Bad King John and the Great Charter – I

 Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

 Content: The youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, John had a hard act to follow. His father was a world-class monarch with enormous holdings in England and on the Continent. His mother was a force of nature, having been the Queen of both France and England, the advisor and occasional adversary of husband and sons. John's brother was Richard I, known affectionately as Lion Heart, the popular warrior king whose sibling rivalry with John had consumed nearly all their adult lives. John became the ruler nearly everyone loved to hate and this included contemporary chroniclers and later many historians.