E N G L A K D. 



; :r. 



ith him, c-'niif r iu public or in private; and 



He< 



the port* of Norm, i 

 nioned all tli- 

 was in n short 

 land. John, tin 



:uul 1'icarily, ami I: 

 f tlir ciown to attend him, Ill- 

 y to make a d. I .11^- 



ted ami feared by all, w.i- eii- 



1 to advance to Mover at tin- hrail of (iO.OtK) men; 

 for tin- l'ngli-h, however much di-po-i >1 to submit in 

 matt- ion, would not yield their independence 



to any tribunal; and hud their monarch possessed \\N- 

 dom ami resolution to t:ike advantage of their spirit, and 

 of the natural enmity which subsi-ted between the two 

 nations, hi* might have retrieved his situation, and 

 broken for ever the power of the clergy within his do- 

 minion-. Hut every thing was to be feared from his 

 ( o\\ ardire and iiirajwcity. In.-tcad of bravieg the storm, 

 rm. he bartered liis kingdom for his .-ati !-. ; and at a con- 

 tlic ference with Fandulph the Pope's legate, he yielded 

 hini.M'lf entirely to the discretion of his master. Inno- 

 cent was satisfied with hi- submission, and commanded 

 Philip to dcti!-t I'rom his enterprise. John was now 

 made to fell the insolence of papal power. He was re- 

 quired to resign his kingdom into the hands of the 

 Pope : and to hold it as laudatory of the church of 

 Rome, bv the annual tribute of a thousand marks. He 

 then did homage to Paiululph as the Pope's represen- 

 tative: he came di.-armed into hi., presence. Hung himself 

 on his knees before him, and swore fealty. By this 

 abject sulimisMoii he secured his crown ; but he was 

 degraded in the eyes of his people. He next received 

 ah-olution from Langton the primate, before whom he 

 again professed his homage and obedience to the see 

 of Gome, and engaged to re-establish the good laws of 

 liis predecessors, particularly those of king Edward, 

 and to maintain justice and right in all his dominions. 

 John, being now restored to the favour of the church, 

 thought himself secure of tranquillity ; and continued 

 to exercise his authority with the most overbearing in- 

 -oVnce and oppression ; but he was only reserved for 

 Confafe- farther misfortunes, and still greater degradation. The 

 racyoftlic barons had entered into a confederacy for the restora- 

 B " 00 *' tionof their ancient privileges. They were encouraged 

 and supported in their design by the archbishop of 

 Canterbury, who, being of a generous and liberal spirit, 

 was anxious to promote the real interests of the king- 

 dom. At a numerous meeting of the barons summoned 

 by him at St Edmondsbury, under pretence of devotion, 

 he produced an old charter of Henry I. of which lie 

 exhorted them to demand the renewal and observance ; 

 and represented in such strong colours the arbitrary 

 conduct of their sovereign, that they all swore before 

 Uie high altar to support each other, and to make end- 

 less war upon the king, till he should grant their de- 

 mands. They accordingly assembled in London on an 

 appointed day, and preferred their requests to the king, 

 which were to renew the charter of Henry, and confirm 

 the laws of King Edward. John required some delay to 

 consider of their demands, and promised that he would 

 give them a final answer at the festival of Easter. In 

 the mean time he endeavoured to engage the Pope in 

 his favour, and to draw the clergy to his side by new 

 concessions. But in this case, the interests of the 

 clergy were in some measure involved with those of 

 the barons ; and the king soon found, that he had to 

 contend against the united strength of these two power- 

 ful bodies. Innocent, who had received alsu an appli- 



i from the bxron*, was more inclined to favour the ' 



: sulimi ivc John, than those high-spirited "*""~i~^" 

 ;> v mild rmhr.icf the first opportun;' 

 urn his dominion. He accord 



npNMcd his diMppmhalion at the conduct of tin- I- ;- 

 runs, but advised the king to grant such demands OS 

 v .if just and reasonable. At 1 '.aster the barons Man- 

 Ned a! M.nuford. attended by '2000 knight-, and a con- 

 siderabK- number of foot, aiid advancing to Iiraekle\ . 

 where the court then resided, presented a schedule oi 

 the!.- demand-i. The king rejected them with in>l 

 tion, and the barons immediately proceeded to oprn 

 war. They besieged the castle of Northampton, oc- 

 cupied Bedford, and were received into the capital 

 without opposition. They laid waste the king's park> 

 and palaces, and threatened \vith their vengeance all 

 the other barons who refused to join them. John find- 

 ing himself almost completely deserted, was obliged to 

 pretend compliance. I le met his barons at Runnemedc, 

 betweii Windsor and Staines ; and after a debate of a Magr 

 few days, sigr.ed and sealed that famous deed, called ' ' 

 the Great Charter, which secured very important liber- 

 ties and privileges to every order of men in the king- A. D. 121 '. 

 dom; and which is still regarded an the great bulwark 

 of British freedom : (See MAGNA CIIAHTA.) In order 

 to insure the execution of this deed, the city of Lon- 

 don was retained by the barons, and the Tower was con- 

 signed to the custody of the primate. They were also 

 allowed to choose 25 of their own number as conserva- 

 tors of the public liberties. When any of the article- 

 of the charter were infringed, four of these might ad- 

 monish the king to redress the grievance, and upon re- 

 fusal, the council of 2.5, in conjunction with the great 

 council, were empowered to compel him to observe tin- 

 charter by force of anus. These men were, in fact, in- 

 vested with the sovereign authority, and all the sub- 

 jects were Ixmnd to swear obedience to them under 

 tlie penalty of confiscation. 



John acquiesced, through fear, in all these regula- 

 tions; but he waited only a favourable season to re- 

 tract every promise which he had made. He retired 

 into the Isle of Wight, and, secluded from his cour- 

 tiers and his nobles, meditated plans for the recovery 

 of his authority. He complained to the Pope of the 

 violence of the barons; and secretly enlisted into his 

 service a numerous body of rapacious Braban<;ons. In- 

 nocent, enraged at the presumption of the barons in 

 despising his mandate, issued a bull, in which he an- 

 nulled and abrogated the whole charter; he prohi- 

 bited the barons from exacting the observance of it, and n olicwa j 

 the king from paying any regard to it ; and excommuni- of the civfl 

 eated all who should persevere in defending it. John, r 

 at the same time, let loose his mercenaries upon the de- 

 fenceless inhabitants; and, as the barons, trusting to 

 the security given them by charter, had disbanded their 

 forces, he marched from Dover to Berwick without op- 

 position, reducing, wherever he went, the castles and 

 villages to ashes, and filling the whole kingdom with 

 coM-ternation and misery. The barons, in this extre- 

 mity, being unable to make head against their sovereign, 

 offered the crown to Louis, the son of Philip, if Ill- 

 would protect them from the violence of the tyrant. 

 Philip accepted their submission, and, regardless of the p^ D9e 

 menaces of the pope, sent over a small army t<j their LOTUS oT 

 assistance; and soon after Louis arrived with more France u 

 numerous forces. On the appearance of Louis, many invited ow 

 of John's foreign troops deserted to the enemy ; but 

 both armies committed the most wanton ravages. The 

 French advanced to London, where Louis was solemn- 



