cemented by oaths taken by the barons, in the presence of Langton, before the high altar at St. Edmond's Bury, on the 20th of November, 1214. They swore adherence to each other; and that if the King refused to grant them those liberties, they would withdraw themselves from fealty until he should by charter, sealed with his seal, confirm all they demanded. They all agreed that they would go to the King together, at Christmas, to demand the liberties, and in the meantime would provide themselves with horses and arms.1

At the time appointed the confederated barons went to the King at Worcester, where he held his court, and made their demands. The King evaded them, and required and obtained until the following Easter to consider them. He employed that interval in gaining over the clergy and the Pope to his interests. "He gave up by a charter, to all the monasteries and cathedrals in the kingdom, the free right of electing their prelates, reserving only the form of a congé d'élire beforehand, and of the royal assent afterwards; but expressly declaring, that if both or either were arbitrarily withheld by the Crown, the election, notwithstanding, should be valid." John transmitted this charter to Rome, where the barons also sent ambassadors to entreat the Pope to support their claims. But John outbid them in the favour of the Holy Father, not only by so great a concession of power to the Church, but by also taking upon him the Cross, and vowing an expedition to the Holy Land against the infidels.2

not published, but left in deposit in the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury for the time being, and so to his successors. Stephen Langton, who was ever a traitor to the King, produced this charter and showed it to the barons, thereby encouraging them to make war against the King." (Prerogative of Parliaments.) As the deposit of the charter with the Archbishop of Canterbury would have been in accordance with the Anglo-Saxon custom of confiding records to the care of the Church, Sir W. Raleigh's account seems very like the truth.

1 Brady's History, vol. i. p. 494.

2 Blackstone's Tracts.-History of the Charters, p. 292.

1215.]

MAGNA CHARTA GRANTED.

49

The Pope sent letters to the barons, disapproving of their endeavour to extort by force what they should have asked with reverence. But his letters did not arrive until after Easter, when the king had engaged to give his answer to the barons. They assembled at Stamford, in Lincolnshire, with a numerous army, which was placed under the command of Robert Fitzwalter, Earl of Dunmore, styling himself "Marshal of the Army of God and of the Holy Church in England." From thence they marched to Brackley, near Oxford, at which city the king was. The king, alarmed, sent to inquire the nature and extent of the liberties demanded. The barons replied by sending him a schedule of their demands. John exclaimed in his fury, with his usual oath, "And why do they not demand my crown also? By God's teeth I will not grant them liberties that will make me a slave!" The barons declared war; and actual hostilities were commenced, when the king agreed to a conference with the barons, to be held at Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the 9th of June, 1215.

The conference having been adjourned to the 15th of June, was held on that day. Articles or heads of agreement were entered into by the Earl of Pembroke on behalf of the king, and by Fitzwalter on behalf of the barons. They were framed from the schedule of the barons, and are thus headed: "These are the articles which the barons ask, and which our lord the king hath granted." They were afterwards rendered into two charters, one of which became the Great Charter, the other the Charter of the Forests. The barons having obtained the charters, did homage to their sovereign, and the assembly was dissolved.3

The great extent of the liberties and privileges granted

1 The articles are in Latin, and are entitled, "Ista sunt capitula, quæ Barones petunt, et Dominus Rex concedit." (Rymer's Fœdera, vol. i. p. 129.)

2 Brady's History, vol. i. p. 497.

3 Blackstone's Law Tracts, p. 307. Blackstone says that such a number of originals was made that one was deposited in every county, or at least in every diocese.

Ꭰ

or confirmed by this charter, and its superior importance as compared with the previous charters of the Norman Kings, obtained for it the distinguishing name of Magna Charta, and has made it celebrated as a main bulwark of the constitution.1 These liberties and privileges, rather indiscriminately placed in the charter, may be arranged into classes-those granted to the Church and Clergy,to the feudal Lords or nobility and their vassals or tenants, -to cities, towns, and boroughs, and for the encouragement of trade, those concerning the administration of justice,those granted to the body of the people, as freemen, in extension of their rights and liberties, or in restraint of the Royal prerogatives; and, lastly, axioms and principles of constitutional government, of imperishable importance. When these have been selected, there will remain some articles which were of a temporary character, to remove or redress then existing grievances, that had resulted from the illegal acts or the hostile conduct of John.

