John of England

“ We joy to see so sweet a peace begun. Lewis
Lewis with Blanche shall ever live content. But now, King John, what say you to the duke? Father, speak as you may in his behalf. Philip
King John, be good unto thy nephew here, And give him somewhat that shall please thee best. John
Arthur, although thou troublest England’s peace, Yet here I give thee Brittany for thine own, Together with the earldom of Richmond, And this rich city of Angiers withal. ”

“ The multitude—a beast of many heads— Do wish confusion to their sovereign; The nobles, blinded with ambition’s fumes, Assemble powers to beat mine empire down, And more than this, elect a foreign king. O England, wert thou ever miserable; King John of England sees thee miserable, John, ‘tis thy sins that makes it miserable, Quicquid delirunt reges, plectuntur achivi. Philip, as thou hast ever loved thy king, So show it now ”

“ Trust me my lord, right well have you advised, Venom for use, but never for a sport Is to be dallied with, lest it infect. Were you installed, as soon I hope you shall, Be free from traitors, and dispatch them all. Lewis
That so I mean, I swear before you all On this same altar, and by heaven’s power, There’s not an English traitor of them all, John once dispatched, and I fair England’s king, Shall on his shoulders bear his head one day, But I will crop it for their guilt’s desert. Nor shall their heirs enjoy their signories, But perish by their parents’ foul amiss. ”

“ Success may follow thee; Thus hast thou showed thy kindness to thy king. Sirrah, in haste go greet the cardinal, Pandulph I mean, the legate from the pope. Say that the king desires to speak with him. Now John, bethink thee how thou may’st resolve, And if thou wilt continue England’s king, Then cast about to keep thy diadem, For life and land, and all is leveled at. The pope of Rome, ‘tis he that is the cause, He curseth thee, he sets thy subjects free From due obedience to their sovereign ”

“ O peers of England, know you what you do? There’s but a hair that sunders you from harm, The hook is baited, and the train is made, And simply you run doting to your deaths. But lest I die, and leave my tale untold, With silence slaughtering so brave a crew, This I aver, if Lewis win the day, There’s not an Englishman that lifts his hand Against King John to plant the heir of France, But is already damned to cruel death. ”

“ Therewith receive this favor at my hands, T’encourage thee to follow Richard’s fame. Arthur
Ye citizens of Angiers, are ye mute? Arthur or John, say which shall be your king! Citizen
We care not which, if once we knew the right, But till we know we will not yield our right. Bastard
Might Philip counsel two so mighty kings, As are the kings of England and of France, He would advise your graces to unite And knit your forces ‘gainst these citizens, Pulling their battered walls about their ears. The town once won, then strive about the claim, For they are minded to delude you both. ”

“ We can hardly understand the reign of John unless we remember that at its very beginning men were learning to watch the legality of the king's actions and to demand that he respect the limitations which the law placed on his arbitrary will.
On May 25, John landed in England, and on the 27th, Ascension day, he was crowned in Westminster by the Archbishop of Canterbury before a large assembly of barons and bishops. The coronation followed the regular order, and no dissenting voice made itself heard, though a rather unusual display of force seems to have been thought necessary. ”

“ But I, my lord, can prove, and do aver Both to my mother’s shame and his reproach, He is no heir, nor yet legitimate. Then, gracious lord, let Falconbridge enjoy The living that belongs to Falconbridge, And let not him possess another’s right. King John
Prove this, the land is thine by England’s law. Queen Eleanor
Ungracious youth, to rip thy mother’s shame, The womb from whence thou didst thy being take. All honest ears abhor thy wickedness, But gold I see doth beat down nature’s law. ”

“ Arthur
As please my god, so shall become of me. Queen Eleanor
My son to England, I will see thee shipped, And pray to God to send thee safe ashore. Bastard
Now wars are done I long to be at home To dive into the monks’ and abbots’ bags, To make some sport among the smooth-skin nuns, And keep some revel with the Fanzen Friars. John
To England, lords; each look unto your charge And arm yourselves against the Roman pride. Exeunt.
Scene 10 Enter the King [Philip] of France, Lewis his son, Cardinal Pandulph Legate, and Constance. ”

