| | | 1200 | Lincoln Cathedral Great transept |
| Work began on the Lincoln Cathedral's main West transept, or Great transept in 1200. |
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| Rochester Cathedral Presbytery and Choir |
| Building work on eastern area of the Cathedral began in around 1200 and continued until 1227. |
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| May 22 - Philippe and John sign a treaty |
| At le Goulet on the River Seine Philippe II signed a peace treaty with John providing two years of peace. The agreement recognised John as overlord of most of the English owned lands in France, but John had to give Philippe the lands of Norman Vexin and Evreux and a large sum of money. |
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| Aug - John and Isabella are crowned |
| John and Isabella returned to England and were crowned at Westminster Abbey. |
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| Aug 24 - John marries Isabella of Angouleme |
| Eager to make peace with the count of Angouleme, John marries his only daughter, Isabella. Isabella was engaged to Hugh of Lusignan, a family which John was worried about due to their power and influence and the fact that an alliance between Angouleme and Lusignan would be a danger to him. Isabella was twelve or thirteen. |
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| Nov 22 - William does homage to John |
| During a tour of the Midlands, John received homage from William the Lyon, King of Scotland at Lincoln. William was looking to move into the areas of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland. John on the other hand enured that those areas were controlled by Barons he could trust. |
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| 1201 | Valle Crucis Abbey founded |
| The abbey in North Wales was founded in 1201 by Madog ap Gruffuud Maelor. |
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| Dunkeswell Abbey founded |
| This Cistercian abbey in Devon was founded by William Brewer. Brewer was a founder of other religious houses, including Forde Abbey close by. |
| Banbury Castle strengthened |
| Work on improving Banbury Castle continued between 1201 and 1207. |
| May - John sails to Normandy |
| In France the Lusignans were causing problems still angry over John's marriage to Isabella. John ordered that an army should assemble at Portsmouth. Instead of taking the assembled army, John used the money they had to hire mercenaries and took them. |
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| Jun - Philippe entertains John in Paris |
| Even though Philippe was hearing complaints from the Lusignans about John's treatment towards them, he was not willing to go against John at this time and entertained him in Paris. |
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| 1202 | Winchester Cathedral Retrochoir and Lady Chapel |
| Work began on the retrochoir (area to the east of the presbytery) and the Lady Chapel of Winchester Cathedral. Until 1235. |
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| The Fourth Crusade |
| The Fourth Crusade. |
| Spring - Philippe sides with the Lusignans |
| John charged the Lusignans with treason. The Lusignans went to Philippe for help and Philippe demanded to see John in Paris and for John to surrender several castles in good faith. |
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| Apr 28 - John fails to attend a summons to Philippe's court |
| Failing to attend the court of Philippe II, John was declared to be a rebel and to have forfeited the areas of Aquitaine, Poitou and Anjou. Philippe tried to mediate in the problems between John and the Lusignans but was ignored by John. The lands were given to Arthur of Brittany. Philippe kept Normandy for himself. |
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| Jul - Arthur knighted |
| Philippe of France knignts Arthur of Britanny. |
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| Aug 1 - Battle of Mirebeau |
| Arthur of Brittany was captured at the town of Mirebeau by William de Broase and handed over to John. Arthur was besieging the town in Anjou and had Eleanor of Aquitaine trapped in the castle. |
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| 1203 | Beaulieu Abbey founded |
| Founded by King John who wanted to become an object of prayer by the Cistercian order. The abbey was built on the site of a hunting lodge in the New Forest and was colonised by monks directly from Citeaux. |
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| Apr 3 - Arthur is murdered |
| Arthur was moved to Rouwn from Falaise where he was being held. There it is said that John killed Arthur and dumped his weighted-down body in the Seine. The body was discovered and later buried. |
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| 1204 | William Marshall captures Cilgerran |
| William Marshall captured the Welsh castle at Cilgerran in Pembrokeshire from the Welsh. |
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| Goodrich given to William Marshal |
| King John gave Goodrich castle to William Marshal on his marriage to the heiress of the earldom of Pembroke. |
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| Spring - Peace negotiations with France |
| After losing Normandy to the French, John sent an embassy to France to negotiate with Philippe. In the party that went from England were Hubert Walter and William Marshal. The negotiations failed due to Philippe's demands. |
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| Apr 1 - Death of Eleanor of Aquitaine |
| Eleanor, Henry II's wife and John's mother died. |
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| Jun - Normandy is taken by Philippe |
