John crowned King of England

May 27, 1199

The last surviving son of Henry II and Eleanor was crowned at Westminster. He inherited a vast continental empire and a reputation for cunning, faithlessness, and bad luck. Within five years he would lose Normandy; within sixteen, be forced to seal Magna Carta. John's reign would prove the most constitutionally consequential in English history, not because of his successes but because of his spectacular failures.