 Weak

First King to Give Up Power
 Nicknames

Lackland, Softsword, Prat,
Git
 Robin
Hood
Seen as wicked and foolish
 Taxes unfairly
 Richard the Lionheart!

 Two
Main Accounts
 Roger
Wendover and
Matthew Paris
 Furthered by J.R. Green
– 1875
 Rumors
 Messed
Begin
up family life
 Twisted marriages
 Promiscuous and
atheistic
 Fabricated
“Truths”
 Who?
Why?
 Still based in reality
though…
 Bias!
 Good
king, bad king?
 No clear conclusion
 Bad person?
 One
member from each group
Come get the first question
 Use the information you just read to answer the
question

 One
member of the group
Bring me the answer
 If the answer is good, I will give out the next
question

 The
first group to complete all of the
questions wins!
 Question
of Succession
 Family
Feud!
 Nephew Arthur (Geoffrey)
 Murder?
 Problems
 Problem
Plague
#1: The Pope
 Problem #2: Goes to War
 Problem #3: High Taxes
 The
Pope
 Tries
to tell him how to run
the Church...
 Upset about Archbishop of
Canterbury
 Excommunicated
 1208-1213
– Banned all
Church services in England
 Eventually makes up with the
Pope
 Goes
to War...a lot!
 Constant
 War
fight with France
Costs
 Badly
beaten every time he
fights
 Expensive = HIGH TAXES!
 Loses almost all land Henry II
(father) had gained
 High
Taxes!
 Extravagant
living and ideas
 Wars!
 Upset
Barons
 Orders
to pay more taxes
than any other king
 1214
 Barons
rebel
 John’s not fit to rule
 Someone must stop him!
 Solution?
 1215
– John forced to
grant a charter
 First time a king must
follow rules he did not
come up with!
 “The
Great Charter”
 63
‘promises’ or agreements
 Between John and the barons
 Limits
the King’s Power
 Liberties
and rights of freemen
 Who’s free?
 Foundational
 Protection
Step
of rights against
government

The English Church can choose
its own archbishops

A baron’s son should inherit his
father’s lands after paying the
king £100, and no more


The king cannot raise a tax
unless the barons and bishops
agree to it in the Great
Council
People found guilty of a crime
in a court of law will not have
to pay huge fines for small
crimes

Can’t take the corn, horses,
carts of wood of a freeman
unless the freeman agrees

No freeman can be arrested or
imprisoned without a proper
trial by his equals

The king will immediately
return all hostages he took

The king will send out of
England all the foreign knights
and soldiers he hired
I can’t imprison nobles without trial.
Trials must be in courts; not held in secret by me.
I must have fair taxation for the nobles.
Freeman can travel wherever they like.
I can’t interfere in Church matters.
I can’t seize crops without paying for them
 John
Refuses to Follow
Pope agrees
 Barons revolt

 Civil
War Breaks Out
France steps in
 Barons ally with France

 Stalemate
Barons realign to John
 War continues now with
ally…France!

 London
Besieged
 Tower
of London
 Windsor Castle
 Dysentery
 Poison?
 Death
 Worcester
Castle
 VIDEO – Descendants of John