| Philippe II, King of France won control of Rouen, the capital of Normandy and Normandy itself. John still had control of Aquitaine. |
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| 1205 | Jan - River Thames freezes |
| The winter of 1204/05 was so cold that the River Thames froze over and the cold spell lasted until March. |
| Feb - Philippe plans invasion |
| Philippe II of France held a meeting in Normandy to discuss invading England. This forced John to abandon his own plans of invading Normandy as he could not risk moving his army abroad when the French were about to attack. The planned French invasion never materialised. |
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| Jun - John prepares invasion |
| Worried by rumours of an invasion from Philippe of France, led by heirs of king Stephen, John prepared an invasion fleet of his own. But the barons refused to cross the Channel and attack Normandy and so the fleet was disbanded. |
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| Summer - More castles fall to the French |
| The castles at Chinon and Loches both fell to to French as Philippe strengthened his position. Again William Marshall traveled to see Philippe to agree peace terms, but his attempts were destroyed by Hubert Walter who sent a secret letter to Philippe telling him not to accept William Marshal's promise that John would do homage to Philippe. (What's going on here?) |
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| Jul 13 - Hubert Walter dies  |
| Hubert Walter the Archbishop of Canterbury and King John's most important advisor died. |
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| Dec - John forces election of De Gray |
| When Hubert Walter died in July a dispute began between King John and the monks of Canterbury over who should become the new Archbishop of Canterbury. King John wanted John de Grey, Bishop of Norwich, to have the position but the monks wanted their sub-prior, Reginald. The matter was delayed until December when a mission sent to Rome could consult the Pope. Reginald himself went as part of the mission and stated that he had been elected by the monks. When King John heard of this he demanded that De Gray should be elected and the monks dutifully did. |
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| 1206 | Jun - John defends Aquitaine |
| After Philippe failed to invade England the year earlier, John took to opportunity to land an army at La Rochelle to defend his interests in Aquitaine which was his from his inheritance from Eleanor of Aquitaine, John's mother. John moved his army north and took back some of the lands he had lost to Philippe. |
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| Oct 26 - Philippe and John reach a truce |
| A two year truce is agreed between the Kings of England and France. |
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| Dec - The Pope chooses Stephen Langton for Canterbury |
| Although the monks of Canterbury wanted their own sub-prior for the post of Archbishop and King John wanted John de Gray, Pope Innocent III chose Stephen Langton. Langton was originally from Lincolnshire but after teaching in Paris had moved to Rome where he had become a Cardinal. The monks of Canterbury accepted the Pope's decision and voted Langton in as the new Archbishop. King John did not agree. |
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| 1207 | Marshall inherits the lands of Leinster in Ireland |
| As Earl of Pembroke, William Marshall inherits the lands of Leinster in Ireland. The link between Pembroke and Leinster started when Richard de Clare married the daughter of the King of Leinster in 1170. |
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| Odiham Castle built |
| At a cost of £1200, King John built the castle of Odiham. |
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| Earl of Leicester loses land |
| King John took the land of the Earl of Leicester (father of Simon de Montfort) and banished him from England. |
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| Stephen Langton becomes Archbishop of Canterbury |
| Stephen Langton was chosen as Archbishop of Canterbury by Pope Innocent III. |
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| Aug - The Pope threatens an Interdict |
| The Pope threatened King John with the sentence of Interdict unless he accepted Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury. An Interdict meant that church services would be banned in England except for baptisms and confessions. |
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| 1208 | Spring - Interdict served by the Pope |
| With King John still refusing to accept Langton as Archbishop the Pope served the sentence of Interdict on England. In response King John confiscated church property. |
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| 1209 | Cambridge University founded |
| The university at Cambridge was founded by scholars from Oxford who left the university there after violent disputes with the local people. |
| Langton lands at Dover |
| Stephen Langton landed in England from France to see King John and take the position of Archbishop of Canterbury. John refused to meet with him although John did meet Stephen's brother Simon. |
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| Aug - John prepares to invade Scotland |
| John mobilized an army with the help of Llewelyn of Gwynedd a Welsh chieftan and moved them up to Norham Castle. William the Lyon, the king of Scotland was not ready for conflict and paid John to leave and a treaty was signed. |
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| Nov - John excommunicated by the Pope |
| King John is excommunicated by Pope Innocent III. |
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| 1210 | Haverfordwest Castle hosts King John |
