of the memorable controversy
between King John and his feudal barons, the Great Council regained the
power which it had lost. Against the King were arrayed the nobility, the
church as represented by its official hierarchy, and the freemen of the
realm, all together constituting but a small minority of the English
people. The Great Charter extorted from the King on this occasion,
though frequently referred to as the foundation of English liberty, was
in reality a matter of but little immediate importance to the common
people. The benefit of its provisions, while not limited to the
nobility, extended, however, only to those classes without whose aid and
support the tyrannical power of the King could not be successfully
opposed. The church, by reason of the great wealth which it controlled
and the powerful influence which it exerted in a superstitious age over
the minds of the people, was a factor that could not be ignored. The
freemen also played an important part in the constitutional struggles,
since they carried the sword and formed the rank and file of the
fighting class. The important provisions of the Great Charter relate
exclusively to the rights of the church, the nobility and the freemen.
The serfs, while not included within the benefit of its provisions, were
an overwhelming majority of the English people. This conclusion is
irresistible in view of the fact that the Domesday Survey shows that
about four-fifths of the adult male population in the year 1085 were
below the rank of freemen.[1]

The Great Charter was, it is true, an important step in the direction of
constitutional government, but it contained no element of democracy. It
merely converted the government from one in which monarchy was the
predominant feature, to one in which the aristocratic element was
equally important. The classes represented in the Great Council became a
constitutional check on the power of the King, inasmuch as he could not
levy taxes without their consent. The important constitutional position
which this charter assigned to the nobility was not maintained,
however, without repeated struggles under succeeding Kings; but it laid
the foundation for the subsequent development which limited and finally
abolished the power of the monarch.

In the course of time the Great Council split up into two separate
bodies, the House of Lords, composed of the greater nobility and the
higher dignitaries of the church, and the House of Commons, r