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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TheRed, post: 2888116, member: 87080&quot;]&quot;Foul as it is, hell itself is made fouler by the presence of King John.&quot; - Matthew of Paris c.1230</p><p><br /></p><p>So was the judgment of John as written by Matthew of Paris, an English Benedictine monk and chronicler, artist, and cartographer, who wrote in the mid-13th century.&nbsp; Even today, 801 years after his death, John Lackland is thought of as a cruel and greedy tyrant.&nbsp; Many historians have argued that he is the &quot;worst&quot; king in English history. </p><p><br /></p><p>When Richard died in 1199 of a gangrenous wound inflicted by a crossbow, John was crowned king of England. In a roughly five year period John lost Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Brittany, and Poitou, thus bringing an end to the Angevin empire of his father.&nbsp; During these wars he would have his nephew, Arthur Duke of Brittany, murdered.&nbsp; He would also spend vast sums of money trying to regain the lost territories, and to acquire those sums he bled England white.&nbsp; He sold royal appointments, charters, and plans for new towns and instituted a feudal military service tax eleven times in seventeen years. The Jewish community of England was also heavily taxed, as were inheritances.&nbsp; Income and moveable goods were taxed starting in 1207 while fines, court fees, and confiscations were also increased.&nbsp; Noble widows wishing to remain single had to pay a fee.&nbsp; It has been claimed that as much as 1/3 of the coinage in England resided in the royal coffer. </p><p><br /></p><p>Such policies, coupled with continued military failures in France, lead to a period of severe deflation, general economic hardship, and eventually an open defiance of the king and revolt by northern barons in 1215.&nbsp; The rebel barons marched on London in the spring of that year, and eventually met with John near London in June.&nbsp; At Runnymede John and the barons, in an attempt to come to a peace agreement, created a charter, later known as the Magna Carta, which outlined the rights of free men.&nbsp; These rights included swift justice, taxation only with consent, and protection from illegal imprisonment.&nbsp; Despite agreeing to the charter, John would appeal to Pope Innocent III who in turn excommunicated the rebel barons and declared the charter illegal.&nbsp; The result was the First Baron&#039;s War, which lasted the rest of John&#039;s reign and saw his fortunes rise and fall repeatedly.&nbsp; Prince Louis of France even invaded upon invitation of the barons and was declared king of England at St. Paul&#039;s Cathedral. John died in 1216 and his son, Henry III, would include the Magana Carta in the treaty that ended the war in 1217.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]693538[/ATTACH] </p><p><b>John I</b> AR Short Cross Penny 1205 AD Canterbury mint; Arnaud moneyer; struck in the name of Henry II.</p><p>18mm 1.51g</p><p>Obv: Crowned head facing; scepter to left; HENRICVSR EX</p><p>Rev: Voided short cross; quatrefoil in each angle; +ARNAVD*ON*CANT</p><p>SCBC 1351; North 970</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Feel free to post any medieval coins or coins of rulers with abysmal reputations.</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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