| King John used Haverfordwest Castle as a staging post before and after travelling to Ireland. |
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| Fountains Abbey rebuilding work |
| Rebuilding work of the eastern parts at Fountains Abbey. |
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| Kenilworth Castle defences improved |
| King John spent time and money on the castle at Kenilworth, building outer walls and raising the height of the lake. |
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| Jun 10 - John lands in Ireland |
| John landed at Waterford looking for the rebel baron William de Broase who had fled to Ireland. John took the opportunity to visit his lands in Ireland receiving homage from the Irish Chieftains. de Broase fled but his wife and son were captured, taken back to England and starved to death in Windsor Castle. |
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| 1211 | Barbican built at Bridgnorth Castle |
| Work was carried out on the outer defences at Bridgnorth. |
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| Summer - Excommunication served |
| In Northampton the Papal legate Pandulf served King John with his excommunication ordered by the Pope. For John this was a serious blow to his ability to rule the country as it absolved the King's subjects from their oaths of alliegence, gave the Barons reason to revolt and allowed the King of France to invade England to remove John from power. |
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| Jul - Peace with Wales |
| John and Llewelyn the Great of Wales reached an agreement and a peace treaty was signed. |
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| 1212 | William gives son as hostage |
| William, King of the Scots was prepared to give John his eldest son, Alexander as hostage to keep the peace between the two countries. William was also eager that Alexander should become King of the Scots after himself. Earning the trust of John was to be repaid later when John sent an army to Scotland to help William put down a rebellion. |
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| John extorts money from the barons |
| Obsessed with regaining the Angevin empire, John tried all means to get money from the barons to pay for it. He held inquiries into tenures, confiscated estates, took hostages all in the hope that the barons would be forced to be loyal and to give him funds. |
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| Nov - John accepts Pope's demands |
| Taking the advice of William Marshal John accepted the demands of the Pope and that Stephen Langton should become Archbishop. A peace mission was also sent to the Pope. |
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| 1213 | Mar - John prepares against invasion |
| At a camp near Canterbury called Barham Down King John mobilized an army against the threat of invasion from the French. |
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| Spring - French plan invasion |
| Because King John had been excommunicated by the Pope the French king, Philippe, had the right to invade England and remove John from the throne. Philippe wanted to put his son Louis in John's place. |
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| May 30 - French fleet defeated |
| The English fleet defeated the French fleet off Damme, Flanders and the French plans of invasion are destroyed. |
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| Jul - Excommunication lifted |
| When King John agreed to meet Stephen Langton at Winchester he was absolved from excommunication. |
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| Sep 26 - Pope's envoy arives in England |
| Cardinal Nicholas De Romanis arrived in England to prepare for the settlement of the Interdict. John's punishment was to pay 100,000 marks to compensate the church for the losses he had caused it. |
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| Nov - John meets the Barons |
| John met the Barons at Wallingford in an attempt to prevent them from rebelling against him. |
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| 1214 | Dieulacres Abbey moved |
| A new location for this Cistercian abbey was found near Leek in Staffordshire. |
| Foundation of Deer Abbey |
| This Cistercian abbey near Peterhead in Scotland was founded by monks from Kinloss. |
| Feb 1 - Peter Des Roches become Justiciar |
| John elects Peter Des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester as his Justiciar. Des Roches had supported John through the years of Interdict and was repaid for his loyalty, but he was not popular with the other Barons. |
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| Feb 2 - John sails for France |
| John's conflict with Philippe of France started again with John's departure from Portsmouth. With him sailed his wife and second son, Richard. He also took a large amount of treasure. |
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| Jun 29 - Interdict lifted |
| At St. Paul's Cathedral, in London, the Interdict was finally lifted. |
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| Jul 27 - Battle of Bouvines |
| English forces under the control of Emperor Otto IV were defeated by Philip II of France. |
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| Oct 15 - John returns from France |
| Upset by demands for higher taxes and less control over affairs in England, the Barons met John on his return with a charter from the time of Henry I which they wanted John to agree to and abide by. |
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| Dec 4 - William the Lyon of Scotland dies |
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| Dec 5 - Alexander II became King of the Scots |
