KING JOHN AND THE BARONIAL CIVIL WAR
Mistake Number 1 – A Marriage and Rival
John became King in _____ . John had a
_______ to the throne – his cousin, Prince
_________ of Brittany.
John’s first marriage was to his cousin
Meanwhile, John upset one of his F_______
barons (called Hugh de Lusignan) by marrying his __________, called
Isabella of Angouleme. Hugh joined forces with Arthur and r__________
against John.
John defeated them both but then treated them both b______ - Arthur
was allegedly strangled by John himself (so said the monks who hated
John).
King Philip II of France used this as an excuse to raise a huge ________
and attack John - by 1206, John had lost most of the __________
Empire.
TASK: Answer the following questions
1. When did John become King?
2. Who was King John’s rival to the throne?
3. How did John upset Hugh?
4. What did this baron do?
5. What happened to John’s rival?
6. Why was this all good for Philip II?
TASK: Tick the correct answer
1. When did John become King?
1189
1190
1195
1199
2. What did John argue with his nephew, Arthur, about?
Food
Succession
The church
Land
3. What did the trouble with Arthur lead to?
The loss of the French territory
His parents' divorce
His premature death
4. How did John upset wit Hugh de Lusignan?
He stole his land
He stole his wife
He stole his fiance
5. Who was the King of France?
Philip I
Louis II
Philip II
6 What was the name of John’s Empire?
Norman Empire
Angevin Empire
British Empire
Poitevan Empire
Mistake Number 2 – The Papacy
John argued with the ______ over
the new Archbishop of
C___________.
When John refused to allow the
Pope’s candidate, Stephen
__________, into the country, the
The Pope was keen to extend his powers
Pope placed England under an __________. Most English people were not
‘bothered’ by the interdict and John used it as an opportunity to
_______ from the Church (£100,000 was stolen).
When this failed to work, the Pope ________________ John – this also
failed to work. The Pope had excommunicated other rulers without much
________.
It was only when the Pope persuaded Philip to _________ England, John
agreed to all the Pope’s demands, including allowing Langton into England,
paying back _____ of the money he had stolen (only £60,000) and placing
England into the f_______ hands of the Pope.
TASK: Answer the following questions
1. Who did John argue with in 1206?
2. What was the argument about?
3. What methods did the Pope use to
‘bully’ John?
4. What positives can be taken from this
part of John’s reign?
TASK Put the following into the correct order
John argues with the Pope
John is excommunicated
John steals from the Churches
England is placed under an interdict
Philip invites Philip to invade England
John refuses to allow Stephen Langton to
come into England
TASK: Tick the correct answer
1. Who did John argue with in 1206?
Simon de Montfort
The Pope
William Marshall
The King of France
2. Why was England placed under an interdict in 1207?
John refused to accept the Pope’s choice of Archbishop
John married Hugh de Lusignan’s fiancée
John stole from the Church
3. What happened to King John in 1209?
He got married
He became ruler of Denmark
He was excommunicated
4.
What did John agree with the Pope in 1213?
To accept the Pope’s choice of Archbishop
To be the Pope’s vassals
To repay the money he had stolen from the Church
Mistake Number 3 – The Barons With Itchy Feet
John was very unpopular with his
________ because he t______ them
heavily and was very u___________.
John raised s______ (a tax a knight
paid not to fight) even though he did not
use the tax to fight the French. John
demanded high r______ (a tax to inherit
land) – sometimes more than the baron could
pay!
John was not trusted by his barons or
their wives
When John lost the Battle of ___________, the barons _________.
John initially agreed to the Magna Carta (a list of g___________
against the king about his rule) before going back on his word. This
r_______ the civil war.
TASK: Answer the following questions
1. Why was John unpopular with his
barons?
