Part 37 (1/2)

=61.= And whereas, for the honor of G.o.d and the amendment of our kingdom, and for the better quieting the discord that has arisen between us and our barons, we have granted all these things aforesaid. Willing to render them firm and lasting, we do give and grant our subjects the underwritten security, namely, that the barons may choose five and twenty barons of the kingdom, whom they think convenient, who shall take care, with all their might, to hold and observe, and cause to be observed, the peace and liberties we have granted them, and by this our present Charter confirmed....[445]

=63.= ... It is also sworn, as well on our part as on the part of the barons, that all the things aforesaid shall be observed in good faith, and without evil duplicity. Given under our hand, in the presence of the witnesses above named, and many others, in the meadow called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, the 15th day of June, in the 17th year of our reign.

FOOTNOTES:

[408] The barons attended the meeting under the pretense of making a religious pilgrimage.

[409] This charter, granted at the coronation of Henry I. in 1100, contained a renunciation of the evil practices which had marked the government of William the Conqueror and William Rufus. It was from this doc.u.ment mainly that the barons in 1215 drew their const.i.tutional programme.

[410] The Knights Templars, having purchased all that part of the banks of the Thames lying between Whitefriars and Ess.e.x Street, erected on it a magnificent structure which was known as the New Temple, in distinction from the Old Temple on the south side of Holborn. Meetings of Parliament and of the king's council were frequently held in the New Temple; here also were kept the crown jewels. Ultimately, after the suppression of the Templars by Edward II., the Temple became one of England's most celebrated schools of law.

[411] This refers to the king's absolution at the hands of Stephen Langton, archbishop of Canterbury, July 20, 1213, after his submission to the papacy. At that time John took an oath on the Bible to the effect that he would restore the good laws of his forefathers and render to all men their rights.

[412] The exact day upon which John took the crusader's vow is uncertain. It was probably Ash Wednesday (March 4), 1215. The king's object was in part to get the personal protection which the sanct.i.ty of the vow carried with it and in part to enlist the sympathies of the Pope and make it appear that the barons were guilty of interfering with a crusade.

[413] On the southern border of Lincolns.h.i.+re.

[414] On the Thames in Oxfords.h.i.+re. This statement of the chronicler is incorrect. John was yet in London.

[415] Octave means the period of eight days following a religious festival. This Monday was April 27.

[416] Brackley is about twenty-two miles north of Oxford.

[417] Henry I.'s charter, 1100.

[418] Edward the Confessor, king from 1042 to 1066.

[419] In the county of Northampton, in central England.

[420] Engines for hurling stones.

[421] About twenty miles southeast of Northampton.

[422] The commander of Bedford Castle.

[423] The loss of London by the king was a turning point in the contest. Thereafter the barons' party gained rapidly and its complete success was only a question of time.

[424] Runnymede, on the Thames.

[425] The charter referred to, in which the liberties of the Church were confirmed, was granted in November, 1214, and renewed in January, 1215. It was in the nature of a bribe offered the clergy by the king in the hope of winning their support in his struggle with the barons. The liberty granted was particularly that of ”canonical election,” i.e., the privilege of the cathedral chapters to elect bishops without being dominated in their choice by the king. Henry I.'s charter (1100) contained a similar provision, but it had not been observed in practice.

[426] Tenants _in capite_, i.e., men holding land directly from the king on condition of military service.

[427] The object of this chapter is, in general, to prevent the exaction of excessive reliefs. The provision of Henry I.'s charter that reliefs should be just and reasonable had become a dead letter.

[428] During the heir's minority the king received the profits of the estate; in consequence of this the payment of relief by such an heir was to be remitted.

[429] Scutage (from _scutum_, s.h.i.+eld) was payment made to the king by persons who owed military service but preferred to give money instead.