Jean of England

Jean of England (December 27th 1166 - October 18th 1216), was Duc of Normandy (1199-1204) and King d' Angleterre of 1199 with 1216. Its nickname, Jean Without Ground (in English, John Lackland ) comes from what his/her father does not have of grounds to give him until the death of his older brothers. It is only the King d' Angleterre with being crowned under the name of Jean .

Member of the dynasty angevine of the Plantagenêt S, it was the fifth and the last wire of the king Henri II of England and Aliénor of Aquitaine.

Biography

Jean was born with the palate from Beaumont, Oxford, doubtless in 1166, and not in 1167, as it was marked. King Henri and the Aliénor queen were not together during the nine months which precede December 1167, but well in March 1166. In addition, Jean was born with Oxford towards Christmas, but Aliénor and Henri passed Christmas in Normandy, in 1167. The canon of Laon, writing one century afterwards, affirmed that Jean was named in reference to the apostle Jean, whose festival is celebrated it (December 27th). Ralph de Diceto also considers that John was born in 1166 and that it is the Aliénor queen who chooses her first name.

He was the half-brother of Marie de France and Alix of France, girls born at the time of the first marriage of his mother with Louis VII of France, the brother of Guillaume, count of Poitiers, Henri the Young person, Mathilde of England, Richard lion-hearted, of Geoffroy II, duke of Brittany, Aliénor of England and Jeanne of England, queen of Sicily.

Youth

Whereas Jean was the preferred son of Henri, being youngest, it could not hope for a big part of the heritage. The life of its family was tumultuous, her older brothers entering revolts some against their father in 1173-1174. Henri made imprison Aliénor in 1173, whereas Jean was a small child.

His/her mother entrusted part of her education to the Abbaye of Fontevraud. In 1185, his/her father sent it to control the seigniory of Ireland, from which it was constrained to leave after only eight month. His/her Richard brother, once assembled on the throne of England in 1189, created it Count de Cornouailles. The August 29th 1189, it married Isabelle de Gloucester, countess of Gloucester and became count in his right. Shortly after its accession with the throne, in 1199, it got rid of his wife while making cancel this marriage by the pope Innocent III due to consanguinity (they were second cousins, both descendants of Henri I {{er}} of England).

The absence of Richard

During the absence of Richard, at the time of the Third crusade, between 1190 and 1194, Jean tried to reverse Guillaume Longchamp, bishop of Ely, indicated regent by Richard. It is one of the events which led writers later to present it like a traitor in their accounts of the legend of Exiled Hereward the, become Robin of the Wood, which is located at the origin one century before the time of Jean.

Jean was more popular than Longchamp with London and, in October 1191, the principal London citizens opened the doors of the city to him, while Longchamp was imprisoned in the Tour. Jean promised in the city to grant the right to him to control itself n the other hand recognition like heir apparent to Richard. At the time of his return of the Crusade, Richard was captured by Léopold V, duke of Austria and was imprisoned by the emperor Henri VI. It was known as that Jean had sent a letter to Henri to ask him to keep as a long time Richard far from England as possible, but the partisans of Richard paid a ransom for his release because they thought that Jean would be a bad king. On its return in England, in 1194, Richard forgave in Jean and designated it as its heir.

Several historians advance that Jean had not tried to reverse Richard, but, on the contrary, made of sound to better improve the situation of a country ruined by the excessive taxes raised by Richard to finance the Crusade. It is more probable than this image of treason, attached to the character of Jean came later, by the feather of the monks chroniclers, made indignant by his refusal to take share with the Fourth crusade.

The reign

Conflict with the king of France and Arthur of Brittany

When Richard died, he became king d' Angleterre the April 6th 1199, but all were not ready to recognize it. Several looked at its young nephew, Arthur Ier of Brittany, wire of his/her Geoffroy brother, like the legitimate heir. Arthur launched out in its string against his/her uncle and asserted the throne, with the support of the king Philippe-Auguste. The conflict between Arthur and king Jean had fatal consequences. By the Treated Narrow part, in May 1200, Philippe Jean against Arthur recognized, and the two sovereigns agreed on the terms concerning the conditions of the vassalage of Jean in connection with Normandy and of the territories angevins. However, peace was transitory.

Awkwardnesses of Jean with regard to some barons of the Poitou led the latter to seek repair near the king of France, suzerain de Jean for his continental possessions. In 1202, Jean was convened at the court of France in order to answer of the loads carried against him. One of them was the fact that it removed the any young person Isabelle of Angouleme, only daughter of Aymar Taillefer, Count d' Angoulême, then promised in marriage to Hugues X of Lusignan, to marry it the August 24th 1200, with Bordeaux. Vis-a-vis this breach, Hugues IX of Lusignan, the father of the young person Hugues X, then called upon king de France. Invited to justify itself before the court of Philippe, Jean did not present himself. In accordance with the feudal law, the king of France pronounced the Commise - confiscation - of his continental goods (1202). Was still necessary it for him to seize these territories.

