John PLANTAGENET King of England [7787] ¹⁸²⁷

   FamilySearch ID: LBYQ-Z26. Find a Grave ID: 1953.

  General Notes:

English Royalty. He received a place in history for being the King of England from 1199 to 1216. John was the son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and youngest brother of Richard "the Lionheart". He married twice with the first being a political move to a distant cousin Isabel of Gloucester; this was annulled. Then he married the 12 year-old Isabella of Angouleme, who gave him three daughters and two sons. He was an educated man who loved hunting and traveling. Since Henry II did not award him land as he did his older sons, John was given the name of "Lackland". The name proved to suit him as, during his reign, he lost most of the land England had acquired earlier. John's life was characterized by double-crossing tumultuous relationships: First he allied with his brother Richard to rebel against their father; later he allied with King Philip II of France to fight Richard. He then turned on Phillip, causing England to lose Normandy. And lastly, he battled with his oldest brother's son Arthur over the right to the throne, which he ultimately, after Richard's death, advanced to the throne. Many English barons and clergy thought he had poor judgment, was wicked and could not be trusted. And he was even excommunicated from the Church by Pope Innocent III. Although he did make improvements in military, taxation, and in the justice system, his faults and mistakes overshadowed any achievements. While John was in France and for the first time in history, barons made a national protest against such a bad government. On June 15, 1215, John sealed the "Magna Carta", the Great Charter, which restated the rights of the Church, the barons and all in the land. Within months, John broke all of these promises, causing the Church and the barons to summon aid from France. In the midst of the French invading England, John died of dysentery leaving his nine-year-old son to become Henry III. At this point, his widow, Isabella of Angouleme, was sent back to France without her very young children. King John may also be remembered as the rival of Robin Hood, the heroic outlaw in English folklore. His body is buried at Worcester Cathedral, and his heart at Fontevraud Abbey.

  Birth Notes:

Beaumont Palace,

  Death Notes:

Newark Castle,

John married Isabelle D'ANGOULÊME Queen of England [7788] [MRIN: 5750] on 24 August 1200 in Angoulême, Charente, Poitou-Charentes, France.¹⁸⁴⁴ (Isabelle D'ANGOULÊME Queen of England [7788] was born on 19 February 1188 in Angoulême, Charente, Poitou-Charentes, France,¹⁸²⁷ died on 31 May 1246 in Fontevrault, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France ¹⁸²⁷ and was buried in 1246 in Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, Departement de Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France ¹⁸²⁷.)