The Reigns of King Richard I and King John, 1189-1216 | Edexcel GCSE History (1HI0)

The Reigns of King Richard I and King John, 1189-1216

144 questions
12 subtopics
Paper 2
Paper 2

The Reigns of King Richard I and King John, 1189–1216 is examined in Paper 2, Period study and British depth study.

It covers the feudal system, 1189–1216, Kingship and succession, 1189–1216, royal government and finances, English society, 1189–1216, the nature of crusading, Richard and the Third Crusade, Aftermath of the crusade, Richard, John and the loss of Normandy, the dispute with the Papacy, Worsening relations with the barons, Magna Carta and the First Barons’ War and England in 1216.

Sample questions from The Reigns of King Richard I and King John, 1189-1216

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

The feudal system, 1189–1216

What was knight service?

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The duty of a tenant-in-chief to provide the king with an agreed number of armed knights, normally for forty days of unpaid service each year.
Kingship and succession, 1189–1216

What did John's behaviour as a young man suggest about his character?

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In Ireland in 1185 he and his companions mocked the Irish lords and pulled their beards, and in 1189 he deserted his dying father to join the rebels, which marked him as rash and disloyal.
English society, 1189–1216

What made living in a town unhealthy and dangerous?

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Crowded timber houses that burned easily, waste and butchers’ refuse thrown into the streets, and drinking water fouled by both.
The nature of crusading

How did a knight pay for going on crusade?

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He sold or mortgaged land and borrowed heavily, because arms, horses, servants and the sea passage were all at his own expense.
Aftermath of the crusade

Why did Leopold bear a grudge against Richard?

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At Acre Richard had insulted him by having his banner pulled down and thrown aside, and had refused him a share of the spoils.
Richard, John and the loss of Normandy

What did John do while Chateau Gaillard was besieged in 1203?

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He launched one combined attack by land and river to relieve it, and when the timing failed he abandoned the attempt and withdrew to England.
Worsening relations with the barons

Why did scutage become a grievance under John?

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He demanded it far more often and at higher rates than earlier kings, sometimes when no campaign followed, so barons felt they were paying repeatedly for nothing.
Magna Carta and the First Barons’ War

Why did fighting break out within months of Runnymede?

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John persuaded Innocent III to annul the charter in August 1215 as extorted by force, the pope excommunicated the rebels, and neither side had disbanded its army.

The 12 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
The feudal system, 1189–1216	The king at the top of the feudal hierarchy, tenants-in-chief, homage, knight service, labour service, forfeiture and why rebellion was dangerous, the parish priest, the tithe, and the power of bishops and abbots in royal government.	10
Kingship and succession, 1189–1216	A medieval king's duties, rights and coronation rituals, Richard's claim in 1189, how he secured his position and his reputation, John's disputed claim in 1199 and how he secured the crown, the fate of Prince Arthur and its damage to John, and John's character as his nicknames, chroniclers and royal records portray it.	17
Royal government and finances	The justiciars who ruled for Richard, Longchamp's fall in 1191, Hubert Walter, government by writ and exchequer, John's personal rule and the resentment it caused, the royal demesne, the sheriff and the farm, feudal incidents and wardship, scutage and the tax of 1207.	12
English society, 1189–1216	Open-field farming, villeins and peasant houses, borough charters, guilds, towns in the economy and their dangers, the legal position of Jews, moneylending and antisemitism, the killings of 1189–90 from Richard's coronation to York, and royal exploitation of Jewish wealth through tallages, the archae, the Exchequer of the Jews and John's tallage of 1210.	23
The nature of crusading	What a crusade was, the indulgence and protections of taking the cross, preaching and the Saladin tithe, resentment at home, who went east, how a knight paid, why men went and who travelled unarmed.	10
Richard and the Third Crusade	Hattin and the fall of Jerusalem, the rulers who took the cross, Richard's motives, his quarrel with Philip II, Acre and the prisoners, Arsuf, the retreat from Jerusalem and the truce of 1192.	10
Aftermath of the crusade	Why Richard left in 1192, his capture by Leopold of Austria, the grudge from Acre, Henry VI's ransom, how it was raised and what it cost England, John's plotting, and Richard's return and second coronation.	10
Richard, John and the loss of Normandy	Philip II's and Richard's aims, John's preference for treaties, the Isabella of Angoulême marriage and the forfeiture of 1202, Chateau Gaillard's site, cost and strength, its fall in 1204 and the loss of Normandy.	10
The dispute with the Papacy	The rival elections, Innocent III's choice of Stephen Langton, John's refusal, the seizure of Canterbury, the interdict of 1208 and its effect on daily life, his excommunication in 1209 and the settlement of 1213.	10
Worsening relations with the barons	John's need for money after 1204, his fines, William de Braose, hostages, scutage, the plot of 1212, Bouvines and Poitou in 1214 and why that failure was the turning point, the siege of Northampton, the rebels' move through Bedford and the decisive taking of London in May 1215.	12
Magna Carta and the First Barons’ War	Runnymede, why John agreed, what the barons wanted, the clauses on free men and on raising money, the promises, the security clause, the annulment and renewed fighting, the mining of Rochester and Prince Louis's arrival.	10
England in 1216	The kingdom at John's death, the baggage train in the Wash, the war's effect on ordinary people, the boy king's coronation at Gloucester, William Marshal as Protector, the reissued charter, Lincoln and Sandwich.	10

The Reigns of King Richard I and King John, 1189-1216 is 144 of the 2,881 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £7

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.