Individual Details
John "Lackland" Plantagenet King of England
(24 Dec 1167 - 19 Oct 1216)
John the younger son of Henry II was the last of Eleanor of Aquitaine's eight children and was born when his mother was forty-five years of age. His parents shortly thereafter became estranged with his mother being placed under house arrest when John was about seven.Treated with contempt by his older brothers and as there was no lands left to give him he earned the nickname 'Lackland' because he was the third son and should not have inherited anything. Subsequently before his succession to the throne he entered into a loveless marriage with a wealthy heiress with Isabel FitzRobert on 29 Aug 1189 at Marlborough, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. After his coronation he fell in love with the then twelve year old Isabella of Angouleme and they married on 24 Aug 1200 at Bordeaux, Gironde, France. Isabel bore John five children, :
i. Henry Plantagenet, the future monarch Henry III King of England.
ii. Richard (King of the Romans (Holy Roman Emperor) Earl of Cornwall)
iii. Isabella who married Frederick II [King of Germany]
iv. Eleanor, who married Simon V de MONTFORT.
v. Joane born on 22 Jul 1210 in Coucy, Alsne, France, who married King Alexander II, King of Scotland
His two elder brothers died without issue (his brother Geoffrey did have a son but he died at a tender age. Uncle John's complicity in this was never proven). His older brother Richard nominated John his successor despite their nephew Arthur being closer in line to the throne. John imprisoned the sixteen year old Arthur who disappeared and allegedly murdered him personally by tying a stone to Arthur's body and throwing his corpse into the River Seine. A nobleman's wife who suggested John was responsible was starved to death in Windsor Castle's dungeon.
John was probably poisioned and his last wishes were to be buried near his favourite son, Saint Wulfstan, before the high altar at Worcester Cathedral.
Historically John was thought poorly of in many ways, but he did try to curb baronial and ecclesiastical power, which brought about civil war. John's reign had become increasingly tyrannical and to support his wars he had extorted money, raised taxes and confiscated properties. His barons finally united to force his to respect their rights and privileges. John had little choice but to sign the Magna Charta presented to him by his barons at Runnymede in 1215. This made him subject rather than superior to the law. Shortly afterward John and the barons were at war. In wars with France John lost much of his territory in France : Anjou, Maine, Poitou, Normandy and Touraine and the separation of the two countries began. The Pope gave England to the King of France and excommunicated John and all church services in England and Wales were banned for six years with no funerals or weddings being performed and no church bells rang. John surrendered his kingdom to the Pope when French Forces landed and agreed to hold England as his vassal.
Renowned as the archetypal Bad King and in the writings by A.A.Milne "King John was not a good King". The Robin Hood stories portray King John as the ultimate bad guy. While he was not a saint nor the best ruler of England, he was apparently the founder of the British Navy, that pride of later generations. His struggles with Pope Innocent III show him to be a nationalist, even a patriot of sorts. The rebellious barons who forced the Magna Carta upon the King may have had some valid arguments, but it can also be argued that John was doing the best he could. John compares favorably with some writers to his much more popular brother Richard the Lionheart.
King John is the reputed founder of St. Bartholomew's Hospital in Newbury where he is said to have instituted the annual fair. He frequently visited the town and his favourite hunting seat at Freemantle Park, not far away at Kingsclere (Hampshire). At
the time the whole district was apparently little more than a continuous woodland and, as such, appealed to the sporting instincts of the Norman and early Plantagenet Kings. The chief part of the southern portion of Berkshire was occupied by the great forest of Windsor, which extended in one direction into Buckinghamshire, and in another into Surrey as far as Chertsey, Cobham and even Guildford; and reached westward as far as Hungerford along the vale of the Kennet, which was deforested in 1226. King John was at Newbury in 1200, 1203, 1204, 1210, 1214, and 1215, the date of the grant of the fair, as shown by his itinerary’ and other confirmatory evidence.
John had at least eleven illegitimate children and may have had a third marriage to Isabella de Clare. Sidney Painter,
King John's historian, says of him: "..cruel, lecherous, and deceitful". It could be said the number of his illegitimate children proves the lecherous part. His concubines included Matilda Gifford ; Clemence Dauntsey, Agatha de Ferrers; Hawisa FitzWarin; Suzanne de Warrene [our direct ancestor] and Miss Plantagenet.
By his mistress Suzanne de WARENNE he had a son, Richard FITZ ROY (or de Warenne , also our direct ancestor) Baron of Chilham, Kent, who married Rose DE DOVER.
By Clemence Dauntsey he had a daughter Joan b. abt 1188 who married Llewelyn ap IORWERTH [Prince of North Wales].
By Matilda Gifford, a son Osbert Gifford (he received the lands in Oxfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Sussex.)
By Hawise FitzWarin, a son Oliver FITZ ROY who defended Wolvesey Castle for Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester.
