Speak to King John

It is because I argued with the church about who should be the Archbishop of Canterbury. I wanted John de Grey, Bishop of Norwich, whom I could trust but the monks at Canterbury Cathedral wanted Reginald, one or their own men. In the end the Pope himself stepped in and appointed Stephen Langton as Archbishop. I stood my ground for a while but the Pope closed all the churches in England for 8 years so there could be no services, not even baptisms or funerals. He even excommunicated me (threw me out of the Church) and said my subjects did not have to obey me. In the end I made peace with the Pope in 1214 and paid compensation but I still think some churchmen want to make life difficult for me.

These unruly barons are complaining that I have made them pay more taxes and have acted unfairly by locking them up or confiscating their land if they objected. But these are fair taxes to help England out of its present problems. My brother, Richard the Lionheart, taxed them as well, but nobody seemed to mind because he went on Crusade to fight Saladin, the Great Sultan of Egypt. But my brother left England with massive debts and a war in France. It’s now fallen on me, as king of England, to carry on fighting and reconquer my lands in France. So yes, I’ve been making sure the barons pay their taxes, and yes I’ve punished them when they try to avoid paying their dues. The real reason the barons despise me is because I am efficient like my father Henry II. He made them pay to inherit their lands just as I do, yet men like William FitzAlan complain when I do the same. The rebellion is the work of greedy men who want to do as they please and pay as little tax as possible.

I don’t claim to be perfect but they call me tyrant because I sometimes lose my temper. I cannot hide the fact that I had a major defeat against the French at Bouvines in July 1214, but look at that Robert Fitzwalter, he and his friends have been pledging their loyalty to the French! But look at all the money I have given to the poor to relieve their suffering. Go to the court houses and you will find that the ordinary people think my system of justice is fair. Barons complain because my courts often stop them robbing their own tenants. They hate that I also appoint men of ability to important jobs, instead of men who come from the right family. And most of all they hate that I spend my time in England unlike my brother Richard who was never here. I think I am a good monarch, hard but fair, and because I stand up for myself my name gets blackened. What chance do I have when the church writes all the history books? If I get on the wrong side of the churchmen my reputation gets dragged through the mud. But read the Chronicle of the Mayor of London and you will find out who the real traitors to England are.