King John (Lackland) was a bad king. At least, that’s how history remembers him. According to legend, he gave Robin Hood a terrible time. He tried to steal the throne from his brother, Richard the Lion-Hearted, while Richard was out of the country. He was a lousy son to his mother, the famous
Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Yet, King John gave his barons (and ultimately the world) the Magna Carta, one of the greatest legal documents ever written and a cornerstone of modern national constitutions.