A further seven Illegitimate children were borne to John of England, by an unknown mistress (or mistresses):
v. Isabel FITZ ROY married Richard FITZ IVES, Knt., Lord of Degembris (in Newlyn East), Cornwall.
vi. John FITZ ROY, evidently a clerk, supported by the custodians of the see of Lincoln in 1201. .
vii. Geoffrey FITZ ROY. In 1204 he received a loan by the pledge of William Longespée, Earl of Salisbury, and Peter de Stokes. In 1205 he led an expedition into Poitou and died the same year.
viii. HENRY FITZ ROY, Knt., He married Eve DE WHITCHURCH, widow of William de Champernoun and daughter and heiress of Reynold de Whitchurch, of Shrivenham and Winterbourne (in Chieveley), co. Berks. They had no issue.
ix. Eudes FITZ ROY of Canewdon, Essex. In 1240 he joined his half-brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall on a crusade to the
Holy Land. Eudes FITZ ROY died there shortly before 21 Jan. 1241/2.
x. Bartholomew FITZ ROY, Clerk, Papal Chaplain, member of the order of Friars Preachers.
xi. Maud FITZ ROY , A Nun, elected Abbess of Barking 5 Aug. 1247; died shortly before 6 Feb. 1252.
Married: 29 AUG 1189, Marlborough Castle, Wiltshire Divorce 1199 to Isabella de Clare of Gloucester, Countess of Gloucester. Secondly Married: 24 AUG 1200, Bordeaux to Taillefer, Isabella of Angoulême, Queen of England
Child 1: , Henry III, King of England, b. 1 OCT 1207
Child 2: , Richard of Cornwall, Earl of Cornwall, b. 5 JAN 1209
Child 3: , Joan, b. 22 JUL 1210
Child 4: , Isabella (Elizabeth), Empress of Germany, b. 1214
Child 5: , Eleanor, b. 1215
Married: to Ferrers, Agatha
Child 6: , Joan of England
Married: to de Warenne, Suzanne
Child 7: FitzJohn, Richard of Dover, Baron of Chilham
Married: to de Tracy, Hawise
Child 8: , Oliver
Child 9: Gifford, Osbert
Child 10: FitzRoy, Geoffrey
Child 11: Courcy, John FitzJohn, Knight or Clerk o lincoln
Child 12: FitzRoy, Odo (Eudo)
Child 13: , Ivo
Child 14: , Henry
Child 15: , Richard, Constable Wallingford Csl
Child 16: , Matilda, Abbess of Barking
Child 17: Blanche, Isabella la
i. Henry Plantagenet, the future monarch Henry III King of England.
ii. Richard (King of the Romans (Holy Roman Emperor) Earl of Cornwall)
iii. Isabella who married Frederick II [King of Germany]
iv. Eleanor, who married Simon V de MONTFORT.
v. Joane born on 22 Jul 1210 in Coucy, Alsne, France, who married King Alexander II, King of Scotland
His two elder brothers died without issue (his brother Geoffrey did have a son but he died at a tender age. Uncle John's complicity in this was never proven). His older brother Richard nominated John his successor despite their nephew Arthur being closer in line to the throne. John imprisoned the sixteen year old Arthur who disappeared and allegedly murdered him personally by tying a stone to Arthur's body and throwing his corpse into the River Seine. A nobleman's wife who suggested John was responsible was starved to death in Windsor Castle's dungeon.
John was probably poisioned and his last wishes were to be buried near his favourite son, Saint Wulfstan, before the high altar at Worcester Cathedral.
Historically John was thought poorly of in many ways, but he did try to curb baronial and ecclesiastical power, which brought about civil war. John's reign had become increasingly tyrannical and to support his wars he had extorted money, raised taxes and confiscated properties. His barons finally united to force his to respect their rights and privileges. John had little choice but to sign the Magna Charta presented to him by his barons at Runnymede in 1215. This made him subject rather than superior to the law. Shortly afterward John and the barons were at war. In wars with France John lost much of his territory in France : Anjou, Maine, Poitou, Normandy and Touraine and the separation of the two countries began. The Pope gave England to the King of France and excommunicated John and all church services in England and Wales were banned for six years with no funerals or weddings being performed and no church bells rang. John surrendered his kingdom to the Pope when French Forces landed and agreed to hold England as his vassal.
Renowned as the archetypal Bad King and in the writings by A.A.Milne "King John was not a good King". The Robin Hood stories portray King John as the ultimate bad guy. While he was not a saint nor the best ruler of England, he was apparently the founder of the British Navy, that pride of later generations. His struggles with Pope Innocent III show him to be a nationalist, even a patriot of sorts. The rebellious barons who forced the Magna Carta upon the King may have had some valid arguments, but it can also be argued that John was doing the best he could. John compares favorably with some writers to his much more popular brother Richard the Lionheart.
