minister of the crown had been paramount during this and the
preceding reign. The right of election to the metropolitan See
had been constantly disputed between the monks of the cathedral
and the suffragan bishops of the province. The younger monks
thought to steal a march upon their rivals, and, even before the
Archbishop had been buried, had elected Reginald, the sub-prior.
Without waiting for the King’s approval, which had been invariably
required during the reigns of the Norman kings, they hurried the
Archbishop elect abroad, binding him not to disclose his election
till he reached Rome. His vanity got the better of his wisdom;
he boasted of his good fortune. A rumour of what had been done
reached the ears of the King. The elder monks took fright, betook
themselves to John, and received orders from him, in complete
disregard of the claims of the bishops, to elect John de Grey,
Bishop of Norwich, one of his ministers. He was elected, invested
with the temporalities, and messengers stating the fact were at
once sent to Rome. It was now the turn of the bishops to complain.
In point of fact, the last three archbishops had been elected by
the common consent of the bishops and monks, and with the approval
of the crown. The older right was decidedly with the bishops, and
they too despatched messengers to the Papal Court. A claim raised
by three distinct parties, and brought to his court to settle, was
exactly the opportunity Innocent desired. There was much in the
position of England and the English Church which he would have
wished to see changed. The election of bishops and archbishops,
under whatever forms it had been carried on, had been virtually
in the hands of the crown. Many of these appointments had been
given to Churchmen, who had devoted their chief time to the great
administrative system which Henry II. had perfected.[33] The
mixture of lay and ecclesiastical elements was very objectionable
to the Pope; while if there was one thing more than another which
he was desirous of suppressing, it was the independence of national
churches as represented by their bishops. Innocent, therefore, now
ruled that the bishops had not the slightest voice in the matter,
that the monks alone had from time immemorial possessed the right
of election, although it had accidentally fallen into abeyance. He
thus robbed both king and bishops of their share in the election,
and then declaring that the election of Reginald in the present
instance had been irregular, bade the monks, a considerable number
of whom had come to Rome, proceed at once to the election of his
old friend and fellow-student, Stephen Langton, cardinal priest
of St. Chrysagonus. He so far acknowledged the existence of John
as to write him several letters pressing him to receive the
Archbishop. On the rejection of these overtures, foreseeing that
he was entering on an important struggle, he arranged a peace with
Philip of Swabia, the rival of Otho the Guelph, the Papal candidate
for the throne of Germany, and proceeded to consecrate the new
archbishop with his own hands at Viterbo.
[Sidenote: John’s violence.]
[Sidenote: Interdict and flight of bishops. 1208.]
[Sidenote: Excommunication. 1209.]
John had already quarrelled with the bishops, because they
had refused, at a council held at St. Albans, to give him a
contribution which he had required, for the assistance of this same
Otho, who was his nephew. The news therefore of the consecration
at Viterbo at once moved him to violence. The monks of Canterbury
were driven from their monastery, and when, in the following year,
an interdict which the Pope had intrusted to the Bishops of London,
Ely and Worcester, was published, his hostility to the Church
became so extreme, that almost all the bishops fled; the Bishops
of Winchester, Durham and Norwich, two of whom belonged to the
ministerial body, being the only prelates left in England. The
interdict was of the severest form; all services of the Church,
with the exception of Baptism and extreme unction, being forbidden,
while the burial of the dead was allowed only in unconsecrated
ground; its effect was however weakened by the conduct of some of
the monastic orders, who claimed exemption from its operation,
and continued their services. The King’s anger knew no bounds.
The clergy were put beyond the protection of the law; orders
were issued to drive them from their benefices, and lawless acts
committed at their expense met with no punishment. While publishing
the interdict, the Pope had threatened still further measures, and
the King, conscious of his unpopularity among the barons, sought to
secure himself from the effects of the threatened excommunication
by seizing their sons as hostages. Nevertheless, though acting thus
violently, John showed the weakness of his character by continued
communication with the Pope, and occasional fitful acts of favour
to the Church; so much so, that, in the following year, Langton
prepared to come over to England, and upon the continued obstinacy
of the King, Innocent, feeling sure of his final victory, did
not shrink from issuing his threatened excommunication. John had
hoped to be able to exclude the knowledge of this step from the
island, as his father Henry had done; but the rumour of it soon
got abroad, and its effect was great. The fidelity even of the
ministers was shaken, and one of them rose from the council table,
asserting that it was unsafe for a beneficed clergyman any longer
to hold intercourse with the excommunicated King.
[Sidenote: Attack on the other insular nations, Scotland.]
