King+John+II

//**King Joh**////**n II (2**////**4 Dec 1166 – 18/**////**19**// //**Oct 1216)**// was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death. He is infamous for the loss of the Duchy of Normandy and the Baronial revolt, culminating in the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215.The youngest son of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, He was not expected to inherit the throne. However after the death of 3 older brothers and despite a failed rebellion against his brother King Richard I, John II was proclaimed King of England in 1199.




 * < 1.1 ||< The Loss Of Normandy ||
 * < 1.2 ||< Historical questions ||
 * < 1.3 ||< The Magna Carta ||
 * 1.4 || Death ||

__1.1 The Loss of Normandy__ The loss of the Duchy of Normandy in 1205, after 3 years of war with France, was the source of much of John II’s contemporary criticism. After one victory at Mirabeau in 1203, John made a serious of grievous political decisions, including the treatment of prisoners, with one contemporary author stating:

“He kept his prisoners so vilely and in such evil distress that it seemed shameful and ugly to all those who were with him and who witnessed this cruelty.”

These political mishaps and John’s lack of personal involvement in the war, which earnt him the nickname ‘Softsword’, led to the loss of the Duchy of Normandy.

__1.2 Historical Questions__ This loss was viewed by contemporary English writers as a catastrophe for John and England. However this view has come to be challenged by many later historians. These authors argue that while the loss of Normandy was indeed detrimental for John’s reputation and respect, as shown in the refusal of his Barons to sail with him on a reconquest campaign, it was a good thing for England as a nation. Victorian historian William Stubbs summarised the fundamentals of this differing viewpoint, writing: “The fortunate incapacity of John” enabled England “..to cut herself free from Normandy.”

Indeed it is the view of many historians that the loss of Normandy allowed England to prosper, through the shift in focus of the realm.

__1.3 The Magna Carta__

As shown in the refusal of some of the Barons of England to sail with John on his planned reconquest campaign in 1205, John’s authority was not absolute. This was reiterated by the Baronial Revolt. This civil revolt by many powerful Barons in England culminated in the Magna Carta, a legal document which was a direct challenge to royal authority. John’s perceived weakness following the loss of the Duchy of Normandy was one of the main reasons his Barons revolted against him.

__1.4 Death __

John, a year after signing the Magna Carta, died of Influenza in 1216. He left behind a reduced empire to the one which he inherited. While viewed catastrophic at the time, this reduction, namely the loss of Normandy, has come to be seen by some historians and authors as beneficial for the growth and prosperity of England

 R Davies, //The First English Empire. Power and Identities in the British Isles 1093-1343// (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).

 Danziger and Gillingham, //1215 the Year of Magna Carta//.  William Stubbs, "The Early Plantagenets," Longsman, Green and co, http://www.archive.org/stream/earlyplantagene01stubgoog#page/n7/mode/2up.

 Roger Of Wendover, "Comprising the History of England from the Descent of the Saxons to A.D. 1235; Formerly Ascribed to Matthew Paris," (London: H.G Bohn, 1849).

 William Stubbs, "The Early Plantagenets," Longsman, Green and co, http://www.archive.org/stream/earlyplantagene01stubgoog#page/n7/mode/2up.