In The history of England, there is a king who is considered to be the worst and most unpopular in history, that is, John I, also known as the King of the Landless, because during his reign, England lost most of the territory of the European continent, and was forced to submit to the nobility and signed the Magna Carta, so it is considered the most incompetent king, especially in the English folklore Robin Hood, who appeared as a great villain, but in fact this king is far undervalued.
There were several reasons why John I was unpopular, the first was to betray his brother Richard I the Lionheart, the second was to expropriate in the country, the third was the Plantagenet Dynasty's territory on the European continent was invaded by the French king, and the fourth was to sign the Magna Carta, which affected the centralized power measures of Britain. The fifth is to think that John's level of war is not good.
Let's talk about why these reasons are unreliable one by one, first of all, he betrayed Richard I, and later he was pardoned by Richard I, which seemed inconceivable to Chinese, rebellion was a major crime, but in fact, in the Plantagenet Dynasty at that time, it was a common thing, and Richard I the Lionheart also betrayed henry II, his father and John I, and betrayed him more than once, but Henry II spared Richard. Even Henry II favored John more, and if it were not for the support of King Philip II of France, Richard I would not have been able to succeed to the throne, but King John would have directly succeeded to the throne. So John's betrayal of Richard I was not a big deal at all, otherwise why would Richard I still regard John as his heir?
Secondly, the cross-border conquest, this is actually not Richard's problem, when the Lionheart King participated in the Crusade, this famous Third Crusade looks huge, the fight is also very lively, there are many legends passed down, but in fact there is no result at all, the German Emperor Red Beard hit half of the sudden drowning, King Philip II saw no oil and water to return to China early, on the Lionheart King Richard I fought to the end, but the result is still fruitless, flat, there is not much loot, and the cost of the expedition is the responsibility of England itself, Richard I fought outside the war, or fought a holy war, so everyone praised him and named him the Lionheart King, and King John, who was actually in charge of government affairs at home, bore the insult of wanton expropriation, in fact, the wealth that was expropriated was what Richard I wanted. John was just carrying the black cauldron.
It was only at that time that the religious atmosphere was strong, and as a hero in the holy war, Richard I could not be condemned, but could only let John carry the black cauldron.
The territory of the third European continent was occupied by the French king, which is more important to ask Richard I, the national strength of the Plantagenet Dynasty was far stronger than that of the French king at that time, it was he wasted in the holy war, the same holy war, Richard I's friend Philip II of France did the show to return to China, Richard I fought to the end. After returning to China, he was besieged by the major princely states, and Philip II was even more hostile, and he himself was killed in battle, leaving a mess behind. Most typically, the loss of the British crown territory on the European continent is the greatest factor in the betrayal of the territorial nobility, and this factor is obvious in the lifetime of Richard I, who died during the counter-rebellion.
At that time, England's national strength was too much, John I had to deal with the French king was already difficult, coupled with the betrayal of the domestic nobles, there was no ability to regain territory, but in fact, after John's descendants reorganized the interior, they still provoked the Hundred Years' War between England and France, and once almost let France fall.
The fourth magna carta question, which is only a temporary compromise, does not actually want to admit it at all, but John died early, did not have the opportunity to defeat the noble alliance, the young son ascended the throne, had to compromise, of course, the Magna Carta became an important basis for constitutional monarchy in the future is another matter.
The fifth is the military level of John I, although John I is not as good as his father Henry II and his brother Richard I, but it is not too bad to say that John I's level is too bad, John's level in the war against France and the civil war is quite outstanding, although there are some hesitations, but there are basically no major mistakes in strategy, you know that even Richard I, the lionheart king who is considered a hero of the war, was still too hesitant in the holy war, and returned to china to fight the rebellion and died in battle. John was stronger in internal affairs and strategy than his brother, and in the famous Bouvin War, John's strategy was quite outstanding, and the reason for the failure was that on the one hand, Richard I the Lionheart had exhausted the strength of England, the nobles were reluctant to go out, John had limited troops, and on the other hand, the German Emperor Otto fled.
In the civil war, John was at a disadvantage at the beginning, but before his death, he basically controlled the advantages of the civil war, but only died early, and the young son had to compromise when he ascended the throne, so John I's military level was still quite good.
The reason for the poor reputation is that British historians have to find a scapegoat for the failure of the European continent in the early days of the Plantagenet Dynasty, and Richard I, the real culprit of the Lionheart, cannot be criticized because of his status as a hero of jihad, and can only be borne by John I.