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.It was partly due to these changes, partly to the generalon-going of things, that in the other direction the judgment ofVOL.II.28 THE GREAT CHARTER434CHAP.the baron was more clear, his view of his own rights andwrongs more specific than a hundred years before, and, by farmost important of all, that he had come to a definite under-standing of the principle that the king, as lord of his vassals,was just as much under obligation to keep the law as thebaron was.Independent of these two main lines of develop-ment was the personal tyranny of John, his contemptuousdisregard of custom and right in dealing with men, his violentoverriding of the processes of his own courts in arbitraryarrest and cruel punishment.The charter of Henry I wouldbe a suggestive model a new charter must follow its lines andbe founded on its principles, but the needs of the barons wouldnow go far beyond its meagre provisions and demand thetranslation of its general statements into specific form.According to the agreement they had made the baronscame together at London soon after January I,with some show of arms, and demanded of the king the con-firmation of the charter of Henry I.John replied that thematter was new and important, and that he must have sometime for consideration, and asked for delay until the octave ofEaster, April 26.With reluctance the barons made thisconcession, Stephen William Marshal, and theBishop of becoming sureties for the king that he wouldThe interval which was allowedthen give satisfaction to all.him John used in a variety of attempts to strengthen himselfand to prepare for the trial of arms which he must haveknown to be inevitable.On the of the previous Novem-ber he had issued a charter granting to the cathedral churchesand monasteries throughout England full freedom of elec-tion, and this charter he now reissued a few days after themeeting with the barons.If this was an attempt to separatethe clergy from the cause of the barons, or to bring the arch-bishop over wholly to his own side, it was a failure.Aboutthe same time he adopted a familiar expedient and orderedthe oath of allegiance to himself against all men to be takenthroughout the country, but he added a new clause re-quiring men to swear to stand by him against theSince the discussion of the charter had begun a general inter-est in its provisions had been excited, and the determinationWalter of Coventry, ii. THE CHARTER DEMANDEDto secure the liberties it embodied had grown rapidly, so that CHAP.now the king quickly found, by the opposition aroused, thatin this peculiar demand he had overshot the mark, and he wasobliged to recall his orders.Naturally John turned at onceto the pope, who was now under obligation to protect himfrom his enemies, but his envoy was followed by Eustace deVescy, who argued strongly for barons side.The pope sletters to England in reply did not afford decisive support toeither party, though more in favour of the king s, who wasexhorted, however, to grant just petitions of the barons.On Ash Wednesday John went so far as to assume the crossof the crusader, most likely to secure additional favour fromthe pope, who was very anxious to renew the attempt that hadfailed in the early part of his reign, no doubt in mindalso the personal immunities it would secure him.For troopsto resist the barons in the field the king s reliance was chiefly,as it had been during all his reign, on soldiers hired abroad,and he made efforts to these his service from Flan-ders and from promising great rewards to knightswho would join him from thence, as well as from Wales.John s preparations alarmed the barons, and they deter-mined not to wait for April the appointed day for theking s answer.They came together in arms at Stamford,advanced from thence to Northampton, and then on toley to be in neighbourhood of the king, who was then atOxford.Their array was a formidable one.The re-corded gives us the names of five earls, forty barons, and onebishop, Giles de Braose, who had family wrongs to avengeand while party was called the Northerners, because themovement had such strong support in that part of England,other portions of the country were well represented.ists of the time noticed that younger men inclined to the sideof insurgents, while the older remained with the king.This fact in some cases divided families, as in the case of theMarshals, William the elder staying with John, while Williamthe younger was with barons.one abode in theking s company does not indicate, however, that his sympa-thies in this struggle were on that side.Stephenwas in form with the king and acted as his representative inthe negotiations, though it was universally known that he THE GREATCHAP.supported the reforms asked for.It is probable that thiswas true also of the Earl of Pembroke.These two were sentby John to the barons to get an exact statement of theirdemands, and returned with a schedule, which was recitedto the king point by point.These were no doubt the sameas the articles presented to the king afterwards, on whichthe Great Charter was based.When John was made to under-stand what they meant, his hot, ancestral temper swept himaway in an insane passion of anger.Why do they not go onand demand the kingdom itself? he cried, and added with afurious oath that he would never make himself a slave bygranting such concessions.When the barons received their answer, they decided onimmediate war.As they viewed the case, this was a stepjustified by the feudal law.It was their contention that thereforms they demanded had been granted and recognized aslegal by former kings.In other words, their suzerain wasdenying them their hereditary rights, acknowledged and con-ceded by his predecessors.To the feudal mind the situationwhich this fact created was simple and obvious.They wereno longer bound by any fealty to him.It was their right tomake war upon him until he should consent to grant themwhat was their due
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