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
Æthelbald, King of Wessex at the Battle of Hingston Down, reducing Cornwall to the status of a client kingdom. He died in the following year and was succeeded by his son Æthelwulf, who appointed his eldest son Æthelstan as sub-king of Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex, in the same year. Æthelbald was the second son of King Æthelwulf and probably of his first wife Osburh, who was the mother of Alfred the Great. As Æthelstan was old enough to be appointed king ten years before Alfred was born in 849, and Æthelbald took part in battle in 851, some historians argue that it is