John to Henry IV
A quick overview of the Kings of England from John in 1199 to Henry IV in 1399.
King John 1199-1216 to King Henry IV 1399-1413
A quick overview of the Kings of England from John in 1199 to Henry IV in 1399.
King John 1199-1216 to King Henry IV 1399-1413
This post is number 4 in the series Kings and Queens of England
Below is a brief overview of the Kings of England from John, whose disgruntled barons forced him to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, to Henry IV, who pushed his cousin Richard II off the throne.
IN 1215, John’s barons rose up against his high-handed rule, forcing him to sign ‘Magna Carta’, the great charter of liberties. He died a year later, leaving the crown, and the rebellious barons, to his nine-year-old son, Henry III. Henry was forced by Simon de Montfort to establish the first English Parliament, a tradition willingly carried on by his son Edward I.
Edward conquered Wales in 1284, but he was frustrated in Scotland by William Wallace and by Robert the Bruce, who inflicted a humiliating defeat on Edward’s son, Edward II, at Bannockburn in 1314. Worse was to come, however: his own wife deposed him in favour of their son, Edward III.
Edward’s claim to the French throne triggered the Hundred Years’ War, and its spiralling cost, combined with the Black Death, left his grandson Richard II (whose father had died young) facing the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381. Increasingly weak and unpopular, Richard was later deposed by his cousin, Henry IV.
Next in series: Henry IV to Henry VI