Was King John A Good King

KING JOHN AND ELEANOR
If there had not been a King John, there would not have been a Magna Carta. John was such a bad king, he was considered to be a serious threat to the very existence of England as a free nation. Back when the hated William Rufus was king, he was assassinated, and nobody mourned his passing. A similar solution was also possible when it came to John, but because of the previous history England had experienced, and because of the wise leadership of Stephen Langton, the Barons of the nation first tried the solution of written law to restrict and redirect the course of England achieving the happy result of peace and stability. Assassination would have certainly led to civil war and invasion from France. Langton stepped up
They rode to Canterbury and found the Archbishop standing at the altar where they killed him before fleeing. When Henry heard the news he was horrified. He knew that his anger had created this unacceptable situation, but he did not really want to see Thomas dead, and especially murdered inside a church. Churches were seen as places of refuge, and violence was absolutely abhorrent. In a short time, miracles were attributed to the place where Thomas Becket was killed. Common people, clergy and foreign leaders were outraged with what had occurred. Henry wrote letters to the Pope denying any part in the murder of Becket. The murderers themselves were excommunicated by the Pope, along with any others “who may have assisted them”. Within two years, the Church sainted Thomas, and Henry twice allowed himself to be publicly flogged as he prostrated himself before the church and public opinion. In reality, no ruler can do whatever he wants contrary to the people’s willingness to endure (I Kings 12:6-16), and Henry painfully discovered that truth. This episode in Henry’s life, this fall from the heights of power is part of the background that led to the Magna Carta. Henry was to suffer even more humiliation before his life
He would become one of the most popular kings in English history. It is said that Richard was “a passionate man…(who) did not shrink from any kind of debauchery…(but) he was capable of repenting as immoderately as he had sinned”. As one of Richard’s first acts as king, he declared that he was going on a crusade. This was a critical time in the Holy Land, as the Muslims had recaptured Jerusalem and the famous Saladin was unifying the entire region from Egypt to Turkey. Richard, Philip of France and Henry Barbarossa Holy Roman Emperor, all planned to respond to the need to recapture Jerusalem. This Third Crusade was known as the “crusade of kings” and potentially, it could have been as successful as the First Crusade. But it was not. Barbarossa died while crossing a river enroute. Richard offended Philip by his aggressive military achievements and Philip returned home with his army. So Richard carried on without the military support of the other two armies, eventually winning a treaty with Saladin that granted limited military and religious concessions. Richard did make for himself a great reputation as a warrior at the battles of Acre, Blanch-Garde, Ascalon and Jaffa. While Richard was not able to win back the city, he had seen success in helping to capture the port city of Acre, and had shown exceptional valor at risk of his own life when recapturing Jaffa. Jaffa had been taken after