King John & the Barons

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Events from 1199 - 1207

  • Support for John from the baronage (at the beginning of his reign) was secured by Hubert Walter and William Marshall - but he wasn't well percieved as he already had a reputation among the English & French baronage before being king.
  • Some barons proved their loyalty to John during the wars againt Philip from 1202-04: Robert de Lacy defended Chateau-Gaillard until it fell in1204 and Hugh de Burgh held Chinon & Touraine for John until 1205.
  • William of Ely served as treasurer and Geoffrey FitzPeter served as chief justiciar - both were loyal and competent administrators.
  • Some barons proved their lack of loyalty; Robert FitzWalter and Saer de Quincy surrendered Vaudreuil to Philip in July 1203 and even William Marshall betrayed John's trust by paying homage to Philip in 1205.
  • By 1205 John was struggling but he campaigned in 1206 which shows he still had some baronial support.
  • 1207 - John decided to deal with the barons who were getting more powerful in the border territories, so he removed Marshall and William de Braose from their positions on the borderlands and replaced them with trusted mercenary captains like Gerard d'Athee.
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The de Braose Affair, 1207-1211

  • William de Braose was a favourite until 1207. He had territory in Wales, where John needed to assert his authority.
  • William's wife refused to hand over her son as hostage to John and suggested (in public) that John had killed Arthur.
  • John hunted de Braose after this, stating it was because he owed John money from his estates.
  • John seized his English estates (Sussex & Devon) and sent a force to Wales to take his domains there.
  • William then fled to Ireland where John hunted him, so he fled back to Wales again.
  • He eventually had to escape to France in 1210 and he died there in 1211.
  • Those who had helped William were punished (e.g. Llywelyn of Wales had been allied with him).
  • But William's wife and son (Matilda and William) were captured and supposedly murdered by John; Matilda starved to death (after being held in Windsor and Corfe castle) in 1210. William's 4 other sons were also imprisoned.
  • John's proclamation against de Braose explaining his actions was witnessed by 5 earls and 7 barons - 6 of them became rebel leaders in 1215.
  • By 1211 John was in a powerful position in England. He increased the cost of feudal incidents and also raised scutage 11 times in 16 years (Henry II raised it 8 times in 34 years, Richard 3 times in 10 years). Baron's indebtedness increased by 380% from 1199 - 1208.
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Main Causes of the 1215 Rebellion

  • John's determination to regain continental lands - John had lost most Angevin lands in France and couldn't generate enough support from the barons to regain them the first time, so he tried again, invaded Normandy, and ultimately failed. Barons lost faith in John while he was angry at them for not supporting - pushed into rebelliom.
  • Financial demands - John raised scutage 11 times, introduced new income tax on rents and chattles, increased inheritance tax from £100's to £1000's and after Bouvines raised scutage to 3 marks per knights fee.
  • Peter des Roches - chief justiciar from Touraine - resented and distrusted because he was French. He angered and united the northern barons by demanding that scutage be paid by those who hadn'y joined the 1214 campaign.
  • Legislation of the baronage - increasing use of law & order and education in the legal system led to law and admin being seen as a right - but John didn't see this development and continued to raise money outside his legal authority.
  • Ambitious aims of the rebel barons - they wanted to restore the coronation charter of Henry I and managed to capture London, whicb left John no choice but to agree to Magna Carta. They were also supported by Louis of France.
  • Angevin despotism - Henry was too powerful, Richard was a crusader king, but John was an easier target.
  • King in England - barons were used to absentee kings; John couldn't escape blame as he was in England.
  • John's treatment of subjects - John went after his barons wives, daughters, etc. which made him unpopular but he also captured and starved some of his subjects (e.g. Geoffrey of Norwich) - only 5 barons didn't fall out with him.
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Magna Carta, June 15th 1215

  • Key barons: Eustace de Vesci, John de Lacy, William de Mowbry, Saer de Quincy, William de Forz. In the Western shires there were 10 rebels, in Essex & East Anglia were the 12 most powerful barons (e.g. Robert FitzWalter).
  • Feudal dues/concerns - inheritance (no fees if a ward is underage), widows (no forced marriage), powers f=of the crown (cannot keep land of felons for +year) and forests (to be disafforested).
  • Church - granted freedom through free elections.
  • Finance - scutage and aid to be raised only with notice and consent.
  • Law & Order - law suits to be held in a fixed place, fines to be fair, no sheriffs to hear royal justice.
  • Towns & Trade - London to have free trade and all merchants to enter/leave England without fear.
  • Principles/power - clause 63: Church to be free, all men shall keep these rights and liberties, and barons are sworn to ensure this observed in good faith.
  • Military - no additional demands on knights service, no fees if the person is willing to perform the duty.
  • Civil War Offences - all hostages to be returned and all foreign servicemen to be expelled.
  • Borders - hostages returned to Llywelyn, Alexander to be treat as a baron.
  • Security of the charter - clause 61 - the barons shall elect 25 of their number to keep and observe the peace and liberties granted by the charter, and control the king and other barons if necessary.
  • Because the barons had taken London, John had no choice but to agree to Magna Carta.
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The Baron's War 1215-1216 (1)

