King Richard was more responsible than King John for the collapse of the Empire

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KING JOHN AND RICHARD

Richard died in 1199 after a decade of

reigning amongst England, Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony; Lord of

Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Maine and Nantes and Overlord of Brittany.

John succeeded him as heir over Arthur

of Brittany (their nephew, son of Geoffrey) on 6th April 1199 and

ruled until October 1216.

When Richard received the Angevin

Empire from his father Henry II, he became in charge of a vast amount of land

with great revenue.

At the time of Henry II’s death, the

revenue of England was about £22,000, by Richard’s death 10 years later the

revenue of England had greatly decreased due to Richard’s heavy extortion and

taxation of the people and country. Whether for crusade, supplies or castles.

Chateaux Gaillard cost £15,000-£20,000 to build within two years.

FALL

OF THE ANGEVIN EMPIRE

Many historians blame John for the

loss of the Angevin Empire. After all, when Richard took over from Henry it was

all still there, and when John took over from Richard it was all still there.

But on John’s death, it had been torn apart. However it does not follow that it

was solely John’s fault.

The Empire was formed and fallen

between 1135 and 1216. On many occasions lands were lost, but often recovered.

John’s reign saw the biggest loss of land without recovery – because he was

financially unable to.

John was unable to fight for his lost

lands, however much he did or didn’t want too. Richard’s reign had left his

lands crippled and dry from the amount of money taken from them. John couldn’t

go to war without money; he needed it for supplies, transport, weapons and men.

So an already heavily taxed England had to be taxed again, because of Richard’s

escapades. (Crusade, Ransom).

Richard’s death also happened to occur

in the middle of a battle between England and Philip over Chateaux Gaillard,

which Philip later won and gained an advantage point on the Norman Vexin.

During Richard’s reign many decisions

were made that proved fruitless for his Kingdom, as an absentee king he could

hardly know everything that was going on and what needed to be done. In 1190

William Longchamp was installed as Justiciar over the land to oversee the

government and running of it.

Longchamp proved very unpopular among

the people, a foreigner he was distrusted, further so as he did not speak

English. He was forceful and pushy, marginalising the other attendants Richard

had appointed over the country. This poor choice led many to criticise Richard

and his leadership. Longchamp was so unpopular he ran away in disguise finally

reaching the continent in 1191/1192.

Richard’s absentee Kingship meant that

England was constantly under confusion. Having spent only six months in England

and most of that time being spent preparing to leave, his people and nobility

distrusted him, choosing instead to favour John which led to his rebellion in

1194 whilst Richard was held ransom in Austria.

Richard also made it unclear who his

heir would be, many accounts had it that it was John or Arthur and so on his

death it was a race. John won and became installed as the next king of

England to be sure of his throne as

Arthur kept claiming his right he was disposed of. This led to enmity between

John and his lands and people who didn’t want to associate with someone who had

killed his nephew. As such, his

nobility didn’t trust him and he was seen as sneaky and devious.

The loss of Normandy in 1204 was

great, but there was nothing John could have done, still trying to recover his

empire from an economic downturn he didn’t have to resources to retaliate.

When he did have the resources

however, he did. But he continually faced multiple issues, he needed to make

sure England was secure before he went off to fight for other duchies or

counties.

John

was an activist, he planned carefully his attacks and defence systems, he might

not have the same military prowess and tactical knowledge that Richard has, but

he knew what needed doing.

John gambled, he relinquished his hold

on the unwieldy Angevin Empire to concentrate on the lands closer to home;

England and Ireland. He knew by continuing fighting he would lose even more and

that he could not afford.

By allowing the Empire to fall apart,

John ensured that the lands left that he ruled could be made stronger and used

to a better purpose. By being a present King instead of an absentee one, he was

confident he could unite the lands he ruled and be the King Richard was not.

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