Our local library reopened a few weeks ago, and whilst browsing the shelves I came across this title. King John and the Road to Magna Carta by Professor Stephen Church.
It's an excellent read, although I suspect Church has a sneaking sympathy for the embattled King John. The book covers the period from John's birth to his death from dysentery. His own father King Henry II gave him the nickname 'Lackland' because the then-two-year-old John wasn't a factor when it came to drawing up significant land grants for the King's children. As king, John lost his territories of Normandy and Anjou in what is now France to the wily King Phillipe, and spent a heap of treasure in various futile attempts to regain them. The taxation he inflicted upon England sparked the barons' revolt, the creation of the Magna Carta and John's eventual demise in the middle of a civil war.
For the Lion Rampant player the book contains numerous ideas for scenarios in England, Ireland, Scotland and France. Not all conflicts involved major powers. Quite a few came from disputed inheritances, royal-authorised land-grabs and sheer opportunism enabled by a weak or weakened neighbour.Plenty of fodder there for a good campaign or series of linked scenarios.
1 comment:
A J,
I have also read it and it is a good read. You are right that it is a source of wealth for scenario ideas.
Neil
https://toysoldiersanddiningroombattles.blogspot.com/
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