King John
Born in Oxford, OxfordshireBorn on 24th of December 1167
Died in 1216
King John was born on Christmas Eve 1167, he was the youngest son of Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Henry II. When his father died in July 1189, John had been left out of the division of lands, and they were given to Richard, John was called John lackland. When his elder brother Richard, who would be known as Richard the Lion heart, left for the Third Crusade in the Holy Land as a Christian Commander, John was left in control. On his return journey from the Crusade Richard was captured and held prisoner, John made his move and tried to seize the crown for himself, however, he failed in his attempt and had to beg forgiveness when Richard eventually returned.
Richard fought in many battles and was renowned for his bravery and chivalry, sadly he was killed whilst he was in France. John ascended to the throne on 6th April 1199 aged 32 years, but the war with France was brewing because of his marriage to Isabella of Angouleme, bloody battles were fought and he slowly but surely lost Normandy, Anjou, and parts of Poitou, war cost money, and in order to fuel his armies John raised taxes considerably.
John was also not happy as the Pope disagreed with his choice of the Arch Bishop of Canterbury, it developed into a serious rift between the Pope and John, resulting in John becoming excommunicated. This altered the position of the Church, no marriages or christenings were able to be carried out, the people of England were extremely unhappy and entirely blamed John for this. The raising of taxes and several disagreements led to Civil War in 1215, once again fury and anger swept through the ranks of the powerful Barons, and John eventually signed the Magna Carta, and on an island in the Thames, at Runnymead, John placed his seal on the Magna Carta which secured the rights of the people of England, and limited the power of the monarchy, although just a year later he tried to repudiate it, this led to another battle in which he was to lose his life. King John died in 1216 aged 49 years of age, and was buried at Worcester Cathedral, he was succeeded by his eldest son aged 9 years, who was to rule as Henry III.
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