In a state of nervous excitement, and mistrusting his nobles,
the King himself perpetually moved to and fro in his kingdom,
seldom staying more than a few days in one place. None the less
did he continue his old line of policy. Sums of money were still
frequently demanded, and sent out of the kingdom to support the
cause of Otho, who, having procured the assassination of his rival,
was again making head in Germany. Nor did he refrain from carrying
out a policy which in any other king would have been accepted as
national and good. The loss of the French provinces had thrown
England back upon itself, and the country now seemed inclined
to seek a surer foundation for its power in the more complete
subjection of the immediately surrounding nations. Thus William
the Lion of Scotland was compelled, by the advance of an English
army, to make a treaty which was in fact a complete submission to
England. He was obliged to pay a large sum of money, and to give up
into the hands of John his daughters Margaret and Isabella, as well
as hostages drawn from the noblest families of the country; while
some years later, in 1212, his son Alexander appeared in London,
and was knighted and swore fealty to the King.
[Sidenote: Ireland.]
[Sidenote: Wales.]
[Sidenote: Disaffection of the Northern barons.]
Shortly after this success in the North, John betook himself to
Ireland, where quarrels had arisen between the angry Irish nobles,
and where Hugh de Lacy had suppressed his rival John de Courcy,
and, being enfiefed with the kingdom of Ulster, had arrogated
to himself rights closely touching upon royalty. John raised
supplies from the English towns, and crossed over to Waterford. He
there succeeded in establishing order, and having introduced the
English form of administration, returned to England, leaving John
de Grey, Bishop of Norwich, behind him as his representative. He
then directed his arms towards Wales. Along the marches of that
country there was constant strife, as the Lords Marchers erected
new castles and encroached upon their neighbours. In 1211 the King
marched through the country, and received at the foot of Snowdon
the submission of Llewellyn, his son-in-law,[34] and other princes.
A fresh outbreak, accompanied by the usual cruel slaughter of the
garrisons of the castles, roused his anger. At Nottingham he had
all the Welsh hostages he had taken under the late treaty hanged,
and was preparing for further vengeance when news reached him of
the discontent of the Northern barons. He was induced therefore
to direct his arms against them, filled Northumberland with his
foreign mercenaries, and seized fresh hostages from his suspected
nobles.
[Sidenote: The King’s rapacity.]
These wars had but afforded still further opportunities for the
King’s rapacity; from which every class in the kingdom was now
suffering. Those classes even which John had hitherto somewhat
spared now felt the pressure. There was a universal persecution
of the Jews, who were all suddenly apprehended, and many of them
tortured to declare their wealth. He is said to have extracted
60,000 marks from the race. The clergy too had been obliged to find
him £100,000; the Cistercian monks some £30,000, or £40,000, and
subsequently, in 1212, another £12,000 was wrung from them, because
the chief of the order, acting as Papal Legate, had, during the
Albigensian crusade, injured Raymond, the King’s brother-in-law.
[Sidenote: League with Northern princes.]
While he had been thus, even in the pursuit of national objects,
estranging by his tyrannical conduct his own subjects, John had
been carrying on his opposition to the Pope outside the limits
of the kingdom; and events in Europe were rapidly approaching a
crisis. Otho, the Guelphic Emperor, upon the death of his rival,
had so completely succeeded, that in 1209 he had been solemnly
crowned Emperor in Italy. But no sooner had he gained his object
than the inevitable rivalry between Pope and Emperor again arose,
and in a few years he had forfeited the Pontiff’s favour so
completely as to become the object of his greatest hatred; he had
even been excommunicated, while the Pope found a new protegé in
the young Frederick of Sicily, whose anti-papal tendencies were
not at that time suspected. Similarity of circumstances rendered
still closer the bond of union between John and his nephew, and in
1211 a league of excommunicated leaders was formed, including all
the princes of the North of Europe; Ferrand of Flanders, the Duke
of Brabant, John, and Otho, were all members of it, and it was
chiefly organized by the activity of Reinald of Dammartin, Count of
Boulogne. The chief enemy of most of these confederates was Philip
of France; and John thought he saw in this league the means of
revenge against his old enemy.
[Sidenote: John is deposed 1213.]
[Sidenote: Surrender of the crown to the Pope.]
To complete the line of demarcation between the two parties,
Innocent, who was greatly moved by the description of the disorders
and persecutions in England, declared John’s crown forfeited,
and intrusted the carrying out of the sentence to Philip. In 1213
armies were collected on both sides, Philip was already on the
Channel, and John had assembled a large army on Barhamdown, not far
from Canterbury. But Innocent probably never intended to proceed
to extremities. To embroil two Christian nations would have been
to thwart one of his greatest objects, which was a new crusade.
