THE LOSS OF NORMANDY. THE SIGNING OF THE CHARTER
By the river Seine, on a high rock, Richard built a fine castle to
guard Normandy. When the King of France heard of its building, he said,
"If its walls were of iron I would take it," and Richard replied, "If
its walls were of butter I would hold it," and he named it Château
Gaillard, Saucy Castle. When Richard died, his brother John did not
trouble to keep many soldiers there, and the King of France was glad,
for he desired it greatly.
Eleanor, the King's mother, gathered soldiers for her son, and though
she was very old she did her best to save Normandy. Yet Saucy Castle
fell and the Norman barons would not fight for John. So Normandy was
lost and the barons had to choose between their French lands and their
English lands. Many, who were fierce and turbulent, went to live in
Normandy, and those who had learned to love their new country stayed in
England. Though they still spoke French they served England well and
tried to make the King rule more justly.
Now the people of England had been proud of Normandy and they were
angry with John because he had lost it. In his days, too, there was a
great quarrel between the King and the Pope, and the priests were
forbidden to hold any services in England, and for five years the
churches and monasteries were closed, the dead were buried without
prayer in the ditches and highways, and no one could marry in church.
"The images of saints were taken down and veiled; the frequent tinkle
of the convent bell no longer told the serf at the plough how the weary
hours were passing or guided the traveller through the forest to a
shelter for the night." The people grew afraid, and they hated the
King, who was the cause of much evil.
Yet John did not care, and he would not receive the new Archbishop whom
the Pope had sent. Then the Pope banished the King from the Church and
declared him an outlaw, whose life any man might take, and still the
King had no fear. At last, the Pope offered the English crown to the
French King and John knew that the French King was a dangerous enemy,
therefore he promised to do whatever the Pope wished.
So the new Archbishop, Stephen Langton, was received by the King. Soon
he began to talk with the barons of the wrongs that the King did daily
in the land, and they searched for the old charter that Henry I had
given his people. Then they drew up the Great Charter, asking the King
to grant them justice.
John met the barons and the Archbishop in a meadow near Windsor, called
Runnymede. When he saw the charter he said, "These articles are pure
foolishness! Why do they not ask me for the Kingdom at once? I will
never give them such freedom as would make me a slave." But looking
round at the fierce barons there, unwillingly he set his seal to it.
Thus the King promised that no freeman should be imprisoned without a
trial by his equals, that no one should be fined so heavily that he
could not pay or that he had to give up the tools by which he earned
his daily bread. He promised too that he would not take money from his
people without asking the advice of his council and that he would let
the merchants come and go freely in the land.
In London, you may still see the old charter signed by the barons who
were present, and bearing the King's seal, and when you are able to
read it, you can find out what other promises the King made that day.