his castles; brought over a crowd of foreign mercenaries from Poitou and Brabant; appealed for protection to the pope; made a desperate effort to win over Langton and the clergy by granting freedom of election to episcopal sees and religious houses; demanded an oath of allegiance from every freeman throughout England, and a renewal of fealty from every feudal tenant; and, finally, put himself under the special protection of the church by taking the cross as a crusader. The Nobles War. The barons, however, were too strong for him. With the full consent of the archbishop, they mustered their forces at Stamford. The host numbered two thousand knights, besides squires and footprepare for men, and was under the leadership of Eustace de Vesci and Nicholas de Stuteville, leaders of the northern barons; Robert Fitz-Walter, who, as grandson of Richard de Lucy, may be taken to represent the official nobility of Henry II.; Roger Bigod of Norfolk and Henry Bohun of Hereford, representing the old nobility; and William Marshall, Pembroke's son. Thence under the command of Fitz-Walter they marched south, and from Brackley sent commissioners to the king to set forth their demands. These were reported to John by the archbishop and William Marshall; but John's angry exclamation, "They might as well have asked my crown,' showed that he would only yield to force. The barons, therefore, marched on. Before long, however, it was clear that they had the nation at their back. The publication of their demands was received with enthusiasm. The Londoners welcomed them with open arms. Even John's most faithful followers, such as the earl of Pembroke and Ralf of Chester, felt that his case was desperate, and, coming to London, threw their influence into the national scale. John found himself deserted by all but foreigners like Peter des Roches, and mere mercenaries like Folkes de Breauté, and, brought to bay at last, was obliged to agree to the demands of the nation and affix his signature to the Great Charter, which he did at Runnymede, near Windsor, on June 15th, 1215. The demands of the barons, to which John now gave his consent, form the Great Charter. This document contains altogether sixty-three clauses, and deals with the church, the baronage, the collection of aids and scutages, the administration of justice, purveyance, trade, and a variety of other points, some of permanent and others of only temporary interest. The most important of John's concessions The Great Charter signed. were these: The church of England was 'to be free and have all its rights,' especially the newly-granted right of 'freedom of election' It should be noted, however, that no attempt was made to define the rights of the church; and with regard to elections, such important matters could not be left wholly to the caprice of the cathedral clergy and the The Church. monks. What the king lost the pope gained; but in practice the pope was generally willing to nominate the prelate whom the king wished, and this continued to be the case down to the Reformation. The feudal dues were fixed. In the charter of Henry 1. it had been conceded that reliefs should be 'just and lawful.' This had not been found sufficiently definite, and the relief was now fixed for Feudal Dues. an earl or baron at £100 for each whole barony, and for knights at 100 shillings for each whole knight's fee of twenty pounds a year in value. The estates of minors were for the future to be well managed, and the buildings kept in repair. Not more than a fair profit was to be made, and when the heir came of age the estate was to be handed over to him without a relief. Heiresses and heirs were not to be contracted in marriage without notice being given to their relations, and widows were not to be married against their will. No aids and scutages were to be collected, 'unless by the common consent of the realm,' except 'for redeeming the lord's body from captivity, for the making his eldest son a knight, and for Aids and the first marriage of his eldest daughter.' Any other aids Scutages, and scutages were to be voted by a council, 'to which were to be summoned the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons by sealed letters.' A general summons was also to be issued through all sheriffs and bailiffs to the other tenants-in-chief, and the letters were to state the cause why the meeting was to be held. The result of this concession was to secure the feudal landowners as a class from the illegal exaction of feudal dues. It cannot, however, be taken as forbidding arbitrary taxation in general, but only as an important step in that direction. The assembly also was a strictly feudal assembly, composed entirely of tenants-in-chief, present in their own persons, and was in no way representative. It forms, however, an important step in the growth of parliament. Another very important provision connected with the land was that no tenant by knight service, or by any free tenure, could be asked to perform any service to which he was not bound, a wide-reaching phrase, which probably points to the vexed question of foreign service. As has been noted, the higher courts of the country were developed out of the Curia Regis. This court went with the king or with the justiciar (when the king was abroad) wherever he might happen to The Law go, which was a great source of hardship to suitors, for, as the king was incessantly travelling, they might have to journey from M Courts. one end of England to the other before their suit could be heard. To remedy this, it was arranged that the Court of Common Pleas should always stay at a fixed place. The place ultimately chosen was Westminster, where lay one of the king's chief palaces. In time the other chief courts, the King's Bench and Exchequer, settled at the same place; and Westminster Hall, built by William Rufus, continued for centuries to be the headquarters of English judicature till the erection of the New Law Courts in 1882. It was also settled that the justices-in-Eyre were to make their circuits four times a year, so that suitors should not be kept waiting. Justices-in- At these assizes, the judges dealt with criminal prisoners, Eyre. with all cases of recent dispossession of property (novel disseisin), with questions arising out of succession to landed property (mort d'ancestor), and with matters concerning presentation to livings (darrein presentment). Such cases were to be decided by a jury, and all fines were to be similarly assessed. Habeas 'No free man,' ran the xxxix. clause, 'is to be taken or imprisoned, or deprived of his property, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way molested, nor will we go