  • Problems with Communication
  • 29th May 1215 - John wrote to Innocent III about the barons renouncing their allegiance to him and taking London.
  • 7th July 1215 - Pope finally got the first letter and, unaware of Magna Carta, responded to John by issuing a papal bull ordering the excommunication of all disturbers of the king and the kingdom. Langton (who was neutral before) now had to act agains the barons.
  • August 1215 - Langton applied a general excommunication at a conference at Staines but failed to name the specific people in an effort to remain neutral. Innocent expected this to gave the papal bull to Peter des Roches to carry out.
  • September 1215 - greater specifics were laid out for excommunication of the baron leaders, London was put under interdict and clerical associates of the barons were sentenced (e.g. Giles, Bishop of Hereford).
  • Langton was suspended in September by des Roches, and the Pope upheld this decision in November.
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The Baron's War 1215-1216 (2)

  • The Move to War
  • 22nd June 1215 - John wrote to Innocent about Magna Carta and asked to be released fro his oath to uphold it.
  • 16th July 1215 - Oxford Meeting - John had begun sending out copies of the charter, as instructed, and had replaced Peter des Roches with Hubert de Burgh as chief justiciar, but the charter hadn't gotten to all the shires yet and the barons argued the oath to 25 hadn't been made by all yet - so they refused to hand over London or give assurances of their fealty. The Tower would be held by Langton and London by the barons in the name of the king.
  • John then began a tour of his royal castles ensuring they were well-garrisoned and led by loyal men.
  • 24th August 1215 - the Pope's response to John's letter arrived; he denounced Magna Carta as dishonourable, shameful, injurious and damaging to the projected crusade. It was declared 'null and void of all validity forever'.
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The Baron's War 1215-1216 (3)

  • Rochester Castle
  • Rochester was a key strategic point for supplies and was held by Langton, who agreed to hand it over to a loyal nominee of John when he showed willingness to make peace with the barons. John argued he'd done this by agreeing to Magna Carta and demanded that Langton hand over the castle in August 1215 to des Roches - but he refused.
  • September - Langton was out of the country so Reginald of Cornhill handed the castle to the council of 25.
  • October - John occupied the city with a much larger force and besieged the castle, which held out for 5 weeks and eventually surrendered on November 30th. 
  • Whilst this was happening, the council of 25 took the opportunity to offer Louis of France the crown of England. He accpeted, but couldn't go to England because there were papal legates in France so he instead sent knights to aid the barons. He was encourgae by his father, Philip.
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The Baron's War 1215-1216 (4)

  • EVENTS FROM 1216 (1)
  • In early 1216 John moved to chase barons in the north, but they fled to Scotland so John captured Berwick and destroyed it completely, to punish Alexander II for supporting the rebels. (Alex had become king in 1214 and the barons recognised his right to Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmoreland. Northumbria and Yorkshire rebels paid him homage in 1215 and 1216).
  • John then moved to East Anglia and captured Colchester. Defeated rebels had to renounce Magna Carta.
  • BUT Robert FitzWalter and Saer de Quincy then went to France to renew their offer of the crown to Louis - at the Council of Melun (April) Philip gave his permission for Louis to intervene, despite papal pressure. Louis claimed he had a right to the throne by his marriage to John's niece, Blanche of Castile.
  • John spent most of his funds acting against the barons but since administration had broken down there was no way for him to raise money. His increased use of mercenaries only made the barons resent him further.
  • May 1216 - a freak storm in the English Channel wrecked and dispersed the royal fleet, so on the 22nd Louis landed unopposed at Sandwich with a force of 1200 knights, forcing John to fall back to Winchester.
  • June 1216 - Louis entered London, and the barons led the citizens of the city to pay Louis homage. Louis then left London to pursue John. After this, those who had surrendered to John returned to the rebels, and Alexander II crossed the border with an army. Louis laid seige to Winchester and after 10 days John gave permission to surrender it. He lost allies as the earls of York, Arundel, Surrey and Salisbury (John's brother) defected.
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The Baron's War 1215-1216 (5)

  • EVENTS FROM 1216 (2)
  • Some castles were still held for John; Windsor, Barnard, Durham and Dover (which Louis failed to besiege from July - October). Small areas of local resistance also rose up in support of John.
  • Relations between the English barons and the French deteriorated; barons realised they'd lose more land if the French kept coming over. They also lost key leaders as Eustace de Vesci was killed at Barnard and Geoffrey de Mandeville in a joust. The earls of Salisbury and York returned to John and William Marshall reconciled with his son.
  • July/August John moved around the Welsh Marches to rally support, and by late August was back at Corfe Castle, after which he set off to retrieve the Midlands and capture Alexander II at Cambridge (but just missed him).
  • September he went to reinforce Lincoln (held by Nicola de la Hay) and in October settled at Lynn where a great feast was held (and he contracted dysentry). 
  • From the 12th - 18th of October John travelled to Swineshead Abbey in Lincolnshire (lost his baggage train), to Sleaford Castle and then to Newark, where he died on 18th/19th October aged 48. Even up until this point he was recieving letters from barons demanding peace negotiations.
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