“To Defy a King” by Elizabeth Chadwick

“John was a tyrant, John was a tartar
But John put his name to a great big Charter…..”
This children’s poem, by Hugh Chesterman, contains almost everything I knew about Bad King John and the signing of the Magna Carta.  John was so wicked the barons had to force him to sign a charter guaranteeing some basic rights, and since then no English King has been called John.

In the poem it was Stephen Langton who said strongly “Sign if you please!”  I now know that Langton was the Archbishop of Canterbury and that John had previously been excommunicated.

This story is told from the viewpoint of historic figure Marhelt Marshall, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke and wife of the the Earl of Norfolk.  It’s a beguiling tale with characters that encourage empathy.

In an afternote the author talks about her research methods.  As well as being part of a medieval re-enactment society she uses Akashic research, ‘a belief that the past is there in the ether to be witnessed by those who can access it’. 

“To many people he did wrong.
We have no cause to pity John.”