King John I of England

[Holden Caulfield]

Does anybody know about King Johns hold on power and the way the system held him up, especially in comparision to Richard I.

Did the status quo prefer John because they thought he wouldn't cost them as much in taxes, or was his rule started by some sort of palace coup in the absence of Richard.

Bit of a learning question but best poster here I feel.
thanks :)

[Dimentio]

Richard had John appointed to hold the throne of England in his absence. He could rely on John's submission (he thought) due to the fact that John's possessions were abysmal and that John wasn't too intelligent or too much of a leader.

http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3d/Henry_II,_Plantagenet_Empire.png/250px-Henry_II,_Plantagenet_Empire.png

The Angevin realm of that time consisted both of the larger part of western France and England. It could not be seen as an English realm in itself, as the French possessions were officially fiefs of the king of France. So the king of England was a vassal of the king of France in France. Complicated?

The largest Angevin possession in France was Acquitaine, which was wealthier and had a larger population than England. John was as long as Richard was alive not the holder of Acquitaine.

Richard himself saw England as a part of his empire which was peripheral and quite unimportant. He joked that he planned to sell London to finance his crusade. He could not speak English, only Langue d'Oc. He is today buried in what's now western-central France.

John on the contrary was quite popular with the peasants and townspeople of England, but disliked by the French and English noblemen in his realm. He was also quite disliked by the monks, who partially are too blame for the less flattering depiction of him in history.