Download or read book The Reign of King John written by Sidney Painter and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2020-02-03 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1949. Lacking the warlike bluntness of his predecessor, Richard the Lionheart, John came to the throne of England at a time when economic forces in the realm were threatening to undermine the very basis of feudal power. The Reign of King John covers his attempts to adjust a political system to cope with this threat and at the same time to assert the hegemony of the monarchy over its chief rivals—the barons and the church—made his reign one of particular importance and significance in English history.