SOW: What can Disney’s ‘Robin Hood’ tell us about King John?
Year 7
Concept - interpretations
Please look through slideshow to see all animations and transitions. All resources are at the end of the PowerPoint.
Lesson 4:
Starter:
Q: Based on the information from last lesson, how reliable do you feel the chroniclers’ accounts were?
… Should we be more sympathetic towards King John?
The Magna Carta was a good thing surely?
Q. Why do Holt & Morris still disagree?
LQ. The good, the bad or the unlucky: Why did King John fail?
Task: Spider diagram the reasons that King John was left with a poor inheritance.
Task:
1.
Read through each of the cards – all of which tell us something about King John, and the decisions he took during his
reign.
2.
Organise the cards into three different categories:
• Evidence that King John was a bad king (anything that shows that he made mistakes, or was cruel and unfair);
• Evidence that King John was unlucky (anything that shows that King John had bad luck or was let down by
others);
• Evidence that King John was a good king (anything that shows that King John successful and made intelligent
decisions, or hardworking and kind).
Extension: Create a portrait of King John (like the one you saw earlier) that depicts King John as a good, bad or unlucky king.
EQ: What can Disney’s ‘Robin
Hood’ tell us about King John?
Let’s think back to last lesson.
With the person sitting next to you, try to
recall AS MANY reasons from the chronicler’s
backgrounds that suggest we need to be
cautious about trusting them too much.
So, how reliable do you think the chroniclers’
interpretations of John were?
So, perhaps John wasn’t so
bad after all…
I told you I
was a good
king!
In fact, John was responsible
I always believed
for one of the most important
in you!
documents in England’s
history; the Magna Carta (you
know, that thing that they
have been talking about on
the telly all week).
Clause 1: “The English Church shall be free. The
King must not interfere with the Church.”
Clause 8: “No widow shall be forced to marry as
long as she wishes to live without a husband.”
Clause 39: “No freeman should be arrested,
imprisoned, or in any way destroyed without a
fair trial.”
This is one of the
original
Good,
right?Magna Cartas.
What is this outpouring of
sympathy for King John?!
I need to go away and write
a strongly-worded article…
So why do
Messers
Holt &
That ought to do
it!
Morris still
disagree?
So, was he bad
or was he
good?...
Or, was he
unlucky?
“John had the administrative ability of a great
ruler but he never got the chance to prove his
skills. From the moment he began his rule, rivals
and traitors tried to cheat him out of his
inheritance.” – W. Warren
“John had the administrative ability of a great ruler but he
never got the chance to prove his skills. From the moment
he began his rule, rivals and traitors tried to cheat him out
of his inheritance.” – W. Warren
This quote came from the Oxford-educated medieval
historian Wilfred Lewis Warren in his book King John,
which was published in 1961. Like J. C. Holt, Warren
So
why
does
Warren
feel
that
King
wrote most of his work during the 1960s. An expert
was
unlucky?
on AngevinJohn
England,
Warren
went on to become
professor of history and Dean of theology at Queen’s
University, Belfast, before his death in 1994.
Several historians
(including
Warren)
You may want
to
have
argued
that–
jot these
down
Kingcould
John even
was
you
unlucky,
and that
label each
areahe
inherited
poor
on a spider
relationships
and
diagram in your
situations
from
book, like
thehis
father
(Henry
II) and
one
below.
brother (Richard I).
There are three key
areasJohn’s
historians
poorsuch
as Warren
point to
inheritance
with regards to
John’s misfortune.
1. The Church
The Roman Catholic Church was run by the Pope who lived in
Rome – the clergy (religious persons, such as monks) obeyed
the Pope rather than the King. English Kings did not like the
Pope interfering with their affairs – and therefore tried to
limit their powers.
Henry II appointed his close friend Thomas Becket to the
position of Archbishop of Canterbury in order to reduce some
of these powers – however the relationship soon turned sour
and Henry had Thomas murdered (by accident). This
damaged the relationship between the Church in England and
the King.
Also, just before John came to the throne, a new Pope was
elected. He was far more ambitious than previous Popes.
2. The Barons
The Barons were the most powerful and wealthy group of
people in the country. They helped supply the king with an
army at wartime, and maintain law and order during
peacetime. It was important to keep them on-side.
Henry II angered many barons when he destroyed more than
300 of their castles, in areas which he felt could threaten him.
He also removed their powers in the local courts by
employing recently-formed judges. Some leading barons,
such as the influential Roger Bigod, rebelled.
Richard also upset the barons by charging them high taxes for
his crusades abroad, and insisted on more money to pay his
ransom when he was captured. Many barons were angry at
the way in which the Angevin Empire was being ruled.
3. Threats from abroad
The Angevin Empire included large parts of France. King Philip
II of France wanted to win those parts back, and had been
stirring up rebellions in order to weaken England’s control
over the land. Travel during these times was very slow, and
thus having control over a large empire was difficult.
Richard was initially close with Philip, with the pair setting off
on Crusade with each other. However, they soon fell out after
Richard refused to marry Philip’s sister. Philip angrily returned
to France and invaded Richard’s lands in Normandy. He also
encouraged John to stir up trouble in England.
Richard held onto his land in France, but he was undoubtedly
a strong fighter – a lesser soldier would find the task a great
deal more daunting.
So, what ‘sort of’ king
was King John: good,
bad or unlucky?...
This leads on to
today’s question…
The good,
the bad or
the
unlucky:
What ‘sort
of’ king
was John?
Which ‘sort of’ king was King John?
Your task is to analyse the evidence cards and come to a
conclusion on which sort of king King John was: good, bad or
unlucky.
• Was he, as Morris (left) claims, ‘a villain’?
