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Battle for Magna Carta: The First Barons’ War, 1215-1217
King John’s reign was a disaster – but, as Stephen Roberts reveals in the second of two articles about early civil wars, it left as its legacy one of the most important agreements in English history.
Cruel, mean, faithless, licentious, weak-willed and with no redeeming features – such was King John. No wonder there was a First Barons’ War.
The favourite child of Henry II (see MHM 147, August/September 2025) and Eleanor of Aquitaine, John (1166-1216) was dubbed ‘Lackland’ because as the youngest son he possessed no lands. An early foray to Ireland as governor (1185) was inauspicious, and he was recalled for misconduct. He tried seizing the Crown when his elder brother (now King) Richard I was imprisoned in Austria (1192-1194) – but, despite such disloyalty, he had the support of the bulk of the English and Norman nobility, and was named successor at Richard’s deathbed and c
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