约翰王的生死 (1623)

《约翰王》（英语：The Life and Death of King John）是一部由威廉·莎士比亚创作的历史剧，剧本描述了英格兰国王约翰的统治时期（1199-1216）。约翰是亨利二世和阿基坦的埃莉诺的儿子，也是亨利三世的父亲。据信该书写于1590年代中期，但直到1623年在第一对开本中出现才出版。

The Life and Death of King John (also King John), by William Shakespeare, is a history play about the reign of John, King of England (r. 1199–1216), the son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the father of Henry III. King John was written in the mid-1590s but published in 1623 in the First Folio of Shakespeare's works.

Synopsis

King John receives an ambassador from France who demands with a threat of war that he renounce his throne in favour of his nephew, Arthur, whom the French King Philip believes to be the rightful heir to the throne under primogeniture.

John adjudicates an inheritance dispute between Robert Faulconbridge and his older brother Philip, whom Robert accuses of illegitimacy. Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, the mother to King John, notes that Philip looks very similar to her late son King Richard the Lionheart. Queen Eleanor accordingly suggests that Philip renounce his claim to the Faulconbridge estates in exchange for a non-inheriting position within the House of Plantagenet and a knighthood. After mocking Robert Faulconbridge's ugliness at length, Philip enthusiastically agrees and Queen Eleanor praises Philip as possessing "the very spirit of Plantagenet". King John knights Philip as Sir Richard the Plantagenet. Afterwards, learning Philip has renounced his inheritance, Lady Faulconbridge reluctantly confirms Queen Eleanor's suspicions about her son's secret parentage to him.

As part of his efforts to back regime change in the Angevin Empire, King Philip and his forces besiege the Angevin walled city of Angers, threatening to put them to the sack unless the citizens accept Prince Arthur as their King. Philip is supported by the Duke of Austria, who is alleged to have killed Richard the Lionheart. The English Army arrives. Queen Eleanor then trades insults with Constance, Arthur's mother. Kings Philip and John argue their claims in front of Angers's citizens, but to no avail: their representative says that they will support the rightful king, whoever that turns out to be upon the battlefield.

The French and English armies clash, but no clear victor emerges. Each army dispatches a herald claiming victory, but Angers's citizens continue to refuse to recognize either claimant because neither army has proven victorious.

Philip the Bastard proposes that the armies of England and France unite against Angers. The citizens suggest an alternative proposal: that Philip's son, Louis the Lion, marry John's niece Blanche of Castile. The proposal would give John a stronger claim to the throne while Louis would gain territory for France. Though a furious Constance denounces King Philip for abandoning the claims of Prince Arthur, Louis and Blanche are married offstage.

Cardinal Pandolf arrives from Pope Innocent III bearing a formal accusation. As the latest salvo of the Investiture Controversy, King John is blocking the Pope's chosen Archbishop, Stephen Langton, from the Diocese of Canterbury and has further imposed Caesaropapism upon the Catholic Church in England. John defies the Holy See and vows that "No Italian priest shall tithe or toll in our dominions", whereupon the Cardinal declares him excommunicated and invokes the Papal deposing power to remove him as King. Pandolf demands that the French king renounce the new treaty, though Philip is hesitant, having just established familial ties to King John. Cardinal Pandolf points out that Philip's links to the Vatican are older and firmer.

Battle breaks out; the Duke of Austria is slain and beheaded by the Bastard in revenge for his father's death; and both Angers and Prince Arthur are captured by John's army. Queen Eleanor is left in charge of the Angevin Empire in France, while the Bastard is sent to extort funds from English monasteries. John secretly orders Hubert to kill Arthur. Pandolf informs Louis that he now has as strong a claim to the English throne as Arthur or John, and Louis agrees to invade England.