The Life and Death of King John, a historical play by William
Shakespeare, portrays the rule of John, King of England (ruled
1199-1216), child of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and
father of Henry III of England. It is believed to be written during the
1590s but was not published until it showed up in the First Folio in
1623. John (24 December 1166 - 19 October 1216), also known as John
Lackland or Softsword, was the King of England from 6 April 1199 until
he died. His rule saw the loss of the duchy of Normandy to the French
ruler Philip II in 1204, bringing about the breakdown of the vast
majority of the Angevin Empire and the development in the force of the
Capetian line over the next of the thirteenth 100 years. The baronial
revolt toward the finish of John's rule saw the marking of the Magna
Carta, a record frequently viewed as an early advance in the development
of the constitution of the United Kingdom. Contemporary chroniclers were
generally condemning John's activities as lord, and his rule has been an
important topic for discussion and intermittent modification by
historians from the sixteenth century onwards. Antiquarian Jim Bradbury
has summed up the contemporary authentic assessment of John's positive
characteristics, it is today typically viewed as a "focused overseer, a
capable man, a capable general to see that John". In any case,
present-day students of history concur that he likewise had many
deficiencies as lord, including what antiquarian Ralph Turner depicts as
"disagreeable, even perilous character attributes", like insignificance,
resentment, and brutality.
