by Dan Jones
William de Mowbray (c.1173–c.1224)
Although physically tiny, apparently no larger than a dwarf, de Mowbray was respected for his courage and generosity. He was an active warrior in the service of the king until 1215, when he joined with his fellow Northerners in rebellion. He remained in opposition until the Battle of Lincoln (1217), where he was captured, but he later made peace with the new regime.
The ‘Mayor of London’: Serlo the Mercer (dates unknown)
At the time of Magna Carta, the mayoralty was held by the textile dealer and property owner Serlo the Mercer, who kept houses across the city, including in the parish of St-Mary-le-Bow. Serlo served as mayor in 1215 and again from 1216 to 1221. His support for the baronial opposition was crucial, since holding London was vital leverage in obtaining the charter of liberties from John. The only member of the twenty-five not expected to raise knights, Serlo was instead required to give the City of London over to baronial control if John contravened Magna Carta.3
William de Lanvallei (d.1217)
De Lanvallei was connected to ROBERT FITZWALTER by virtue of having married his niece. He was also Governor of Colchester Castle, over which he tussled with the Crown between 1214 and 1217, when he died while still in rebellion.
Robert de Ros (c.1182–1226/7)
A staunch Northerner, with estates in Yorkshire and Northumberland, de Ros was a regular companion of the king in the early years of John’s reign, when he was even to be found at the royal gambling table. He witnessed John’s submission to the pope and was still enjoying royal favour and holding royal office in April 1215. Somehow dragged into opposition very late in the day, de Ros remained estranged until the autumn of 1217. He witnessed the 1225 reissue of Magna Carta and then retired to live out the last months of his life as a monk.
John de Lacy, Constable of Chester (c.1192–1240)
A young man at the time of Magna Carta, de Lacy only inherited his father’s massive estates in Northern England in return for a enormous levy of 7,000 marks. He took the cross with John on 4 March 1215, for which he was granted a substantial reduction in his debts to the Crown. Rebelling only in the final three weeks before Magna Carta was granted, de Lacy never seemed greatly convinced by the cause, flitting back and forth between king and rebels. After reconciliation with Henry III’s regime in 1217, he went to Damietta on crusade, before returning to play a full part in the new reign. He was one of the few men of 1215 (RICHARD DE MONTFICHET was another)who also went on to witness both the 1225 and 1237 reissues of Magna Carta.
Richard de Percy (d.1244)
A young Northerner who refused to serve on John’s Bouvines campaign in 1214, de Percy entered active opposition during the summer of 1215. He brought Yorkshire under the obedience of Prince Louis in 1216 and was only reconciled to the Crown relatively late, in November 1217. Apparently one of the less wealthy barons, he was only expected to bring ten knights in the event that the council of twenty-five declared war on John. Towards the end of his life, de Percy was witness to the 1237 reconfirmation of Magna Carta.
John FitzRobert (d.1244)
Both a Northern baron and a man of substance in East Anglia, FitzRobert’s landholdings reached from Warkworth and Rothbury in Northumberland to Clavering in Essex. His cousin was a fellow member of the twenty-five, JOHN DE LACY. Given that he had served as a royal sheriff, FitzRobert is a good example of a rebel knitted into the ranks of the opposition by a number of parallel links of territory and family connection.
William Malet (c.1175–1215)
A crusading companion of Richard the Lionheart, Malet was a significant landholder in Somerset, far from the main geographical centres of rebellion in the North and East of England. He found himself in serious debt to the Crown in the years before Magna Carta, owing 2,000 marks in 1214, which he attempted to have cancelled in return for military service in France. This tension probably explains his decision to join the rebels in the summer of 1215, although the fact that he had previously served as a sheriff and had not shirked his military duties suggests that he may have been one of the more moderate barons among the twenty-five.
Geoffrey de Say (c.1155–1230)
Geoffrey de Say took part in military campaigns for the king in Ireland. He subsequently inherited his father’s lands across South-East England and the Home Counties, for which he paid only a moderate fine. However, he joined the baronial opposition nonetheless and was briefly deprived of his lands in October 1215. De Say made peace with Henry III’s regime in 1217 and subsequently went twice on pilgrimage, to the Holy Land and then to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
Roger de Montbegon (d.1226)
A landowner in Lincolnshire and Lancashire, and at one point the keeper of Nottingham Castle, de Montbegon refused to pay scutage to the king or do military service in the years leading up to Magna Carta. Erroneously named Roger de Mowbray by Matthew Paris and in the Lambeth Palace Library manuscript, de Montbegon was expected to bring just ten knights to any punitive military action taken by the twenty-five in the case of John breaking the terms of the charter.
William de Huntingfield (d.?1225)
With lands scattered from Essex and Suffolk to Lincolnshire and Lancaster, de Huntingfield was an active supporter of King John until the defeat at Bouvines in 1214: he served as a justice in Eyre in 1208–9 and as Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk the following year. In spring 1215, however, he went into opposition and was active in East Anglia during the Barons’ War of 1215–17, taking control of the region on behalf of Prince Louis. Seemingly a bird-lover, he appears in the records early in John’s reign seeking favour from the king with gifts of a falcon and six ‘beautiful Norwegian hawks’.
