[Sidenote: =Lawlessness of the nobles=]
=306. Henry II a Great Ruler.= Nearly a hundred years had gone by since
William the Conqueror ruled England. There was great confusion in
England. The Norman nobles were doing about as they pleased. They rode
forth from their castles with their little armies and attacked each
other, or attacked the citizens of a town, sometimes murdering them.
Then Henry II, the grandson of William the Conqueror, came to the
throne. He was like his ancestor in many ways. He could brook no
opposition. He was short and powerfully built. "He had red hair, a bull
neck, and bow legs." He was careless about his dress, but was a hard
worker. He saw that England needed order first. He therefore first of
all compelled the nobles to behave by destroying some of their castles
and driving the soldiers, which they had hired, back to France.
[Sidenote: =Trial by jury=]
He changed the way of finding out whether or not a man was guilty.
Instead of employing the "ordeal by fire," by water, or by battle, he
sent judges around to different places. These judges called together
sixteen good men who told them about those who they thought had broken
the law. These men made up the Grand Jury.
Twelve other men were selected to examine into all the facts of a given
case before the man was condemned or set free. This way of "trying
men by jury" was a great improvement over the old way. In these ways
Henry II brought the evildoers in England, whether high or low, to obey
the law or be severely punished. England was now once more an orderly
country.
[Sidenote: =John a worthless king=]
=307. King John and the Pope.= The son of Henry II, John, was about the
worst king that England ever had. John was bad; he would not keep a
promise, was a great liar, was cruel, was cowardly, was a traitor and a
tyrant.
[Sidenote: =All the churches closed=]
Ever since the days of William the Conqueror the kings of England had
been the dukes of Normandy. In a war with the French king, John lost
all of Normandy. The Pope named as Archbishop of Canterbury a man whom
John opposed. The Pope and John quarreled. "The Pope closed every
church in England. No bells rang to call the people to prayer or to
service on the Sabbath. No priest could preach. The dead could not be
buried; the living might not marry. Every church stood silent and grass
grew about the doors."
The Pope called on the king of France to take John's place, for in the
eyes of the Pope John was no longer king of England. John turned about
and begged for the Pope's mercy. He promised to submit to his will and
to pay him a large amount of money each year.
[Sidenote: =The barons revolt=]
=308. John Compelled to Grant Magna Charta.= John was so cruel to his
own people that the barons rose in revolt. Their forefathers had been
free, and "why not we?" they asked. John only "laughed in his sleeve."
But the barons meant business. They met in a meadow, called Runnymede,
and summoned the king to face them. He came.
[Sidenote: =The meeting at Runnymede=]
It was a great scene. There stood the barons with their soldiers not
far away. Their faces showed their anger and their decision to have
their rights. The head of every house had his great banner which he
had carried to victory on many a field of battle. But worse than all,
there John saw the very Archbishop of Canterbury whom he had refused
to permit to enter England. John was furious, but he could not help
himself, for he heard the clanking of cold steel all around him.
[Sidenote: =What the Great Charter meant=]
The barons told him plainly that he must give all England a pledge to
do right according to England's law. They told him that this promise
must be signed by his own hand and on the signed paper he must place
the royal seal. This great paper is called the Great Charter--"Magna
Charta" (1215). Englishmen love it and have often shed their blood in
defense of it.
[Sidenote: =The Petition of Right=]
For more than four hundred years this charter was the foundation of
the rights of Englishmen. But they found in the charter only the old
laws which had come down from good Edward the Confessor (1042-1066).
In 1628 another English king, Charles I, was compelled by Parliament
to sign another charter, called the "Petition of Right." In this new
pledge to the English people they found nothing very new but mostly the
old laws or principles contained in Magna Charta.
[Sidenote: =The Bill of Rights=]
When James II was driven from the throne by the English people they
drew another charter, which King William signed (1689). This was called
the "Bill of Rights." In this there were not many new things, but it
contained mostly the principles of Magna Charta and the Petition of
Right. Besides, this last charter contained several rules which made
Parliament superior to the king.
When the American people after their Revolution came to make a
Constitution, they put in it many principles found in the English Bill
of Rights. We ought to admire and love our Constitution because it
contains ideas that have been tried out for more than ten centuries.