King John is the reputed founder of St. Bartholomew's Hospital in Newbury where he is said to have instituted the annual fair. He frequently visited the town and his favourite hunting seat at Freemantle Park, not far away at Kingsclere (Hampshire). At
the time the whole district was apparently little more than a continuous woodland and, as such, appealed to the sporting instincts of the Norman and early Plantagenet Kings. The chief part of the southern portion of Berkshire was occupied by the great forest of Windsor, which extended in one direction into Buckinghamshire, and in another into Surrey as far as Chertsey, Cobham and even Guildford; and reached westward as far as Hungerford along the vale of the Kennet, which was deforested in 1226. King John was at Newbury in 1200, 1203, 1204, 1210, 1214, and 1215, the date of the grant of the fair, as shown by his itinerary’ and other confirmatory evidence.
John had at least eleven illegitimate children and may have had a third marriage to Isabella de Clare. Sidney Painter,
King John's historian, says of him: "..cruel, lecherous, and deceitful". It could be said the number of his illegitimate children proves the lecherous part. His concubines included Matilda Gifford ; Clemence Dauntsey, Agatha de Ferrers; Hawisa FitzWarin; Suzanne de Warrene [our direct ancestor] and Miss Plantagenet.
By his mistress Suzanne de WARENNE he had a son, Richard FITZ ROY (or de Warenne , also our direct ancestor) Baron of Chilham, Kent, who married Rose DE DOVER.
By Clemence Dauntsey he had a daughter Joan b. abt 1188 who married Llewelyn ap IORWERTH [Prince of North Wales].
By Matilda Gifford, a son Osbert Gifford (he received the lands in Oxfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Sussex.)
By Hawise FitzWarin, a son Oliver FITZ ROY who defended Wolvesey Castle for Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester.
A further seven Illegitimate children were borne to John of England, by an unknown mistress (or mistresses):
v. Isabel FITZ ROY married Richard FITZ IVES, Knt., Lord of Degembris (in Newlyn East), Cornwall.
vi. John FITZ ROY, evidently a clerk, supported by the custodians of the see of Lincoln in 1201. .
vii. Geoffrey FITZ ROY. In 1204 he received a loan by the pledge of William Longespée, Earl of Salisbury, and Peter de Stokes. In 1205 he led an expedition into Poitou and died the same year.
viii. HENRY FITZ ROY, Knt., He married Eve DE WHITCHURCH, widow of William de Champernoun and daughter and heiress of Reynold de Whitchurch, of Shrivenham and Winterbourne (in Chieveley), co. Berks. They had no issue.
ix. Eudes FITZ ROY of Canewdon, Essex. In 1240 he joined his half-brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall on a crusade to the
Holy Land. Eudes FITZ ROY died there shortly before 21 Jan. 1241/2.
x. Bartholomew FITZ ROY, Clerk, Papal Chaplain, member of the order of Friars Preachers.
xi. Maud FITZ ROY , A Nun, elected Abbess of Barking 5 Aug. 1247; died shortly before 6 Feb. 1252.
Married: 29 AUG 1189, Marlborough Castle, Wiltshire Divorce 1199 to Isabella de Clare of Gloucester, Countess of Gloucester. Secondly Married: 24 AUG 1200, Bordeaux to Taillefer, Isabella of Angoulême, Queen of England
Child 1: , Henry III, King of England, b. 1 OCT 1207
Child 2: , Richard of Cornwall, Earl of Cornwall, b. 5 JAN 1209
Child 3: , Joan, b. 22 JUL 1210
Child 4: , Isabella (Elizabeth), Empress of Germany, b. 1214
Child 5: , Eleanor, b. 1215
Married: to Ferrers, Agatha
Child 6: , Joan of England
Married: to de Warenne, Suzanne
Child 7: FitzJohn, Richard of Dover, Baron of Chilham
Married: to de Tracy, Hawise
Child 8: , Oliver
Child 9: Gifford, Osbert
Child 10: FitzRoy, Geoffrey
Child 11: Courcy, John FitzJohn, Knight or Clerk o lincoln
Child 12: FitzRoy, Odo (Eudo)
Child 13: , Ivo
Child 14: , Henry
Child 15: , Richard, Constable Wallingford Csl
Child 16: , Matilda, Abbess of Barking
Child 17: Blanche, Isabella la
Events
| Birth | 24 Dec 1167 | Beaumont Palace, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England | |||
| Death | 19 Oct 1216 | Newark-On-Trent, Newark, Nottinghamshire, England | |||
| Burial | Worcester Cathedral, Worcester, England |
Families
| Spouse | Adela de Warrene (1170 - 1240) |
| Child | Richard Plantagenet (1186 - 1246) |