Legend of No British king being able to be named "John"
- Thread starter Royal
- Start date
Lord Cerberus
Chieftain
This is false.
There is one King John of England. He was the youngest son of King Henry II. He was born in 1166, assumed the throne in 1199 when his elder brother, Richard the Lionhearted (you may have heard of him) died without a son. King John died in 1216 and passed on the crown to his son, King Henry III.
King John was the third Plantagenet King
There is one King John of England. He was the youngest son of King Henry II. He was born in 1166, assumed the throne in 1199 when his elder brother, Richard the Lionhearted (you may have heard of him) died without a son. King John died in 1216 and passed on the crown to his son, King Henry III.
King John was the third Plantagenet King
Well, it sounds highly unlikely to me. Where did you hear such a peculiar thing? Presumably no king would *want* to be called John, because of the unhappy associations (King John is traditionally regarded as a Weak Man but a Bad King, or possibly vice versa), but that's not the same. Prince Charles, similarly, apparently does not wish to be known as Charles III when he becomes king, because of the associations with Charles I. Of course, such concerns are pretty pointless because the average British person wouldn't have the faintest idea who Charles I was or what he did, far less King John.
Now, if a king were *Catholic*, that would be a whole different matter...
Now, if a king were *Catholic*, that would be a whole different matter...
SomethingWitty
Prince
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2005
- Messages
- 533
Lord Cerberus said:
Yeah, that's why there won't name any kings John anymore, because that King John was a miserable failure.
Essentially, they "retired" the name.
There's one other name (Richard?) that they retired because he was terrible. I'll have to look that up.
Nobody
Gangster
I always remeber Price John who use to hunt robin hood, and i think he grew up to make the magna carta
mitsho
Deity
@nobody, the point is that it wasn't him who made the Magna charta, but his barons/dukes/etc. ... 
mitsho
mitsho
DBear
unbeliever
"Henceforth, all the toilets of the land shall be known as....johns!" 
sydhe
King of Kongs
They haven't named another king Stephen either, since the first one was a disaster. I'm not sure if there's been a Prince Stephen, but there was a prince John of Gaunt.
After the experiences England had with their Richards and we had with ours, I think the name is safely retired. Sorry, Mr. Gephardt.
After the experiences England had with their Richards and we had with ours, I think the name is safely retired. Sorry, Mr. Gephardt.
sydhe said:
What, don't you think Richard Cheney is doing a swell job as vice-president? Or do you just hate America?
(insert sarcastic smiley here)
sydhe
King of Kongs
For some reason, there haven't been a second Alfred of Athelstan either. I guess they were too hard to follow.
It also spares us another Aethelred.
It also spares us another Aethelred.
Johann MacLeod
Duc de Lorraine
recently they had that george, edward fling goin'
Wolfe Tone
Which Way Did He Go?
You beat me to it. I love that movieDBear said:"Henceforth, all the toilets of the land shall be known as....johns!"
Kahran Ramsus
Warlord
It comes from Robert III of Scotland who's real name was John, but who thought the name was cursed because of John of England, John the Good of France, and most importantly John Balliol, who was extremely unpopular in Scotland by that point after he didn't offer much support for the rebellions the Scots were waging against the English in his name. Robert the Bruce hated him for family reasons, and since he was credited as the saviour of Scotland, his opinion still held considerable sway, even though he was dead for about 60 years at that point. Also, John's son made several attempts (successfully, although it didn't last for long) to usurp the throne from the House of Bruce in the 1330s.
Anyways, it didn't work. Robert III was a terrible king regardless.
Anyways, it didn't work. Robert III was a terrible king regardless.
That would be great.Plotinus said:
The Norwegians are keeping up the great naming game; the newborn royal baby will be known as Sverre II, the first Norwegian king named Sverre since 1202.
I doubt we'll ever see another "Erik the lisping and halting" on the Swedish throne, though.