upon or send upon him, except by the legal judgment of his equals, or by the law of the land.' This celebrated clause must not be taken as conferring any new right; but simply as restating in the fullest terms what had been in theory and usually in practice the right of every Englishmen from the earliest recorded days. The difficulty, however, lay not in stating the law but in carrying it into effect, and many centuries had to elapse before this elementary right was secure for every class. By the law of the land was meant the judgment by the ordeal, then on the point of being abolished, or trial by battle. Scarcely less important was the xl. : 'To none will we sell, to none will we deny right or justice.' An attempt was made to get rid of the abuses of purveyance, by which the kings could require the services of carriages and Purveyance. carts, and to be supplied with provisions at the market rate; but as the right of pre-emption was preserved, there was still plenty of room for abuse. London was to have the same rights with regard to aids and scutages as the barons, and other towns were to keep their charters. Merchants were to come and go freely into the kingdom, and to be subject to no exactions. Those of states with which we London. Merchants. were at war were to be treated by us as we found that our merchants were treated by them. One of the best features of the Charter was the way in which every right granted to a baron was carefully extended to include the case of the simple freeman. The stock of the merchant and tradesman, and the agricultural implements of the villein, are preserved from undue amercement just as much as the land of the lord. His property was to go to his heirs as much as that of the landowner; and, finally, by a most comprehensive enactment, the barons and clergy Mesneagreed that every liberty granted by the king to his tenants should be observed by them towards their men. Tenants. These provisions and many others, which concerned every class of the population, form the substance of the Great Charter, which has ever since been regarded by Englishmen as the foundation of their liberties. In later times it took the position in popular esteem which had hitherto been held by the 'laws of Henry 1.' or the 'laws of King Edward,' and has been confirmed over and over again. out and Publication To ensure that its provisions should be carried out, a committee of twenty-five barons was appointed, including Robert Fitz- Carrying Walter, Eustace de Vesci, Roger Bigod, Henry Bohun, and the mayor of London; and a copy of it was sent to every county and to every important church and town in the kingdom, some of which copies are still extant. of Charter. The Pope frees John from his No sooner, however, was the Charter agreed to than John set about freeing himself from his oath. Flying secretly to the Isle of Wight, he hurried off Pandulf, the papal legate, to represent to Innocent the injury done to the interests of the crown, and therefore indirectly to the papacy itself. Pandulf Oath. did his work well. The pope granted the necessary dispensation. He also threatened to excommunicate the barons for levying war on a crusader, and for exacting concessions detrimental to the honour of the Holy See; and, finally, suspended Langton, whose conduct had naturally been painted in the blackest colours, from the exercise of his episcopal functions. In September, Langton left England to lay the case before the pope. John on his side was not idle. The granting of the Charter had satisfied the wishes of his opponents, and such faithful friends as the earls of Pembroke, Chester, and Salisbury were willing to give him a further chance. He himself, however, could think of nothing but mere revenge. All summer he was collecting troops, and after harvest was over he sent a body of foreign mercenaries, under the command of Falkes de Breauté, to harry the estates of the barons with fire and sword, and himself, spreading devastation as he marched, crossed the border to ravage Scotland, in revenge John ravages the Estates of the Barons. for the young King Alexander's adherence to the side of the popular party. Dismayed at the ruin of their estates, and apparently unable by their own resources to make head against John's trained mercenaries, the Crown barons, at the close of 1215, offered the crown to Louis, eldest son of Philip Augustus, and husband of Blanche (see page 168). By him it was accepted in the alleged right of his wife. John's great fleet having been destroyed in a offered to Louis of France. storm, seven thousand Frenchmen landed in November; and in February another band of Frenchmen sailed up the Thames and joined the barons in London. In May, Louis followed, and his arrival off Sandwich with six hundred and eighty knights was the signal for a precipitate retreat of John. Want of resolution in imminent danger was one of the most salient features of the king's character; but in this case he may have felt doubtful whether his French mercenaries would fight against the son of their king. Ravaging as he went, John retreated to Winchester; and meanwhile Louis made his way to London, where he was received with enthusiasm by the barons and accepted by citizens. The young prince made a very good impression, Londoners. and won popularity by making Simon Langton, a brother of the archbishop, his chancellor. The French mercenaries, of whom John's army was largely composed, refused to fight against him. Alexander of Scotland travelled to Dover to do him homage. William of Salisbury and other earls declared for Louis; and for a time it seemed as though John would be completely deserted. Louis A reaction, however, set in. Though Louis was received by the open country, the castles were all held for John. An attempt to seize Dover, John's commanded by Hubert de Burgh, ended in failure, and Successes. wasted three months of valuable time. A siege of Windsor was equally fruitless; while a report, which was industriously circulated, that if Louis were successful his first act would be to rid himself of all those barons who had taken arms against their lawful sovereign, spread consternation among his followers. For some time John remained in the south; but at the end of September he marched north, ravaging as he went, and took the city of Lincoln. Thence he went by way of Peterborough to Lynn, where he had placed much of his treasure. Disasters at From Lynn he marched back into Lincolnshire, across the the Wash. sands of the Wash; but in crossing the channel of the Welland his baggage was overwhelmed in a whirlpool, caused by the violent collision between the waters of that river and the incoming |