Hello.

Welcome to history here at Oak National Academy.

I'm Mr. Newton, and thank you very much for joining me today.

I'm basically here to simplify any tricky concepts we may encounter.

Right, let's get started.

Over the next few lessons, we will be thinking about our big inquiry question: "Magna Carta: how did Magna Carta survive?" Magna Carta, or the Great Charter, is considered to be a very important document in English and world history.

It emerges out of a crisis during the reign of King John, but this is not the end of the story.

Magna Carta starts a process which many consider to be the birth of freedom; a process that will change the power of the monarchy forever.

However, the result was not guaranteed.

The story of how Magna Carta survives can tell us something about how effective reform or effective change happens.

But we will start at the beginning, where a crisis which many blame on King John resulted in the emergence of this important document, Magna Carta.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to explain why many consider John to be the model of a bad king.

Before we begin, there are a few key words we need to understand.

A crusade is a military mission against a group considered by the Pope to be an enemy of the church.

Tax is a compulsory payment to the government to cover various costs.

Scutage was a tax paid by the barons when they were unable to send enough knights to fight for the king.

Tallage was a tax paid by Norman and Angevin kings on their lands and towns.

And ancestral means relating to members of your family from the past.

Today's lesson is split into two parts.

We will look at the king before John, who was his brother Richard; then we will look at King John himself, the model of a bad king.

So, let's start with the end of King Richard's reign.

John's father, Henry II, was a powerful king.

The image on the left is an effigy of Henry II.

This is a sculpture from his tomb where he's buried.

Henry II had done a lot to restore law and order after a very chaotic period known as the anarchy.

He ruled over the Angevin empire, which stretched across England and France.

Henry had also brought his barrens under control; these are the important landholders who had taken the chaos as an opportunity to to steal lands.

Henry's wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine; and their two surviving sons, Richard and John, had fought Henry for more power and control of Henry's empire.

But it was Richard and not John who was the eldest and more powerful brother.

After the death of Henry, Richard became king in 1189.

He was known as Richard the Lionheart.

He had a reputation as a fearsome soldier and Christian crusader.

John, however, had developed a reputation for untrustworthiness and greed.

While Richard was on crusade, John and the King of France, Philip II, plotted to take control of Richard's lands.

If we have a look at the image on the left, this is a manuscript of Richard I in battle while he was on crusade.

John had long been known as Lackland because, being the youngest son, he did not inherit any important land from his father.

With Richard abroad, he had seen an opportunity to take some for himself.

Hearing the news, Richard marched home but, in 1192, was captured in Austria.

John tried to persuade the captor to keep Richard prisoner.

Eventually, Richard was released and forgave his brother.

However, John had shown that he could not be trusted.

While John had shown he could not be trusted, Richard had proved to be a popular king of England.

If you look at the image on the left, Richard has the honour of having a statue outside the Houses of Parliament.

Richard spent the rest of his reign trying to keep control of his vast empire in France.

During a French attack, he was wounded by a crossbow and died.

Despite using taxes to fund his foreign wars, and only ever spending six months in England, Richard had proved to be a popular king of England.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

True or false: Richard had developed a reputation for untrustworthiness and greed.

Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew it was false.

But why was it false? Was it because, A: John, not Richard, had developed a reputation for untrustworthiness and greed; or B: Richard had developed a reputation for being a coward? Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew it was, A: John, not Richard, had developed a reputation for untrustworthiness and greed.

Okay, let's move on to task A.

What I want you to do here is list two examples of John behaving in an untrustworthy and greedy way.

Pause the video and have a go at the task.

Okay, welcome back, and well done for having a go at that task.

Now, there are many ways we could have answered that question and many examples we could have used.

But have a look at the examples I have here.

While John's brother, Richard, was on crusade, John and the King of France, Philip II, plotted to take control of Richard's lands.

And the second example I have here is, after Richard was captured in Austria, John tried to persuade the captor to keep Richard prisoner.

So, we have seen how John's brother, Richard, was shown to be a good king, whilst the signs for John's kingship were not very promising.

So, let's move on to the second part of the lesson: "King John the model of a bad king." King John: the model of a bad king.

Now, John was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey in 1199.

Many consider him to be the model of what a bad king is.

If you know about the bad king in the Robin Hood stories, then that was John.

He was obsessed with fussing over royal documents, trying to find ways to raise taxes.

He was considered to be a paranoid man.

He was capable of disloyalty, and therefore he expected everyone else to be disloyal too.

It seemed He did not trust his people, and his people certainly distrusted him.

This weakness meant he could not command allegiance across his lands, especially in France.

Here's a map of the Angevin Empire that King John ruled over.

It's coloured red on the map.

We can see King John's empire stretched across England and parts of modern-day France.

Shortly after Richard's death in 1199, the King of France, Philip II, invaded the Duchy of Normandy.

This was part of John's Angevin empire, and you can see it here in the green box on the map.

The King of France persuaded the barons of Anjou, and I've added another box on the map there so you can see where Anjou is.

So, the King of France persuaded the barons of Anjou to declare their support for John's nephew, Arthur of Brittany.

And another box has appeared there on the map.

Arthur of Brittany would soon become a serious challenge to John's power.

Therefore, the map shows that John was facing serious challenges in the French part of his empire.

In order to defeat Philip, John needed to raise more money.

He resorted to taxation.

This is important because it is this which caused anger amongst the English barons.

And John resorted to lots of taxes.

Two taxes were particularly unpopular: scutage and tallage.

