ABSTRACT
Robert, duke of Normandy and the Conqueror's eldest son, was away on the First Crusade when William II was killed and Henry, the youngest son, assumed the crown of England as Henry I. In England he restored order, forbade the nobles to occupy fortified castles without his consent and destroyed many castles which had been erected during the reign of Stephen. In 1173 his sons Henry, Richard and Geoffrey, together with barons in France and England, revolted simultaneously. Cruel, treacherous, unstable and capable of only spasmodic bursts of energy, John through his very faults was one of the most important kings of England. The villein's, who at the time probably comprised more than three-fourths of the population of England, are not mentioned at all, and as their greatest abuses were the impositions of their manorial lords the detailed improvements of relations between king and subject could not very well affect them very closely.
