This song comes to us after all the villagers of Nottingham have fled to Sherwood Forest to get away from Prince John and his taxes. Little John sings this song as a way to keep the morale up among the villagers. It makes fun of how Prince John acts and what will happen to him eventually if he's not careful.
This one has always been my favorite song in Robin Hood because of how upbeat it is and you can't sing it without a smile. Even Sir Hiss and The Sheriff of Nottingham like the song about Prince John and they're his flunkies! When I was trying to decide what song to put for my DisneyQuotes SongSaturday I had a couple I liked and then this one made me wonder just if there was a Prince John in real life. So I did a little digging and found that the Prince John in Robin Hood was inspired by King John of England who ruled as King from 1199-1216 and was just as bumbling as the legends said; tried to overthrow King Richard's court while King Richard was away on The Third Crusade and taxing the people to death, and had to deal with rebellious barons who hated Prince-then-King John's policies. Yet what the legends don't state is that after King Richard passed away Prince John officially became King John because he was the next-in-line for the throne. Legends also don't state that Prince John was the reason why England had lost a lot of land on French soil (including Normandy) and that was the reason for a majority of the high taxes, which was to buy back all the land Prince/King John lost while he was on the throne. Yet for all his bumbling, he also had some military victories in 1202 and was one of the creators and signers of the first version of The Magna Carta (though he didnt follow that peace treaty while he was alive). The legends about Prince John do not go so far as his death, to my knowledge, and only have him jailed by King Richard. A little more than a year after signing The Magna Carta, King John caught a bad case of dysentery on what would become his last attempt to regain control over areas held by rebellious barons who hated King John. While treatable today due to advances in modern medicine, the dysentery ultimately killed King John, giving him a painful death.
To be honest, I was not sure how I was going to go about picking apart this song, especially since I'm facinated by the English royalty. My curiousity led me to find out if Prince John of Robin Hood was based on a real historical person, which he was. The English monarchy is so diffrent than our governmental systems here in The States. It has evolved so well with time and yet still keeps that fairytale-ness quality to it (whether it's intended to or not). Not going to lie either, I love watching clips of all the Royal Weddings, seeing pictures of all the new little Royals growing up, and loving how down-to-earth they are being raised(!). I also love all the good that they are trying to do too, especially the current Princes (Prince William and Prince Harry)'s work with bringing mental health more in the open and showing the world that they struggle with their feelings sometimes too. I think it's safe to say that England has learned its lesson after having a ruler like King John.
So until next time, Keep Cooking with Character!
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