With the Television series Robin Hood thrilling viewers on Saturday night television, we decided that today’s blog would look at a name that is associated with this legendary English outlaw - King John.
King John (1167-1216), the fourth and youngest son of Henry 11, was the archetypal wicked king, whose record of rebellion and intrigue against his brother, Richard 1st, led contemporary historian William of Newburgh (1135-1198), to denounce him as “nature’s enemy”.
Nicknamed “lackland” on account of the fact that his brothers were given generous estates by their father, while he received none, he went on to earn the sobriquet by losing Normandy and Anjou. His bullying manner and excessive taxation provoked the powerful English barons to rebel against him, and on Monday 15th June 1215; he was forced to seal Magna Carta, the Great Charter, on the island of Runnymede.
Later hailed as the fundamental declaration of English liberties, it was at the time, little more than a criticism of his style of government and, as such, he had no intention of adhering to its terms. His reign ended with England wracked by civil war and many of his former subjects swearing allegiance to Louis of France.
But one place that he had a great reverence for was Worcester and, as he lay on his deathbed, he made a codicil to his will ordering that he was to be buried in the cathedral there. He directed that his body be laid to rest between the tombs of Worcester’s two saints, St Oswald and St Wulfstan - the latter of which had been a personal friend of his- and, although the bones of these two holy men have long since been dispersed, the tomb of “evil” King John can still be viewed immediately in front of the altar. The marble top of his tomb is actually the lid of his original coffin, and is said to be the oldest royal effigy in the country.
The tomb itself has been opened several times and in so doing has shed a little light upon an ancient legend concerning the Kings final days. It is said that, as death approached, John realised that, thanks to his wicked ways, the chances of his attaining heaven were, to say the least, limited. So he left orders that when he was laid in his grave he was to be dressed in the garb of a monk and, thus attired, he hoped to hoodwink his way into Paradise. When the tomb was opened in 1797, it is said that the rotted remnants of an ancient cowl were, indeed, found wrapped around his skull!
Obviously Worcester Cathedral is not featured on our London walks, but the story of King John and the Sealing of Magna Carta is an important part of our Political and Legal London walks. So it is, perhaps, worth knowing a little bit about the King who, must have been a bad ‘un because, as you will see over and over again when actors depict him in films, he had appalling table manners!
Tags: History of London, King John, Magna Carta, My walks of London
