King John Pros And Cons

LONDON – King John, a king known for his iniquitousness and high taxes, has finally given in to the Barons at their negotiation at Runnymede, near London, only a week ago on the 15th of June 1215 . The Barons forced the king to sign the revolutionary document of laws all people, including the King, have to follow called the Magna Carta because they were sick of the King’s rules and high taxes.

There has been a substantial lead up to the signing of the Magna Carta. King John was crowned King in 1199 , after the death of his older brother Richard, who spent all the money in the treasury during his crusades, giving John a hard time being King. King John is one of most loathed Kings of all time due to his many wrong acts. His controversial acts

as King included forcing Barons to pay ridiculously high taxes for wars he lost and putting them under lock and key if they refused to cough up the money. This made the Barons resent him as he was taking away both their power and freedom.
When interviewed, Baron Robert Fitzwalter was clear about his disgust regarding the King. “He is abusing his power and his demands are much too high. What is he doing with our money? King John is an evil and cruel person and he is the worst King England has ever had,” Robert commented.
King John also had a rocky relationship with the Pope as they had different opinions on who should the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Pope was angered enough to place England under Interdict which suspended all Christian services which put John in a bad light the people in 1208 . Also, he allegedly murdered his nephew, imprisoned his former wife and pulled on the beards of Irish leaders. On top of all this, he was losing nearly all the land that his brother had won.
In 1201-2, King Philip of France helped the lords of Lusignan start a rebellion against John and in 1204, King Philip of France conquered Normandy and drove the English out. King John started a colossal campaign and took large amounts of money from the Barons to try and reconquer Normandy but in 1214, only a year ago, after all of his preparation, England was severely defeated by the French at the Battle of Bouvines. At this time, the barons were already sick and tired of the King’s schemes and when he asked for more money for yet another campaign, they simply just refused. “We just said no, not anymore. King John has gone too far,” Baron Edward Williams stated.
The Barons established an army with French and Scottish support called “the Army of God” in May this year and on the 17th they seized London, as you all remember . Due to this, today King John met the rebelling Barons at Runnymede who presented him with a document called which has been named the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta contains 63 clauses which are promises that the King has to keep about what he could or couldn’t keep. The Barons have also created a council of 25 Barons that ensure King John follows its rules.
But why did King John sign this document taking away a large portion of his power? Well, it’s partially due to the fact that there was a very large group of Barons that had gathered at Runnymede and they were all in their armour and were armed. King John did not want to sign the Magna Carta but he had no other choice. When interviewed, King John said, “I hated this idea of a ridiculous series of rules that limit my power. Obviously I didn’t want to sign it but I had to. If I didn’t have the Barons on my side I wouldn’t have their knights either and I would have no one to protect England. I had to sign it.”
Baron Harry Clinton was overjoyed, “Finally the King will no longer be able to do as he pleases.

We as barons will have more power now and I am so happy that the King has signed the Magna Carta.”

But what is in the Magna Carta? Why is it so important? Well, the Magna Carta isn’t just a document of rules. The Magna Carta states that no person is above the law, including the King. This means that even the King has to obey the law and cannot do as he pleases.

However, the Magna Carta is not satisfying everyone’s needs. Mary, wife of Baron Willoughby was not happy about the Magna Carta. At an interview she answered, “This Magna Carta is all about men, he can do this, he can do that. The only times the Magna Carta includes us women is to restrict our rights. For example, clause 54 explains that when we report the death of our husbands nothing will be done! Clause 8 says we can only marry if we get the lord’s consent.”

Rupert, a free man, had this to say about the Magna Carta. “I rather like this idea of a Magna Carta. It states that free men cannot be seized or imprisoned and although many of the clauses only relate to the Barons there are some good clauses that will give us more freedom and more protection of our rights and

property.”
However, Robin, a peasant under the rule of Lord Williams of Winchester, wasn’t too happy about the Magna Carta. He argued, “The Barons never even considered our opinions and when they were creating the Magna Carta. We are still bound to our lords, and we still have to work for them without any pay. We can’t even go to the royal courts . This is unfair for us!”
While many people had many different opinions on the Magna Carta, it will definitely affect England and perhaps even the entire world greatly. Some say that the Magna Carta has opened up a new path of something called a “parliament”. A parliament is where a group of representatives make decisions together which is quite similar to the group of Barons checking over the Kings decisions. The Magna Carta has created the foundation for parliament and fairness for all people. In the future there might very well be a parliament and the Magna Carta would have been the building blocks of it. The Magna Carta itself might just be a document of rules but the legacy it will create will extend to much more than just that.