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Why was King John called Lackland?
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John
John of England, from an early 14th-century illumination.
King John of England was nicknamed "Lackland" by his father, Henry II. The moniker originated from Henry’s 1173 plan to assign extensive lands to his youngest son upon his marriage to the daughter of the count of Maurienne. This proposal, however, was thwarted by a rebellion among John’s elder brothers, leaving him without the significant territories his father had intended for him.1