Anonymous
It seems likely that the play was first published in two parts on financial grounds, and that the two parts had been performed as one play; Part 2 alone seems too short to have been performed by itself. Editions of 1611 and 1622 print the two parts together and ascribe authorship respectively to "W. Sh." and "W. Shakespeare." For further discussion of authorship see Part 1.
[Shakespeare Apocrypha] The Second Part of
THE TROUBLESOME REIGN OF JOHN, KING OF ENGLAND

The title page of 1591 continues, "conteining the death of Arthur Plantaginet, the landing of Lewes, and the poisoning of King Iohn at Swinstead Abbey."

circa 1587–1591

a synoptic, alphabetical character list

ABBOT
The Abbot of Swinstead welcomes the gravely ill and spiritually troubled John to refuge in the abbey. When the Abbot overhears the Monk threatening to murder the king, he applauds the deed and absolves the murderer. He looks on as the Monk and John both die of the poisoned cup, but is himself slain on the spot by the Bastard.

ARTHUR, DUKE of BRITTANY
Son of Jeffrey Plantagenet, and nephew of Jeffrey's younger brother King John, Arthur's claim to the English crown was supported by France in Part 1, where, having been captured by John and imprisoned under Hubert de Burgh, he has persuaded his keeper not to blind him. As Part 2 begins he takes advantage of Hubert's absence, and preferring death to imprisonment, leaps from the castle walls, is broken on the rocks, and dies.

BASTARD
Philip, born Fauconbridge, but revealed in Part 1 as the bastard son of Richard Coeur de Lion and knighted as Richard Plantagenet, brings John the news of the barons' revolt and the immanent invasion of Lewes at the head of the French army. He attends the lords' meeting at Bury, and argues that it offends God's law for sworn subjects to rise up against an anointed king. When Pandulph's curse fails to end the attack on John he leads a sally against the gathered foe. Not knowing of Meloun's revelations to the English peers, and heavily outnumbered by the combined armies of the French and the alienated nobles, he leads the English soldiers north, but a sudden storm catches them as they are crossing the Wash and decimates the force. He and John take refuge in Swinstead Abbey. As they are dining in the abbey orchard, the king and the murderous Monk having drunk from a poisoned cup both die. Perceiving that the Abbot is an accessory, the Bastard kills him. When Pandulph, Henry, and the barons arrive, the prince asks him to destroy the abbey, and he it is who organizes the funeral procession and coronation and speaks the last speech of the play.

BEWCHAMPE
An English peer, one of the conspirators, Bewchampe has helped to assemble the lords for the secret meeting at Bury St. Edmonds.

EARL BIGOT
Bigot accompanies Lewes to the meeting at Bury.

EARL of ESSEX
With Pembrooke and Salisbury, Essex finds Arthur's body, and urges his companions to join him in revolt against the tyrannical John and on behalf of Lewes, Dauphin of France. He summons the English nobility to a meeting at Bury St. Edmunds, under pretence of pilgrimage, and calls for a general uprising. He follows Lewes to Dover, and rejects Pandulph's call, but is dismayed by Meloun's revelations of Lewes' perefidy, and resolves to rejoin King John.

EARL of PEMBROOKE
With Essex and Salisbury, Pembrooke finds Arthur's body, and supposes that his death was caused by John. At Bury he seconds Essex in calling for revolt. At Dover, however, dismayed by the revelation of Lewes' devious plan, he decides to renew his allegiance to John.

EARL of SALISBURY
In company with Essex and Pembroke he finds Arthur dead and agrees to join the plot against John, which he endorses strongly during the meeting at Bury; he is the first to take the oath to support Lewes. When Meloun discloses Lewes' evil scheme, however, he joins the other lords in reaffirming his support for John.

ELIANOR
John's mother, the Dowager Queen Elianor, whom he had left regent of the English provinces of France, has died between Parts 1 and 2, further increasing his distress.

FRENCH LORD
One of Lewes' companions, he agrees with the plan to kill the English lords once they have helped the French prince achieve the English crown.

FRIAR
An unnamed friar of Swinstead joins the Monk in wishing John dead.

FRIAR THOMAS
One of the monks of Swinstead, Friar Thomas (probably the same as the Friar Thomas of Part 1), enraged by John's depredations on the church, resolves to murder him while he is lodged in the abbey. He poisons a cup, and drinks from it himself in order to beguile the king; both die.

