King Johann

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König Johann (English. The Life and Death of King John ) is a historical drama in five acts by William Shakespeare , which first appeared in print in the folio edition of 1623. The exact time of origin is uncertain, but is generally dated between 1594 and 1596.

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Scene from Shakespeare's King John . Engraving after a painting by Richard Westall.

For Arthur , the son of the elder brother of the English King John , King Philip of France lays claim to the English royal throne as well as the Irish and French lands. But Johann does not want to abdicate. Then Falconbridge and the bastard appear before the king with an inheritance dispute: the bastard is his mother's eldest son, presumably conceived in the absence of his husband when King Richard the Lionheart was with her; therefore, on the deathbed, the husband bequeathed his fortune to his younger son Falconbridge. The dispute is resolved by the bastard foregoing the inheritance, King John knighting him and giving him the name Sir Richard Plantagenet.

At a meeting in front of the French city of Angers , Johann offers King Philip peace - but he insists on the change of the throne in favor of Arthur and Johann's departure from France, which Johann is not ready to do. The citizens of Angers, who are supposed to decide, demand legitimation; but since neither party can legitimize itself beyond doubt, both armies enter into a battle that is ultimately undecided. A citizen suggests that Blanche, daughter of the Spanish king and niece Johanns, and the French king's son Louis would be a good match after all, and so the marriage of both is agreed. Arthur's mother, Constanze, who sees her son's rights impaired by this arrangement, is deeply mourned about this.

Cardinal Pandolf wishes to know from Johann why he did not consider the Pope's preferred candidate for the office of Archbishop of Canterbury. When Johann replied that he would not let an Italian priest tell him what to do in his kingdom, Pandolf announced the excommunication . He demands from Philip - also under threat of excommunication - that he renounce Johann. Philip then breaks his bond with Johann. Following the battle that followed and Arthur's capture, Johann returned to England with his army.

Hubert, commissioned by Johann to kill Arthur, feels sorry for him and spares him. Meanwhile, John has reported Arthur's death to Lords Pembroke and Salisbury, who requested Arthur's release. When he accuses Hubert of murdering the heir to the throne, he announces that Arthur is still alive. On his escape, however, Arthur leaps from the castle wall to his death. The Lords discover the corpse and suspect Johann behind the death. When Hubert told them, to make matters worse, that Arthur was alive, they left the English king indignantly and joined the army of the Dauphin Louis, which he had meanwhile set up against Johann.

Allied with some English lords, Louis has already taken parts of England and even London . In a symbolic act, Johann therefore hands his crown to Pandolf, who literally hands it back to him as a sign that Johann is now reigning with the approval of the Pope. But Louis does not allow himself to be deterred from his attack by Pandolf, who tells him about John's reconciliation with Rome, or by the bastard, who describes the size of the English armed forces. On the battlefield, the lords learn that Louis wants to have them beheaded and go back to Johann. But he has been poisoned by a monk and dies. On the mediation of Pandolf, the English and French make peace. The bastard swears to serve the king's son Heinrich from now on.

Text output

English
  • EAJ Honigman (Ed.): William Shakespeare: King John. Arden Second Series. London 1967. ISBN 978-1-903436-09-7 .
  • John Tobin and Jesse Lander (Eds.): William Shakespeare: King John. Arden Third Series. London 2018. ISBN 978-1904271390 .
  • LA Beaurline (Ed.): William Shakespeare: King John. New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990. ISBN 978-0-521-29387-7 .
  • AR Braunmuller (Ed.): William Shakespeare: King John. Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2008. ISBN 978-0-19-953714-3 .
German, bilingual
  • Marie-Theres Harst (Ed.): William Shakespeare: King John. King Johann. English-German study edition. Stauffenburg, Tübingen 2002, ISBN 978-3-86057-561-1 .
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