In contrast to his elder brother, John is not seen as a military hero but is often viewed as incompetent and notorious for making bad decisions. Even upon his coronation at Westminster Abbey on 27th May 1199 there were doubts as to John’s right to rule, many arguing that Arthur, Duke of Brittany and the son of his late brother Geoffrey, was the next in line. Traditionally, the crown would have passed to Arthur if Richard had not named John as his successor and consequently, Arthur refused to recognise John as the lawful King of England and Duke of Normandy. This post will explore the various events which led to the formation of this perception of John, resulting in the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215.
The loss of Normandy
John is often attributed to having lost the kingdom which was established during the reign of William I, in which the King of England also held the position of the Duke of Normandy. This position was strengthened by Henry II and his addition of the lands of Aquitaine in Southern France, yet by the end of John’s reign, he had lost his French lands in Normandy.
Phillips suggests that John’s marriage to Isabella of Angoulême in 1200 was the first factor which aided this loss of land. Isabella was just twelve years old when she married John and had been betrothed to Hugh de Lusignan, a French baron. Lusignan appealed to King Philip of France for help, but when summoned by Philip to answer the charges levelled against him, John refused to attend. As the Duke of Aquitaine John was answerable to Philip, although Ibeji suggests that John would have viewed this relationship as a ‘mere formality’ rather than a power which could actually be put in to use. Philip did exert his influence, however, in 1202 naming John a “contumacious vassal” and stripping him of all his French lands.
The murder of Arthur
During the dispute between John and the French nobles which resulted from this, Arthur was captured at Mirebeau Castle by John’s men, which Schama argues proved John to be as capable in military action as his brother despite his nickname ‘Swordsoft’. Arthur, only twelve years old at the time, was murdered whilst being kept hostage. Contemporary accounts suggest that John ‘slew him with his own hand’, but the reliability of this is uncertain. Nevertheless, the rumours of John’s brutality meant that John lost the support of the barons of Normandy and Anjou and the inhabitants of Brittany.
Dispute with the Church
Following the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1206, John refused to accept Pop Innocent III’s choice of Stephen Langton as his successor. The result of this dispute was that John was excommunicated by the Pope in 1209. This placed him in precisely the position of inferiority and vulnerability to the Church which his father, Henry II, had wished to abolish. English people were held under Church Law, which stated that no marriage or Christening would be deemed legal until the Pope removed this constraint. John retaliated by taxing the Church and confiscating some of its lands.
John consequently agreed to give England to the Pope, declaring it a fiefdom of the Church, meaning that England was now a vassal to Rome. Schama suggests that rather than viewing this as a failure of John’s reign, it mean that he now had the support of the Church, therefore in actuality strengthening his position.
The angering of the Barons and the Battle of Bouvines
With the Pope on his side, John decided to invade France once more. In order to do this he needed the support of his Barons to either fight or pay towards the cause. This angered many who disagreed with John’s intentions and did not want to support him. John’s campaign at Bouvines in 1214 was unsuccessful and returning from France, John found that many of the Barons were unwilling to pay further money towards his exploits.
John and the Magna Carta
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| The Magna Carta |
In 1215, the Barons launched a revolt, presenting John with a list of reforms which they wanted to enforce so as to avoid a full scale rebellion against the King. They saw it as a peaceful rather than revolutionary move, intended to allow negotiation between the disillusioned Barons and the King.
John gave his seal to the Articles of the Barons at Runnymede in 1215. This was a list of demands which were then used to form The Magna Carta (which means ‘Great Charter’) on 15th July and was most probably drafted by the Archbishop Stephen Langton. The Magna Carta consisted of 63 chapters which were intended to rectify what were perceived as Royal abuses of power towards the Barons, the Church, merchants and ‘free-men’. Rather than giving Englishmen more rights, however, the Magna Carter intended to greatly diminish the ability of the King to abuse his position, making the monarch subject to law just like everyone else. It was certainly not an attempt to overthrow the monarchy.
What did the Magna Carta contain?
The Magna Carta gave protection to the Barons, aided the creation of English law and secured the position of the Catholic Church as separate from the monarchy in England. Some of the main points were:
- the King needs to consult his Lords if he was to raise taxes
- all freemen are to have a trial by Jury
- the King cannot interfere with the Catholic Church
Why did John agree to it?
John did not intend to abide by the Magna Carta in the long term, but agreed to it so as to ‘demonstrate his reasonableness’ to those barons who were undecided as to whether they were going to support the King or join the inevitable uprising against him.
Just three months after the Magna Carta was signed by John and declared void by the Pope, the King reclaimed Rochester Castle from the barons. In response, they rallied around Prince Louis, the son of the French King Philip in the hope to establish him as the next King of England once John had been overthrown. These plans were rendered void, however, when on October 18th 1216 John died of dysentery. The barons then rallied around Henry III, John’s son, supporting him instead of Louis as the next King of England.
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