The title of this post is self-explanatory. And here's why John (reigned from 1199-1216) was so unpopular:
- Under his reign, the English lost the land of Normandy to the French (Normandy had been under English control since the time of William the Conqueror). In fact, he was nicknamed "Lackland" because of this.
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| King John, why do you think there was only one King John? |
- He was excommunicated from the Church by the Pope in 1209 (this made him even more unpopular)
- His fiscal policies: He made people pay very high taxes
- John was a very bad fighter (he was nicknamed "Softsword" too!), and in those times, a bad warrior made a bad king.
- John murdered his own nephew for fear of him leading a rebellion against John.
- The barons (who were Normans) revolted against him because of the above reasons, and after deciding that he was a bad king (especially after realizing how he spent tax money).
- Perhaps the most significant of all his failures (and the most humourous), he lost the original Crown Jewels in a swamp, in Eastern England.
But, if there's something he did do usefully, he did make positive reforms in the English system of Law as well as signing the Magna Carta (even though he was forced to!), a precursor to the present-day British Constitution.
