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
John, King of England inclined towards the king, focusing on John's opposition to the Papacy and his promotion of the special rights and prerogatives of a king. Revisionist histories written by John Foxe, William Tyndale and Robert Barnes portrayed John as an early Protestant hero, and John Foxe included the king in his "Book of Martyrs". John Speed's "Historie of Great Britaine" in 1632 praised John's "great renown" as a king; he blamed the bias of medieval chroniclers for the king's poor reputation. By the Victorian period in the 19th century, historians were more inclined to draw on the judgements of the chroniclers and