SOHN, surnamed LACRLAND, king of England, and the youngest of the five sons of Henry IL by his wife, Eleanor of Guienne, was b. at Oxford, Dec. 24. 1166. His father having obtained a bull from the pope authorizing him to invest one of his sons with the lordship of Ireland, John was appointed in a council held at Oxford in 1178, and in Mar.. 1185, he went over to take the reins of goverr -neat, but governed sp badly that lie wag recalled in the following December. John latterly united with his brothers in their rebellious against their father, and it was the sudden communication of the news of his having joined his brother Richard's rebellion that caused the death of Henry.
When Richard I succeeded to the crown, he conferred upon his young brother earl doms which amounted to nearly one-third of the kingdom. This did not, however, prevent John endeavoring to seize the crown during Richard's captivity in Austria. John was, however, pardoned, and treated with great clemency, and is said to have been nominated his successor by his brother on his death-bed. John hastened, at his brother's death, to obtain the support of the continental barons, and then started for England, and was crowned at Westminster, May 26, 1199. Arthur, the son of his elder brother Geoffrey, was lineally the rightful heir to the crown, but at this time the law of primo geniture was but imperfectly established. The claims of•Arthur were supported by Anjou and the king of France, but John bought off the latter influence. John now obtained it divorce from his first wife, Hadwisa of Gloucester. and married Isabella of In the war which ensued Arthur, who was again assisted by France. was taken prisoner, anti confined in the castle of Rouen, where there is every reason to believe that he was privately put to death; but the English monarch lost Normandy, Tonraine, Maine, and Anjou.
John now quarreled with the pope, and the kingdom was placed under an interdict; whila John. in return, confiscated the property of the clergy who obeyed the interdict, and banished the bishops. Otherwise. too, he displayed considerable activity. He compelled William, king of Scotland, who had joined his enemies, to do hint homage (1209), pot down rebellion in Ireland (1210), and subdued Llewellyn, the independent prince, of Wales (1212). The pope now, in 1213, solemnly deposed John, and absolved his subjects from their allegiance, and commissioned Philippe Auguste to execute his sentence. John, denounced by the church, and hated for his cruelty and tyranny by his subjects, found his position untenable, and was compelled to make abject submission -to Rome, and hold his kingdom as a lief of the papacy. Philippe proceeded with his invasion scheme, though no longer approved by Rome: but the French fleet was totally defeated in the harbor of Damme, 300 of their vessels being captured, and above 100 destroyed. Subsequent events, however, proved more favorable to France, and at length the English barons saw the opportunity to end the tyranny of John: they drew up a petition, which was rejected by the king, and this was the signal f it war. The army of the barons assembled at Stamford, ieal marched to London; they met the king at Runnymede, and on June 15,1215, was signed the great charter (Magna Charta), the basis of the English constitution. The pope soon after annulled the charter, and the war broke out again. The barons now called over the dauphin of France to be their leader, and Louis landed at Sandwich, May 80,1216. In attempting to cross the Wash John lest his regalia and treasures; was taken ill, and died at 1Vewark castle, Oct. 19,1210, in the 49th year of his age.