Osbert Giffard Of WALES

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: John Plantagenet
• Fact: Between 1199 and 1216, King of England
• Crowned: 27 May 1199, Westminster Abbey

Notes:

[Hulett FTW from MC Scott.FTW]

http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/cgi-bin/gedlkup/n=royal?royal01364
Reigned 1199-1216. Signed Magna Carta in 1215 at Runnymede. His reign saw renewal of war with Phillip II Augustus of France to whom he has lost several continental possesions including Normandy by 1205. He came into conflict with his Barons and was forced to Sign the Magna Carta. His later repudiation of the charter led to the first barons war 1215-17 during which John died. Burke says he was born in 1160. King of Ireland 1177, Count of Mortain 1189, Earl of Gloucester.Called Lackland because by the time he was born, his older brothers' inheritances had been decided, and there was little left for him (Warren, King John, pg 28). Barber, The Devil's Crown, pg 53 states: that "no provision was made for John, who, born nine years after the last son's birth, was too young to be considered in an age when infant mortality was very high."

Name:
John of England (Lackland), brother and heir, youngest son, was born at Oxford on 24 Dec 1167. His father's attempt to provide territory in France for him provoked rebellion by is older brothers. His father granted him the lordship of Ireland in 1177, and arranged his succession to the earldom of Gloucester. His father's continued favour to him contributed to the rebellion of John's older brother Richard I, though at the end of Henry's reign John deserted his father to support Richard who, on accession as King in 1189, made John Comte de Mortagne in Normandy. John was married for the first tine at Marlebridge on 29 Aug 1189 to Isabel of Gloucester, Countess of Gloucester, youngest daughter and co-heiress of William FitzRobert, Earl of Gloucester, by Hawise, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester. Henry had arranged the marriage before his death, but it was delayed because Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, had forbidden it on account of consanguinity (the were both great-grandchildren of King Henry I). On appeal to Rome the papal legate in England annulled the Archbishop's interdict. John became Earl of Gloucester 'jure uxoris'. Richard, who was childless, acknowledged that his successor as King of England was his and John's nephew Arthur, son of their deceased brother Geoffrey. While Richard was on crusade John broke his promise not to enter England during Richard's absence and, on learning of Richard's imprisonment in Germany, attempted, though unsuccessfully, to seize control of England. On Richard's return John was banished and disinherited though he was pardoned and recognized as heir when Arthur fell into the hands of the king of France, Philippe II. On the death of Richard in 1199, John took the Throne, and was crowned King of England on Ascension Day 27 May 1199. In 1199, through the Archbishop of Bordeaux and the Bishops of Poitier and Saintonge, and after a ten-year childless marriage, John obtained a divorce from his wife on the grounds of consanguinity. This enraged the Roman Curia as presuming to dissolve what had been joined by their authority. He intervened in the politics of his county of Poitou, and in trying to settle the quarrel between the rival families of Lusignan and Angouleme, was married for the second time at Bordeaux on 24 Aug 1200 to Isabelle D'Angouleme, daughter and heiress of Aymer Taillefer, Comte d'Angouleme, by Alice, daughter of Pierre de France, Seigneur de Courtenay. She was born in 1188, and had been betrothed to Hugues IX de Lusignan, Cote de La Marche. She was crowned on 8 Oct 1200. War with France followed John's refusal to appear before Philippe II concerning the grievance of the Lusignans. At first John was successful in defending his Frence lands, capturing his nephew Arthur (who died in custody), but in 1204 lost Normandy, Anjou, Maine and Touraine to the French king. For the next ten years John resided almost permanently in England (the first such Angevin king) and attempted to restore his finances for further warfare in France by determined taxation and exploitation of his feudal prerogatives (later the basis for the charge of tyranny). When he insisted on his, rather the Pope's right to nominate the Archbishop of Canterbury, Pope Innocent III in 1208 imposed an Interdict on England suspending all religious services, and excommunicating King John. After five years of amassing the revenues of vacant or appropriated sees and abbeys, John agreed to become a vassal to the Pope for an annual tribute of one thousand marks, with absolution from excommunication and the lifting of the Interdict. John continued his fight with the French, now with the Pope as his ally, but attempts finally collapsed with the defeat of his continental allies at Bouvines in 1214. An alliance of barons took advantage of this defeat to launch a rebellion which was successful in forcing John to a comprehensive and humiliating Magna Charta ensuring the feudal rights of the barons and the reinstatement of English law, signed at Runnymede on 19 June 1215. John soon repudiated the charter and civil war resumed. John of England, King of England, died suddenly in the midst of campaigning at Newark on 19 Oct 1216, and was buried at Worcester Cathedral where his effigy is to be seen on his tomb.

John's loss of the French dominions, his disputes with Rome, and a high level of taxation had the English nobility up in arms against him. In 1215 they forced the King to sign the Magna Carta, guaranteeing their rights in relation to those of the crown. This led to civil war, which only ended with John's death.

Despite his problems with France and the English barons, recent historical research suggests that John was a keen administrator, a good general, an astute diplomat, and a hard-working and intelligent ruler with a strong sense of justice.

John married Joan Of WALES. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]