Having to carry out the war on the continent, in 1203, Jean ordered with all the shipyards of England (including inside the grounds, as with Gloucester) to provide at least a boat, several cities, like the new naval base of Portsmouth, having the responsibility for several building sites. He made of Portsmouth the new seat of the navy (the Anglo-Saxon kings, like Edouard the Confessor, had a royal port with Sandwich, in the Kent). At the end of 1204, 45 large galères was available, with an average of four new ships per annum. It also created a Amirauté of four admirals to order this new navy. During the reign of Jean, marked improvements were carried out in the design of the boats, in particular the addition of veils and the castles removable with the front one. It also created the first large ships of transport, called " buisses". Jean is sometimes credited with the foundation of the Royal Navy modern. The elements of which we lay out, concerning this navy, come from roles of the time, which explains why these successes were completely ignored by the chroniclers and the first historians.

Within the framework of the war, Arthur tried to seize his/her grandmother, Aliénor of Aquitaine, with Mirebeau, but it was beaten and captured by the troops of Jean. Arthur was imprisoned initially with Falaise, then with Rouen. No one is not certain of what it is occurred in Arthur, thereafter. According to the Yearly of Margam , the April 3rd 1203: After king Jean captured Arthur and threw it alive for some time in prison in the castle of Rouen… as had drunk, it killed out of its own hand and threw the body, attache with a heavy stone, in the Seine. . However, Hubert de Burgh, the officer ordering the fortress of Rouen, affirmed to have given Arthur, around Easter 1203, with the agents of the king, sent to castrate it; Arthur would have died following the operation. Thereafter, Hubert retracted his testimony and affirmed that Arthur always lived, but nobody never revives alive Arthur, and the rumor of its assassination caused in Brittany, then in Normandy, a revolt against Jean.

In addition to Arthur, John also captured his niece, Aliénor of Brittany. Aliénor remained captive the remainder of its life (which was completed in 1241); by this gesture, Jean acquired a reputation of pitiless man.

In the hope to avoid disorders in England and with the Wales, while it would fight with far to recover its French possessions, Jean constituted in 1205 an alliance by marrying his illegitimate daughter, Jeanne, with the prince of the Welsh Llywelyn Large the.

In three years, the king of France Philippe Auguste succeeds in seizing a good half of the continental possessions of king d' Angleterre, in particular of the Normandy and Anjou (1204-1205). L'" Empire Plantagenêt " that had created his/her father was very seriously amputee. Arthur was invested of the whole of the confiscated strongholds with Jean (except Normandy) and was promised in marriage to Marie, the girl of Philippe.

Relations with Bordeaux

In 1203, Jean exempted the citizens and the merchants of Bordeaux of the " Large Coutume" , which was the principal tax on their exports. In exchange, the areas of Bordeaux, Bayonne and Dax began to support it against the kings capétiens. This measurement only gave to the commercial Gascons free access to the market of the wine in England initially. The following years, Jean granted the same privileges La Rochelle and the Poitou.

Jean without ground and Papacy

After death, the July 13rd 1205, of Hubert Walter, archbishop of Canterbury, the monks of the chapter of the cathedral are only affirmed in right to elect its successor. However, the English bishops and the king had an interest in the choice of this strategic function. The king wished to see reaching this load his friend John of Gray, bishop of Norwich. On their side, the monks, who defended the candidature of Réginald, one as of their, élirent it secretly. One second election, imposed by Jean, leads to another election. When the two candidates appeared with Rome, the pope Innocent III repudiated one and the other and devoted an English theologist, Etienne Langton, in spite of the objections of the ambassadors of Jean. Innocent passed thus in addition to the rights of the king to choose his clean vassal. The English barons and of many bishops supported the king and refused to accept Langton.

Jean expelled the monks of the cathedral of Canterbury in July 1207 and refused the entry of Langton in England. In answer, the Pape threw the prohibited on the kingdom, the March 23rd 1208. Jean reacts at once by confiscating the goods of the Church, in the name of the rupture of the feudal oath. The Pope, however, was conscious of the dangers which the withdrawal of the Church made weigh on the faith of the people and gave the permission to several churches to accommodate their flocks in 1209. In 1212, it authorized the last sacraments with dying. In spite of its weight, the interdict does not end in any rebellion against Jean.

