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
Isabella of Angoulême England, Isabella was now mostly regarded as a mere Countess of La Marche and had to give precedence to other women. In 1241, when Isabella and Hugh were summoned to the French court to swear fealty to King Louis IX of France's brother, Alphonse, who had been invested as Count of Poitou, their mother, the Queen Dowager Blanche openly snubbed her. This so infuriated Isabella, who had a deep-seated hatred of Blanche for having fervently supported the French invasion of England during the First Barons' War in May 1216, that she began to actively conspire against King Louis. Isabella and