“ Enter King John, Eleanor, Arthur, the Bastard, Hubert and Lords.
KING JOHN.
[To Eleanor] So shall it be; your grace shall stay behind
So strongly guarded.
[To Arthur] Cousin, look not sad.
Thy grandam loves thee, and thy uncle will
As dear be to thee as thy father was.
ARTHUR.
O, this will make my mother die with grief!
KING JOHN.
[To the Bastard] Cousin, away for England! Haste before,
And, ere our coming, see thou shake the bags
Of hoarding abbots; imprison’d angels
Set at liberty. The fat ribs of peace
Must by the hungry now be fed upon. ”

“ That we intend no other than good truth, All that are present of this holy league, For confirmation of our better trust, In presence of his Highness swear with me, The sequel that myself shall utter here. I Thomas Plantagenet, earl of Salisbury, swear upon the altar, and by the holy army of saints, homage and allegiance to the right Christian prince, Lewis of France, as true and rightful king to England, Cornwall and Wales, and to their territories, in the defense whereof I upon the holy altar swear all forwardness. All the English lords swear. ”

“ After his marriage John went back to England for the coronation of his queen, which took place on October 8. At Lincoln he received the homage of William of Scotland and made peace with the Cistercians, and then went on a progress through the north as far as Carlisle. In the meantime, as was to be expected, hostilities had begun with the family of the Count of La Marche, and the king sent out a summons to the barons of England to meet him at Portsmouth at Whitsuntide prepared for service abroad. ”

“ What holier triumph for the conqueror of the Saracens than the subjugation of these northern infidels? He would dethrone the proud Elizabeth; he would liberate and espouse the Queen of Scots, and together they would reign over, the two united realms. All that the Pope could do with bulls and blessings, letters of excommunication, and patents of investiture, he did with his whole heart. Don John was at liberty to be King of England and Scotland as soon as he liked; all that was left to do was to conquer the kingdoms. ”

“ John’s struggle against the barons and Prince Louis (1216) , afterwards King Louis VIII., was the most creditable episode of his career. But the calamitous situation of England at the moment of his death, on the 19th of October 1216, was in the main his work; and while he lived a national reaction in favour of the dynasty was out of the question.
John’s second wife, Isabella of Angoulême (d. 1246) , who married her former lover, Hugh of Lusignan, after the English king’s death, bore the king two sons, Henry III. and Richard, earl of Cornwall ”

“ But D. John did not desire to be King of England by any and every means, but by those of justice and nobleness, conquering the kingdom with his sword, setting the lawful Queen, Mary Stuart, at liberty, and sharing her throne by her own wish. ”

“ DON. Smite down! lay hold on outlaw'd Huntington!
LIT. JOHN. Soft, hot-spurr'd priest, 'tis not so quickly done.
DON. Now, out alas! the friar and the maid
Have to false thieves Sir Doncaster betray'd.
[Exeunt omnes. [211]
ACT IV., SCENE 1. Enter JOHN crowned, QUEEN ELINOR, CHESTER, SALISBURY,
LORD PRIOR. Sit down all. WARMAN stands.
JOHN. As God's vicegerent, John ascends this throne,
His head impal'd with England's diadem, [212]
And in his hand the awful rod of rule,
Giving the humble place of excellence,
And to the low earth casting down the proud. ”

“ For now Prince John is King, and Lady Marian
In peril, gossip! Yet we are in advance
Of sun and moon to-night, for sweet Prince John
Is not aware yet of his kinglihood,
Or of his brother's death.
ROBIN
[Pausing a moment.]
Why, Shadow-of-a-Leaf,
What does this mean?
SHADOW-OF-A-LEAF
Come, pick the mortar out;
You have no time to lose. This very night
My Lady Marian must away to Sherwood.
At any moment the dread word may come
That makes John King of England. Quick, be quick!
ROBIN
She is at the masque to-night! ”

