But with time, the people decided to have a say in who should be king (which is why Empress Matilda never took the place over), and why, when Richard the Lion hearted died, that the queen mother and William Marshall figured a bad English king was better than a 12 year old French one who might or might not be a good good person, but hated the English.
British language podcast discusses why John Lackland vs Prince Arthur was a prelude to making England feel it was it's own country.
yes, I know: The "hundred year war" tended to complicate matters, but most of that was fought in France.
John eventually emerged victorious, but in the process, he set in motion the events that led to the loss of Normandy and most of northern France. The loss of these territories produced a renewed sense of “Englishness” and a revival of English literature. This English renaissance was spearheaded by an English translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s “History of the Kings of Britain.” For the first time, the legend of King Arthur was presented in English verse.
but if Arthur had ruled England, England probably would have evolved into a French outpost, Instead, it started to see itself as English (and the H*** with all those Frenchies). Hence, a lot of the emotion behind Brexit is about giving the finger to bureaucrats in Brussels who try to boss them around and tell them what tea kettle they are allowed to buy.
And most folks today only know about King John as the bad guy in Robin Hood.
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