King John
John Lackland (also called 'Softsword' or 'Softsword') (December 24, 1166–October 19, 1216) was King of England from April 6, 1199, until his death in 1216. As the youngest surviving son of King Henry II, he was initially made Lord of Ireland from 1177, and attempted to assert his authority in the Lordship at the head of a military campaign from 1185. He was unsuccessful in his conquest, and returned to England in 1186, where he began a rebellion against his father and elder brothers, who were conspiring to control his inheritance. The civil war ended with Henry II's death, and John was recognized as heir by his brother and successor Richard I.
John accompanied his brother Richard on the Third Crusade, but their relationship had deteriorated by the time they returned from the Holy Land in 1194, and John spent much of the next few years conspiring against Richard with King Philip II of France.
John's Rule as King
On Richard's death, John attempted to usurp the English throne, but faced considerable opposition from Richard's supporters. In order to secure his position, he quickly reconciled himself to the Angevin barons and made an alliance with William the Lion of Scotland. With the support of his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine, he was crowned king at Westminster Abbey on May 27, 1199. John made a peace settlement with the French king in 1200; however, his failure to regain the continental Angevin territories that Richard had lost continued to cause widespread resentment in England.
King John's most significant achievement was his victory over King William I of Scotland at the Battle of the Standard in 1199 when a group of northern English barons led by Archbishop John of York defeated the Scottish army, thereby securing the English border. Despite this success, John's personal unpopularity and increasing conflict with his barons eventually culminated in the sealing of the Magna Carta on June 15, 1215.
John's reign also witnessed a growth of the royal administration, with the emergence of the Curia Regis, and the increasing use of royal justices to administer law and justice throughout England.
King John died on October 19, 1216, at Newark Castle in eastern England, and was succeeded by his nine-year-old son Henry III.