Barons in England and Normandy
supported him at the beginning
But, barons in Anjou, Maine and Touraine
preferred his 12y/o nephew Arthur of
Brittany
In 1202 Arthur was captured and murdered by John
In 1203 John's valuable French lands
were captured by Philip II, John was
blamed for this
King Philip II
Constant threat to John's French lands.
In 1214 John went to recapture his French lands but
his ally - Otto IV - lost the Battle of Bouvines. He
returned to England but the Barons blamed him for
the defeat.
Quarrels with the Church
1205
Pope Innocent !!! tried to force John to let Stephen Langton be the new Archbishop of Canterbury.
He refused and claimed that it was his right to choose
This angered the Pope even more.
1208
After 3 years of quarrelling the Pope
placed the whole of England and Wales
under an INTERDICT. (Church on strike).
John was blamed
for this too
1209
The Pope punished John
by excommunicating him
from the Church
1213
John gave in and Stephen
Langton became Archbishop
of Canterbury
Barons saw this
as a weakness
Inflation
John happened to reign at the
time of the rising inflation
Struggled to keep the economy of England under control
His expensive wars against Philip II did not help
Forced English to pay heavy, unfair taxes.
He was ruthless and
cruel to people who
did (or could not) pay.
Many of his tax
collectors and sheriffs
were dishonest and
stole many of the taxes
The Barons also
resented to pay
the high taxes
Magna Carta
June,
1215
John was forced to agree to
a list of demands known as
MAGNA CARTA.
These were meant to
weaken his powers so that
the Barons could control him