ton, whose appointment as Archbishop of
Canterbury had so raised John's ire, took the lead and produced to the
assembly a copy of the Charter of Liberties, granted by Henry I, when that
king undertook to put an end to the tyranny of William Rufus. If the
barons so pleased, it might (he said) serve as a precedent. The charter
having been then and there deliberately read, the barons unanimously
declared that for such liberties they were ready to fight, and, if
necessary, to die.(180)

The clergy and people who had hitherto supported the king against the
barons, having now engaged themselves to assist the barons against the
tyranny of the king, John found himself with but one friend in the world,
and that was the Pope. "Innocent's view of the situation was very simple,"
writes Dr. Gardiner, "John was to obey the Pope, and all John's subjects
were to obey John." Within a few weeks of the council being held at St.
Paul's, the same sacred edifice witnessed the formality of affixing a
golden _bulla_ to the deed--the detestable deed (_carta
detestabilis_)--whereby John had in May last resigned the crown of England
to the papal legate, and received it again as the Pope's feudatory.(181)

(M120)

In the following year (1214), whilst the king was abroad, the barons met
again at Bury St. Edmunds, and solemnly swore that if John any longer
delayed restoring the laws and liberties of Henry the First, they would
make war upon him. It was arranged that after Christmas they should go in
a body and demand their rights, and that in the meantime they should
provide themselves with horses and arms, with the view of bringing force
to bear, in case of refusal.(182) The citizens at the same time took the
opportunity of strengthening their defences by digging a foss on the
further side of the city wall.(183)

(M121)

Christmas came and a meeting between John and the barons took place in
London at what was then known as the "New" Temple. The result, however,
was unsatisfactory, and both parties prepared for an appeal to force, the
barons choosing as their leader Robert Fitz-Walter, whom they dubbed
"Marshal of the army of God and of Holy Church."(184)

(M122)

This Fitz-Walter was Baron of Dunmow in Essex, the owner of Baynard's
Castle in the City of London, and lord of a soke, which embraced the whole
of the parish known as St. Andrew Castle Baynard. He moreover enjoyed the
dignity of castellain and chief bannerer or banneret of London.