HENRY III
John's son, never mentioned until the end of the play, arrives at Swinstead with the repentant barons to witness his father's death, and urges the Bastard to pull the abbey down. He is eager to lead the English against Lewes and his French, but Pandulph encourages a peaceful settlement, and Henry is crowned as the third king of that name.

HUBERT DE BURGH
Arriving just after the three earls find Arthur's body at the foot of the castle walls, Hubert, the boy's keeper, insists that he left him safe and well. He returns to the king with the fateful news.

JOHN I
Terrified by Peter's prophecy that he will be unkinged, John offers to pardon the prophet if he will deny his proclamation of doom, but Peter declines, and his veracity is supported by news of Arthur's death and the revolt of the lords. Seeing his resistance to the papacy as the prime source of his troubles, John tells Pandulph that he will submit to papal authority, even to the point of surrendering his crown to the Pope. Pandulph restores him to grace, and although Lewes and his English allies scorn the legate's curse, Dover Castle remains in English hands, and the King is able to escape toward the north. Ill and in despair, he seeks refuge in Swinstead Abbey. As he, the Bastard, and the Abbot dine in the abbey orchard, he drinks from the cup poisoned by the Monk, repents his crimes and errors, and dies, though not before the remorseful barons and his son Henry pay him homage.

LEWES
Son of the King of France and husband of John's cousin Blanche of Castile, Lewes (the future Louis VIII) invades England with a French army, and makes his way through London to Bury St. Edmonds. He insists on an oath of support from all the conspirators, but doubts its sincerity, and plans to execute all of them and seize their estates after they have helped him to the English crown. He and his new allies confront the king at Dover, scorning Pandulph's curse, but cannot capture the fortress, and the Bastard's sally allows the King to escape toward Swinstead. Lewes follows, exulting in his triumph, but is dismayed to learn that the English lords have renewed their allegiance to John, and that the reinforcements he expected from France have perished on the Goodwin Sands. But the news of the disaster at the Wash encourages him to press on. He arrives at Swinstead to find John dead and the English nobles prepared to resist on behalf of young Henry; encouraged by Pandulph, Lewes abandons his claim and agrees to a peaceful withdrawal.

LORD CHESTER
His banishment for reprehending John moves Chester to join the conspiracy against the king.

LORD CRESSY
Cressy is named as one of the conspirators against John.

LORD EUSTACE
Eustace is named as one of the conspirators against John.

LORD FITZWATER
Fitzwater is named as one of the conspirators against John.

LORD PERCY
Percy is named as one of the conspirators against John.

LORD ROSS
Ross is named as one of the conspirators against John.

LORD VESCY
Vescy is named as one of the conspirators against John.

MELOUN
Viscount Meloun accompanies Lewes to England, and is told of the French prince's intention to dispose of the English lords once they have made him king. Fatally wounded during the Bastard's sally at Dover, he discloses Lewes' intended treachery to the English, and urges them to renew their fealty to John.

MESSENGERS
At least three different messengers bring news of various successes and disasters to both the English and the French.

PANDULPH
Cardinal Pandulph, the papal legate, accepts John's submission to the Pope, removes the excommunication pronounced in Part 1, and restores the crown. When Lewes and the English lords arrive at Dover Castle, Pandulph tells the French to go back home, and curses them when they decline to abandon their attack on John. He accompanies the repentant English nobles to Swinstead, blesses the dying John, and brokers a peace between Lewes and the newly crowned Henry III.

PETER the PROPHET
Refusing in Part 2 to revoke his prophecy that John will be unkinged, first made during Part 1, Peter is hanged.

RICHARD PLANTAGENET
Philip, born Fauconbridge, but revealed in Part 1 as the bastard son of Richard Coeur de Lion and knighted as Richard Plantagenet, brings John the news of the barons' revolt and the immanent invasion of Lewes at the head of the French army. He attends the lords' meeting at Bury, and argues that it offends God's law for sworn subjects to rise up against an anointed king. When Pandulph's curse fails to end the attack on John he leads a sally against the gathered foe. Not knowing of Meloun's revelations to the English peers, and heavily outnumbered by the combined armies of the French and the alienated nobles, he leads the English soldiers north, but a sudden storm catches them as they are crossing the Wash and decimates the force. He and John take refuge in Swinstead Abbey. As they are dining in the abbey orchard, the king and the murderous Monk having drunk from a poisoned cup both die. Perceiving that the Abbot is an accessory, the Bastard kills him. When Pandulph, Henry, and the barons arrive, the prince asks him to destroy the abbey, and he it is who organizes the funeral procession and coronation and speaks the last speech of the play.

Go Back to Top