The Prince of Darkness

by Jean Plaidy

Book Overview

Multi-million copy and international bestselling author Jean Plaidy paints an incredibly vivid portrait of one of history's most controversial - and terrifying - monarchs... Readers of Philippa... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0330256815
• ISBN13: 9780330256810
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: Pan Books
• Length: 315 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Phony King of England

I loved this book from start to finished. This book is the tale of the horrible reign of Prince John, now King John, the youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. You have to wonder the entire time that you're reading this book how in the world he managed to be their son. He is nothing like them. He's the opposite of anything they would have tried to teach him. Even in the book Plaidy has Eleanor wonder what would have happened if she would have stopped right before him. Even she was afraid for England when he became king. Thank goodness she didn't have to live to see the rut he put England into. John was just as awful in this book as in all the tales you've heard about him. He doesn't do much besides lie in bed with his queen, Isabella of Angouleme, a young girl he stole out from under the nose of another man just out of spite. But they were a match in some odd and twisted way. Plaidy brings out that relationship in a good manner which doesn't let your imagination go(and it's just best for it not to go to far in, in my opinion.) Plaidy also tells the story of Arthur of Brittany the rightful heir to the throne by the fact that he was born to an older brother. But alas he wasn't English enough and was a bit young. His tale is as good as it is sad. This will have you wondering from one page to the next. There is no Sheriff of Nottingham, or Robin Hood, but the story doesn't need them. John did enough on his own.

England's Tyrant King

John, youngest son and child of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine begins his rule after the death of his brother Richard I. To John it is a battle won for the crown from the true heir to the throne, Arthur. No one trusts John, given his reputation long before he was crowned king. But William the Marshall and his mother are his strongest supporters, albeit wearily. John would rule as a tyrant. Taking his child queen (who was a force to be reckoned with) from her betrothed only to lay in bed with her until dinner time, no matter what matters of state arose. He took for granted that his lands and all his possessions would still be his just because he was King. How wrong he was. Many moments, as I read this book, I was on the edge of my seat, shaking my head in fear that a horrible fate may be inflicted on one of John's enemies (he had a myriad of enemies) ordered by John of course, only to feel relief that it was not carried out. Then I was saddened later when his enemy met his final doom. John was a man to be feared, by men and women alike. He was truly the Prince of Darkness. But he was also a failure, having lost possessions that had been kept within his ancestry for near two centuries. His father, his brother and his mother were right to fear for the future of England, etc. if under his rule. Jean Plaidy once again brings her characters to life with her beautiful imagery through words.

King John!

This is the fourth book in the Plantagenet Saga. It follows "The Heart of the Lion." John was always upset over being the youngest son in his family. He was referred to as John Lackland and was thought to be a priest. John knows his luck is sour. But, then two of his older brothers die. He knows that he will get some titles now. Then Richard goes on a crusade...and dies! John now can be king! He gets coronated right away. But some think that Arthur has a better claim to the throne than John. Arthur is the son of Geoffrey, who was the third surviving son of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, while John is the fourth son. But Arthur doesn't even know English and is a foreigner. The English hate foreigners. While in a forest, John sees the most beautiful girl that he has ever seen. She is young, and he likes that about her. He would just rape her then, but she is the daughter of a count. Her name is Isabella of Angeloume and is pledged to Hugh de Lusignan. She grows up in his court and she likes him. But he treats her like a child and won't comsummate their love. But JOhn, she saw the way that he looked at her. Isabella knows that she won't have to worry about him and comsummation. John abducts her from Lusignan. He marries her and makes her Queen of England and many other titles. He is so enamoured of her and loves spending time in bed with her. In fact, that is all that he does. Instead of attending to state matters, he just stays in bed with Isabella. When he has to leave her, he goes and rapes other women. He tried to have a baron's wife, but the baron fooled him and made him sleep with a wench. This young girl says that she wouldn't sleep with him, so he abducts her. She still refuses to bed with him, so he kills her. John is a very destructive man. He creates so much chaos in the England. The barons rise against him. He signs the Magna Carta. The document that his son and heir would curse. Isabella has two sons, Henry and Richard. She also has daughters. All of the land that his father worked so hard to get in France is getting stolen from the French. They take advantage of John's preferrence to bed with women than keep care of his realm. England is falling apart. This is the story of the man who nearly ruined the whole Angevin empire. He was so aweful that he was thought to be the devil on earth. He was thought to be the Prince of Darkness.

THE DEVIL MADE HIM DO IT...

Jean Plaidy, also known to her legion of devoted fans as Victoria Holt, has written an absorbing account of the reign of King John, a depraved, dissolute monarch whose tyranny was absolute. Son of iron fisted King Henry II of England and his headstrong wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, John was their youngest son. When his older brother, King Richard the Lionhearted, died without an heir, there were two who laid claim to the crown of England: Richard's nephew, Arthur, who was the son of John's older, now deceased brother, Geoffrey, and Richard's youngest brother, John.Arthur had not been brought up in England. He had, instead, been raised as a Breton and was foreign to English ways. Moreover, he was a mere pubescent child of thirteen. Fearing that the people of England would not flock to Arthur's banner and thinking John to have precedence over his older brother's son for purposes of succession, William Marshal, the most respected knight in England, gave John's cause his support, and where William Marshal would lead, others would follow. Thus, John was crowned King, a black day in English history.John would turn out to be a cruel and evil tyrant, more given to indulging in debauchery than to securing the kingdom over which he reigned. Foolish and dissolute, he prefered to rape, pillage, torture, and murder than to apply himself to statesmanship and governance. Lascivious by nature, he abducted a beautiful twelve year old girl, Isabel of Angouleme, who was betrothed to another, and made her his child bride and queen. Together they would sport, while his kingdom fell apart.As for Arthur, let's just say that the kid never even had a fighting chance. In the end, however, John, himself, and not Arthur, would be his own worst enemy. John would lose the great possessions for which his ancestors had fought, and, for a time, even England's fate was made precarious by John's failure to rule effectively. The lurid details of King John's reign make for an absorbing and compelling work of historical fiction. The author seamlessly weaves historical events and persons into a tapestry replete with period detail that fully engages the reader. Devotees of historical fiction will certainly enjoy this novel, which is part of the author's fifteen book Plantagenet saga.