Aims
This course aims to:
• understand the main outlines of the reign of King John
• understand the key issues that John faced
• see John in a wider British and northern European context rather than in a narrow
English context
Content
As children, we first meet John as the scheming "Prince" John in the tales of Robin Hood (spoiler: the medieval Robin Hood was a character from the 14th century, not the 12th). From that moment on, John is the quintessential baddy: completely untrustworthy; scheming against his brother; and a 'mummy's boy' (at least in the Disney Robin Hood). It is time now for you to meet the real John. The youngest son of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine and King Henry II, John rose to be the head of his dynasty and ruler of not just England, but also of Normandy, Anjou, and Aquitaine; as well as dominating large parts of the British Isles. From these dizzying heights, John lost almost everything. At the end of his life, he had lost his continental lands, his kingdom was in ruins as his barons tried to overthrow him, and the son of the French king was in England besieging John's castles. Understanding how John came to fall to such depths is a key part of this course.
Presentation of the course
Lectures and student-led discussions.
Course sessions
1. Who were the Plantagenets?
John was the youngest child of the most charismatic couple of the mid-12th century, Henry Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine. The couple dominated the political and cultural landscape of France and England for forty years, between 1150 and 1189, and their children went on to marry into the greatest families of northern and southern Europe. In this session, we'll explore John's family and connections, and look at the lands over which they ruled.
2. Inheritance secured, 1195-1202
Against all the odds, in 1199, John succeeded to the majority of the Plantagenet lands, but he had a rival in his young nephew, Arthur of Brittany. In this session, we'll explore that rivalry which resulted in the disappearance of Arthur and the seeming establishment of John's authority over all the Plantagenet lands.
3. Loss of Normandy, 1202-1206
The murder of Arthur of Brittany seems to have set the seal on John's fate on the continent. People decided that he was no longer fit to rule, and certainly that the dynasty itself was no longer worth supporting. One-by-one John's magnates abandoned him, and he was forced to retreat to his island fortress-kingdom of England. It would be another decade before he returned to the continent.
4. Lord of the British Isles, 1209-1212
As part of his preparations for his return to the continent, John turned his attention to dominating Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. In this session, we'll explore the ways in which John began the process of bringing the Celtic lands under English domination.
5. Magna Carta, civil war, and invasion
The end of John's reign was extraordinary. For the first time, an English king's subjects banded together to limit their ruler's freedom of action by a written constitution. The document, Magna Carta, went on to have a profound impact on English and world history down to the modern age. We'll explore how that document came into existence.
Learning outcomes
You are expected to gain from this series of classroom sessions a greater understanding of the subject and of the core issues and arguments central to the course.
The learning outcomes for this course are:
• forming an independent view of the strengths and weaknesses of King John
• understanding the main lines of historiographical argument about King John
• having a grasp of the main events of King John's life
