Editing John, King of England (section)

=== Crown Jewels ===
John returned west but is said to have lost much of his baggage train along the way.<ref name="WarrenP254">Warren, p. 254.</ref> [[Roger of Wendover]] provides the most graphic account of this, suggesting that the King's belongings, including the [[English Crown Jewels]], were lost as he crossed one of the tidal estuaries which empties into [[the Wash]], being sucked in by [[quicksand]] and [[whirlpool]]s.<ref name=WarrenP254/> Accounts of the incident vary considerably between the various chroniclers and the exact location of the incident has never been confirmed; the losses may have involved only a few of his pack-horses.<ref>Warren, pp. 284–285; Barlow, p. 356.</ref> Modern historians assert that by October 1216 John faced a "stalemate", "a military situation uncompromised by defeat".<ref>Turner, p. 195; Barlow, p. 357.</ref>

John's illness grew worse and by the time he reached [[Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire]], he was unable to travel any farther; he died on the night of 18/19 October.<ref name=Handbook37/><ref>Warren, pp. 254–255.</ref> Numerous—probably fictitious—accounts circulated soon after his death that he had been killed by poisoned ale, poisoned plums or a "surfeit of peaches".<ref>Given-Wilson, p. 87.</ref> His body was escorted south by a company of mercenaries and he was buried in [[Worcester Cathedral]] in front of the altar of St Wulfstan.<ref>Warren, p. 255; McLynn, p. 460.</ref> A new [[sarcophagus]] with an [[effigy]] was made for him in 1232, in which his remains now rest.<ref>Danziger and Gillingham, p. 270.</ref>