| Alexander was crowned at Scone. |
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| 1215 | Llewellyn captures Cilgerran Castle |
| Llewellyn's fight against the Normans continued with the capture of Cilgerran Castle. |
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| Llewellyn captures Abervagenny Castle |
| The castle at Abervagenny was captured from King John's forces by Llewellyn. |
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| Wallingford Castle fortified |
| The fortifications at Wallingford castle were strengthened at this time. |
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| Colchester Castle occupied by the French |
| An invasion force from France under direction of Philippe II, the king of France captured Colchester Castle. Their objective was to help the cause of the Baron's against king John. |
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| Jan - John meets the Barons in London |
| Promising the Barons safe passage, John met them in London to discuss their demands. John postponed any answer until Easter. |
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| Mar 4 - John takes oath for Crusade |
| Hoping to gain the support of the Pope against the Barons, John took the oath to go on Crusade. |
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| Apr 1 - Pope sides with John |
| Pope Innocent III sent a letter to the Barons asking them to halt their actions against John. |
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| May 12 - Baron's war |
| The civil war between King John and the Barons started again, when John did not agree to the terms of John's Charter and ordered the rebel's estates to be seized. The Barons offered the crown to Louis of France, the son of Philippe II. |
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| May 17 - London falls to the Rebels |
| The gates to London were opened by a supporter of the rebellious Barons and the houses of Jews were targetted for ransacking and burning. The rebels called for those Barons still on the side of John to join them. The Tower of London held by John's supporters was too well defended to fall into the hands of the rebels. |
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| May 27 - A truce is sought |
| Stephen Langton and William Marshall attempted to get the Barons and John to meet and find a settlement to the civil war. |
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| Jun 17 - John's Charter (the Magna Carta) |
| A large number of barons, led by Stephen Langton the archbishop of Canterbury meet John in an island in the Thames at Runnymede. It was to limit the power of the monarchy. The barons insisted that the old feudal contract should be reinstated, and that the king should abide by the laws that the rest of the population did. The feudal contract allowed the barons to run their own lands, renting it from the king, but paid rent by supplying knights instead of money. This system had been set up by William the Conqueror. |
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| 1216 | Beaudesert castle inner bailey |
| Peter de Montfort rebuilt the inner bailey of Beaudesert Castle in stone, of which nothing remains. |
| Feb - Small French fleet land in London |
| A small French army landed in London. The Commander informed the Barons that Louis would soon arrive. |
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| Feb - King John puts down revolt |
| King John put down a revolt in East Anglia. The Barons and the French kept hold of London. |
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| May 18 - A storm hits John's fleet |
| John's fleet of ships was badly damaged by storms as they prepare to defend against an invasion from France. This left the way open for Louis to sail a few days later. |
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| May 21 - Prince Louis of France claims English Throne |
| Invited by the barons opposed to king John, Prince Louis of France landed in England to claim the English Throne. |
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| Jun - Kings John fights rebels in East Anglia |
| Kings John fights rebels in East Anglia. |
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| Oct - King John attacks Berwick |
| King John attacked Berwick and forced the Scots to leave. He also raided the lowlands. |
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| Oct - Death of King John |
| King John died at Newark from excessive eating and drinking. Protestant historians of the 16th century wrote that he was poisoned by a monk at Swineshead in Lincolnshire. The monk received orders from the Pope to kill King John and took a small amount of poisoned wine himself to reassure the King and also died. But had King John become the Pope's ally before his death? |
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| Oct 19 - King John dies |
| King John died at Newark. This was shortly after he lost his baggage train in the Wash estuary as the tide returned. There was supposed to be a large amount of treasure in the baggage train at the time. |
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| Oct 28 - King Henry III Crowned |
| King John's eldest son Henry was crowned King Henry III at the abbey church of Gloucester by Peter des Roches the Bishop of Winchester. The Earl of Pembroke, Earl Marshal of England (William Marshal), was declared Regent. |
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| Nov - Llewelyn divides Wales |
| Llewelyn of Wales divided south Wales amongst the native princes. |
| Nov 12 - Revision to the John's Charter |
| John's Charter was revised at King Henry's Council at Bristol. |
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| 1217 | Porchester castle captured |