Scutage was a tax which was paid to the king when barons were not able to send enough knights from their land to fight in the war.

And tallage was a tax which was charged on towns and lands.

The problem with these taxes was that the amount which the king could charge was not fixed.

If the king felt he needed more money to fight, he was able to charge more money.

The result was that John raised heavy taxes, and this made him very unpopular.

Okay, let's have another check for understanding here.

Which two unpopular taxes caused anger amongst English barrens? Select two correct answers.

Is it, A: community tax; B: the poll tax; C scutage; D: tallage? Pause the video, select your two correct answers, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

And yes, well done if you knew scutage and tallage.

Okay, let's continue the story.

King John failed to stop Philip and agreed to accept him as the overlord of John's lands in France.

Look at the image.

It shows the ceremony in which King John publicly submitted to the King of France, Philip II.

Philip is on the left, wearing blue, and we can see King John in the middle, placing his hands within Philip's hands.

This symbolised John submitting and putting himself at the hands of his overlord, King Philip.

John was forced to give up some of his French lands to the French king, Philip II, and Philip gave a promise of peace.

Look at the map.

The crosses show where the French lands are that John gave up.

Many barons held land there and had paid expensive taxes for John to raise his army.

The barons were angry, and they began to call him Softsword, for it seemed that he would do anything to avoid battle.

Okay, let's have another check for understanding.

Why was King John known as Softsword? Was it, A: because he was famous for his swordsmanship; B: because he was known for his soft and gentle rule; C: because he was quick to engage in battles; or D: because he would do anything to avoid battles? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back, and well done if you knew it was D: because he would do anything to avoid battles.

To make things worse, John was rumoured to have murdered his nephew, Arthur.

What had happened was that Philip did not keep his promise of peace and continued to organise attacks on Normandy.

And in 1202, Arthur of Brittany, John's nephew, attacked Anjou and nearly captured the elderly Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was John's mother.

This gave John the chance to snatch a rare victory.

He and his soldiers surprised Arthur and took him prisoner.

However, rumours soon spread that John had murdered Arthur, perhaps in a drunken rage, and many in Normandy and Anjou were shocked at this brutal treatment of his own nephew.

Okay, let's have another check for understanding.

Who is King John rumoured to have murdered? Was it, A: his brother; B: his mother; or C: his nephew? Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, welcome back.

And yes, well done if you knew it was C: his nephew.

By 1204, John had fled to England and lost a third of his lands.

This included his family's ancestral homelands of Normandy, Brittany, and Anjou.

John had lost an empire which could be traced back to William the Conqueror.

John tried to take Normandy back in 1214.

This painting shows the Battle of Bouvines in 1214.

You can see John on the right, and the French king is on the left in battle.

The second painting is also from the battle of Bouvines, and you can see this was an overwhelming French victory.

In the image, you can see the brutality of this war with the casualties, the dead soldiers on the ground.

This ended John's hopes of reuniting his father's lads.

Okay, here's another question.

True or false: by 1204, King John had lost a third of his lands? Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew that was true.

Let's delve a little deeper.

I want you to justify your answer.

I want you to select either A or B.

Is it, A: including his family's ancestral homelands of England, Wales, and Aquitaine; or B: including his family's ancestral homelands of Normandy, Brittany and Anjou.

Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew the answer was B.

Okay, let's move on to part one of task B.

And you can see here, in the middle we have John.

And the question we are looking at is: Why was John the model of a bad king? I want you to use the words below, and here are the words, to complete the boxes underneath.

So, the first box is "untrustworthy and" blank.

The second box here is "plotted to take his brother" blank's "land." The third box, "raised heavy" blank.

The next box is "known as" blank "because he avoided battles." "May have murdered his nephew" blank.

And "Lost a third of his" blank.

So, use those words below to complete the boxes underneath.

Pause the video and have a go at the task.

Okay, welcome back, and well done if you knew those answers.

So, let's have a look at some of those reasons for why John was considered to be the model of a bad king.

So, firstly, he was untrustworthy and greedy; plotted to take his brother Richard's lands.

He raised heavy taxes.

He was known as Softsword because he avoided battles, may have murdered his nephew, Arthur, and lost a third of his lands.

Okay, let's move on to the second and third part of task B.

I want you to apply all of your knowledge from the lesson to this task.

Explain in the paragraph why many consider John to be the model of a bad king.

In your answer, include as many of the following words as you can: tax, scutage, tallage, and ancestral.

Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, welcome back.

Now, you could have answered this in many ways, so compare your answer with what I have here.

"John is often considered to be the model of a bad king because he succeeded the throne after his brother, Richard the Lionheart, who was a popular crusading king.

This contrasted with John, who was unpopular and had a reputation for being untrustworthy.

As king, he raised heavy taxes, such as scutage and tallage, to fight wars he often lost.

By 1204, John had lost a third of his lands, including his family's ancestral homeland of Normandy.

All of this angered the English barons, leading many to consider John to be the model of a bad king." Okay, let's summarise the lesson "King John and the causes of Magna Carter." Many consider John to be the model of a bad king with a reputation for untrustworthiness and greed.

King John raised unpopular taxes, which caused anger amongst the English barons.

King John had a reputation for avoiding battle and was known as Softsword.

King John was said to have killed his nephew.

King John lost a third of his lands, including his family's ancestral homelands.

Well done on a brilliant lesson.

Thank you for joining me for this story of King John, the king who is often depicted as the model of a bad king.

I will see you next time when we continue our investigation into how Magna Carta survived.