KING JOHN
Page: 1

by William Shakespeare




PERSONS REPRESENTED

KING JOHN.
PRINCE HENRY, his son; afterwards KING HENRY III.
ARTHUR, Duke of Bretagne, son to GEFFREY, late Duke of Bretagne,
the elder brother to King John.
WILLIAM MARSHALL, Earl of Pembroke.
GEOFFREY FITZ-PETER, Earl of Essex, Chief Justiciary of England.
WILLIAM LONGSWORD, Earl of Salisbury.
ROBERT BIGOT, Earl of Norfolk.
HUBERT DE BURGH, Chamberlain to the King.
ROBERT FALCONBRIDGE, son to Sir Robert Falconbridge.
PHILIP FALCONBRIDGE, his half-brother, bastard son to King
Richard I.
JAMES GURNEY, servant to Lady Falconbridge.
PETER OF POMFRET, a prophet

PHILIP, King of France.
LOUIS, the Dauphin.
ARCHDUKE OF AUSTRIA.
CARDINAL PANDULPH, the Pope's legate.
MELUN, a French lord.
CHATILLON, Ambassador from France to King John.

ELINOR, Widow of King Henry II and Mother to King John.
CONSTANCE, Mother to Arthur.
BLANCH OF SPAIN, Daughter to Alphonso, King of Castile, and Niece
to King John.
LADY FALCONBRIDGE, Mother to the Bastard and Robert Falconbridge.

Lords, Citizens of Angiers, Sheriff, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers,
Messengers, Attendants
and other Attendants.

SCENE: Sometimes in England, and sometimes in France.



ACT I.

SCENE 1. Northampton. A Room of State in the Palace.

[Enter KING JOHN, QUEEN ELINOR, PEMBROKE, ESSEX, SALISBURY, and
others, with CHATILLON.]

KING JOHN.
Now, say, Chatillon, what would France with us?

CHATILLON.
Thus, after greeting, speaks the King of France,
In my behaviour, to the majesty,
The borrow'd majesty of England here.

ELINOR.
A strange beginning:--borrow'd majesty!

KING JOHN.
Silence, good mother; hear the embassy.

CHATILLON.
Philip of France, in right and true behalf
Of thy deceased brother Geffrey's son,
Arthur Plantagenet, lays most lawful claim
To this fair island and the territories,--
To Ireland, Poictiers, Anjou, Touraine, Maine;
Desiring thee to lay aside the sword
Which sways usurpingly these several titles,
And put the same into young Arthur's hand,
Thy nephew and right royal sovereign.

KING JOHN.
What follows if we disallow of this?