In November 1209, Jean itself was excommunicated and, in February 1213, Innocent threatened to take more severe measures if Jean did not subject himself. In May 1213, it was obliged to subject to one humiliating capitulation, in the presence of the pontifical legate (according to Matthieu Paris, with the church of Templiers of Dover): The favorite of the pope, Etienne Langton, was allowed as archbishop, Jean was to pay compensations for the clergy and to be recognized vassal of the Pope, while agreeing to pour a tribute per annum equivalent to him to approximately one sixtieth of the direct taxes of all the kingdom (1000 marks annual, 700 for the England and 300 for the Ireland). Thanks to this tender, formalized in the Bulla Aurea (gold bubble), Jean could obtain the support of the Pope in the quarrel which opposed it to the English barons.

Quarrel with the barons

Having overcome successfully the Welsh insurrection of 1211 and having solved its argument with Papacy, Jean turned his attention towards his continental interests. Combined with the Germanic emperor Otton IV against the king of France, it unloaded in 1214 with an army with La Rochelle. But it is beaten by the son of Philippe Auguste, Louis, with the Roche with the Monks (in fact it did not fight but preferred to flee in front of the adversary), while Otton lost the Bataille of Bouvines. Overcome, Jean had to accept an unfavourable peace with the king of France.

This failure and this peace led to the revolt of the barons (several had already rebelled against him after its excommunication). He met their chiefs with Runnymede, close to London, the June 15th 1215, where he signed the Large Charter, called in Latin Magna Carta , document limiting the royal capacities. By this charter, which is one of the bases of the British democracy, the royalty in England is not henceforth absolute any more. Applicant to have signed under the constraint, Jean solved, with the approval of the Pope, to take again his word. Dissatisfied, part of the English barons offered the crown to Louis, the son of Philippe Auguste. However, this last, if it succeeds in unloading on the island in 1216, did not manage to conquer the kingdom which was offered to him. Jean crossed the country to be opposed to the rebellious forces, in particular at the time of the two month old seat against the castle of Rochester.

Death

Reprocessing in front of the troops of prince Louis, Jean took a road released towards the marshy country of Wash, to avoid the rebellious area of East Anglia. Slower, however, the train of the luggage (including/understanding the crown jewels), took a direct road through the area, where it was carried by an unexpected rising tide. This loss caused in Jean a great sadness, which affected its health and the state of its spirit. Succumbing to the Dysentery and moving of place in place, it remained one night with the castle of Sleaford, before dying, in the night of the 18 to the October 19th 1216, with the castle of Newark, in the Nottinghamshire (at that time, in the Lincolnshire, maintaining on the border of the Nottinghamshire with this county). Very quickly, of many accounts, all fictitious, circulated after its death, affirming that it would have been victim of a murder, kills by poisoned beer or plums, or of a " excess of pêches".

It was buried in the cathedral of Worcester, in the town of Worcester. He is the first king of the dynasty Plantagenêt with being buried in England.

He left a son age nine years, who succeeded to him under the name of Henri III of England. Although Louis continued to assert the English throne, the barons lent allegiance to the new king, forcing the French prince to give up his projects and to sign the treaty of Lambeth in 1217.

Families and descent

The August 29th 1189, Jean married Isabelle de Gloucester, girl and heiress of Willima Fitz Robert, 2 {{E}} count de Gloucester, with which it did not have any child. Shortly after its accession with the throne, in 1199, it made cancel this marriage by the pope Innocent III due to consanguinity. Isabelle married in second weddings Geoffrey de Mandeville, then Hubert de Burgh.

Jean remaria with Bordeaux, the August 24th 1200, with Isabelle of Angouleme, twenty years its junior, girl of Aymer Taillefer, count of Angouleme. Jean had removed it, whereas it was promised in marriage to Hugues X of Lusignan. They had five children together:

Henri (1207 - 1272) which succeeds to him,
Richard de Cornouailles (1209 - 1272), which in 1231 marries Isabelle de Pembroke († 1240). In 1243, it remarie with Sancie of Provence (1228 - 1261) girl of Raymond-Berenger V count de Provence. In 1269, it does Béatrice marry de Falkenstein (1253? - 1277), and have of it a legitimate girl,
Jeanne of England (1210-1238), which marries in 1221 Alexandre II of Scotland (1214-1249),
Isabelle of England (1214 - 1241), which marries in 1235 Frederic II, German emperor (1194 - 1250),
Aliénor of England (1215 - 1275), who marry in 1224 Guillaume de Pembroke (1190 - 1231), then in 1239 remarie with Simon V of Montfort (1208 - 1265), count de Leicester.

