| Portrait of an Earl King Richard is called the
Coeur de Lion but it is difficult to find an animal in
nature that same contradictory nature of Earl John.
Lacking Richard's stature, sense of honour and honesty,
Earl John is a small man, tending to the fat side, full
of inconsistencies with mood changes that are sudden and
unpredictable.
Often judicious,
capable, and even on occasions generous, he can be
violent and treacherous. He makes his way in the world by
uniting craftiness with ruthlessness. When lying ill from
blood poisoning, his father King Henry asked to see the
names of those who had deserted him and gone over to the
other side. The name of his favourite son John standing
at the top of the list filled the King with despair. He
died within days.
Able to conceive
and execute cruelties with cold calculation, Earl John is
surprisingly well read. He has an inquiring mind and
treasures his library of books. Though he enjoys hawking
and hunting, he dislikes war, and jousting even less. He
does like his luxuries. Much devoted to eating and
drinking, he never keeps the prescribed days for fasting
and abstinence. He often wears a dressing gown and
astonishingly bathes once every three weeks.
Sometimes he can be
judicious but at other times acts like a petty tyrant;
and just like his father, he often gives way to rages
where his 'eyes dart fire and his countenance becomes
livid.' Not without some charm, he can lay on the
flattery when necessary. And neither is he without lust -
he has fathered several bastards.
He has been known
to inspire loyalty but at times can be quite frivolous.
Possessed of his own particular brand of sardonic humour,
he never misses a chance to mock the church and its
doings. At one church service, he told the Benedictine
monk to cut short his sermon so he could have lunch.
Usually reluctant to offer anything at mass, he once told
his chamberlain who handed him several gold pieces: 'If I had had these a few
days earlier I would have pocketed them.'
Putting his trust
in inanimate obects rather than God to defend his
domains, he wears an amulet round his neck to bring him
good luck.When in Ireland, he spent most of his time
revelling and feasting, mocking the Irish lords because
of their odd clothes, pulling their beards and laughing
at their manners.
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