King John
WAS KING JOHN REALLY A BAD KING?
King John is one of the most well-known figures in history because he has forever been portrayed as a wicked, vile ruler of England, who taxed the country out of everything they had and despised his own people. In this essay, I aim to prove that King John wasn’t really a bad king because although he did have a bad personality, all the problems he faced were mostly caused by his father and brother also he also did some good deeds therefore he was actually a good, bad and unlucky king.
John inherited many problems from his father King Henry II and brother King Richard I when he became king. The main problem was Philip II, King of France, this was caused because Richard I refused to marry Philip’s sister. This was a major problem because Philip was very powerful, cunning, and rich and kept trying attack England, but unfortunately for John, at the time he didn’t have enough money or soldiers to try and defeat Philip, therefore continued losing all his battles. A second problem was Pope Innocent III, caused by John’s father and brother as they kept arguing with the pope over who should have the most power over England. This meant that the pope thought that he should have the most power over England, but John also disagreed to this, so the pope declared that there would be no funerals or marriages until John gave in. Finally, John having no other option gave in, however this proved lucky for John as the pope supported John in his battles. The final problem was Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk caused by John’s father because he kept harassing Roger’s father as he kept rebelling against him. This made things harder for John because Roger wanted revenge and John was the one from their family alive. Since Roger was a baron, he could get all the other barons on their side and stop lending their soldiers to King John for all his battles, and instead use them to attack him.
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that John was a bad king. For
King John is one of the most well-known figures in history because he has forever been portrayed as a wicked, vile ruler of England, who taxed the country out of everything they had and despised his own people. In this essay, I aim to prove that King John wasn’t really a bad king because although he did have a bad personality, all the problems he faced were mostly caused by his father and brother also he also did some good deeds therefore he was actually a good, bad and unlucky king.
John inherited many problems from his father King Henry II and brother King Richard I when he became king. The main problem was Philip II, King of France, this was caused because Richard I refused to marry Philip’s sister. This was a major problem because Philip was very powerful, cunning, and rich and kept trying attack England, but unfortunately for John, at the time he didn’t have enough money or soldiers to try and defeat Philip, therefore continued losing all his battles. A second problem was Pope Innocent III, caused by John’s father and brother as they kept arguing with the pope over who should have the most power over England. This meant that the pope thought that he should have the most power over England, but John also disagreed to this, so the pope declared that there would be no funerals or marriages until John gave in. Finally, John having no other option gave in, however this proved lucky for John as the pope supported John in his battles. The final problem was Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk caused by John’s father because he kept harassing Roger’s father as he kept rebelling against him. This made things harder for John because Roger wanted revenge and John was the one from their family alive. Since Roger was a baron, he could get all the other barons on their side and stop lending their soldiers to King John for all his battles, and instead use them to attack him.
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that John was a bad king. For