Virtually impossible for him to hang on to his territory further south. The dispute

between John and Philip rumbled on for most of the rest of the reign,

but in 1214, England and France fought the decisive battle of Bouvines. Philip

was the winner, and John lost all his French lands north of the River Loire.

The king’s old nickname Lackland had come back to haunt him.

King versus barons

Things weren’t much better at home. Like his brother before him, John was

overtaxing his barons. He had also tried to interfere in the business of the

church. In 1215, he faced a baronial revolt, but it was a revolt with a difference.

Usually revolts involved a rival claimant to the throne, but with Arthur

dead, no obvious candidate existed. Instead of promoting a rival to the king,

the nobles produced one of the most famous documents in English history:

Magna Carta.

The idea behind Magna Carta (the name means Great Charter) was to restrict

the king’s power and to protect others, especially the barons and the church,

from misuses of royal power. It was a long document with 63 clauses covering

many different aspects of royal responsibility. Key provisions included:

_ No free man would be punished or imprisoned without prior judgement

according to the law of the land.

_ Free men should have the right to judgement by their peers.

_ Justice would not be denied, delayed, or sold.

_ Certain taxes should be levied only with the common consent of the

country.

_ The freedom of the church was to be upheld.

_ A committee of 25 barons should monitor the king’s actions and bring

him to book if he broke any of the provisions of the charter.

In addition, Magna Carta contained many clauses designed to protect specific

rights of the barons. But the document was addressed to all free men and

their heirs, ‘for ever’, and so took on the character of a great declaration of

human liberty. As a result, Magna Carta has been quoted, and cited, and misquoted,

ever since in discussions about human rights.

In June 1215, the barons met John at Runnymede, on the south bank of the

Thames near Windsor, and twisted his arm. The rebels had swept through

the country and taken over London, and John had little choice but to accept

their demands. John put his seal to the document.

But anyone who knew John knew that he would not keep the promises contained

in Magna Carta. As soon as he could, the cunning king appealed to the

Pope, pleading that the head of the church should declare the charter illegal,

and promising to go on Crusade as an extra inducement. The Pope complied,

and soon John was on the rampage against his rebellious barons, heading

swiftly north to one of the baronial strongholds, Lincoln.

During this campaign, John suffered his final humiliation. His march across

eastern England took him along the damp coast around the Wash. When the

tide came in suddenly and unexpectedly, all the royal treasure disappeared

under the water. John’s losses included the crown jewels, priceless gems that

were also symbols of his royal authority.

In October 1216, the king ate a hearty supper, rounding it off with peaches

and cider. The rich meal contained a dangerous bug, and John quickly caught

a violent gastric upset and died. His son and heir, Henry, was just nine years

old. In the end, the barons got their way. The senior noblemen of England

would rule on the young Henry’s behalf until he came of age.

`Lord of Misrule: Henry III

When Henry III came to the throne in 1216, the country was in a mess. His

father John had overspent fighting the barons and losing land in France, so

funds were at rock bottom. Huge tensions existed between the barons and

the royal family, again made worse by John. And Henry was only a boy, so