King John and the Magna Carta

Since Richard the Lionheart got killed at Castle Chalus, in France, England needed a new king. After some debate, officials decided that the rightful succession should go to his brother John Lackland, instead of Richard and John's nephew Arthur. After his coronation, King John wanted to secure the lands of his father in Normandy and other areas in France.

King John

 King John soon went to France and met with Philip, the King of France. The two did not get along and soon they were at war, taking each others' castles.

King Phillip II of France

In one instance, King John's mother Eleanor of Aquitaine was living at the Castle of Mirebeau. It was soon under siege by her own grandson Arthur and King Philip. She sent for help to King John, who was 80 miles away in Le Mans. She anxiously watched for his arrival and sure enough! He was coming to her rescue. They could hear the trumpet blasts and the cavalry charging to aid her against the French. The knights pressed forward crying, “A rescue! A rescue!”

In the end, King John was victorious. The English got lots of rich booty for their captors, nobles of Poitou and Anjou, 200 knights, and Prince Arthur himself. The prisoners were chained and sent to damp dungeons to await liberation by ransom.

“Ah my son, my son,” cried the old Queen through her tears to John, “I knew you would not fail me. God hath wrought for us a glorious victory and overthrown our enemies by His mighty arm.”

What to do with his nephew Arthur was a very serious problem for King John, for Arthur boldly claimed the throne of England and the whole of Angevin dominions as Richard the Lionheart's lawful heir.

King John's advisers proposed a solution that would remove the danger. “Put out the boy's eyes,” they suggested. It would be momentarily painful but not fatal, they pointed out, and would be entirely effective in removing Arthur as an active threat to King John's throne. King John agreed to this plan and sent three experienced retainers to execute it. King John's executioners were not squeamish men but when it actually came to touching the hot iron to Arthur's eyes, they refused.

Arthur, Duke of Brittany

 However, word was sent to King John that the order had been carried out and that Arthur had died from the ordeal. When this rumor reached the barons of Brittany, they threatened vengeance and immediate war. This was prevented only by the confession of the King's executioner's that Arthur was still alive and unharmed.

Thinking that his nephew might now listen to reason, King John call Arthur before him. He wished to befriend and honor him, he said gently, and would do so if Arthur would forsake the evil company of the French and their king and adhere to his loving uncle and lord. But Arthur would not bend, and still claimed to be the rightful heir to the throne of England.

For a few moments, King John, checking his wrath, bit his lip and drummed on his chair with his fingers. Arthur gave him no choice. He would have to do away with him.

Arthur was sent to Rouen Castle and was never seen again. There was a rumor that King John had gotten into a drunken rage and murdered his nephew with his own hands.

Rouen Castle, Normandy, France

 But King John had troubles in Normandy. King Philip kept taking his castles and with each success, more nobles started to pledge loyalty to King Philip. Soon King John realized that he was running out of money and supplies, and that he no longer had the means to defend his Angevin dominions.

When King John was angry, he threw himself down and rolled on the floor, yelling and chewing the expensive oriental rugs that Crusaders had brought back from the East. If there were no rugs about, he chewed straw and sticks that littered the floor. It was bad for his teeth. At such times the dogs, servants, and hostages fled from the palace and the nobles left town.

And King John was furious with the barons who had abandoned him in Normandy. They would not give him their loyalty and even worse, King John had no money. So at the moment, he was powerless. What to do?

He levied a tax of one-seventh of all movable goods on the whole kingdom-barons, bishops, and commoners. A high tax of this sort amounted almost to confiscation. But in time his sheriffs were able to collect most of it. King John was worried that King Philip would conquer all English lands in France so he assembled a huge fleet to invade France.

But King John was a bit paranoid. He didn't know if his barons were loyal to him or to King Philip. The barons tried to dissuade King John to invade France. They fell down before him and, embracing his knees, restrained him from leaving them, declaring that of a surety, “if he would not yield to their prayers, they would detain him by force, lest by his departure the whole kingdom be brought to confusion.”

King John was now weeping with rage and furiously demanded what the barons proposed to do to save the King's honor and aid his friends beyond the sea.