| Louis captures and almost destroyed the castle at Porchester. |
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| Hubert de Burgh forces Louis to accept peace terms |
| Hubert de Burgh, King Henry III's justiciar, won several battles against Louis of France including the navel battle off Sandwich which was won by throwing lime into the faces of the French sailors. Louis accepted peace terms and paid Henry 10,000 marks. Louis waived his claim to the throne of England and should have restored Normandy to Henry but did not. |
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| May 20 - Battle of Lincoln - Barons' War |
| Henry III's supporters defeated the forces belonging to the future King of France Louis VIII and the barons that were besieging the castle at Lincoln. |
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| May 20 - Rebels defeated at Lincoln |
| Rebels were defeated at Lincoln by William Marshal and the Bishop of Winchester. |
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| Aug 24 - Battle off Sandwich |
| The French were defeated off Sandwich. |
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| Sep 12 - Treaty of Kingston |
| At the Treaty of Kingston Prince Louis of France agreed to pay 10,000 marks to leave England. All property was returned to their previous owners. The Scots surrendered conquests in England. |
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| 1219 | William Marshal dies |
| William Marshal is succeeded by Peter de Roches, Bishop of Winchester and Hubert de Burgh who was Justiciary. |
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| The Fifth Crusade (1219-21) |
| The Fifth Crusade. |
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| 1220 | Henry III's improvements at the Tower |
| Henry III made large alterations to the Tower of London including new curtain walls, an improved water filled ditch and a water gate so the King could enter the castle directly from the Thames. |
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| Lady Chapel at Oxford |
| Work began on the Lady Chapel at Oxford Cathedral. The chapel was incorporated into the layout of the Cathedral as an extra aisle built onto the north side of the building. |
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| Grosmont Castle building work |
| Hubert de Burgh improved the defences at Grosmont Castle, including the gatehouse and towers. |
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| Chapter-house of Lincoln Cathedral |
| Lincoln's Chapter-house was constructed between 1220 and 1235. |
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| Work on the Lady Chapel of Salisbury Cathedral |
| The Lady Chapel of Salisbury Cathedral appears to be the starting point of the construction of the new cathedral. Work continued until 1225. |
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| Salisbury Cathedral rebuilding started |
| A new site 2 miles from the original site at Old Sarum was chosen for the new Salisbury Cathedral. For a Cathedral the building work was completed in a very short time and the building was consecrated in 1258 only 38 years later. |
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| May - Coronation of Henry III |
| At his coronation in Westminster Abbey, Henry was reminded of his duties at king to maintain peace, defend the rights of the crown and to dispense justice where required. Henry was only around thirteen years old. |
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| Jul 7 - Stephen Langton returns to England |
| Stephen Langton returned to England and resumed the role of Archbishop of Canterbury. He performed a ceremony in Canterbury in which relics from St. Thomas Becket were put in a tomb. The 7th of July became St. Thomas of Canterbury's Day; a major holy day. |
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| 1221 | Joan marries Alexander II |
| At York Minster, king John's daughter Joan married Alexander II, the king of the Scots. Joan was only eleven years old at the time of the wedding. |
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| Hubert de Burgh |
| Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, travelled to Rome and left Hubert de Burgh in charge of affairs of the country. |
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| 1223 | Cilgerran Castle recaptured |
| William Marshall, the younger, recaptured the castle at Cilgerran from Llewelyn ap Iorwerth. |
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| Louis VIII becomes King of France |
| Louis VIII became king of France, upon the death of his father Philippe Augustus. |
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| 1224 | Bedford Castle siege |
| A 60 day siege of Bedford Castle by Henry's forces. The castle was badly damaged as a result. |
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| London Fog |
| From the Chronicles of Meaux Abbey came the report saying 'A London fog occurred while the Bishop of London was officiating in St. Paul's there came on suddenly such a thickness of the clouds and darkness of the sun, accompanied by thunder and lightening and a most foul stench, that the people departed, leaving only the bishop there with one attendant.' |
| Qtr 1 - Henry reclaims castles |
| All those castles that had been taken from King John were claimed back by Henry. Henry did not want to have untrustworthy Barons in control of strong castles. Fawkes de Breaute, one of the castle occupiers refused to relinquish his castle(s) and started a short rebellion. Stephen Langton and Hubert de Burgh dealt with Fawkes and the castles were handed over. (Need to find out which castles) |
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