King John – 1200-1202 – On top of the world but the seeds of his downfall have been sown!
A good life!
John before the avalanche of strife!
Fortune now afforded a time of solace in the life of John, the spectre of discord, military disaster and territorial losses could not have been further from his unbalanced mind as he reclined with the divine Isabella in the royal bedchamber. The prince who was expected to inherit very little and was dubbed ‘John Lackland’ now lacked for nothing. He had become the master of the entire Angevin empire just as his father, Henry II (dear papa) and his brother Richard had been. John’s totally unexpected good fortune had been crowned with a marriage to a very beautiful woman so life was now utterly sublime.
It is said that love conquers all and as a consequence, the flow of royal business came to a temporary halt.
The newly married royal couple now embarked on their honeymoon!
John so deeply enchanted that, whenever he saw Isabella he would positively swoon!
John clearly enjoyed his honeymoon with Isabella mark II in the late summer of 1200. Indeed so enamoured were they of each other’s company it is said that the King and Queen rarely rose from their bed before twelve in the day. John and Isabella, basking in this glow of early marital bliss, might be imagined to comment:
My goodness, Issy, just look at the time, a hearty morsel I could gladly munch!
Alas! Dearest Johnny, ’tis rather late to be served breakfast and indeed somewhat too early to take lunch!
No matter my dear Issy, we shall now prepare to partake of a convivial brunch!
However, there was to be no such agreeable dalliance with the continental magnates whom John had upset with his high-handed manner.
A fourteenth century painting depicting John in a relaxed frame of mind. This happy interlude was not to last.
John was angry with Hugh of Lusignan’s ‘sour grapes’ attitude, as he had been replaced as groom by John to Isabella, at quite literally the last minute. John instructed his subordinates to give Hugh as much grief as possible, whilst he himself remained in England. This was to lead to considerable unexpected and unforeseen long term unpleasantness. Hugh as a vassal of the French crown had a helpline, in the event of his being harassed. That point of aid was the right of appeal to the king, the Angevin nemesis, Philip ‘Disgusting’ Augustus. John might be the king of England, but Hugh complained about his behaviour not as a foreign monarch, but as Duke of Aquitaine to their joint overlord, King Philip.
In England, John as king, you have great power!
In France you must bend the knee to he who is represented by the fleur de lis flower!
Hugh was perfectly within his rights to complain about John as Duke of Aquitaine to the king of France, if he felt that he was being treated unjustly. Philip, as part of his regal responsibilities, was duty bound to investigate Hugh’s grievances. However, some might say that Philip, given his track record with the Angevin kings, might have been seen as a somewhat less than an impartial arbiter in any dispute involving this particular dynasty.
Philip Augustus, King of France.
King Philip summoned John to attend court in Paris on April 28th 1202 to answer for his poor treatment of Hugh of Lusignan in his capacity as Duke of Aquitaine (not as King of England). John declined the order, as he no doubt felt that as a king himself, it would be outrageous that he be placed in such an abject situation as ‘the accused’. John was beside himself with indignation.
‘Aw, you’re, you know, well, you’re just so disgusting, Augustus!’
You say that you are only enacting laws that are there to be simply used!
Accused? This is a case of an anointed king being diabolically abused!’
No king had ever been called before a court and John most certainly did not intend to be the first, so he duly ignored the royal summons to attend the hearing. It must be said that the idea of an sovereign king having to account for himself before a court was something that very much disturbed people at the time. But then again, the situation of one individual being anointed king of one country and vassal of the crown in another, was a recent development and a consequence of the Norman conquest of England.
At the appointed time for him to appear before the court the call was not:
‘Heere’s Johnny’
But rather:
‘Johnny’s no heere’!
My status is royal, and to this God bestowed birthright, I will remain loyal!
You! Yes you, ‘Disgusting’ Augustus are to me nothing but a repulsive gargoyle!
My goodness how you verily make my blood boil!
Your indecent machinations I fully and ultimately intend to foil!
Hugh was not the only vassal of Philip whom John had offended. In politics, one needs if not friends, but certainly allies in order to create alliances which are necessary for survival. John was swiftly running out of both. By refusing to attend court, John had given Philip‘Disgusting’ Augustus a god sent opportunity. The French King, quite reasonably, in a technical sense found John to be in contempt of court and therefore of the French crown. King Philip decided that as a punishment, that the territories held by John were to be forfeit. Philip declared that Normandy would be returned to the French crown whilst the other lands were to be transferred to John’s nephew, Arthur, Duke of Brittany, son of the late and unlamented Geoffrey.
This decision would have fatal consequences for both uncle and nephew.
Indeed the initial and subsequent actions of the two regal protagonists would result in a turning point in the course of European history.