It was finally decided to disband the army and just send a task force to aid King John's friends.

To punish the stubborn barons, King John now laid a heavy tax upon the whole land, for he was firmly determined that he would yet recover his lost heritage across the Channel.

Later, the Archbishop of Canterbury died and King John did not like the new Archbishop that the Pope appointed to the position. He forbid him to come to England. In response, the pope banished the church from giving sacraments and sacred rites. People did not get last rites, no one received the sacraments: the church was closed for business. To believers, this was a calamity.

King John did not want Stephen Langton to be the new  Archbishop of Canterbury.

King John responded to the church by confiscating church lands and seizing revenues from rich monasteries. He filled the treasury with church property. He was showing the church, King Philip, and his own barons and bishops who was King of England. In his boldness and pride he laid heavier burdens on the people and increased their griefs beyond measure.

As King John's power and wealth increased, his wickedness grew. He inflicted unjust fines on the barons, banished some and confiscated property, he even took children and relatives hostages for those who stayed away from his evil court.

The church responded by excommunicating King John. People stayed away and resentful barons began corresponding with King Philip, wanting him to invade England. Even the pope wanted King Philip to invade and proclaimed a universal crusade against King John.

King John realized he was in a desperate situation. He prepared England for war. But at the last minute, he made peace with the church and eventually was absolved from his argument with them. But he did not have peace with the barons. Their enmity for him was growing quickly. King John had shown unrestrained and reckless power. The barons were the only ones with enough power in England to restrain the king at all. For many years, the nobles had endured King John's insults until now their hidden enmity was smoldering beneath the surface ready to burst into rebellion. Now the time had come to enlist their power to force a charter from the King.

All King John wanted to do was beat King Philip and reclaim old English lands in France. This cost a lot of money, taxes that were an unbearable burden to England. So King John marched off to France with an army and while he was gone, the barons organized and planned a means of checking the king's power with a charter.

While in France, King John was betrayed by the barons he was always suspicious of for years. They would not help and actually sided with King Philip. “Nothing has gone prosperously with me, and everything unlucky has happened to me,” muttered John bitterly.

King John returned to England after his defeat in France, in a very bad Angevin temper. It was not improved by what he found awaiting him at home. The barons had ceased fighting among themselves and were united against him and on the verge of rebellion. What was this rumor about a charter? John wondered. No doubt someone had been putting ideas into their thick heads.

He was practically alone, with only a handful of knights he could trust. King John swore he would never sign a charter. But there was no use rolling on the floor and chewing wood. He must settle with the barons face to face. He summoned them to meet him after Christmas and to bring their demands to him. King John tried to out maneuver the barons, but could not.

He had made too many enemies and the barons were now in open rebellion. They were going to take over all of his castles. If King John wanted their loyalty and support, he would have to sign a charter protecting their rights. He did not want to sign it.

But when he finally realized that he could not defend his castles, and when King John lost control of London, he knew he had no choice.

King John met with the barons at Runnymeade. There he begrudgingly signed the Great Charter, known as the Magna Carta. Grim lords bore themselves proudly, for never had the nobles of England so restrained their King.

 

The clearly defined rights stated in the charter now stood above the will of the King. The love of right and justice of the old Anglo-Saxon freemen lived again in the spirit of the Magna Carta. It was a signpost pointing the way on the beginnings of liberty, equality, fraternity and democracy in later centuries.


**This was summarized or directly quoted from the wonderful book Magna Carta by James Daugherty.  I highly recommend this book for any student of history.


 



Enrichment Activity


As we read this story, the kids listened for key words and then did an action or noise as soon as they heard it.


King John-temper tantrum (shaking fists)
King Philip - "Oui, oui!"
taxes - ka-ching
church - bong, bong (with prayer hands)
barons - exasperated sigh
France - "Ooh-lah-lah!
charter - scribble, with hand motion




We also briefly talked about Robin Hood and his place in this story. Then we made a bow-n-arrow out of a pen. Take the pen apart, drill a hole in the middle body of the pen, put rubber band on each end secured by pen caps, and then use inside of the pen as the arrow.