The barons revolt
308. John Compelled to Grant Magna Charta. John was so cruel to his own people that the barons rose in revolt. Their forefathers had been free, and "why not we?" they asked. John only "laughed in his sleeve." But the barons meant business. They met in a meadow, called Runnymede, and summoned the king to face them. He came.
The meeting at Runnymede
It was a great scene. There stood the barons with their soldiers not far away. Their faces showed their anger and their decision to have their rights. The head of every house had his great banner which he had carried to victory on many a field of battle. But worse than all, there John saw the very Archbishop of Canterbury whom he had refused to permit to enter England. John was furious, but he could not help himself, for he heard the clanking of cold steel all around him.
What the Great Charter meant
The barons told him plainly that he must give all England a pledge to do right according to England's law. They told him that this promise must be signed by his own hand and on the signed paper he must place the royal seal. This great paper is called the Great Charter—"Magna Charta" (1215). Englishmen love it and have often shed their blood in defense of it.
The Petition of Right
For more than four hundred years this charter was the foundation of the rights of Englishmen. But they found in the charter only the old laws which had come down from good Edward the Confessor (1042-1066). In 1628 another English king, Charles I, was compelled by Parliament to sign another charter, called the "Petition of Right." In this new pledge to the English people they found nothing very new but mostly the old laws or principles contained in Magna Charta.
The Bill of Rights
When James II was driven from the throne by the English people they drew another charter, which King William signed (1689). This was called the "Bill of Rights." In this there were not many new things, but it contained mostly the principles of Magna Charta and the Petition of Right. Besides, this last charter contained several rules which made Parliament superior to the king.