Written by Poppy Williams
16/02/2024
We all know the tyrannical Prince John of Disney’s childhood classic, Robin Hood: the thumb-sucking, cowardly lion who squeezed the poor dry to facilitate his own greed. Whilst the cult-classic ended with the return of his brother Richard the Lionheart (Richard I) and Prince John imprisoned, unfortunately for the English population this was not the timeline of events. The 1973 Disney classic loosely covers parts of the reigns of two Angevin kings, King Richard the Lionheart and King John, alternatively known as ‘John Lackland’ due to the events of his reign. However, this investigation shall begin with their renowned father, Henry II.
The Angevin Empire – coined in 1887 by Kate Norgate – began with Richard and John’s father, Henry II. Born in the French county of Anjou, ‘Angevin’ in French, Henry was the son of the Count of Anjou, Geoffrey Plantagenet, and Princess Matilda (daughter of Henry I of England). Ascending to the English throne in 1154, Henry’s reign brought the English monarchy a great sphere of influence, holding authority over lands from the Scottish borders to the Pyrenees. He can be argued, at least in the beginning, to have been the most powerful European Monarch. Additionally, in terms of administration, Henry restored the English royal administration, which had been close to collapse during his father Stephen’s reign, and re-established hegemony over Wales. Stephen was in a consistent quarrel with Wales, but Henry saw it of little importance. Interestingly, despite being the King of England, Henry could only speak French and Latin; this was likely of little issue as Henry spent less than half of his reign situated in England. Despite this, Henry was a pragmatic ruler and wished to pass on to his sons a restored and stable inheritance – surprising as for much of his reign, some of his sons rebelled against him over dissatisfaction with his rule. And so, with a physical influence so great, how did such a powerful dynasty fall just over half a century later?
With Henry II’s death in 1189, Richard thus became the King of England. Richard was the most retaliating sons of Henry, rebelling twice against his father. Richard even went as far as allying with the French King, Philip II, in order to secure his succession by forcing his father into submission. The primary causes of the dispute surrounded tensions over land distribution and autonomy, particularly regarding Aquitaine (his mother’s home county); his belief that Henry was favouring his younger brother, John; and the potential involvement of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was rumoured to have taken quarrel with her husband’s rulership. Although Richard evidently had issues with his father, this was not what led to the breakdown of Angevin kingship.
Overall, Richard I was perceived as a very positive, brave, and courageous King in both England and France. This reputation was very largely a result of the king’s heavy involvement in the Third Crusade against Saladin, here displaying his military prowess and demonstrating his effective leadership. Therefore, it is clear why Richard was nicknamed ‘Lionheart’. However, it was his distinct military career and interest which led to his own downfall; despite being the English monarch for a decade, Richard spent only six months of this residing in the country. His crusading career and his defence of the French parts of the Angevin Empire took him far from English land for most of his life, not only his reign. Richard’s reign ended in 1199 after being shot by a crossbow while besieging a castle in Limousin, and so with no legitimate heirs, the throne fell to his young brother John.
John ‘Lackland’, nicknamed as he was unexpected to inherit much land, is often described as the antithesis of his elder brother Richard. However, like Richard, John was no stranger to familial rebellion. Prior to his ascent, John unsuccessfully attempted a rebellion against Richard’s royal administrators while he was out of England on the Third Crusade in 1192. Despite this, he was eventually forgiven by Richard and later claimed the English throne upon his death. John has often been portrayed in history, and cinema, as an avaricious and ineffective ruler; while I am more sympathetic to his image than the writers of Disney’s Robin Hood, they did provide a sound commentary on public opinion surrounding his reign. In the beginning of his reign, in 1200, John signed the peace treaty of Le Goulet with Philip II of France to recognise John’s dominion over the continental Angevin lands.
This peace was, however, short lived as in 1202 war with France broke out once again. While, at first, John achieved some victories but faced rebellion from his nephew Arthur who had allied himself with Philip II of France. Although this led to Arthur’s imprisonment, John still faced rebellion from his leading French barons who were tired of John’s conflicts with his French allies, that they too allied themselves with Philip. As a result, John lost a large amount of the empire’s lands and in attempt to reconquer them, imposed heavy taxation on the English population to build a large war chest – having a similar effect to what we see in Disney’s ‘Robin Hood’, major unrest from the English population. The unrest did not stop there. John also took issue with the Pope surrounding the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This led to a stand-off between himself and the Catholic Church from 1208-1213, when John was forced to back down after rumours that the Pope would potentially align with Philip of France to invade England.
One would hope John Lackland would have learned not to interfere with continental conflicts by this point in his reign but, once again, he went on another expedition of reconquest in France. Once again draining the pockets of his barons for his war chest, John was again unsuccessful and was defeated by Philip at the Battle of Bouvines in July 1214. Forced to return to England for a second time, with even less land under the Empire’s control, John was welcomed back with rebellion and civil war. John’s barons wanted him to reissue the ‘Coronation Charter’ of 1100 which limited the extent of royal exploitation of feudal rights to answer for the events of 1215: London allied with the rebels and therefore forced John to negotiate. The result of these negotiations was the issuing of the Magna Carta in 1215, which was essentially a peace treaty. Unfortunately for John, a committee of twenty-five barons was established to keep John from infringing upon the charter.
Tail between his legs, John passed away due to illness in October of 1216. He had lost the vast majority of the Angevin lands in France and incited civil war and unrest at home in England. Furthermore, with the 1215 Magna Carta, John had also reduced the monarch’s ability to exploit their feudal rights, and some scholars have described this resulting in the first step towards a constitutional monarchy. Therefore, the Angevin Empire barely existed by the end of Lackland’s reign – a fitting nickname as we come to an end – and the legacy of Henry II and Richard I was destroyed.
Bibliography
Gillingham, John (2001). The Angevin Empire. Arnold.
Hamilton, J.S. (2010). The Plantagenets: History of a Dynasty. London: Continuum
Henry Summerson, ‘Kingship, government, and political life, c.1160-c.1280’, in The Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries: 1066-c.1280, ed. Barbara Harvey (Oxford, 2001)
Nicholas Vincent, ‘Magna Carta: from King John to western liberty’, in L. Goldman (ed.), Magna Carta. History, context and influence (London, 2018)
Featured Image Credit: https://www.thoughtco.com/richard-the-lionheart-1789371
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