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LEFT JOHN 265 JOHN kingdom to the holy see, in order to re- ceive it again as its vassal. John had by this time rendered himself the object of such universal contempt and hatred, that his nobles determined, if possible, to limit his power, and establish their privileges; the barons assembled in arms at Stam- ford, and immediately proceeded to v^rar- like operations. They were received with- out opposition in London, met the king at Runnymead, and forced him to consent to their terms. Thus was obtained (June 15, 1215) that basis of English constitutional freedom known as "Magna Charta," which not only protected the nobles against the crown, but secured important privileges to every class of freemen. But while the monarch ap- peared to be all-complying and passive, he was secretly purposing to annul the charter. The Pope pronounced a sen- tence of excommunication on all who should attempt to enforce it; and John, having collected an army of mercenaries, carried war and devastation throughout the kingdom. The barons, taken by sur- prise, now sent a deputation to Philip of France, oflfering the crown of England to the dauphin Louis; who speedily, with 600 vessels, landed at Sandwich, and pro- ceeded to London, where he was received as lawful sovereign. John was immedi- ately deserted by all his foreign troops, and most of his English adherents; but the report of a scheme of Louis for the extermination of the English nobility arrested his progress, and induced many to return to their allegiance. While the king's affairs were beginning to assume a better aspect, he was taken ill, and died in Newark, in 1216. JOHN, the name of various European monarchs. FRANCE. John I., King of France, a post- humous son of Louis X.; born and died in 1316. John II., surnamed The Good, a king of France, son of Philip VI.; born in 1319, and succeeded his father in 1350. In 1356 he was taken prisoner by Ed- ward the Black Prince at Poitiers and carried to England. After the treaty of Bretigny (1360) he returned home, leaving his eldest son, the Duke of Anjou, as hostage, till he should fulfil the terms of his ransom. But in the meantime the duke escaped back to France. John, however, chivalrously kept his word, and returned to London early in 1364; but he died on April 8 in that same year, without having regained his freedom. His eldest son, Charleg V., succeeded him« EASTERN EMPIRE. John I., Emperor of Constantinople, surnamed Zimisces, was of an illustrious family. He succeeded the emperor Nice- phorus Phocas in 969, and obtained many victories over the Russians, Bulgarians, and Saracens. He was poisoned by Basil the Eunuch, in 976. John II., Comnenus, succeeded Alexis Comnenus, his father, in 1118. He gained several battles over the Turks and Servians, and governed with great pru- dence and liberality. He died in 1143, of a wound which he received from a poisoned arrow. John III., Ducas, was crowned at Nicea in 1222, at the time when the Latins were in possession of Constanti- nople. He was a prince of great virtue, gained many battles, defeated the Scyth- ians, Tartars, and Bulgarians, and ex- tended his empire on all sides. He died in 1255. John IV., Lascaris, son of Theodore the Young, whom he succeeded in 1259, at the age of six years; but, in the same year, the despot Michael Palaeologus de- prived him of his crown and his eyes, and imprisoned him for life. He died in 1284. John V., Palseologus, succeeded his fa- ther, Andronicus the Younger, in 1341, but his throne was for a long period usurped by John Cantacuzenus, whose daughter he married after recovering his throne. His son Andronicus revolted against him, and the Genoese made them- selves master of the isle of Lesbos, and Amurath I. took the city of Adrianople. He died in 1391. John VI., Cantacuzenus, was the min- ister and favorite of Andronicus Palaeo- logus, who made him guardian of his children, John and Emanuel, with whose mother, Jane of Savoy, he governed for some time with gi*eat wisdom and mod- eration. But, in 1345, he assumed the imperial title in Thrace, and, in 1347, took Constantinople, compelling John Palaeologus, who had been crowned in 1341, and who had married his daughter, to retire to Salonica. The exiled mon- arch, however, with the help of the Genoese, defeated the fleet of the usurper, and obliged him to quit his throne and capital. He then retired to the monas- tery of Mount Athos, where he devoted himself to literary studies, and wrote a valuable history of the empire, and a defense of Christianity against the Mo- hammedans. John VII., Palaeologus, succeeded his father Emanuel in 1425. His reign was very unfortunate, and the Turks made such progress in his dominions as to re-