John foolishly set out for the Continent, to fight the French at the
same time that the English barons were preparing to bring him to
terms. He was defeated in the decisive battle of Bouvines, in the
north of France, and returned to England crestfallen (1214), and in no
condition to resist demands at home. Late in the autumn the barons
met in the abbey church of Bury St. Edmunds, in Suffolk, under their
leader, Robert Fitz-Walter, of London. Advancing one by one up the
church to the high altar, they solemnly swore that they would oblige
John to grant the new charter, or they would declare war against him.