JOHN'S EDUCATION AND INFLUENCES
How the king was shaped by his upbringing
John’s parents separated shortly after his birth when Eleanor returned to her native Aquitaine in the south of France, taking her favourite son, Richard, with her. Henry II lived openly with his mistress, Rosamund de Clifford, a few years afterwards. John was left in the care of a wet nurse, before being sent with his sister Joan to Fontevraud Abbey in his father’s homeland of Anjou. They were educated by the monks, although John was assigned a tutor to help him understand the art of managing a household containing servants and military companions, something he experienced first-hand when he spent time in the retinue of his older brother Henry. John was clearly intelligent with a thirst for knowledge – in later life he was notable among his contemporaries for travelling with a personal library – and his flair for government and administration was kindled under the tutelage of Ranulf de Glanvill, one of the leading administrators of the age who helped deliver Henry II’S legal reforms in England. John’s love of hunting was also developed during these formative years, something he pursued endlessly during his time in England after 1204.