[139] To achieve this, John reformed the English feudal contribution to his campaigns, creating a more flexible system under which only one knight in ten would actually be mobilised, but would be financially supported by the other nine; knights would serve for an indefinite period. Holt, James Clarke and John Gillingham (eds) (1984), Jordan, William Chester. [111] Being a member of these inner circles brought huge advantages, as it was easier to gain favours from the King, file lawsuits, marry a wealthy heiress or have one's debts remitted. Turner, pp. [229], John's first wife, Isabella, Countess of Gloucester, was released from imprisonment in 1214; she remarried twice, and died in 1217. [26] Richard refused to give up Aquitaine;[26] Henry II was furious and ordered John, with help from Geoffrey, to march south and retake the duchy by force. [4][223] Numerous – probably fictitious – accounts circulated soon after his death that he had been killed by poisoned ale, poisoned plums or a "surfeit of peaches". [190] John's plan was to split Philip's forces by pushing north-east from Poitou towards Paris, whilst Otto, Renaud and Ferdinand, supported by William Longespée, marched south-west from Flanders. One of John's principal challenges was acquiring the large sums of money needed for his proposed campaigns to reclaim Normandy. His brother Richard was to be appointed the Count of Poitou with control of Aquitaine, whilst his brother Geoffrey was to become the Duke of Brittany. [131], John's lack of religious conviction has been noted by contemporary chroniclers and later historians, with some suspecting that he was at best impious, or even atheistic, a very serious issue at the time. [203] The rebel barons suspected that the proposed baronial council would be unacceptable to John and that he would challenge the legality of the charter; they packed the baronial council with their own hardliners and refused to demobilise their forces or surrender London as agreed. Contemporary chroniclers state that John was sinfully lustful and lacking in piety. [43] When Richard still did not return from the crusade, John began to assert that his brother was dead or otherwise permanently lost. [74] Opinions vary amongst historians as to the military skill shown by John during this campaign, with most recent historians arguing that his performance was passable, although not impressive. [2] Jim Bradbury notes the current consensus that John was a "hard-working administrator, an able man, an able general", albeit, as Turner suggests, with "distasteful, even dangerous personality traits", including pettiness, spitefulness and cruelty. [67] John became aware in July that Arthur's forces were threatening his mother, Eleanor, at Mirebeau Castle. This attempt was thwarted by King Richard and his mother. He argued that he need not attend Philip's court because of his special status as the Duke of Normandy, who was exempt by feudal tradition from being called to the French court. After this, Arthur's fate remains uncertain, but modern historians believe he was murdered by John. Plantagenet Ancestry: a Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. [29] The uncertainty about what would happen after Henry's death continued to grow; Richard was keen to join a new crusade and remained concerned that whilst he was away Henry would appoint John his formal successor. [217] In Lynn, John contracted dysentery, which would ultimately prove fatal. [139] After a successful campaign against Alfonso, John headed north again, taking the city of Angers. [226], In the aftermath of John's death William Marshal was declared the protector of the nine-year-old Henry III. [9] Most believed that Henry would divide the empire, giving each son a substantial portion, and hoping that his children would continue to work together as allies after his death. (1988) "Historical Notes," in Scott (1998). [32] He set about raising the huge sums of money required for this expedition through the sale of lands, titles and appointments, and attempted to ensure that he would not face a revolt while away from his empire. The most notable piece of evidence for any later royal affairs is the famous entry on the fine roll of Christmas 1204 involving Hugh de Neville's wife. The war between Henry II and his elder sons ended with the deaths of Henry the Young King and Geoffrey. John King with his ex-wife Dana Bash (Photo: dailymail.co.uk) Later on, John married his second wife Dana Bash, who is a CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent on 25 May 2008 after a year of romance. [55] Armies of the period could be formed from either feudal or mercenary forces. [47] Richard's policy on the continent was to attempt to regain through steady, limited campaigns the castles he had lost to Philip II whilst on crusade. [64] Hugh did exactly this in 1201 and Philip summoned John to attend court in Paris in 1202, citing the Le Goulet treaty to strengthen his case. By the end of the summer the rebels had regained the south-east of England and parts of the north. (2002) "Literature and national identity," in Loewenstein and Mueller (eds) 2002. [nb 10] John levied scutage payments eleven times in his seventeen years as king, as compared to eleven times in total during the reign of the preceding three monarchs. The Cambridge History of Early Modern English Literature. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Volume 1. [225] A new sarcophagus with an effigy was made for him in 1232, in which his remains now rest. [206] John was well prepared for a conflict. [138] All of this would require a great deal of money and soldiers. [122][nb 14], The character of John's relationship with his second wife, Isabella of Angoulême, is unclear. [74] By August, Philip had taken Normandy and advanced south to occupy Anjou and Poitou as well. One group was the familiares regis, his immediate friends and knights who travelled around the country with him. [23] Henry the Young King was unimpressed by this; although he had yet to be granted control of any castles in his new kingdom, these were effectively his future property and had been given away without consultation. [150] John invaded Scotland and forced William to sign the Treaty of Norham, which gave John control of William's daughters and required a payment of £10,000. [13], John grew up to be around 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) tall, relatively short, with a "powerful, barrel-chested body" and dark red hair; he looked to contemporaries like an inhabitant of Poitou. [137] Strategically, John faced several challenges:[138] England itself had to be secured against possible French invasion,[138] the sea-routes to Bordeaux needed to be secured following the loss of the land route to Aquitaine, and his remaining possessions in Aquitaine needed to be secured following the death of his mother, Eleanor, in April 1204. They favoured Reginald, the chapter's sub-prior. 177 [26] In 1177, at the Council of Oxford, Henry dismissed William FitzAldelm as the Lord of Ireland and replaced him with the ten-year-old John. She was the daughter of the powerful Earl of Leicester, who between 1155 and 1168 was the most politically powerful men in England. [177], Under mounting political pressure, John finally negotiated terms for a reconciliation, and the papal terms for submission were accepted in the presence of the papal legate Pandulf Verraccio in May 1213 at the Templar Church at Dover. John's mother Eleanor died the following month. [44] Fighting broke out in England between forces loyal to Richard and those being gathered by John. [208] John's strategy was to isolate the rebel barons in London, protect his own supply lines to his key source of mercenaries in Flanders, prevent the French from landing in the south-east, and then win the war through slow attrition. They formed a key route for communications between Anjou and Gascony. [81] During the 12th century, there were contrary opinions expressed about the nature of kingship, and many contemporary writers believed that monarchs should rule in accordance with the custom and the law, and take counsel of the leading members of the realm. Vincent, Nicholas. An alternative explanation is that she was tired of Hugh being sent away on royal service and the fine was a light-hearted way of convincing John to ensure that her husband remained at court for a night. [17] He liked music, although not songs. The King named his four-year-old nephew Arthur as his heir. Carpenter (2004), p. 282; Duffy, pp. [120] De Braose died in exile in 1211, and his grandsons remained in prison until 1218. [91] He continued to try relatively minor cases, even during military crises. [263] Popular works that depict John beyond the Robin Hood legends, such as James Goldman's play and later film, The Lion in Winter, set in 1183, commonly present him as an "effete weakling", in this instance contrasted with the more masculine Henry II, or as a tyrant, as in A.