210.  Renewal of the Great Charter (1253).

Meanwhile the King had been compelled to reaffirm that Great Charter which his father had unwillingly granted at Runnymede (S198).  Standing in St. Catherine’s Chapel within the partially finished church of Westminster Abbey (S207), Henry, holding a lighted taper in his hand, in company with the chief men of the realm, swore to observe the provisions of the covenant.

At the close he exclaimed, as he dashed the taper on the pavement, while all present repeated the words and the action, “So go out with smoke and stench the accursed souls of those who break or pervert this charter.”

There is no evidence that the King was insincere in his oath; but unfortunately his piety was that of impulse, not of principle.  The compact was soon broken, and the lnd was again compelled to bear the burden of exorbitant taxes.  These were extorted by violence, partly to cover Henry’s own extravagance, but also to swell the coffers of the Pope, who had promised to make Henry’s son, Prince Edward, ruler over Sicily.

211.  Growing Feeling of Discontent.

During this time the barons were daily growing more mutinous and defiant, saying that they would rather die than be ruined by the “Romans,” as they called the papal power.  To a fresh demand for money Earl Bigod (S209) gave a flat refusal.  “Then I will send reapers and reap your field for you,” cried the King to him.  “And I will send you back the heads of your reapers,” retorted the angry Earl.

It was evident that the nobles would make no concession.  The same spirit was abroad which, at an earlier date (1236), made the Parliament of Merton declare, when asked to alter the customs or laws of the country to suit the ordinances of the Church of Rome, “We will not change the laws of England.”  So now the were equally resolved not to pay the Pope money in bahalf of the King’s son.

212.  Civil War; Battle of Lewes (1264).

The crisis was soon reached.  War broke out between the King and his brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester (S209), better known by his popular name of Sir Simon the Righteous.

With fifteen thousand Londoners and a number of the barons, he met Henry, who had a stronger force, on the heights above the town of Lewes, in Sussex. (See map facing p. 436.) The result of the great battle fought there was as decisive as that fought two centuries before by William the Conqueror (S74), not many miles distant on the same coast.

213.  De Montfort’s Parliament; the House of Commons, 1265.

Bracton, the foremost jurist of that day, said in his comments on the dangerous state of the times, “If the King were without a bridle, —­that is, the law,—­his subjects ought to put a bridle on him.”

Earl Simon (S209) had that “bridle” ready, or rather he saw clearly where to get it.  The battle of Lewes had gone against Henry, who had fallen captive to De Montfort.  By virtue of the power he now possessed, the Earl summoned a Parliament.  It differed from all previous Parliaments in the fact that now, for the first time, representatives of the boroughs or principal towns (S103) were called to London to join the earls, barons, and clergy in their deliberations.