2. Give examples of taxes John demanded.
3. What was the Magna Carta?
TASK: Rearrange the following events into chronological order
Philip recaptures most of the Angevin Empire
Philip II attacks John and his Empire
John married Isabella, Hugh’s fiancée
John has Prince Arthur murdered
John defeats Prince Arthur and Hugh de
Lusignan
John becomes king
TASK: Tick the correct answer
1. Why did John keep asking for extra taxation?
He was the King - he just wanted to
He needed money to invade and reconquer France
He was trying to build up the English naval defenses
2. Who rebelled against the King in May 1215?
Peasants and lower classes
The military
Discontented barons
3. How did the King react to the rebellion?
By June he arranged to meet the barons
By July he was in full agreement with the barons
He just couldn't be bothered
4. What agreement did King John make?
The Magna Mappa
The Grande Reganda
The Magna Carta
King John and Magna Carta
Magna Carta contained ___
promises about what the king could
and couldn't do. It also set up a
Council of 25 _______ to make
sure John kept his promises.
John sealed the Magna Carta just to gain more
time for himself
This was a direct attack on John's royal _________ and as soon as
he could, John asked the _____ for permission to _______ Magna
Carta – on the grounds that he had been forced to ‘sign’ (s____) it.
John's rejection of Magna Carta caused a ________ by the barons.
Why was the Magna Carta so important?
Magna Carta was the first time a set of r____ had been written
down for the king. In the 17th century, British lawyers were to use
it to s______ Charles I’s attempt to i________ his power.
The ideas in the
Magna Carta are seen as the foundation of our
f________m.
Only t_____ of the promises of Magna Carta remain in force today.
For example:
That no freeman shall be a________ or _________ without a
proper _____ .
Magna Carta outlined basic r_____ with the principle that no-one was
above the l___, including the K_____
The ______ of the king had been permanently d_______, and no
king of England was ever again all p________ or 'absolute'.
It charted the right to a f____ trial, and limits on t________ without
representation.
It inspired a number of other
d_________, including the US
C________ and the Universal
Declaration of Human R_____
Royal Seal of Edward I
Within half a century, England had a
p_________ to represent the wishes of the barons to the king.
TASK: Tick the correct answer
Many people identify huge importance to the Magna Carta, but how
important was it in 1215?
Hugely important - the foundation of the American constitution
Fairly important - it was seen as a necessary implementation of the rights
of man
It was merely John's way of obtaining peace between him and the
rebellious barons
From the major points of the Magna Carta, what was mentioned about
the Church?
There was to be freedom of Church land in perpetuity
The Church was to be free to make its own appointments
The Church would control the country on Sundays
What clause in the Magna Carta was designed to prevent the nobility
from being taxed too heavily?
"No more than the normal amounts of money can be collected to run the
government, unless the King's feudal tenants give their consent"
"No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or
possessions... except by the lawful judgment of his peers"
"Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that the King
says - but if the King says tax, then all men shall say No!"
The First Baronial War
Once the Pope had given John
permission to ______ up the
Magna Carta, the civil was
r________.
John besieged and captured __________ Castle before marching north to
drive King Alexander back into ___________.
John then marched south to _______ for Louis of France whom the
barons had offered the __________ to.
However, John _________ when he saw Louis and this l____ him even
more support.
A few weeks later, John tried to protect L________ from the rebels.
However, on the way to Lincoln he _____ of dysentery.
The government was put into the hands of William __________ who
succeed to get the barons back
onside by offering to _________
the Magna Carta, in exchange for
their loyalty to John’s son,
_______y III.
Louis was forced to leave the
country.
William Marshall – restored Royal
Authority and ended the Baronial War
TASK: Answer the following questions
1. What is a civil war?
2. Why did the civil war restart?
3. What were the main events of this
Baronial War?
4. How did William Marshall bring an end
to this civil war?
5. What happened to Louis of France?
6. Who won the civil war?
TASK: Tick the correct answer
1. Why did King John seal the document?
He believed it was the right thing to do
He was trying to buy time
He thought he had to - it was his duty as the monarch of England
2. When did King John die?
September 1216
October 1216
November 1216
December 1216
3. Why was John not a total failure?
He remained popular with all sections of society
He managed to win back the French territory
He was very organized and had some military success
4. Why is King John remembered as a failure?
His total lack of self-belief
He left England in a terrible state and lost territory in France
He followed superb Kings who were fair and noble - totally unlike him.
TASK: Rearrange the following events into chronological order
John try to save Lincoln
John dies
John defeats the King of Scotland
John flees from Louis
John captures Rochester Castle
John restarts the civil war
William Marshall reseals the Magna Carta
Using your own knowledge and the sources below, was Richard I a great
English King?