Richard de Montfichet (c.1190‒1267)
One of the few men to live through both the Barons’ Wars of the thirteenth century (1215–17 and 1264–7), de Montfichet came of age just in time to travel with King John to Poitou in 1214. His family were hereditary custodians of royal forest land in Essex, which de Montfichet secured during Magna Carta negotiations, but which was withdrawn during the subsequent fighting, only to be restored to him in 1217 by the young Henry III’s government. Like JOHN DE LACY, he witnessed both the 1225 and 1237 reissues of Magna Carta. Perhaps having learned his lesson during the troubles of his early days, he remained neutral during the wars between Henry III and Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, in the 1260s.
William d’Aubigny (d.1236)
William d’Aubigny was Lord of Belvoir in Leicestershire, and he served as a sheriff in three different counties. Despite being critical of the Crown, he remained neutral for a long time during the rebellion against John, eventually joining the rebels in time to be among the twenty-five barons. He subsequently led the defence of Rochester Castle during its siege (October–November 1215), where he was said to have dissuaded a crossbowman from assassinating John from the castle’s battlements. D’Aubigny was imprisoned in Corfe Castle following the fall of Rochester Castle, but he was released on John’s death. He joined Henry III’s side and was a commander at the Battle of Lincoln in 1217.
The popular image of events at Runnymede in June 1215, as imagined in Pictures of English History, published in 1850. Here, one suspicious baron crosses his arms and puts his hand to his chin, while another overbearing baron directs the king’s attention down to Magna Carta, which John meekly signs (the quill pen again). Schoolboy history has found it hard to resist this technicolour version of events.
The coronation of the young Henry III in 1216, as depicted in a French manuscript (c.1280–1300) in the so-called Miscellaneous Chronicles of the British Library’s Cotton collection. The accession of a mere nine-year-old boy could, in theory, have doomed the country to years of anarchy. But while the war sparked by John’s rejection of Magna Carta still had time to run, the demise of that intractable monarch removed an obstacle to reconciliation.
The death of a leading rebel Count Thomas de Perche at the Battle of Lincoln (1217), as depicted in Matthew Paris’s Chr
onica Majora (1250s). Royalist victory at Lincoln on 20 May 1217 was part of the endgame in First Barons’ War, which had seen two years of civil conflict and a French invasion
Appendix IV
Timeline
800 Years of Magna Carta
1100
King Henry I, on becoming King of England, grants a charter of liberties promising, among other matters, freedom for the Church and to keep peace in the land.
1154
Henry II accedes to the English throne and grants a charter of liberties to mark his coronation.
1166
The Assize of Clarendon extends royal law deep into local areas, with crimes investigated via the General Eyre.
1170
Archbishop Thomas Becket is murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, the culmination of a dispute with Henry II over royal attempts to bring secular law to bear on churchmen.
1173–4
The ‘Great War’, a baronial rebellion, ends in Henry II’s favour. There is a massive programme of castle demolition and seizure, and the Treaty of Falaise subjects Scots to English overlordship.
1189
Henry II dies, to be succeeded by his son Richard I ‘the Lionheart’. By the end of the year Richard departs on crusade, paid for by heavy taxation and the sale of public offices.
1192
Richard I is captured while returning from the Holy Land and imprisoned by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI until 1194, only to be released on payment of a massive 150,000-mark ransom.
1199
11 April: Richard I dies while commanding the siege of the castle at Châlus-Chabrol.
27 May: Richard’s brother John, who had fomented rebellion in the Plantagenet Empire during Richard’s absence and imprisonment, is crowned King of England.
1200
John agrees unfavourable terms with Philip II (Augustus) of France in the Treaty of Le Goulet, earning himself the demeaning nickname of ‘Softsword’.
1202
John loses Anjou, Maine, Touraine and other Plantagenet lands on the continent to Philip Augustus and his allies.
1203
c. April: Arthur of Brittany, John’s nephew and a rival for the throne backed by Philip Augustus of France, disappears while in John’s captivity, probably murdered.
December: John leaves Normandy for England, while the duchy is threatened by Philip Augustus.
1204
Normandy falls to Philip Augustus, a severe blow to John.
The French invasion of Gascony reduces the Plantagenet ‘Empire’ to a small strip of Aquitaine.
1205
13 July: Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, dies; John refuses to accept Pope Innocent III’s election of Stephen Langton as his replacement.
John launches an abortive invasion of Poitou, which ends in stalemate and a two-year truce with France.
1207
John intensifies the financial expropriations from his barons, through taxation, feudal dues and the proceeds of legal processes.
1208
March: England is placed under Interdict by Pope Innocent III in the escalating dispute with John over Langton’s appointment: churches fall silent, and John takes the opportunity to seize Church wealth. John also begins pursuit of William de Briouze for non-payment of debt.
