King John
Life and reign
Lost Normandy to Philip II of France, quarreled with the pope and his own barons, and in June 1215 was forced to seal Magna Carta at Runnymede, conceding that the king was bound by law. The charter became a foundation stone of constitutional government. He died during a civil war.
Related Monarchs and Houses
Alfred the Great
King of the West Saxons who halted the Viking advance at the battle of Edington in 878 and fortified a network of burhs across...
William the Conqueror
Duke of Normandy who won the throne of England at Hastings in October 1066. He built the Tower of London, ordered the Domesday...
Henry II
First Plantagenet king, ruler of an empire from Scotland to the Pyrenees. He reformed royal justice, extending circuits of...
Richard the Lionheart
Warrior king who spent barely six months of a ten year reign in England, financing and leading the Third Crusade. He won the...