But he knew his man; he knew the weakness which was hidden under
the violence and ostentatious passion of John, and he also well
knew from his emissaries in England the widespread disaffection
there. While the army was still lying in its camp, there appeared
at Dover Pandulf, as the Pope’s Legate. He demanded and obtained
an audience with the King, and there explained to him the gravity
of his position. He found means to bring home to his mind the
perfect insecurity of his position at home, while John, from his
own experience, knew both the power and the skill of Philip. The
consciousness of his danger destroyed his boastful obstinacy, and
he made an unconditional submission. The paper which he signed was
drawn up almost in the very words of the demands of Pandulf. He
offered to plead before the Papal Court; he promised peace and a
good reception to Langton, the other bishops, and banished laity;
he was to restore all Church property, and to make restitution for
all loss since the interdict. Having accepted these conditions,
the King went further. On the 15th of May, at Dover, he formally
resigned the crowns of England and Ireland into the hands of
Pandulf, and received them again as the Pope’s feudatory.
[Sidenote: John’s improved position.]
[Sidenote: Renewed difficulties with Stephen Langton.]
It was not without ulterior objects that John took this disgraceful
step. He believed that he saw in it a way out of all his
difficulties, and the means of revenging himself upon his enemies.
He had no intention of allowing his new position to interfere
with his continental alliances, and it was to their success that
he looked to re-establish his power. When Philip of France was no
longer the agent of Papal authority, he believed that it would
be possible for him to resist the storm that was gathering round
him. He expected that one great victory would go far to give him
back his lost French dominions, when the prestige of success, the
friendship of the Church, and the increase of power derived from
his regained dominions, would make him master of the situation
in England. At first all seemed to work as he wished. Pandulf
immediately hurried to France, and forbade Philip to attack the
Pope’s new vassal. The opportune attacks of Ferrand of Flanders
diverted the French army towards the dominions of that prince;
the English fleet which was sent to assist the Flemings destroyed
the whole French shipping in the port of Damme; the Archbishop
Langton was received with honour, John threw himself at his feet,
reconciled himself with the Church, issued writs to all the
churches to inquire into the amount of damages to be restored, and
ordered a great council to meet at St. Albans to settle finally the
restitution of the Church property. He then summoned his barons
to meet him, and join him in an attack upon Poitou. But he was
mistaken, both in the character of the Churchman, in whom he hoped
to find an obedient servant of the Papal See, and in the amount of
dissatisfaction among his nobles. The barons of the North refused
to follow him, and the meeting at St. Albans resulted, not in a
settlement of Church difficulties, but in the open declaration of
the complaints of all classes. A few weeks after, Langton, who had
seen through the character of John, and was full of hatred of his
tyranny, met an assembly of malcontents at St. Paul’s in London,
and there declaring that he had found documentary proof of their
rights, produced the coronation charter of Henry I., which was at
once accepted by the barons as the declaration of the views and
demands of their party.
[Sidenote: John hopes to remove them by victory in France. 1214.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Bonvines. 1214.]
In the meantime, two events had happened disastrous to the royal
cause. Nicholas of Tusculum had arrived as Papal Legate, and the
justiciary Godfrey Fitz-Peter had died. The Legate, ignorant of
the feelings of the English, and eager to support and make real
the Papal authority, had thoroughly adopted the King’s cause. He
threatened the clergy unless they at once accepted the arrangements
which the King offered; and although it was the very thing which
had before excited the anger of the Pope, he proceeded to fill
vacant benefices with the devoted adherents of the royal party.
In the place of the experienced Fitz-Peter, who, however far he
might have strained the administrative power of the crown, had
yet exercised a wholesome restraint on the King, Peter des Roches
was raised to the office of justiciary, and appointed to be the
representative of the crown during John’s absence in France. The
people saw themselves, as they thought, both in spiritual and
temporal matters in the hands of the tyrant. A great success abroad
might yet have checked the growing disaffection. The King led an
army to Rochelle. At first he was successful everywhere. He overran
Poitou, and crossing the Loire captured Anger, but the Poitevin
barons had been too deeply injured by him to be faithful friends;
their disaffection soon compelled him to retire. But the great
confederation was at work upon all sides. The Count of Flanders was
pressing in upon the North, Otho was advancing from Germany. In
July a junction was made at Valenciennes. Thither Philip now betook
himself; he was followed faithfully by most of his great nobles,
and by the militia of the chartered cities. The whole success of
his policy was at stake. A defeat would ruin the object of his
life--the establishment of the royal power in France. For Otho too
the stake was high; the triumph of the Guelphic house in its long
war against the Hohenstaufen would be the fruit of victory. For
such prizes the battle of Bouvines was fought, at a small place
upon the little river Marque. The fortune of the day was with the
French; in all directions they were victorious. Both for Otho
and John the defeat may be said to have been final; the Emperor
withdrew to his hereditary dominions, in Brunswick, where, after
some not very important fighting, he died in 1218. John returned,
having lost his last hope of re-establishing his power at home by
foreign conquests.
