King John

Question 1

cause of john’s troubles

Answer 1

• faced several challenges to his authority
• wasn’t successful on the battlefield and had serious arguments with the Pope and made ever-greater demands for money from the population
• meant that barons who were supposed to serve and protect King John were soon plotting against him

Question 2

what is john’s reign an example of?

Answer 2

• the limits of the power of a medieval monarch

Question 3

king john

Answer 3

• became king of england in 1199
• after the death of his brother richard i for ‘the lionheart’
• their father - henry ii - died in 1189
• both henry ii and richard ii had been successful and popular kings
• john gone down in history as ‘bad king john’

Question 4

reasons why the barons were so unhappy with king john

Answer 4

• defeats in war
• king john’s attitude
• demands for money
• his conflict with the pope

Question 4

richard the lionheart vs ‘bad’ king john

Answer 4

• richard went on crusade to the holy lands and was seen as a great military leader
• john widely viewed as a poor military leader
• richard was almost entirely absent from england during his reign as king
• john spent almost his entire reign in england and took a great interest in the running of the country
• richard left england in debt
• john taxed his subjects heavily to get out of debt

Question 5

defeats in war

Answer 5

• military defeats against the french king meant john lost his lands in normandy in 1204 and spent the next decade trying to win them back but kept losing
• the barons increasingly blamed john’s leadership for their defeats on the battlefield and was given the nicknames ‘softsword’ and ‘lackland’

Question 6

attitude

Answer 6

• jo