Stories are known to rulers who dreamed of accomplishing something significant, but their attempts ended in failure. One of these kings was Prince John, known as John the Landless, brother of the brave king Richard the Lionheart. What prevented him from becoming great? Total bad luck, mediocrity or the machinations of insidious enemies? In any era, a person remains a person: with his own strengths, weaknesses, aspirations, thirst for power and recognition.
Failures haunted from birth
When Prince John was born, his mother, Alienore of Aquitaine, was already over forty. It so happened that the young prince almost did not know her: between her and King Henry II, John's father, serious disagreements began, and as a result, the queen was imprisoned. The couple already had three sons: Henry the Young King, Jeffrey II and the famous Richard. By the time John was born, all the lands of the state were divided between them, and by the will of fate, the newborn prince became Landless.
Richard the Lionheart was the mother’s favorite, so there was no place left for John in her heart. The father, on the contrary, was saddened by the fate of his youngest son and was thinking about how to compensate for his lack of land. Prince John learned early that in order to survive, he needed to be cunning and dodging. And although Richard did the same, no one blamed it on him.
The death of the elder brothers and the Crusade of Richard
It seemed that the young man had no prospects, but fate decreed otherwise. First, the elder brother Heinrich died, and two years later, the middle brother, Jeffrey, died in the tournament. Only Richard and John survived, so the chances of the throne of the youngest child of the king increased significantly.
A week after the death of his father, Richard ascended the English throne and immediately went to the Crusade, and Prince John, as brother of the king, remained to rule England in his absence.
Richard the Lionheart was a favorite not only of mother, but of all subjects. His endless military campaigns demanded more and more money, the royal treasury was empty, and the young governor had to fill it. The debts of the king brilliantly fell on the shoulders of his younger brother. To do this, John increased taxes, for which his subjects hated him, while Richard continued to admire.
When the Lionheart king was captured, Prince John, Richard's brother, secretly paid Leopold of Austria to keep the hated relative captive for longer. However, this deal soon became known, and John was sent into exile. So John the Landless became a villain in the eyes of the family and the country.
Rumor about Richard's death
One day a messenger brought the news of the death of King Richard, and his brother, Prince John, legally ascended the throne. He quickly pacified the militant neighbors, but in an attempt to subjugate his will to all, he quarreled with the Pope. As a result, the priest excommunicated John from the church and imposed an interdict on the whole country. From now on, baptism of infants, marriage of spouses and other religious activities were banned. This caused great discontent among the subjects, since the knights, returning from the Crusade, were deprived of even the church mass. Prince John had to acknowledge himself as a vassal of the Pope, and ministries were restored again.
In that era, only the clergy owned letters and letters, so history was created in monasteries. Conflict with the clergy finally ruined John's reputation, and clergymen described him as a fiend of hell. It is this image that has survived to the present day.
Marriage - successful or unsuccessful?
Becoming king, John married Isabella of Angouleme. Historians claim that the girl was abducted, and her family’s lands were annexed by force to the territory of England. Offended rulers of the occupied territory sent a complaint to the king of France, and after lengthy negotiations between the states a war broke out. Thus, at first it seemed a successful marriage with an exquisite aristocrat became John's real curse.
War on Scotland and Wales
After the advance of the French army, Scotland and Wales joined the war. England plunged into total chaos. Not having the support of his subjects, not having the talent of a commander, without the blessing of the church, John was doomed to failure. In addition, during the campaign, he felt that he was sick. Realizing that death was near, the loser king wrote a will and appointed his eldest son Heinrich heir to the throne. Thus ended the story of Prince John, John of the Landless.
The Story of Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a popular character in medieval folk ballads. According to legend, this noble leader of the forest robbers lived during the reign of John Landless. Deprived of his title and fortune, he was hiding in the Sherwood Forest, robbing the rich and giving the loot to the poor. The most popular is the artistic version of his story, written by the famous Walter Scott, but it has a number of inconsistencies. For example, archery tournaments began to be held in England not earlier than the 13th century, and John and Richard the Lionheart lived in the second half of the 12th century.
The ballads describe the confrontation between the noble robber Robin Hood and Prince John, who is described by a greedy, greedy enslaver who crushed subjects with excessive taxes. Perhaps there is some truth in these legends, but they cannot boast of historical authenticity.
Like many other rulers before and after him, Prince John fought for power, defended his rights to the throne, but by the will of the chroniclers went down in history as a greedy and petty king-loser. Although his older brother, Richard the Lionheart, was in the country for no more than six months during his reign, and the rest of the time he drained the treasury for dubious military campaigns, his image, on the contrary, is depicted as bright and noble.