Henry II in his ecclesiastical quarrel needed the
consent of his vassals; his court-Assemblies were no longer confined
to proclamations of ordinances from the one side only; consultations
were held, leading to decisions that concerned them all.

But what is now surprising is the fact, that even the associates in
the Conquest, and much more their descendants, claimed the rights
which the Anglo-Saxon magnates had once possessed. They, too, appealed
incessantly to the _Laga_, the laws of Edward the Confessor, by which
was meant the collection of old legal customs, the observation of
which had been promised from the first. Following the precedent of
their kings, the families that had risen through the Conquest regarded
themselves as the heirs of the fallen Anglo-Saxon chiefs, into whose
place they had stepped. The rights of the old Witan and of the vassals
of the new feudal state became fused together.

We must now lay greater weight than is commonly done on the incidents
that occurred during King Richard's absence. He had entrusted the
administration of the realm to a man of low origin, William, bishop of
Ely, who carried it on with great energy, and not without the pomp and
splendour, which grace authority, but arouse jealousy. Hence lay and
spiritual chiefs combined against him: with Earl John, the brother of
the absent King, at their head, they banished the hated bishop by the
strong hand, and of their own authority set another in his place. The
city of London, which had been already allowed the election of its own
magistrates by Henry II, had then formed a so-called _Communia_ after
the pattern of the Flemish and North French towns; bishops, earls, and
barons, swore to support the city in it.[28]

These first attempts at an opposition by the estates obtained fresh
weight when on Richard's death a contest again arose about the
succession. Earl John claimed it for himself, but Arthur, an elder
brother's son, seemed to have a better right, and had been moreover
recognised at once in the South French provinces. The English nobles
fortified their castles, and for some time assumed an almost
threatening position; they only acknowledged John on the assurance
that each and all should have their rights.[29] John's possession of
the crown was therefore derived not merely from right of inheritance,
but also from their election.

A strong territorial confederacy had thus gradually grown up,
confronting the royal power with a c