John, King of England Normandy and Anjou until 1259, but John's continental losses and the consequent growth of Capetian power in the 13th century proved to mark a "turning point in European history". John's first wife, Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, was released from imprisonment in 1214; she remarried twice, and died in 1217. John's second wife, Isabella of Angoulême, left England for Angoulême soon after the king's death; she became a powerful regional leader, but largely abandoned the children she had had by John. John had five legitimate children, all by Isabella. His eldest son, Henry III, ruled as King of England for the
Ransom of King John II of France to the royal treasury until the reign of King Henry V. Although the short reign of King Charles V was successful, the political unrest that ensued after the capture of King John fed into the instability of King Charles VI's reign, weakening France throughout much of the Hundred Years War. Ransom of King John II of France The ransom of King John II of France was an incident during the Hundred Years War between France and England. Following the English capture of the French king during the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, John was held for ransom by the English