Signer of the Magna Carta
King John Lackland depicted in Cassell's History of England 1902

King John reigned as King of England from 6 April 1199 to 18 Oct 1216. His coronation was on 27 May 1199. His knicknames were 'Lackland' and 'Soft-sword'.

During the first five years of his reign he lost Normandy and England was torn by Civil War and he was almost forced out of power. He resolved a church conflict in 1213 by making England a papal fief. Then in 1215 his barons forced him to sign the Magna Carta.

John had a reputation for treachery even before he assumed the throne. His brother, Richard went on the Third Crusade from 1190 to 1194 and John tried to overthrow his designated regent. When Richard returned to England he forgave John and named him his heir. When Richard died John assumed the throne but was not recognized in France which he eventually lost.

John married off his illegitimate daughter Joanna to Llywelyn Fawr the Great in 1205 which built an alliance to keep peace with England and Wales. This would leaved King John free to try to gain back France.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Hubert Walter, died in 1205, John was in disputed with Pope Innocent III. The monks thought they had the right to name the successor but the English bishops and King John wanted an interest in the choice. The dispute could not be settled and the monks secretly elected an Archbishop. King John and the Bishops refused to accept Stephen Langton, whom the monks elected.

In 1207 John expelled the Canterbury monks and seized church property was then excommunicated in 1209. John submitted to papal authority and surrender the Kingdom of England to God and the Saints Peter and Paul for a feudal service of 1000 marks annually, 700 for England and 300 for Ireland. With this submission, John gained the valuable support of his papal overlord in his dispute with the English barons, some of whom rebelled against him after he was excommunicated.

The Welsh Uprising of 1211 was successfully stopped and with his dispute with the papacy settled, John turned his attentions back to his overseas interests. The European wars culminated in defeat at the Battle of Bouvines, which forced the king to accept an unfavourable peace with France. This caused the barons to turn against him, and he met their leaders at Runnymede, near London, on June 15, 1215, to sign the Great Charter called, in Latin, Magna Carta. Because he had signed under duress, however, John received approval from his overlord the Pope to break his word as soon as hostilities had ceased, provoking the First Barons' War.

In 1216, John, retreating from an invasion by Prince Louis of France (whom the majority of the English barons had invited to replace John on the throne), crossed the marshy area known as The Wash in East Anglia and lost his most valuable treasures, including the Crown Jewels as a result of the unexpected incoming tide. This dealt him a terrible blow, which affected his health and state of mind, and he succumbed to dysentery, dying on October 18 or October 19, 1216, at Newark in Lincolnshire*. Many accounts circulated soon after his death that he had been killed by poisoned ale or poisoned plums.

He lies buried in Worcester Cathedral in the city of Worcester. His nine-year-old son succeeded him and became King Henry III of England, and although Louis continued to claim the English throne, the barons switched their allegiance to the new king, forcing Louis to give up his claim and sign the Treaty of Lambeth in 1217.

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SOURCES:

Britannia: 'Monarchs of Britain'
http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon28.html

'History of the Monarchy = The Angevins - John Lackland'
http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page64.asp

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