In the Reign of King John: A Year in the Life of Plantagenet England

An illustrated portrait of English society in the year of Magna Carta, from best-selling author Dan Jones. A new, beautifully illustrated edition of Realm Divided , Dan Jones's portrait of Plantagenet England in the reign of King John. 1215 was not just the year of Magna Carta and King John's war with his barons, but a year of crusading and church reform, of foreign wars and dramatic sieges, of trade and treachery; a year in which England was invaded by a French army and London was stormed by angry barons; and the supposedly impregnable castle at Rochester was brought down with burning pig fat. But this was also a year in which life, for most people, just went on. In the Reign of King John thus opens a window onto everyday life in thirteenth-century England: home and church, love and marriage, education and agriculture, outlawry and hunting, food and clothing. It offers a vivid and authoritative portrait - from royal court to peasant wedding - of medieval life in the round, as well as an exhilarating and revelatory exploration of the big themes of politics, warfare, religion, feudalism and the law during a transformative year in English history.… (more)