History knows rulers who dreamed of doing something significant, but their attempts ended in failure. One such king was Prince John, known as John the Landless, brother of the valiant King Richard the Lionheart. What prevented him from becoming great? Total bad luck, mediocrity or machinations of insidious enemies? In any era, a person remains a person: with his own virtues, shortcomings, aspirations, a thirst for power and recognition.
Failure haunted from birth
When Prince John was born, his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, was already over forty. It so happened that the young prince hardly knew her: serious disagreements began between her and King Henry II, John's father, and as a result, the queen was imprisoned. The couple already had three sons: Henry the Young King, Geoffrey 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 his 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 thought abouthow to compensate him for the lack of land. Prince John learned early on that in order to survive, he needed to be cunning and dodgy. And although Richard did the same, no one blamed him for it.
The Death of the Elder Brothers and Richard's Crusade
It seemed that the young man had no prospects, but fate decreed otherwise. First, the older brother Heinrich died, and two years later the middle brother, Jeffrey, also died at the tournament. Only Richard and John survived, so the chances of the king's youngest child to the throne have increased significantly.
A week after the death of his father, Richard ascended the English throne and immediately went on a crusade, and Prince John, as the king's brother, remained to rule England in his absence.
Richard the Lionheart was a favorite not only of his mother, but of all his 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 brilliant king fell on the shoulders of his younger brother. To do this, John increased taxes, for which the subjects hated him, while Richard continued to admire.
When King Lionheart was captured, Prince John, Richard's brother, secretly paid Leopold of Austria to keep his hated relative prisoner longer. However, this deal soon became known, and John was sent into exile. So John the Landless became a scoundrel in the eyes of the family and the country.
Richard's death rumor
One day a messenger brought news of the death of King Richard, and brother,Prince John has rightfully ascended the throne. He quickly pacified the militant neighbors, but in an attempt to subjugate everyone around him to his will, 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, the baptism of infants, the wedding of spouses and other religious events were banned. This caused great discontent of the subjects, since the knights, returning from the Crusade, were even deprived of the church mass. Prince John had to recognize himself as a vassal of the Pope, and services were restored again.
In that era, only the clergy were literate and literate, so history was created in monasteries. The conflict with the churchmen completely ruined John's reputation, and clergy historians described him as a fiend. It is this image that has survived to this day.
Marriage - successful or unsuccessful?
Becoming king, John married Isabella of Angouleme. Historians claim that the girl was kidnapped, and her family's lands were forcibly annexed to the territory of England. The offended rulers of the occupied territory sent a complaint to the king of France, and after lengthy negotiations between the states, war broke out. Thus, at first seemingly successful marriage with a sophisticated aristocrat became a real curse for John.
War with Scotland and Wales
After the advance of the French army, Scotland and Wales joined the war. England plunged into total chaos. Nothaving the support of his subjects, not possessing the talent of a commander, without the blessing of the church, John was doomed to failure. In addition, during the campaign, he felt sick. Realizing that death was near, the unfortunate king wrote a will and appointed his eldest son Henry as heir to the throne. Thus ended the story of Prince John, John 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 the Landless. Deprived of title and fortune, he hid in Sherwood Forest, robbed the rich and gave the loot to the poor. The most popular is the artistic version of his story, written by the famous W alter Scott, but it has a number of inconsistencies. For example, archery tournaments began to be held in England no 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 as a greedy, greedy enslaver who crushed his subjects with excessive taxes. Perhaps there is some truth in these legends, but they cannot boast of historical accuracy.
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 loser king. Although his older brother, Richard the Lionheart, was in the country during his reign no more thanhalf a year, and the rest of the time he drained the treasury for the sake of dubious military campaigns, his image, on the contrary, is depicted as bright and noble.
