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King J ohn of England

John was King of England from 1119 until his death in 1216. During his reign he faced many
problems with France, at that time England had some territory in France, also he faced
problems with the Church, and with his barons, who latter on made him sign the Magna
Carta. John was given the nickname of John Lackland; he got this nickname from his father
Henry II, because since John was the youngest of his sons, he couldnt get much land. Though
this nickname fit him perfectly afterwards, because during his reign he lost much of English
territory in France.
John was the son of Henry II and E leanor of Aquitaine , John had 4 siblings, the
oldest one was William, he died when he was three years old, Henry Jr., Richard, who was
John`s most famous brother, and finally Geoffrey. John was his father`s favorite, because of
that Henry expected to see his son as king, but the one who became king after Henry`s death
was Richard. Since he was very nice he gave to John some English territory in France, and in
England. Richard knew very well his brother, so when he went on crusade, he told John to
stay away of England; John obeyed. Richard was captured, John saw this as an opportunity to
overthrow his brother and went to England, but he got the news that Richard was coming.
John apologized and Richard forgave him.
After Richard died, John was going to become king, but his nephew Arthur was the
first considered as Richard`s successor. Phillip II, who was the king of France, captured
Arthur to get some wealthy. Phillip II told John he would become king, if he signed the
Treaty of the Gaulet, which in order to make John Richard`s successor, John had to give some
English Territory in France, to him. John did it.
Finally John became king of England in 1199. During his reign he faced many
problems. John was making things wrong at Poitou in France, Phillip II called him to see what
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was going on, John didnt respond and the war started, John lost and lost Normandy, which
was an English territory at France.
John also faced problems with the Church, because since the archbishop of
Canterbury, Hubert Walter, died John wanted to choose a new archbishop himself. The Pope
Innocent III had already someone in mind to be the new archbishop, but John didn`t agree.
The Pope excommunicated him, and John had to apologize to dissolve his excommunication.
John wanted to fight with France again, so he allied with Otto IV, a Holy Roman
Emperor. They arrived to France, Otto IV and John lost and returned to England. The
consequences of his loss of territory were that John raised taxes, and he acted as he pleased,
based on his whims. His barons were getting tired of his whims, they wanted a fair treatment.
The Barons took London very fast, John had already many problems, so he accepted to
talk with them and get to an agreement. The barons made an appointment with John at
Runnymede, a huge meadow, where the Magna Carta was signed by John, he was forced to
sign it. John immediately talked with the Pope, to make the Magna Carta invalid, the Pope
joined John`s side. The barons started a civil war, called The First Baron`s War.
John died in 1216, and the Magna Carta was presented to Henry III, who was John`s
son and successor. The Magna Carta was presented to him, and many changes started.
Why is J ohn I important to history?
The King John I of England was important to history, because though he wasnt agree,
he signed the most famous document against submission: the Magna Carta, which was a
symbol of autonomy and the respect of law. The Magna Carta was very important because it
stated fair and good rights to everybody; it made rulers to rule under certain rights, to respect
law, to respect their citizens and importantly to respect the limits of their power by acting
according to what is established. Thanks to the creation of this document, many constitutions
and laws were made based on the document like the Petition of Right in England, Habeas
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Corpus Act also in England and the United States Bill of Rights. If John had not been forced
to sign the document, the laws now existent wouldnt be as we know them today; and our
constitutions might have never been made.
Conclusion:
John I of England lost much of the English territory, because he fought without having
the resources that were needed. He fought because of his pride, to show what he could do, but
in the end, being intelligent and very violent didnt work for him, John needed to be more
organized to succeed on his battles. Also he wasn`t able to solve a social problems he was
very selfish with his people, by not giving them what they wanted, he had to be forced to do
it. Maybe thats why he couldnt succeed, because a good ruler is someone who listens the
will of his people and understands what they want.