est son, and John's faithlessness broke his father's heart, whereas the
treachery of the other brothers could inspire Henry only to furious
fighting and wild curses. Perhaps Henry loved John just because no
one else did. Certainly his mother did not, for Eleanor, after Henry
turned to other women, saved all her affection for Richard. After
their father's death, Richard treated his brother with a half-contemp-
tuous affection and never seemed able to take John and his plottings
quite seriously. Henry chose as his friends the best and wisest men
of the kingdom; Richard consorted with the bravest of fighting men
and the best poets and musicians of his age; but John seems to have
had no friends except such dubious characters as were drawn to him
through self-interest.

John was suspicious of all men, as well he might have been, for
he grew up in an atmosphere of treachery and of internecine warfare
in which the sons fought now their father and now each other and
transferred their allegiance at a moments notice. Richard learned
from such experiences to be a judge of men; John learned merely to
distrust all men.

At the time of John's birth in 1167, his father, Henry II, was
thirty-four years old and had been King of the English for thirteen
years. He was a man of boundless energy who lived in a whirlwind
of activity. He could not bear to be still for a moment, except when
he was reading; he sat only when he ate. Even when he was hearing
Mass, he spent more time conferring with his officials than in fol-
lowing the service.

Hunting and books were his favorite pursuits, and he is said al-
ways to have had either a bow or a book in his hands. He could not
endure a settled routine; he dragged his court at breathless speed
over the length and breadth of England and of his vast continental
domains. This constant moving from one place to another, although
not always at the restless pace imposed by Henry, was a normal fea-
ture of the royal household during these times, both in order that the

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