The Great Charter opens in a high monarchic strain,— "John, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Earl of Anjou; to his archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries, foresters, sheriffs, governors, officers, and to all his bailiffs and liegemen, greeting: Know ye that we, in the presence of God, and for the health of our soul and the souls of our ancestors and heirs, and to the honour of God and the exaltation of his Holy Church, and amendment of our kingdom, by advice of our venerable fathers Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church; Henry, Archbishop of Dublin, William of London, Peter of Winchester, Jocelin of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh of Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of Coventry, and Benedict of Rochester, Bishops; Master Pandulph, our Lord the Pope's sub-deacon and ancient servant; Brother Aymeric, Master

1 Sir Walter Raleigh calls the charter of Henry I. the Great Charter, and says that John confirmed it. (Privilege of Parliaments.)

1215.]

LIBERTIES OF THE CHURCH.

51

of the Temple in England; and the noble persons William Marescall, Earl of Pembroke, William, Earl of Salisbury, William, Earl of Warren, William, Earl of Arundel, Alan de Galloway, Constable of Scotland; Warin Fitzgerald, Peter Fitzherbert, Hubert de Burgh, Seneschal of Poictou; Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitzherbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip de Albiney, Robert de Roppelay, John Marescall, John Fitzhugh, and others our liegemen." It concludes with the words, "Given under our hand in the presence of the witnesses above-named, and many others, in the meadow called Runimede, between Windeleshore and Stanes, the 15th day of June, in the 17th year of our reign" (1215).1

The opening article of the Great Charter relates to the Church. It is "in the first place granted to God, and by this our present charter confirmed, for us and our heirs for ever: That the English Church3 shall be free and enjoy her whole rights and her liberties inviolable. And we will have them so to be observed as it may appear that the freedom of elections, which was reckoned most necessary for the English Church, which we granted and confirmed by our charter, and obtained the confirmation of it from Pope Innocent III., before the discord between us and our Barons, was of our mere free will; which charter we will observe, and do will it to be faithfully observed by our heirs for ever."

That article is followed by a general grant "to all our freemen of our kingdom, for us and our heirs for ever, of all the under-written liberties, to have and to hold, to them and their heirs, of us and our heirs."

The first of the new liberties granted are those relating to the tenure of land under the feudal system, their purpose

1 The many others may be intended to include Robert Fitzwalter and his confederates.

2 There are several translations of the Charter of John which are not verbally alike.

3 "Anglicana Ecclesia." (See the Latin Charter, Rymer's Foedera, vol. i. p. 131.)

being to relieve the tenants in chief of the crown from the oppression of the king's prerogatives as Lord Paramount. These have lost their importance and most of their interest, since the final extinction of the feudal system by act of parliament in the reign of Charles II. But they were directed to the mitigation of grievances at the time oppressive; and in a constitutional point of view they were imFortant, as introducing law and certainty in place of undefined power. The remedies provided by the several articles suggest the abuses that prevailed, and give a picture of the relations then subsisting between the king and the nobles and their families. They are substantially as follows:

3. If an earl or baron, or others who hold of the king in capite, by military service, shall die, leaving his heir of full age, he shall have his inheritance by the ancient relief; / the heir of an earl, for a whole earl's barony, £100; of a baron, for a whole barony, £100 [marks]; of a knight, for a whole knight's-fee, by 100 shillings at most. 4. But if the heir shall be under age, and shall be in ward, when he comes of age, he shall have his inheritance without relief or without fine. 5. The warden of the land of the heir under age shall take of his land only reasonable issues, customs, and services; and that without destruction and waste of the men or things. And if the king commit the guardianship of these lands to the sheriff or any other, and he make destruction and waste on the ward-lands, he shall be compelled to give satisfaction. Or if the king sell the wardship of any lands to any one, and he makes destruction or waste, he shall lose the wardship. 6. The warden shall keep up and maintain the houses and other things pertaining to the heir's land, and shall restore to the heir, when he comes of age, his whole land stocked with ploughs and carriages. 7. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, so as that, before matrimony shall be contracted, those who are nearest to the heir in blood shall be made acquainted with it. 8. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall forthwith and without any difficulty have her marriage and her inheri