Richard I. Richard I (the Lionhearted) ruled England mostly as an absentee monarch from 1189 to 1199. Perpetually fighting abroad, he lost touch with his nobles, especially in matters pertaining to the enhancement of royal authority. He imposed burdensome taxes in order to support foreign Crusades and a war with France. When returning home from the Third Crusade (1189- 1192), the Duke of Austria, Henry VI, captured and imprisoned him and demanded a high ransom for his release. Upon Richard I's death, his brother John I came to the throne and continued his fiscal policies.

John I. Aside from taxes, John I antagonized the English nobility in other ways as well. He seized the revenues the nobles received from the growing towns in their fiefdoms. After being excommunicated by Pope Innocent III in 1209 for disputing the papal choice of the archbishop of Canterbury, John...