hts enjoyed by the people during his reign.

196. Preliminary Meeting at St. Albans (1213).

In the summer (1213) a council was held at St. Albans, near London,
composed of representatives from all parts of the kingdom. It was the
first assembly of the kind on record. It convened to consider what
claims should be made on the King in the interest of the nobles, the
clergy, and the people at large. A few weeks later they met again, at
St. Paul's in London.

The deliberations of the assembly took shape probably under Archbishop
Langton's guiding hand. He had obtained a copy of the charter granted
by Henry I (S135). This was used as a model for drawing up a new one
of similar character, but in every respect fuller and stronger in its
provisions.

197. Battle of Bouvines; Second Meeting of the Barons (1214).

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.

198. The King grants the Charter, 1215.

At Easter (1215) the same barons, attended by two thousand armed
knights, met the King at Oxford and made known their demands. John
tried to evade giving a direct answer. Seeing that was impossible,
and finding that the people of London were on the side of the barons,
he yielded and requested them to name the day and place for the
ratification of the charter.

"Let the day be the 15th of June, the place Runnymede,"[1] was the
reply. In accordance therewith, we read at the foot of the shriveled
parchment preserved in the British Museum, "Given under our hand...in
the meadow called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the 15th
of June, in the seventeenth year of our reign."

[1] Runnymede: about twenty miles southwest of London, on the south
bank of the Thames, in Surrey.

199. Terms and Value of the Charter, 1215; England leads in
Constitutional Government.

This memorable document was henceforth known as the Magna Carta,[2] or
the Great Charter,--