King John is one of the few English kings that most Americans recognize (Henry VIII, for example, is another). Even though you may know him more as 'Prince John,' from most Robin Hood tales, he was a real-life king at the turn of the thirteenth century. In addition to being notoriously unfit, which reflects in legend, he also was the ruler who first agreed to the Magna Carta, a hugely influential document in the history of individual rights in England, and thus indirectly in America as well.
I'm currently relishing The Plantagenets, a book by Dan Jones that covers said royal house from Henry II (ascended 1154) through Richard II (deposed 1399). This line of kings extends through the Wars of the Roses (1455-1487), but that complex period got a separate book. I bought this back during the Game of Thrones run due to clear similarities between history and GRRM's fiction. This was a time of armies loyal to regional or local lords, constant war, shifting territorial control and marriage alliances. Among many others, this book tells the story of John and Magna Carta. For now I'm reading this, by the same author and with a wider scope, instead of what appears in my reading list focused solely on the great charter.
Understanding the House of Plantagenet necessitates going back to William the Conquerer. Normandy, on the north coast of France, is a region commonly associated with D-Day in 1944. It was another invasion, in the opposite direction, that put the William Duke of Normandy on the English throne in 1066. As part of the conquest, Norman nobility loyal to William replaced the old Anglo-Saxon lords as prominent landed barons and government administrators in England. Unfortunately the strictly Norman kings didn't last long. After the disaster of the White Ship in 1120, when the king's heir perished in an accident at sea, England saw nearly twenty years of civil war. This finally ended when the son of the Count of Anjou (Geoffrey 'Plantagenet') and Empress Matilda (daughter of the old king Henry I) was named heir to the throne. Henry II then, in 1154, launched the Plantagenet dynasty in control of England, Normandy and Anjou (the 'Angevin empire'). These kings continued to think of themselves at least equal parts French lord and English king. They primarily spoke an early dialect of French and spent considerable time (a majority even) on the continent or elsewhere, like the Holy Land, leaving England to trusted officials.
Henry II and son Richard ('the Lionheart'), were the two kings preceding John. Both were ambitious and outstanding military men who increased the lands under their control, mostly by warring in France. Henry II also married Eleanor of Aquitaine, adding another large French duchy to his domains. Henry never intended for any one of his sons to inherit the entirety of his possessions, and still it happened. Richard actually surpassed his father in war but died early and childless. Everything then passed to John, Henry's youngest son.
John took up kingship with gusto, emulating his forebears. Henry and Richard both had not only grown their holdings but also consolidated power where they ruled, particularly in England. Royal power evermore encroached on what was generally baronial (or feudal) power. There were fights with Rome to decrease the power of ecclesiastical courts in favor of royal ones. Most crucially (to them anyway), they constantly needed money for armies and sent tax collectors everywhere. John wanted to do more.
He wasn't up to the task militarily. Though he greedily raised taxes and armies and went to war on the continent, he lacked great skill as a martial leader or negotiator. Known for cruelty, John also struggled to keep the lords in line far more than his father and brother. An extreme and notable example was John's treatment of his own nephew, Arthur of Brittany. Arthur at the time was John's de facto heir, as he was yet childless, and a preeminent nobleman in his own right. Suspicious of the younger man, John captured and held him in horrible conditions, something unacceptable for someone of high birth. Shockingly, after a lengthy imprisonment Arthur was murdered outright, probably by John himself. The nobility did not take this lightly. Then in 1203 the hammer fell in France. John lost castle after castle and eventually fled the continent, abandoning Normandy, Anjou and much more to the French king, never to be regained.
There was now an ambitious Plantagenet king constrained to England. While John always maintained hope of reclaiming the lost territory in France, this had become a vastly more difficult task. Nobles with land straddling the channel now chose one side or the other and continental disputes became a concern of the king alone. So he turned all his attention to what he still possessed. John further consolidated royal rule and power, taking it from the barons and Catholic clergy wherever possible. He was ever-present, traveling with his court all over and dispensing the king's justice. Naturally a great deal was collected in taxes. John, though, found more ways to enrich himself. Hefty fines were established in the case of forest crimes and other legal disputes. He maxed out the money made on titles and inheritances (such as bidding on marriage to noble widows), plus drastically increased land forfeitures and more. Nothing done was outside the royal prerogative, but his exercise of it became increasingly overbearing. John ruffled many feathers in becoming a wealthy king.
Eventually his nobles turned against him. He became overly paranoid late in his reign, which didn't help. More than anything his overzealous nature and cruelty (there were numerous examples) forced things to a head with yet another failed crossing attempt in 1214. The barons used this situation to fight against the rising tide of royal power utilized against them. Remember, Henry II and Richard both had done this as well, but they'd also been outside of England for most of their reigns. John was unbearably everywhere, all the time, and something had to give. He was initially asked to follow the 1100 Charter of Liberties and refused. In 1215 a number of nobles, largely northerners, formally rebelled and captured the city of London. Negotiating again, John eventually agreed to a list of demands. This was the Magna Carta. It established rules in the relationship between the king and his nobility and clergy. It contained fixed amounts for issues like inheritances and scutage, a contentious point in the repeated continental adventurism. Importantly it included clauses promising to end illegal imprisonment and providing swift and fair justice according to the law. Finally it established a group of 25 to be a check on the king. So the Magna Carta did two things as a direct rebuke to King John's reign, it created rudimentary forms of a bill of rights and an elected parliament. And it happened, in part, because John lost the lands that had so occupied his predecessors and provided the English lords some space. When king and nobles were stuck together it didn't work for anyone.
Peace didn't last, of course. The scene below from the 2010 Robin Hood has problems (divine right of kings wasn't a thing, yet), but does show John throwing out the agreement nearly immediately. In fact, he reneged within two months and war resumed. In 1216 a French army even landed in England to join the fray. Then that same year, after fighting dysentery, King John died amidst this chaos. It's actually somewhat surprising his line held onto the throne, but they did.
Even though this first iteration was torn up, Magna Carta became a legendary document in the history of rights in England. Subsequent kings re-issued the document time and again as a negotiation ploy to get tax revenue, promising to uphold the notions therein. Eventually the ideas stuck, even leading to the first actual early version of Parliament during the reign of Henry III, John's son. The import of that institution only grew. The concept of a Bill of Rights developed with time as well, culminating in the 1689 English Bill of Rights and the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution. I'd agree this event way back in 1215 was a big deal.
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