As John still continued obstinate, the Pope next pro ceeded to pass a sentence of excommunication against him. No sooner was this known, than many of the bishops and nobility left the kingdom, which so alarm ed the king, that he proposed a conference with Lang ton at Dover, when he offered to receive him as primate, to restore the exiled clergy, and to pay a limited sum as a compensation for the rents of their confiscated es tates. The cardinal, however, was not content with these terms, but demanded that full reparation should be made to all the clergy. This exorbitant demand put an end to the confet encc, and was soon after followed by ano thei• papal sentence more terrible than either. The subjects of John were absolved from their oath of fide lity and allegiance; all were declared excommunicated persons, who had any commerce with him, either in public or in private ; and he himself was deposed from his throne, which was offered to the king of France. Philip eagerly embraced the offer, and sheaved, by his preparations, how desirous he was to succeed. He col lected a fleet of 1700 sail in the ports of Normandy and Picardy, and having summoned all the vassals of the crown to attend him, he was in a short time ready to make a descent upon England. John, though hated and feared by all, was enabled to advance to Dover at the head of 60,000 men ; for the English, however much disposed to submit in matters of religion, would not yield their independence to any tribunal ; and had their mo narch possessed wisdom and resolution to take advantage of their spirit, and of the natural enmity which subsist ed between the two nations, he might have retrieved his situation, and broken for ever the power of the clergy within his dominions. But every thing was to be feared from his cowardice and incapacity. Instead of braving the storm, he bartered his kingdom for his safety ; and at a conference with Pandulph, the pope's legate, he yielded himself entirely to the discretion of his master. Innocent was satisfied with his submission, and com manded Philip to desist from his enterprize. John was now made to feel the insolence of papal power. He was required to resign his kingdom into the hands of the Pope ; and to hold it as feudatory of the church of Rome, by the annual tribute of a thousand marks. He then did homage to Pandulph as the Pope's representative : he came disarmed into his presence, flung himself on his knees before him, and swore fealty. By this abject sub mission he secured his crown ; hut he was degraded in the eyes of his people. He next received absolution from Langton the primate, before whom he again pro fessed his homage and obedience to the see of Rome, and engaged to re-establish the good laws of his predeces sors, particularly those of king Edward, and to maintain justice and right in all his dominions.
John, being now restored to the favour of the church, thought himself secure of tranquillity ; and continued to exercise his authority with the most overbearing in solence and oppression ; but he was only reserved for farther misfortunes and still greater degradation. The barons had entered into a confederacy for the restora tion of their ancient privileges. They were encouraged and supported in their design by the archbishop of Can terbury, who, being of a generous and liberal spirit, was anxious to promote the real interests of the king dom. At a numerous meeting of the barons summoned by him at St Edmondsbury, under pretence of devotion, he produced an old charter of Henry I. of which he exhorted them to demand the renewal and observance ; and represented in such strong colours the arbitrary conduct of their sovereign, that they all swore before the high altar to support each other, and to make end less war upon the. king, till he should grant their de mands. They accordingly assembled in London on an appointed day, and preferred their requests to the king, which were to renew the charter of Henry, and confirm the laws of King Edward. John required some delay to consider of their demands, and promised that he would give them a final answer at the festival of Easter. In the mean time he endeavoured to engage the Pope in his favour, and to draw the clergy to his side by new concessions. But in this case, the interests of the cler gy were in sonic measure involved with those of the barons; and the king soon found, that he had to contend against the united strength of these two powerful bo dies. Innocent, who had received also an from the barons, was more inclined to favour the weak and submissive John, than those high-spirited nobles, who would embrace the first opportunity to wrest the kingdom from his dominion. He accordingly expressed
his disapprobation at the conduct of the barons, but ad vised the king to grant such demands as were just and reasonable. At Easter the barons assembled at Stain ford, attended by 2000 knights, and a considerable num ber of foot, and advancing to Brackley, where the court then resided, presented a schedule of their demands. The king rejected them with indignation, and the barons immediately proceeded to open war. They besieged the castle of Northampton, occupied Bedford, and NV FLIT received into the capital without opposition. Thdy laid waste the king's parks and palaces, and threatened with their vengeance all the other barons who refused to join them. John, finding himself almost completely desert ed, was obliged to pretend compliance. He met his barons at Runnemede, between Windsor and Staines ; and after a debate of a few days, signed and sealed that famous deed, called the Great Charter, which secured very itnportaht liberties and privileges to every order of men in the kingdom ; and which is still regarded as the great bulwark of British freedom; (see MAGNA CITARTA.) In order to insure the execution of this deed, the city of London was retained by the barons, and the Tower was consigned to the custody of the pri mate. They were also allowed to choose 25 of their own number as conservators of the public liberties. When any of the articles of the charter were infringed, four of these might admonish the king to redress the grievance, and upon refusal, the council of 25, in con junction with great council, were empowered to compel him to obsel ve the charter by force of arms. These men were, in fact, invested with the sovereign authority, and all the subjects were bound to swear obe dience to them under the penalty of confiscation.
John acquiesced, through fear, in all these regula tions ; but he waited only a favourable season to retract every promise which he had made. lie retired into the Isle of Wight, and, .secluded from his courtiers and his nobles, meditated plans for 0/3 recovery of his authority. He complained to the Pope of the violence of the barons; and secretly enlisted into his service a numerous body of rapacious Brabancons. Innocent, enraged at the presumption of the barons in despising his mandate, issued a bull, in which he annulled and abrogated the whole charter ; he prohibited the barons from exacting the observance of it, and the king from paying any regard to it ; and excommunicated all who should persevere in defending it. John, at the same time, let loose his mercenaries upon the defenceless inhabitants; and, as the barons, trusting to the secu rity given them by charter, had disbanded their forces, he marched from Dover to Berwick without opposi tion, reducing, wherever he went, the castles and vil lages to ashes, and filling the whole kingdom with con sternation and misery. The barons, in this extremi ty, being unable to make head against their sovereign, offered the crown to Louis, the son of Philip, if he would protect them from the violence of the tyrant. Philip accepted their submission, and, regardless of the menaces of the pope, sent over a small army to their assistance ; and soon after Louis arrived with more numerous forces. On the appearance of Louis, many of John's foreign troops deserted to the enemy ; but both armies committed the most wanton ravages. The French advanced to London, where Louis was solemn ly crowned, and received the homage of the barons and burghers. But the partiality of the new monarch to his own countrymen, and a report, that he had threaten ed to exterminate the English barons as traitors to their prince, and bestow their estates and dignities on his native subjects, were very prejudicial to his cause. This report was universally credited; and the information was said to have been del ived from the Viscount 11.1clun, one of Louis' courtiers, who revealed it to some of his friends on his death•bead, The Earl of Salisbury, and many other noblemen, jealous of the French influence, returned to their allegiance to John, who was advan cing with a considerable army to make one mighty effort for his crown; and the French had every reason to dread a reverse of fortune. But as the king was pass ing from Lynn, along the sea-shore, and being igho rant of the situation of the place, he lost all his carriage s, treasure, and baggage, by the influx of the tide. Th. was so overwhelmed with grief at this disaster, and the distracted state of his affairs, that he was seized with a fever, which soon after put a period tolhis existence, in the 49th year of his age, and 18th of his reign.