John was King of England for around 17 years from 1199 until his death in 1216, roughly from when he was 33 until he was 50 years of age.

Thanks to the historical record and medieval propaganda we know him as Bad King John:

Not only did he plot to overthrow his own brother Richard I while the good King was away fighting in the Crusades.

When he finally became king himself he made a bit of a hash of it losing Normandy and most of his French possessions;

John is the King who overreached himself so much, the English barons forced him to sign Magna Carta, an attempt to place limits on the king’s powers.

So poor was his reputation, King John was even written into the Robin Hood legends as the villain alongside his scheming sidekick the Sheriff of Nottingham.

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