King John (play) King John (play) The Life and Death of King John, a history play by William Shakespeare, dramatises the reign of John, King of England (ruled 1199–1216), son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and father of Henry III of England. It is believed to have been written in the mid-1590s but was not published until it appeared in the First Folio in 1623. King John receives an ambassador from France who demands with a threat of war, that he renounce his throne in favour of his nephew, Arthur, whom the French King Philip believes to be the
The King of England and his Three Sons The King of England and his Three Sons The King of England and his Three Sons is a Gypsy fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in "More English Fairy Tales". He listed as his source Francis Hindes Groome's "In Gypsy Tents", where the informant was John Roberts, a Welsh gypsy. A version of this tale appears in by Ruth Manning-Sanders, under the title "An Old King and His Three Sons of England". An old king could be cured only by golden apples from a far country. His three sons set out to find them, and parted ways at a crossroads.