Was John A Bad King Essay Example

Paris. These monks probably never had any first hand experience of John and much of their work was based on rumours. For example, Roger wrote that John killed a priest called Geoffrey after he said it was not safe for any priests to work for the King any longer.

However, it was found that Geoffrey was still alive ten years after he was supposed to have been killed. After John was excommunicated nearly all monks hated him. Moreover, when they wrote about John they were biased. When normal people read their work they believed it as true as monks are regarded as truthful and holy. They then gave John his reputation that wasn't to be admired.When John's father married Eleanor of Aquataine Henry II owned even more land in France than he had before.

John's brother was commended for his fighting skills the same was not to be said for himself. When he became King he owned almost as much land in France as in England. By 1204 John had lost much of this land including the Duchy of Normandy. This brought many people to dislike John as France was considered of great importance to England at that time.

Money problems paid a part in John's reign and they certainly did not help his cause. Wars cost and when John fought in France he was using lots of money to buy soldiers and weapons. This meant John had to raise taxes and the money paid when inheriting land. Barons usually paid 200 pounds for this but John raised the price up to 450 around these troublesome times. When the Muslims fighting in the crusades captured Richard,

John also had to pay a ransom. This meant raising taxes even more.

The high prices made John unpopular with Barons and Freemen alike.John is probably most famous for the signing of the great charter or Magna Carta. In 1214 many barons got fed up with the high taxes and rebelled against John. They thought he was a poor ruler and an unfair King.

They made him sign a contract which gave freemen more rights. This was the first time an English King had some of his power taken away. Some people believed the signing of the great charter was a good thing but freemen and barons still disliked John.John was not a complete bad King, he had some good points as well. During his reign he had victories against the Welsh and the Scots.

This shows he was not a complete failure at war. He also introduced a new currency and improved the money system and was tolerant of and protected the Jews, this was rare for an English King. He resided in England for nearly all of his reign, the same could not be said for Richard who was definitely an absentee King. These good things that John did were not carried through history and he is unfairly remembered for the poor things he did.

In this essay I have tried to conclude if John was a bad King. Although I think he was a poor ruler, he is remembered for being worse than he actually was.