Posted on 03/01/2011 5:10:48 AM PST by decimon
A new film about King John further underlines history's judgement of the medieval English monarch as a cruel tyrant. But among the dozens of bad kings and despots, why is John always the pantomime villain?
Surrendering lands in France, forced into a humiliating climbdown with the nobility and ex-communicated by the Church. Not to mention being blamed for the murder of his nephew.
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"He was a very considerable failure as a king. He loses a large amount of possessions inherited, in particular lands in France, like Normandy and Anjou. He manages to surrender his realm to the pope and ends up facing a huge baronial rebellion, a civil war and a war with France. In terms of failures, he is one of the worst kings."
And his unpleasant personality compounds his mistakes, says Mr Hudson. Trying to seize control of the throne while his brother, King Richard I, was imprisoned abroad, lost him the trust of the people long before he became king himself.
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"I see him a bit like Barack Obama in so far as he inherited a nightmare situation from his predecessor but because he was a bad politician he didn't help himself to get out of it.
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(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Aside from that ping.
When Nancy Pelosi's Democrats took Congress away from Republicans in January 2007, unemployment was at 4.5%, the deficit had been cut in half to $180 billion, taxes were low, and the Dow Jones was about 14 thousand.
Some nightmare.
Maybe because it’s just tv and makes for a good story?
Give me Shakespeare´s.
All due blame to the Dems but the Pubs were hardly blameless. And then in the last play of the game, Bush through a Hail Mary pass right into a crowd of the opposite uniforms. Can anyone explain that?
I believe this was explained some years ago:
"I got some reeeally bad advice from Rottingham..."
Probably. England has chosen its heroes and villains.
Same way Richard the Lionheart was a disaster!
This article assumes people don’t know history...Bush as Richard I, one of the most beloved Kings of all time? I’ll take it!
One of my ‘Darth Vader moments’ in genealogical research was learning I was descended from King John. Bleh. :-)
My favorite was Basil Rathbone...
John had to tax people to death to pay for his Brother Richards wars. That made him a villain.
In one sense, John and the Brits are analagous to King George and the colonists.
John’s abuse led to the “revolt” that produced the Magna Carta.
George’s abuse of the colonies led to the Declaration of Independence.
Probably a lot of good actors get mostly secondary roles. The better they are the less you notice them.
Didn’t John sign the Magna Carta?
Yes. How willingly he signed it could get an argument.
King John was not a good man
He had his little ways
And sometimes no one spoke to him
For days and days and days...
Mrs. AV
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