“ John, "he presented to those around him the beau ideal of an Englishman, with all his predilections and prejudices, the warmest attachment to his native land, and a somewhat overweening contempt of foreigners. He was without question the greatest statesman of his age; and, indeed, statesmanship in England may almost be said to have commenced with him. Whether we look at home or abroad, we discover no man in Christendom worthy to be ranked with him, in genius or wisdom, in peace or war. His figure towers far above all his contemporaries; he constitutes the acme of the purely Saxon mind. ”

“ Of England, Earl pembroke and Salisbury, The only noted men of any name. Next them a bastard of the king’s deceased, A hardy wild head, tough and venturous, With many other men of high resolve. Then is there with them Eleanor, mother queen, And Blanche her niece, daughter to the king of Spain: These are the prime birds of this hot adventure. Enter John and his followers, Queen, Bastard, earls, etc. ”

“ No, no; when Fortune means to men most good, She looks upon them with a threat'ning eye. 'Tis strange to think how much King John hath lost In this which he accounts so clearly won. Are not you griev'd that Arthur is his prisoner? LEWIS. As heartily as he is glad he hath him. PANDULPH. Your mind is all as youthful as your blood. Now hear me speak with a prophetic spirit; For even the breath of what I mean to speak Shall blow each dust, each straw, each little rub, Out of the path which shall directly lead Thy foot to England's throne. And therefore mark: John hath seiz'd Arthur ”

“ John’s connection with England, then, is expressed in two simple words, “Rex Anglie,” no explanation being vouchsafed of how he had acquired this title. Such vindication, indeed, was not called for, as this was no coronation charter, John having already reigned for fifteen years without any serious rival—the claims of Arthur, the son of his elder brother Geoffrey, never having been taken seriously in England. [328] The simple words, “Dei gratia rex Anglie,” may be contrasted with the detailed titles set out in the coronation charters of Henry I. and Stephen respectively. ”

“ John laboured long and hard with much skill and final success, at a combination which would isolate the king of France and make it possible to attack him with overwhelming force at once from the north and the south. ”

“ Soon after the king’s departure for the Holy Land it became known that he had designated his nephew, the young Arthur of Brittany, as his successor. John at once began to intrigue against the regents with the aim of securing England for himself. He picked a quarrel with the unpopular chancellor William Longchamp (q.v.) , and succeeded, by the help of the barons and the Londoners, in expelling this minister, whose chief fault was that of fidelity to the absent Richard. Not being permitted to succeed Longchamp as the head of the administration, John next turned to Philip Augustus for help. ”

“ During the negotiations John ran away to England covered with disgrace. By the intervention of the Pope, however, a truce for two years was then arranged between the two kings.
Degraded as he was in the eyes of all honourable men, John retained his arrogance, and governed his kingdom with greater tyranny than ever. In the following year (1207) he defied the authority of the power which was concentred in the Holy See, now so formidable throughout Europe, and which he, of all men, was least fitted to resist. The ground of the quarrel was the right of the crown to the appointment of bishops. ”

“ No attempt at resistance to his will anywhere disturbed the peace of England. Llewelyn, Prince of north Wales, husband of John's natural daughter Joanna, involved in border warfare with the Earl of Chester, was not willing to yield to the authority of the king, but two expeditions against him in 1211 forced him to make complete submission. A contemporary annalist remarks with truth that none of John's predecessors exercised so great an authority over Scotland, Wales, or Ireland as he, and we may add that none exercised a greater over England. ”

“ These were Arthur of Brittany, the son of his next brother Geoffrey, and John of Cornwall, his false and turbulent youngest brother. The English Great Council chose John as king without any hesitation; they would not take Arthur, a mere boy of twelve, who had never been seen in England; they preferred John in spite of his great and obvious faults. But in the continental dominions of Richard there was no such unanimity: the unruly barons of Anjou and Aquitaine thought they would gain through having a powerless boy to reign over them, rather than the unscrupulous and grasping Earl John. ”

“ Pandulph, the legate of the Pope, who fully understood the character of John, obtained permission to land in England, and presented himself in the royal presence. He laid before the king the impolicy of his course of action, the danger he incurred from the French king, whose formidable preparations he described, and the probability of a general rebellion among the English barons The facts were undeniable, and urged as they were with all the skill and eloquence of an able diplomatist, they produced the greatest alarm in the breast of the tyrant. ”