[Sidenote: Insurrection in England on his return. 1215.]
He returned to England to find himself in a worse position than
ever; for Innocent had found out the errors his legate had
committed, and recalled him; and John had lost another of his most
trusty counsellors by the death of the Bishop of Norwich. Thus left
to his own resources, with his usual folly he took the opportunity
of demanding a heavy scutage from those barons who had not followed
him abroad. The nobles of the North rose. A meeting was held in
November at Bury St. Edmunds, and it was there determined that they
would make their formal demands upon the King in arms at Christmas
time. John was keeping his Christmas at Worcester; but having no
doubt heard of the action of the barons, hurried to London, where
they appeared before him in arms. He demanded till Easter for
consideration. The time was given him. He used it in an attempt
to sow dissension among his enemies. He granted to the Church the
free right of election, hoping thereby to draw Langton from the
confederation. He took the oaths of the crusader to put himself
more immediately under the guardianship of the Church, and hastily
summoned troops of mercenaries from Poitou.
[Sidenote: Meeting at Brackley.]
[Sidenote: Capture of London.]
[Sidenote: Runnymede.]
The barons at once reassembled at Brackley. At their head was
Fitz-Walter, an old enemy of the King, and William Marshall, son
of the Earl of Pembroke. Their strength consisted of the nobles of
the North--and they were spoken of as the Northerners,--but many
barons from other parts of England joined them, and in spite of
various compromises offered by the King, they laid siege to the
castle of Northampton. They there received messages of adherence
from the mayor and citizens of London, into which city they were
received in May; and thus masters of the greater part of England,
and of the capital, they compelled John to receive them and hear
their demands at Runnymede, a meadow by the Thames’ side not far
from Staines. There was signed, on the 15th of June, the paper
of forty-nine articles, which they presented, and which were
afterwards drawn up into the shape of the sixty-three articles of
the Great Charter.
[Sidenote: Political position of England.]
That Great Charter was the joint work of the insurgent lords,
and of those who still in name remained faithful to the crown.
In many points this rising of the barons bears the appearance of
an ordinary feudal insurrection. Closer examination proves that
it was of a different character. The very success of Henry II in
his great plan of national regeneration had tended to change the
character of English politics. Till his time, the bulk of the
people had regarded the crown on the whole as a defence against
their feudal tyrants. In the pursuit of good government he had
crushed the feudal nobles, and had welded Norman and English into
one nation. In so doing, he had greatly increased the royal power;
for in those early times good government invariably implied a
strong monarchy. In patriotic hands his work might have continued.
But when the increased royal power passed to reckless rulers, such
as Richard and John, it enabled them to play the part of veritable
tyrants. They had used this power in ruthlessly pillaging the
people. The great justiciaries, Hubert and Fitz-Peter, content with
keeping order and retaining constitutional forms, had almost of
necessity lent themselves to this course, while lesser officials
had undoubtedly acted with arbitrary violence. The interests of the
King and his ministers had thus become separated from those of the
nation. To oppose this tyranny, nobles and people could now act in
concert. The struggle was no longer between King and people on one
side against the nobles on the other, but nobles and people had
joined against the King. Besides this political change, a great
revolution had taken place in the character of the nobility itself.
The feudal nobles, the friends of the Conqueror, had for the most
part given place to a new nobility, the sons of the counsellors
and ministers of Henry II. In the centre of England alone did
remnants of the old feudal families remain. The insurrection then,
coming from the North, was the work not of feudal barons but of
the new ministerial baronage. Again, the claims raised, although,
inasmuch as the monarchy was still in form a feudal monarchy, they
bear a resemblance to feudal claims, were such as might have been
expected from men trained in the habits of administration. They
were claims for the redress of abuses of constitutional power, and
were based upon a written document. In addition to this, they were
supported by the clergy, who were never and could never be feudal
in their views, and by the towns, whose interests were always
opposed to those of the feudal nobility. There is another thing to
be recollected; the Charter, as ultimately granted, was not the
same as the demands of the barons. A considerable number of the
older barons, of the bishops, and even the Archbishop himself,
remained ostensibly true to the King, and were present at Runnymede
as his followers. We are told that it was the younger nobles who
formed the strength of the reforming party. Nevertheless, with the
exception of the King’s actual ministers, and of those foreigners,
the introduction of whom was one of his gravest errors, the whole
of John’s own following acknowledged the justice of the baronial
claims, sympathized with the demands raised, and joined in putting
them into the best shape. The movement was in fact, even where not
in form, national.
[Sidenote: Magna Charta.]