The chroniclers of its time grant to Jean a very sensual taste, adding various embellishments to their account. Matthieu Paris shows it to have been envieux of many its barons and to have allured their daughters and sisters more attracting. Roger de Wendover describes an incident which took place when Jean fell in love with Margaret, the wife of Eustace de Vesci and illegitimate girl of the king Guillaume Ier of Scotland. Eustace would have placed a prostitute in the place of his wife at the time when, benefitting from the darkness of the night, the king would have joined the bed of Margaret; the next morning, when Jean would have come to praise himself in front of Vesci of the gifts of his wife to the bed, Vesci would have confessed the fraud and would have fled.

Jean had several illegitimate children:

Jeanne, princess of Wales, marries of the prince Llywelyn Fawr of Wales
Richard Fitz Roy, (with Adela, girl of its uncle Hamelin de Warenne)
Oliver FitzRoy, (with a fore-mentioned mistress Hawise) which accompanied in 1218 the papal legate Pélage with Damiette, from where it never returned.

Of one or more mistress (S) unknown (S), Jean also had several other children:

Geoffrey FitzRoy, which took share with the forwarding of Poitou in 1205, where it found death.
John FitzRoy, become clerk in 1201.
Henry FitzRoy, died in 1245.
Osbert Gifford, which accepted grounds in Oxfordshire, in Norfolk, in Suffolk, and in the Sussex, and lived at least until 1216.
Eudes FitzRoy, which accompanied his/her Richard half-brother, count de Cornouailles in Crusade and died out of Holy Land in 1241.
Bartholomew FitzRoy, member about the preaching friars.
Maud FitzRoy, abbess of Barking, died in 1252.
Isabel FitzRoy, wife of Richard Fitz Ives.
Philip FitzRoy, still in life in 1263.

The free-Norman nickname " FitzRoy" mean " wire of the king.

Reputation and overall picture

The reign of king Jean is traditionally looked like most disastrous of the English history: it starts with the loss of the Normandy in front of Philippe-Auguste during his the first five years of reign and is completed with England sinking in the civil war, even being very ready to him to be constrained to give up the capacity. In 1213, it makes of England a papal Fief to solve the conflict which opposes it to the Église; and its barons, in rebellion, force it to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, the act for which it remains more in the memories. Several historians affirmed, however, who the government of Jean was neither better nor worse than that of the kings Richard I {{er}} or Henri III, adding that it passed (contrary to Richard) the majority of its reign in England. However, its reputation remains if sullied that no English monarch has fore-mentioned Jean his heir apparent.

In the administration of his kingdom, Jean was controlling qualified, but it gained the disapproval of the English barons by taxing them beyond the traditional feudal rules with suzerainty. The tax known under the name of " scutage" , that one paid in exchange of the combatants whom one could not provide (as required it the feudal law) became particularly unpopular. Jean was an impartial and quite informed king. Many plaintiffs called some with royal justice. Moreover, employment by Jean of an extremely able chancellor and clerks sure lead to the first correct series of files - the Pipe Rolls .

The historian medievist C. Warren Hollister regards Jean as a " appear énigmatique" : … gifted in several aspects, good at the level administrative, but suspicieux, without scruple and being wary. It was compared, in a recent article of research, perhaps wrongfully, with Richard Nixon. Its inclined career with the crisis was sabotaged on several occasions by the lack of enthusiasm with which its vassal supported it - and energy with which several of them were opposed to him.

Winston Churchill summarized the legacy of the reign of Jean: The British nation and the anglophone world must much more with the defects of Jean that to the labors of virtuous sovereigns .

Jean of England in the literature

Jean of England is represented in many accounts. One finds it in the part of William Shakespeare, the King Jean , in the novel to sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoé , or in the cycle entitled the River of eternity of Philip Jose Farmer, where he is the prototype of the cruel despot and calculator. Prince Jean without ground also appears in certain versions of the legend of Robin of Wood.

External bonds

the Large Charter (Magna Carta) or Large Charter of freedoms of England of June 15th, 1215.
Graphic of the family tree of the children of Jean
Tomb of the king Jean

Sources

W.L. Warren, King John , Yale University Close, 1997,376 p.
Franck Barlow, The Feudal Kingdom off England 1042-1216 , London, Longman, 1972,475 p.
C. Warren Hollister, Medieval Europe: With Shorts History , MCGraw-Hill, 1994,456 p.
Matthieu Paris, the large chronicle of England , volume 4 Jean Without Ground 1199-1216 , Paleo Editions, collection Sources of the history of England, 2004

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