CHAPTER XVIII
THE DAY OF RUNNYMEDE
It was Friday, the 15th of June, 1215, a week before Midsummer Eve, orthe vigil of John the Baptist, and the sun shone fair on Runnymede--alarge green meadow on the margin of the Thames, midway between Windsorand Staines--when thither came King John and the Anglo-Norman barons(the King from Windsor, and the barons from Staines) to bring theirfierce dispute to a close, and give peace and security to England, byputting their signatures and the great seal of the realm to thatimportant document since known as Magna Charta, and regarded withveneration as the foundation of England’s laws and liberties.
Runnymede was not unworthy of being the scene of a ceremony so memorablein the annals of a nation which clung tenaciously to its old history andtraditions, and which forced even the iron-handed, iron-clad, andstrong-willed heirs of the Norman conquerors--the grandsons of the menwho had fought under the banner of Duke William at Hastings--to treatthe history and traditions with respect, and demand a restoration of thelaws of Edward the Confessor, the last of the old royal line. In earlierdays, when the Saxon kings had a palace at Old Windsor, Runnymede hadbeen celebrated as a place where the people assembled to discuss publicquestions of great moment; and where now cattle graze and wild flowersspring, grew a gigantic oak, under the shade of which Alfred orAthelstane, perhaps, had occupied a throne of stone, and sat in royalstate, when rallying their subjects to their standard to resist theinroads of the Danes.
It was around this oak, which the English regarded with a superstitiousveneration, the origin of which might have been traced back to the timewhen the Druids performed their mysterious rites, and sacrificed andfeasted under the shelter of its spreading branches, that the king andthe barons met--John, who was attired in a gorgeous style, beingattended by the Earl of Pembroke, Hugh Neville, Keeper of the GreatSeal, the papal legate and eight bishops, and seventy knights--Fitzwalterand his confederates, who were in chain-mail, with long swords at theirsides, having an array of fighting men which fully proved the mightyfeudal power they possessed, and one sight of which must have convincedtheir sovereign that, on that day at least, they were masters, and thathe was there simply to do their bidding.
Nor, to judge from John’s countenance and demeanour, would it have beenpossible for a spectator, however acute or intelligent, to entertain anydoubt that he was a willing actor in the solemn scene that was beingenacted in presence of the legate and the bishops. When the charter, ofwhich he well knew and understood the contents, was handed to him, hereceived it with alacrity, and signed it without a murmur expressive ofreluctance, and looked on calmly, almost cheerfully, while thebarons--each in his turn--set their signatures to it, and Hugh Neville,in his official capacity, appended the great seal of the realm. But nowa circumstance occurred which brought the blood to John’s cheek. Infact, it appeared that, after all this signing and sealing, the ceremonywas not yet at an end, but that the barons had more demands to make.
“Now,” said they, “we require security for the charter being faithfullyobserved.
“It is necessary, in the first place, that you should engage to send allforeign knights and fighting men out of the kingdom.
“It is necessary, in the second place, that we should be allowed toremain undisturbed for two months in possession of London, and thearchbishop in possession of the Tower.
“It is necessary, in the third place, that a committee of twenty-fivebarons should be appointed as conservators of this charter of liberties,and to decide all claims in conformity with its provisions.”
On hearing so many fresh demands John flushed and started with surprise,and his brow darkened. But he cast a glance over the formidable body ofknights, and squires, and men-at-arms whom the barons had brought tooverawe him, and, feeling the necessity of being calm, he checked hisrising indignation, and answered calmly,
“My lords, I do not deny that I am taken by surprise; as, in truth, Iwell may be when I think of your demands. Nevertheless, I object not toaccede so far as consists with my honour. I will send the foreignknights and soldiers out of the kingdom; I will leave the city of Londonin your hands, and the Tower in the hands of the archbishop, for thespace of two months; and I consent to the appointment of a committee oftwenty-five barons as conservators of the charter.”
It was clear--so thought the confederates--that the king would yieldanything; and the names of the twenty-five conservators were read. Theywere Robert Fitzwalter, Robert de Roos, William Albini, Eustace deVesci, Humphrey Bohun, Roger and Hugh Bigod, William de Fortibus,Richard and Gilbert de Clare, Gilbert Delaval, John Fitzrobert, GeoffreyMandeville, William de Huntingfield, John de Lacy, William de Lumvalleior Lanvally, Richard de Montpellier, William Malet, Roger and William deMoubray, William Marshal the younger, Richard Percy, Sayer de Guency,Geoffrey de Say, and Robert de Vere--all either earls or barons of greatpower, and maintaining great feudal state, but not by any means men whohad ever had a generous thought for the welfare of the English race,till they found themselves at issue with the king as to the scutages,and found also that they could not make head against him without gettingthe nation on their side.
