King John – Bad King?

Lesson Objectives To understand what made a ‘good’ medieval king. To decide whether or not King John deserves to be known as a bad king.

1. To understand what made a ‘good’ medieval king What made a good King? Rich – but not greedy A good soldier Fit and strong Religious Brave Inspiring Clever Hardworking Firm – but fair

Your enquiry Medieval kings could get into serious trouble if they did not have the qualities of a good king! In the thirteenth century some barons forced an unpopular king to give up some power …and it was only the beginning!! In this enquiry, you will find out how the richest people in the country began to challenge the king.

King John managed to upset everyone! The first king to give up some of his power was John. He is famous as Prince John in make believe stories of Robin Hood. In the stories he is a wicked and stupid prince who taxes the people of England unfairly. Some historians say John was just as stupid in real life. Others say he was simply unlucky! John ruled England from 1199 to 1216. He faced the following problems:

Problem Number 1 He quarrelled with the Pope about how to run the Church. From 1208 until 1213, the Pope banned all church services in England and English people feared that they would all go to HELL! Some Church leaders blamed John for the trouble.

Problem Number 2 John went to war twice against the French king. His army was badly beaten both times. He lost a lot of land.

Problem Number 3 John raised taxes in England to pay for the wars. This upset his BARONS! He ordered them to pay far more tax than earlier kings had done!

2. To decide whether or not John deserves to be known as a bad king. Activity 1 Sort the cards into two groups; Group 1 will be all the cards that suggest John was a GOOD king. Group 2 will be all the cards that suggest John was a BAD king. Once you have sorted the cards into two groups write down (in your books) whether you think John was a good or bad king. Explain your answer.