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During Richard’s long absence from home his brother John had been plotting to take control of England. Thomas Asbridge, The Crusades 2/3: The Clash of Titans, BBC 2012
The Barons forced King John to agree to limit his own power. Michael Wood, The Great British Story: A People’s History 3/8: The Norman Yoke, BBC 2012
It was Eleanor who secured the succession of her youngest son, John. Dr Helen Castor, She Wolves: England’s Early Queens I, BBC 2012
John’s brutality was matched by his incompetence in war. Dr Robert Bartlett, Inside The Medieval Mind IV: Power, BBC 2008
But John wanted more money: he was determined to fund an army to win back his Plantagenet birthright. Professor Robert Bartlett, The Plantagenets I, BBC 2014
Once again the Plantagenets plunged England into Civil War. ibid.
The throne of England was seriously indebted to the order [Knights Templar]. King John had emptied the coffers of the treasury between 1260 and 1266 in order to finance his military operations; and Henry III likewise borrowed heavily from the Knights Templar. Eleanor Ferris, The Financial Relations of the Knights Templar to the English Crown
But to praise John for being a royal filing clerk … a sign not of strength but of weakness. Monarchy by David Starkey s1e4: Dynasty, Channel 4 2004
The barons who had come fully armed presented their demands and King John, reluctantly and all ready in bad faith, granted what they wished. The agreement became known as Magna Carta. ibid.
Relations between a state and its people can easily break down ... 800 years ago in England one such crisis – local, limited, particular ... a sort of blueprint ... It’s become a working constitution. David Starkey's Magna Carta, BBC 2015
King John certainly knew how to abuse power. ibid.
The King would issue Magna Carta, and the barons would swear fealty in return. ibid.
England 1194: You’re about to see a story about bold knights and beautiful maidens. A story of love, and hatred, and prejudice. Ivanhoe 1982 starring James Mason & Anthony Andrews & Sam Neill & Michael Hordern & Olivia Hussey &, opening commentary
Prince John! ibid. chant and toast at table
The devil is unchained. Take heed. He’s escaped from France. He’s back in England. ibid. John
This is the last journey of King John – the Magna Carta king. Ben Robinson, The Last Journey of the Magna Carta King, BBC 2015
It would lead to the invasion of England, the country ripped apart by civil war, and the King dead. ibid.
A piece of parchment written by a medieval scribe, an agreement written in a long dead language between two warring parties, it is a legendary document of near mystical significance with the power to change lives and shape human events. They call it simply Magna Carta. Magna Carta Revealed: People vs The Crown aka Secrets of the Magna Carta, Channel 5 2020
‘For generation after generation we have paid in blood for the freedoms that were first won in Magna Carta.’ ibid. historian
$19m: word for word this is the most expensive document in the world, the most valuable piece of paper in human history. ibid.
By the time of Robin Hood the English are fed up with the ruthless exploitation. But there’s worst to come when in 1199 Richard the Lionheart is succeeded by his brother King John. ibid.
A reign defined by failure. A king who ruled through fear. But was he really any more bloodthirsty than other medieval rulers? His crimes did shape history. Murder, brutality and a bloody downfall. The life and times of one of history’s most lampooned monarchs. Killer Kings s1e3: King John, History 2025
Even his contemporaries saw him as weak, inept and cruel. ibid.
Did his cruelty stem from a massive inferiority complex? ibid.
‘He was never respected. He was never accepted.’ ibid. comment