“King John’s failure was that only 5% of people supported him,” explained Marc Morris, “and it’s not like today when you can get away with only 30% of people wanting you in power.” This contemporary bombshell from Morris – the funniest historian at Hay Festival and an academically acclaimed expert on the Middle Ages – was met with laughter and applause from the packed tent.

 

Morris, in conjunction with the release of his book King John which vividly brings the real King John to life, dispelled the myth that the infamous monarch was just the victim of bad press: “My purpose today is to say cobblers to that,” he exclaimed. Morris truly nailed his colours to the mast, saying, “King John is arguably the worst monarch to sit on the English throne.”

 

King John doesn’t need much introduction. Anyone with a passing knowledge of Shakespeare (who incidentally let John off lightly, according to Morris), Peter O’ Toole and Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter, or indeed, Walt Disney’s Robin Hood will know that John was, “a mad-tempered youth and an enemy of nature.” For once, Morris said, Hollywood and Disney got it right.

 

Morris guided the audience through John’s slippery and dastardly trajectory. From treachery and betrayal of his own brother Richard the Lionheart, to the murder of his young nephew Arthur, John was a cold-hearted King. His trail of hatred was not just limited to his kin, however. John took prisoners, killed by starvation and is reported to have preyed on the daughters and wives of Barons. In what Morris called “a bloodless era,” during which killing was taboo, he said King John bought indignity and disgrace on the crown for breaking the taboo repeatedly and brutally.

 

After his tyrannous reign, in a deservedly cruel twist of fate, Morris said, “King John left this world the same way he came into it; as Lackland,” having caused great injustice with little avail. Morris said, “All kings occasionally acted unjustly but John took these exceptional measures and made them standard procedure.

 

Morris quoted Matthew Parris – “a contemporary chronicler rather than The Times journalist” – who said that hell itself would be made worse by the presence of King John. 

 

 

Photo: Robert Smith
Text: Francesca Donovan