KING JOHN

King John's Position against an Over Ambitious Pope

King John's Position against an Over Ambitious Pope

King John is often referred to as a bad king these days and there is a lot of evidence both modern and written by sources in King John's time, to give reason for that name. John is often viewed as having been a cruel King and this is supported with evidence from a recent history book which says “John was a thoroughly bad lot. He was cruel and beastly. He made many enemies and killed people with his bare hands. His court was a brothel where no woman was safe from the royal lust. He scoffed at the priests. Foul as it is, hell itself is defiled by the fouler presence of King John”. He was also a weak King which is shown by the way that he was incapable of keeping his lands in France without his mothers help. (Bradbury, 2007)

To Judge if King John was an evil king or not really depends on the sources we use for our information.Historiography is the different ways historians of the past have interpreted a historical person or event.In medieval times not everyone was literate. People of the church, such as monks, and the ruling class were able to read and write and therefore they were the chroniclers who recorded events which were eventually used as sources by historians. Historians must be mindful that these monks were most likely to be biased.Although historians must be careful about judging King John as an 'evil King' as the chroniclers did, it is true that many of his barons thought he was a bad king.The barons had many grievances or complaints against the king. They expected him to rule in a certain way and when he did not do so, they rebelled and forced him to sign a document called Magna Carta or Great Charter. The king had no choice but to sign it because the barons would have defeated him in a war.King John was considered a bad king for many reasons. One of the main grievances the barons had with the king was the excessive taxes he imposed on them. When John became king it was a difficult time for him. John continued to pursue war against Philip for seizing Normandy. He allied with Otto of Brunswick, who became Holy Roman Emperor, Otto IV, in 1209. (Huscroft, 2005) Like John, Otto was excommunicated by Innocent III (1210); and like John, he feared Philip of France. Innocent III had not simply deposed King John, he had commissioned Philip of France to invade and oust John from his throne. John finally (13 May, 1213) capitulated to the pope, and agreed to be a vassal of the Pope, acknowledging him as overlord of England. In 1214 the pope at last lifted the Interdict. John's barons refused to support John's attempts to campaign against Philip in Poitou. John's campaign was not only a failure, it was an expensive ...