court in Westminster which was the HQ for royal judges)
• Cases could only be heard in the royal court


  When John was present as they were the ones to record the cases to ensure fair punishment was given
• John was harsh with his punishments, and those cases that went against barons meant that others lost faith in him also
• Was John in a stronger position?

  When rchard died, the leading barons in Normandy and England showed thier support for John

  eleanor guarnateed the duchy of aquitaine would go to john

  John was promised support for Otto IV who was likley to become the new holy roman emperor

  Richard's alliances could still be called upon by john

  Normandy was well defended
• Was Philip in a stronger position?

  John was dislkied by the leading men in birtanny ho wanted arhtuer as there leader not john

  Philip was an experience military leader and a cunning diplomat

  Philip's wealth had grown by 1199, he could match johns financiaal power

  Arthur sided with philip over john
• John and normandy part 1

  •As soon as Phillip (the king of France) heard of Richards's death, he invaded Normandy – Arthur immediately sided with him against John

  • John sorted out his authority in Normandy and England as King
  • Went to Rouen with a large army and pushed Philip back
  • One of Arthurs main supporters switched sides and joined john
  • John and Philip then signed the Treaty of Le Goulet
  • John ditched his wife to marry Isabelle of Angouleme
• John and Normandy (part 2)

  • Isabella had been promised to Hugh de lisgan who was very powerful. John should've compensated him but he didn't
  • Hugh turned on John and allied with Philip who helped him demand compensation
  • John refused, in response, Philip attacked John's lands in Normandy and captured Gournay
  • Philip then gave Arthur 200 knights and money to attack the rest of Johns's lands in France
  • John now lost more allies, such as to death, some were off fighting on crusades and others switched sides to join Philip
• John and Normandy (part 3)

  • Johns Mother Eleanor was at the castle of Mirabeau. Arthur's army laid siege to the castle with her inside. Although it seemed like he would take the castle, John and his army travelled 80 miles in 48 hours
  • John caught Arthur by surprise and beath him taking them as prisoners
  • Despite William de roches helping John, john took all the credit and didn't let him have a say in how the prisoners should be treated. William then sided with Philip
  • In 1203, Arthur disappeared - many thought he had been murdered by John, he then lost the support of his French Barons
• Philip had conquered Anjou and Maine as well as an important castle that had belonged to John Vaudreuil


  1203
• Chateau Gaillard


  • On a high rock above the Seine
  • Heavily defended
• Philip's plan to capture Chateau Gaillard


  1. Tried to destroy the bridge

  2. Bought wood to build another bridge once they had captured the Chateau
• John's plan to rescue Chateau Gaillard


  1. Planned for 2 separate forces to attack the French in the night

  2. One on the left side of the river bank

  3. The other coming up the river
• They managed to kill over 200 French
• Those that tried to escape fell in the water as their bridge wasn't stable
• John and normandy 5

  The plan started off strong, but due to strong tides, there were no ships to be seen. This gave the French time to rebuild the bridge again and attack

  When the boats arrived, the French threw stones and fired arrows at them - 2 ships were sunk and Philip surrounded Chateu Gillard. John went back to England after deciding he needed more help

  By 1204, Philip was ready to attack with lots of siege weapons, additionally, Philip mined under one of the towers and the French marched through. Philip threw large stones at the walls which collapsed. Philip took the castle
• John and Normandy 6

  •Then Philip took Argentan and Caen, as well as Rouen who received no support from John and were forced to surrender. 
• John was responsible for the loss of Normandy


  He caused many problems due to his marriage to Isabelle of Angouleme in 1200

  John should have paid Hugh Lusgnan compensation

  John focused on recruiting other barons rather than fighting Philip

  John lost his barons due to his mishandling of affairs so they joined Philip

  the speculation of the murder of Arthur created mistrust

  John's mercenaries' Brutal behaviour towards civilians made John's reputation worse
• John was not responsible for the loss of Normandy

  John could not allow the Angoulemse and Lusignans to Unite - this would cut off Aquitaine

  Philip was skilled - he exploited the Barons fears and Arthurs claim by calling john to court

  Norman lords were already moving away from England

  Philip promised norman church independence so they wouldnt help john

  Was encouraged to marry Isabel by marshall (who hated Lusignans)
• COnsequences of the loss of Normandy

  Collapse of the Angevin Empire

  Financial problems

  Shaped how john governed England

  Damaged reputation

  Threat of invasion

  discontented Barons
• The collapse of Angevin Empire - Philip had taken Normandy and then John's lands in Poitou

  Financial problems - Normandy had provided John with lots of money

  Shaped how John governed England - John began to raise tax in the hope of winning back lands
• Damaged reputation - John lost the respect of his people, a King was supposed to protect his land and look after his people

  The threat of invasion - England was now weaker and more at threat of invasion

  Discontented Barons - A large number of English barons had lost their lands in Normandy
• Why did John lose control of Normandy

  Philips skill - Philip had many useful allies and was a tactical thinker

  John's military mistakes - He relied on foreign barons rather than the ones he already had a relationship with from England. He also left the castle

  John's bad luck - such as when the tide was going the wrong way and some of his allies died

  John's poor diplomacy - he didn't give Hugh compensation and many of his allies sided with Philip
• Archbishop of Canterbury


  A leading role in the government
• The Archbishop of Canterbury died


  1205
• The Archbishop of Canterbury died


  It was an opportunity for John to elect a new Archbishop
• John de Gray


  • Thought the monks of Canterbury would choose him as a candidate