1209
August: William I (the Lion), King of Scots, submits to John at the Treaty of Norham; the hostages include his two daughters.
November: In the continuing royal–papal stand-off, John is excommunicated by Pope Innocent III.
1210
John leads a military campaign in Ireland, in pursuit of William de Briouze.
De Briouze’s wife, Matilda, and son are starved to death in prison, after attempting to negotiate with John on his behalf.
1211
March–July: John invades Wales and forces Llywelyn ap Iorwerth of Gwynedd to recognize him as overlord.
September: William de Briouze dies in exile in France.
1212
August: A plot to murder John is led by two disgruntled barons, Eustace de Vesci and Robert FitzWalter, who flee abroad and are declared outlaws. John aborts attempts to muster an army to regain his continental empire.
1213
April: Philip Augustus of France and his son, Prince Louis, plan an invasion of England to topple the excommunicated John.
15 May: In the face of the French threat, John publicly backs down in the dispute with Innocent III, submitting and accepting papal overlordship in return for the lifting of the Interdict.
30 May: English ships burn the French fleet in the River Zwin, and the invasion of England is abandoned.
2 November: John meets the still intractable Northern barons in an attempt to gain support for continental war.
1214
January: John demands from Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, an astonishing 20,000 marks for the right to marry the king’s former wife, Isabel of Gloucester. February: John sails for La Rochelle to join a two-pronged attack on Philip Augustus.
27 July: The coalition of John’s allies is soundly beaten by Philip Augustus at the Battle of Bouvines.
13 October: The defeated John leaves France for England, where baronial unrest, especially in the North, is reaching breaking point.
Between October and late spring 1215, the so-called Unknown Charter, demanding reforms, is compiled.
1215
January: A conference between John and the barons in London breaks up with the latter demanding reconfirmation of Henry I’s coronation charter.
4 March: John takes the cross, hoping that crusader status with the pope will strengthen his hand domestically and internationally.
25 April: John fails to meet barons at Northampton to respond to their demands (perhaps those contained in the Unknown Charter).
5 May: Baronial opponents formally renounce their feudal loyalty to King John at Brackley, Northamptonshire.
12 May: John orders the besieging of rebel castles.
17 May: London is captured by rebels under Robert FitzWalter, who styles himself ‘Marshal of the Army of God’.
10 June: Negotiations between royal and rebel parties begin at Runnymede. John accepts a draft document, the ‘Articles of the Barons’, as terms for negotiation of a peace.
15 June: John grants Magna Carta at Runnymede. It contains a range of royal promises, breach of which is liable to enforcement (by military means) by a named group of twenty-five barons.
19 June: Formerly rebellious barons signal their acceptance of Magna Carta by renewing their homage to the king.
Mid-July: John writes to Pope Innocent III requesting annulment of Magna Carta. On 24 August, the pope declares the charter null and void and excommunicates rebel barons and the citizens of London.
September: War with the barons resumes. John lays siege to Rochester Castle, held by Archbishop Langton. Barons ask Prince Louis to invade.
October: Northern barons pay homage to Alexander II, King of Scots, who is invited to invade England.
30 November: Rochester Castle falls to John.
December: The first French troops begin to arrive in England.
1216
January–March: John’s determined offensive in the North and East Anglia begins successfully; but his ships fail to blockade the French invasion fleet across the Channel.
22 May: Prince Louis of France invades, landing at Sandwich in Kent.
June–August: Louis is admitted to the City of London; his forces also besiege Dover, Lincoln and Windsor, while Scottish forces re-enter England, besieging royal castles.
10 October: John falls ill with dysentery in Norfolk.
12 October: the king loses a large portion of his baggage train and treasure in the Wash.
18–19 October: John dies overnight at Newark, Nottinghamshire.
28 October: John’s nine-year-old son is crowned Henry III at Gloucester, with royal government in the hands of William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, and a council o
f thirteen.
12 November: Magna Carta is reissued by papal legate Guala Bicchieri and William Marshal in the name of Henry III; but war continues.
1217
20 May: The Battle of Lincoln against the rebellious barons ends in victory for William Marshal and the royal loyalists.
24 August: At sea, the Battle of Sandwich against the French ends in victory for Hubert de Burgh and the forces of the young Henry.
20 September: By the terms of the Treaty of Lambeth, France’s Prince Louis agrees to leave England.
6 November: Magna Carta is reissued for a second time, now with the Charter of the Forest.
1225
Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest are reissued in definitive versions in return for the grant of a tax on ‘movables’.
1237
Magna Carta is reconfirmed by Henry III at a Westminster meeting described as a ‘parliament’; it is to be enforced by sentence of excommunication against those who break it.
1253
Magna Carta is reissued, again in return for taxation, and again it is supported by the threat of excommunication.
1265
A Parliament called by rebel baron Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, reissues Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest, which are reconfirmed by Henry III.
