Robin Hood, the Folville Gang and Wallace would all earn reputations on their deaths as ‘freedom fighters’ despite the slaughter and murder done in their name. Each would cry defiance against the lawful administration of the sheriffs and the paid middle class judiciary, often siding with the Barons against the ‘totalitarianism’ of the monarchy, yet each also becoming an account of the final futility of resistance. The King ultimately always wins and nothing changes. Briefly, however, something nearly did overthrow the natural order of the feudal system that held 99% of the population enslaved to a rich oligarchy across Europe. The events of 1215 and 1265 would shake Europe; the established church that was part of the glue that held Europe together trembled. Pope Innocent would understand this and moreover would come to realise that he had potentially created the problem through his handling of a key appointment to the cathedra of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Pope Innocent chose a man whose quest for power and influence would take the English monarchy to the brink of disintegration and which would have seen all of Europe collapse like a house of cards as those governed in each country realised that the authority to rule and be ruled was voluntary and no longer secured by might but rather by those who were ruled accepting …show more content…
Time and again, John had launched attacks and watched in despair as his deputies and allies had mis-timed their own attacks, failed to combine or coordinate defence in the face of a better-organised and highly motivated enemy, and eventually his allies had gone into Battle at Bouvines, whilst John himself was still in the south of France, against inferior numbers but an army that was well-organised and which easily defeated John’s