What's he that goes there?
In the histories, following relationships can be hard. Here’s a breakdown of the characters in King John
Let’s start with the family tree of King John himself (THE ANGIVINS or PLANTAGENETS):
His father, Henry II (1154-1189), built the Angevin Empire and married Eleanor of Aquitaine in an alliance marriage (after her divorce from the French King Louis VII—long story). They had several important children (including even more that I’m leaving out because they aren’t relevant to our understanding):
Henry (The first heir, who was given an awkward co-rulership for a while with his father until he rebelled and tried to take the throne with the support of his mother, Eleanor),
Richard (The second heir after young Henry’s death, later becoming the famous Richard the Lionhearted),
Geoffrey (The next son, dies before his father),
Eleanor (That’s right: Eleanor of Aquitaine is such a powerhouse that she not only had a daughter but also THREE granddaughters named after her),
and John Lackland (Who at first received the least inheritance and who ultimately becomes the title character of this play).
By the time the play begins, Henry II and his older sons are dead, leaving John on the throne and Eleanor I supporting him. However, the order of their deaths and their heirs impact John’s claim to the throne.
Henry II’s conflict with his sons and his wife, initially begun by his clash with young Henry, is long and drawn out. By the time Henry II dies in July 1189 (of an ulcer, but exacerbated by family trauma) all four of his sons have ultimately participated in rebellion against him, mostly aligning with King Philip II of France, who shows up at the beginning of the play and who is usually trying to get back some of the French land that went to England with Eleanor. Tragic!
Young Henry and Geoffrey are dead by the time Henry II dies (Henry of dysentery in 1183 and Geoffrey in a tournament accident in 1186), and the throne naturally went to Richard I, the next oldest son, finally solving the dispute within the family.
Richard I ruled as Richard the Lionhearted (Coeur-de-lion in French) for ten years, being heavily involved in the crusades and spending most of his reign abroad, but also racking up elevated warrior king popularity points for his reputation, unlike the lackluster John Lackland. He died from an infected crossbow wound, leaving no children.
John is finally on the throne, and we’re arriving at the beginning of the play’s setting. Since his oldest brother Henry died with no surviving children and since Richard had no children, John’s claim to the throne is strong, and he easily rises to power. However, now we get to the problem of Arthur.
Geoffrey died before ever having a chance at the throne, but he was still older than John. If he had lived, he would have been heir after Richard. He is also the first son of Henry II to have a living heir: Arthur. However, Arthur has grown up in France and trained up in the French court, and John was the more obvious choice. Arthur was also younger and would have potentially been a liability on the throne, which may have contributed to Richard passing the crown to John on his deathbed.
(Although he was twelve at the time of Richard’s death, by the time of his conflict and capture by John, he would have been a teenager and less sweet and youthful than he appears in the play. Shakespeare does like to drum up sympathy for his younger characters sometimes.)
Although John’s claim was strong (the next living son of Henry II, declared by Richard on his deathbed), Arthur’s claim was appealing to the French, who saw it as a chance to reclaim land and influence from England.
John had several children, including his heir, Henry III, who rises to the throne at the end of the play (1216) at nine years old, and who ruled in his childhood under a regency of William Marshal and Hubert de Burgh (both of whom I’ll talk about below).
Let’s unpack the French royal line for a moment (THE CAPETIANS):
Louis VII was king of France and had three marriages. His first was with Eleanor of Aquitaine when she was thirteen, but then they divorced because they didn’t get along, and she didn’t produce a male heir fast enough (though she certainly produced some male heirs for Henry II!). His later marriage to Adela of Champagne produced an heir: Philip II.
Philip II Augustus supported Young Henry and his brothers in rebellion and expanded his control and influence, taking back some of the land that his father lost in the divorce. He was also close to Geoffrey and therefore supported Arthur’s claim.
Louis VIII, the son of Philip, also fought against John later on. He marries Blanche in the play, which is historically true. Blanche is John’s niece by his older sister Eleanor II, who was married to the king of Castile.
Although Shakespeare follows all of those lines and includes many of those details, he definitely does some condensing and abridging of time. In Shakespeare’s play, what appears to be an afternoon often took several years.
WHEW! If you thought that was hard, just wait until we get to the Wars of the Roses!
We still have a few other characters that we can unpack:
Philip Faulconbridge, the illegitimate son of Richard Coeur-de-lion. This character is entirely Shakespeare’s invention, a comic commentator on the shifting alliances and goals of the court. Although he didn’t exist, he does show some of the treatment of illegitimate sons—an attitude of honor in the blood if no official claims.
Constance—Although she makes sense up above, she was not actually a member of the Carpatians or Angivins by blood. She married Geoffrey and was Arthur’s mother, but her family was from Brittany, an independent area that was swallowed up by Henry II’s spreading empire. She leaned on the French court for help.
Hubert de Burgh—One of John’s trusted men, he held the role of Chief Justicer and had a significant impact on the Magna Carta and also the regency during Henry III’s early rule.
The three Lords who join Louis VIII against King John are representative of the First Baron’s War, a rebellion against John that led to the signing of the Magna Carta. However, the three Shakespeare chooses are interesting:
Earl of Salisbury—Historically, this was one of Henry II’s illegitimate sons, who usually supported John, though he did have a brief shift in allegiance when it looked as though Louis’s victory was inevitable.
Earl of Pembroke—Shakespeare does poor William Marshal wrong in this play. William Marshal might be the coolest historical figure in his entire post, a masterful and long-lived knight who served several kings and was leading his army in powerful victories in his seventies. The man was a legend among legends. He never turned on John and helped drive Louis out of England along with Hubert de Burgh for Henry III after the play ends.
Lord Bigot—The clearest representative of the Baron’s rebellion, Lord Bigod or the Earl of Norfolk was historically one of the ringleaders who forced John to sign the Magna Carta.
Seriously, the historical rabbit holes one could follow to unpack all of this story are incredible! I recommend reading The Greatest Knight by Thomas Asbridge if you want to delve into a lot of the history.
Hopefully, you’re able to see the connections between characters a little more clearly as you enjoy the play! Join us on Patreon for more conversation! We’ll be moving on to Edward III on Monday!
