King John England's Evil King?

by Turner, Ralph V.

• ISBN13: 9780752433851
• ISBN10: 0752433857
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-05-01
• Publisher: Tempus

Summary

King John is reputed to be the worst of England's kings. Before his death in 1216, his desperate exploitation of his subjects for ever more money had turned him into the mythical monster of Hollywood legendeven though the fictional Robin Hood was invented much later. In contrast to his brother Richard, he appeared incompetent in battle, failing to defend Normandy in 1202-04, and was unsuccessful in recovering his lost lands in 1214. King John's unpopularity culminated in a final crisis, a revolt by the English baronage, aimed at subjecting him to the rule of law, that resulted in his grant of Magna Carta.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	6	(2)
King John in His Context: A Comparison with His Contemporaries	8	(13)
Young John in His Brothers' Shadows	21	(27)
The Angevin Domains on John's Accession	48	(19)
Crises of John's Reign: Continuing Financial Problems	67	(20)
Crises of John's Reign: The Loss of Normandy and Failure to Recover it	87	(22)
Crises of John's Reign: The Struggle with the Papacy	109	(19)
Crises of John's Reign: Increasing Baronial Discontent	128	(45)
Culmination of Crises: Magna Carta and Civil War	173	(23)
John, His Contemporaries and Our Contemporaries	196	(5)
Notes	201	(13)
Maps and Genealogical Table	214	(5)
Bibliography	219	(13)
List of Illustrations	232	(2)
Index	234