But for the time being they were playing the part of patriots and havingit all their own way. So they deemed it not unsafe to go a step fartherand make another demand.
“It is, moreover, necessary,” said they, addressing the king, “that youshould give a promise in writing never to apply to the Pope for adispensation to relieve you from the engagements into which you have nowentered.”
“My lords,” said John, with undisguised astonishment in his face, “Ihave consented to your keeping the city and Tower of London, and to thecommittee of conservators, and I will send without delay all foreignknights out of the kingdom; but,” added he, resolutely, “I will pledgemyself no further, be the consequences what they may. Nay,” added he,interrupting Langton, who was beginning to speak, “I cannot and will notlisten further;” and, rising from his seat, John walked deliberately towhere his knights were stationed, mounted his horse, and rode slowlyaway to Windsor.
But his departure was by no means triumphant. Not more than seventyknights accompanied him--a mere handful of armed men compared to thehost of enemies whom he left behind; and even of the seventy knightsvery few were zealous in his cause. Dismal as had frequently been hisprospects, they had never before been at so low an ebb. But he did notyet despair. Time and patience might still enable him to prevail overall the difficulties that beset him; and he rode up the steep that leadsto Windsor revolving plans for emancipating himself and his crown fromthe feudal and ecclesiastical trammels in which both were bound.
Arrived at Windsor, John dismounted and entered the castle, and gave wayto the wrath he had been hoarding up. Neither food nor drink did hetake. He beat his breast, tore his hoary hair, rolled on the floor, roseup all the more violent for the exertion, cursed the day he was born,swore like a trooper and raved like a maniac, and all day stamped sofuriously about that his attendants feared that his reason was going. Asevening fell, however, he recovered his equanimity, and instantly tookmeasures for disconcerting the plans of his enemies. As night deepenedhe summoned two of his knights and despatched them to the Continent. Onewas commissioned to repair to Rome for the purpose of invoking the aidof the Pope; the other to Guienne and Flanders to secure the swords ofas many mercenaries as could be tempted to England by the promise of payand the prospect of plunder. This done, John at length sat down tosupper, and made up for lost time by eating ravenously and drinkingcopiously, and as the red wine sparkled in his golden cup hisimagination conjured up visions of beheaded barons and burned castles.
“By God’s teeth!” said he to William de Hartarad, his cup-bearer, “itshall be done.”
“Sire,” replied the cup-bearer, soothingly, “be calm and chafe not overmuch. It were best to sleep over your project; a man’s pillow is oftenhis safest counsellor in times of difficulty. May you find it such!”
Having supped, John sought his chamber, which w
as fragrant with theEastern spices then burned in the sleeping apartments of kings andprinces, and threw himself on his bed of red velvet, richly embroideredwith gold and silver. But such was the excitement through which he hadpassed during the day that he invoked sleep in vain. Restless andfeverish, he rose about midnight and looked out on the park whichreposed peacefully under the light of the moon. Suddenly a new idea tookpossession of his mind, and for awhile he pondered deeply.
“I seem,” said he to himself, “to see a hand beckoning me away, and tohear in mine ear a voice saying, ‘Arise, king, and go hence; it is notgood for you to be here.’ By the light of Our Lady’s brow! I will begone. Rather let me herd with the beasts of the forest than be furtherhumbled by these barons, on whose trunkless heads the sun shall ere longshine.”
He then awoke the squire who slept at the door of his chamber, andordered horses to be saddled and men to be mounted; and, just as morningbegan to dawn and the song of the nightingale ceased, and the antlers ofthe deer stirred above the fern, and the red in the east heralded therise of the sun, the king, having mounted, left the castle and rode awaythrough the park of Windsor, to which he was never to return.
“Now,” soliloquised he, “let mine enemies tremble, for I will opposeguile to guile and force to force. Revenge is sweet, and revenge, atleast, I may enjoy; and even if Fate do her worst I am prepared. Ratherthan be their slave I will commit my soul to God and my body to St.Wulstan.”
Runnymede and Lincoln Fair: A Story of the Great Charter Page 20