• Was he, as Warren (centre) claimed, ‘never [given] the chance
to prove his skills’?
• Or, was he, as Holt (right) claimed, ‘a standard of success
never equalled in the medieval period’?
1. Organise the
cards into
the correct
category.
1) Organise the cards into categories.
Bad
Unlucky
Good
Your task is to:
1. Read through each of the cards – all of which tell us something
about King John, and the decisions he took during his reign.
2. In pairs, organise the cards into three different categories:
• Evidence that King John was a bad king (anything that
shows that he made mistakes, or was cruel and unfair);
• Evidence that King John was unlucky (anything that shows
that King John had bad luck or was let down by others);
• Evidence that King John was a good king (anything that
shows that King John successful and made intelligent
decisions, or hardworking and kind).
Extension: Choose 1 from each category, and explain to your
partner why this piece of evidence proves that King John was good
/ bad / unlucky.
So: good, bad or unlucky? What sort of
king was King John?
In your books write: Based on the evidence that I have
collected, I mostly agree with the historian (1. M. Morris / 2. W.
Warren / 3. J. Holt) that King John was a (1. bad / 2. unlucky / 3.
good) king. I have come to this conclusion because… (example)
• However, King John was also (bad / unlucky / good) when
(example)… because…
• He was also occasionally (bad / unlucky/ good) when
(example)… because…
Extension: Create a portrait of King John (like the one you saw
earlier) that depicts King John as a good, bad or unlucky king.
HINT: You can all
see a copy of me
on the sheet you
got in Lesson 3.
Extension:
This is the original portrait
painted by Matthew Paris.
However, we have already
established that we cannot
trust everything the
chroniclers said about John.
How will you draw John?
Worse? Better? Unlucky?
Think about:
• How is crown is worn – or
if he has a crown.
• Does he have a sword – is
it a sign of strength or
hate?
• What else will you need?
Resources
John was very interested in the royal court. He often sat as
judge and decided cases himself. John also travelled around
the whole country. He knew England better than previous
kings and was hard-working.
John increased the strength of his navy. Richard I had built up
a navy and given it a base at Portsmouth, but many of his
ships had been destroyed in the wars against France. John
built new ships, strengthened Portsmouth’s defence, and
established a new port at Liverpool.
On feast days John often made arrangements to feed
hundreds of paupers (peasants). In 1209, 100 paupers were
fed in Newcastle. Other kings had done this, but few were as
generous as John. Sometimes he would provide meals for as
many as 1000 paupers at one sitting.
John carried a small library with him wherever he went. Books
were very rare in his time. In 1205, he asked Reginald of
Cornhill to send him a history of England, such was his
interest in learning.
A new Pope had been elected in 1198, just before John
became king. The new Pope was determined to increase his
power. He was a tougher opponent than earlier Popes.
John chose the new Archbishop of Canterbury because it
showed that the king, not the Pope, had the most power in
England. England was Catholic at the time and the English
clergy (religious persons, such as monks) were loyal to the
Pope. They found this move deeply offensive. At the time the
clergy were a very wealthy group, with power and influence.
In revenge the Pope passed an interdict (ban on religious
ceremonies) on the whole of England and Wales. In an act of
fury John decided to punish the Church by taking much of its
land and property. He then used this land to finance his wars.
Many members of the Church never forgave John.
In 1213 John made peace with the Pope. By making peace,
John gained the Pope as a powerful ally. The Pope supported
John against the Philip II of France, and the barons, and he
later said that John did not have to keep Magna Carta.
Although Richard I named John as his heir, John had a rival.
His nephew, Arthur of Brittany, thought that he should be king
and he was supported by Philip II, the King of France. John
had to fight for his crown – and he won! Moving quickly, his
army beat both Philip and Arthur. John’s reign had got off to
an excellent start.
Peace did not last long. In 1200, John made a mistake. He left
his first wife to marry Isabella of Angoulême. Isabella had
been about to marry Hugh of Lusignan. Hugh was outraged.
He claimed that John had stolen his bride and complained to
Philip II. This was the chance Philip II had been waiting for.
Philip, Hugh and Arthur joined forces and attacked John’s land
in France.
In 1203 rumours spread that John had murdered Arthur. This
caused a rebellion (riot) in Brittany and other parts of his
empire. Powerful French barons deserted John, and began to
support Philip. This made it almost impossible for John to
stop Philip taking his land in France. John lost Normandy in
1204. After that it was one disaster after another, and Philip’s
army captured the rest of John’s land in France.
John was soon planning to win back his empire. He skilfully
captured Gascony, but when he attacked Anjou his barons let
him down again. Many of them had abandoned him – some
of them without putting up any fight whatsoever. Without the
barons’ men, John had to agree to a truce (peace treaty).
John had failed to win back his land in France.
In 1205 some barons refused to help John regain his land in
France. John abandoned his plans to invade France, but
demanded taxes from the barons anyway. This angered the
barons because they usually only paid taxes in wartime. The
barons were, at the time, the most powerful and wealthy
group of people in the country. Many of them never forgave
John for this.
In 1214 John demanded even more taxes from the barons
even though his armies had been beaten in France. There was
a lot of protest. After John’s failure in France some barons
were willing to risk rebellion.
In January 1215 the barons demanded that John change the
way that he ran the country. John put off making any
decisions until April. When April came, and the barons arrived
for their meeting, John failed to turn up. He had no intention
of giving up any of his rights.
In June 1215, John finally realised that he could not beat the
rebel barons. He met them at Runnymede, near Windsor
Castle, and agreed to change the way he ran the country.
However, John did not agree wilfully – he was forced to, such
was his stubbornness. The agreement was written down in
the Magna Carta (the Great Charter).