[Roger of Wendover ]of the abbey of St. Albans, wrote a history from 1188 to 1235

John, having submitted to Pope Innocent, and become his " man " had the Pope on his side in the constitutional struggle with the barons. They, however, under the guidance of Archbishop Langton, succeeded in compelling the king to seal Magna Carta

A.D. I 215, which was the seventeenth year of the reign of king ,John, he held his court at Winchester at Christmas for one day, after which he hurried to London, and took up his abode at the New Temple. And at that place [sundry] nobles came to him in military array, and demanded the confirmation of the liberties and laws of king Edward, with other liberties granted to them and to the kingdom and church of England, such as were contained in the charter, and above-mentioned laws of Henry the First. They also asserted that, at the time of his absolution at Winchester, he had promised to restore those laws and ancient liberties, and was bound by his own oath to observe them, The king, hearing the hold tone of the barons in making this demand, much feared an attack from them, as he saw that they were prepared for battle. however he made answer that their demands were a matter of importance and difficulty mid he therefore asked a truce till the end of Easter, that he might, after due deliberation, be able to satisfy them as well as the dignity of his crown.

After much discussion on both sides, the king at length, although unwillingly, procured the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of Ely, and William Marshall, as his sureties that, on the day pro-agreed on, he would, in all reason, satisfy them all : on which the nobles returned to their homes. The king however, wishing to take precautions against the future, caused all the nobles throughout England to swear fealty to him alone against all men, and to renew their homage to him and, the better to take care of himself, he, on the day of St. Mary's purification, assumed the cross of our Lord, being induced to this more by fear than by devotion.

In Easter week of this same year, the nobles above mentioned assembled at Stratford, with horses and arms; for they had now induced almost all the nobility of the whole kingdom to join them, and constitued a very large army ; for in their army there were computed to be two thousand knights, besides horse soldiers, attendants, and foot soldiers, who were variously equipped... The king at this time was awaiting the arrival of his nobles at Oxford. On the Monday, next after the octaves of Easter, the said barons assembled in the town of Brackley; and when the king learned this, he sent the archbishop of Canterbury, and William Marshall earl of Pembroke, with some other prudent men, to them to enquire what the laws and liberties were which they demanded. The barons then delivered to the messengers a paper, containing in great measure the laws arid ancient customs of the kingdom, and declared that, unless the king immediately granted them and confirmed them under his own seal, they would, by taking possession of his fortresses, force him to give them sufficient satisfaction as to their before named demands. The archbishop with his fellow messengers then carried the paper to the king and read to him the heads of the paper one by one throughout The king when he heard the purport of these heads, derisively said, with the greatest indignation, "Why, amongst these unjust demands, did not the barons ask for my kingdom also? Their demands are vain and visionary, and are unsupported by any plea of reason whatever." And at length he angrily declared with an oath, that he would never grant them such liberties as would render him their slave. The principal of these laws and liberties, which the nobles required to be confirmed to them, have been partly described in the charter of king Henry, and partly are extracted from the old laws of king Edward, as the following history will shew in due time.

As the archbishop and William Marshall could not by any persuasions induce the king to agree to their demands, they returned by the king's order to the barons, and duly reported all they had heard from the king to them and when the nobles heard what John said, they appointed Robert Fitz-Walter commander of their soldiers, giving him the title of " Marshal of the army of God and the holy church," and then, one and all flying to arms, they directed their forces towards Northampton. On their arrival there they at once laid siege to the castle, but after having stayed there for fifteen days, and having gained little or no advantage, they determined to move their camp : for having come with out petrariae and other engines of war they, without accomplishing their purpose, proceeded in confusion to the castle at Bedford. At that siege the standard-bearer of Robert Fitz-Walter, amongst others slain, was pierced through the head with an arrow from a crossbow and died, to the grief of many.

When the army of the barons arrived at Bedford, they were received with all respect by William de Beauchamp. There also came to them there messengers from the city of London, secretly telling them, if they wished to get into that city, to come there immediately. The barons, inspirited by the arrival of this agreeable message, immediately moved their camp and arrived at Ware; after this they marched the whole night, and arrived early In the morning at the city of London : and, finding the gates open, they, on the 24th of May, which was the Sunday next before our Lord's Ascension, entered the city without any tumult whilst the inhabitants were performing divine service ; for the rich citizens were favourable to the barons, and the poor ones were afraid to murmur against them. The barons having thus got into the city placed their own guard in charge of each of the gates, and then arranged all matters in the city at will. They then took security from the citizens, and sent letters throughout England to those earls, barons and knights, who appeared to be still faithful to the king (though they only pretended to be so); and advised them with threats, as they regarded the safety of all their property and possessions, to abandon a king who was perjured and who warred against his barons ; and together with them to stand firm and fight against the king for their rights and for peace and that, if they refused to do this, they, the barons, would make war against them all, as against open enemies, and would destroy their castles, burn their houses and other buildings, and destroy their warrens, parks and orchards ....

King John, when he saw that he was deserted by almost all, so that out of his regal super-abundance of followers he scarcely retained seven knights, was much alarmed lest the barons should attack his castles and reduce them without difficulty, as they would find no obstacle to their doing so. Therefore he deceitfully pretended to make peace for a time with the aforesaid barons, and sent William Marshall earl of Pembroke, with other trustworthy messengers, to them, and told them that, for the sake of peace, and for the exaltation and honour of the kingdom, he would willingly grant them the laws and liberties they required ; he also sent word to the barons by these same messengers, to appoint a fitting day and place to meet and carry all these matters into effect. The king's messengers then came in all haste to London, and with deceit reported to the barons all that had been deceitfully imposed on them ; they in their great joy appointed the fifteenth of June for the king to meet them, at a field lying between Staines and Windsor. Accordingly, at the time and place pre-agreed on, the king and nobles came to the appointed conference, and when each party had stationed themselves apart from the other; they began a long discusion about terms of peace and the aforesaid liberties

At length, after various points on both sides had been discussed king John, seeing that he was inferior in strength to the barons, without raising any difficulty, granted the laws and liberties, and confirmed them by his charter.