The barons made out a list of their demands; and Stephen Langton carried it to the king. “These things we will have,” they said， “and there shall be no peace until you grant them.”
Oh, how angry was King John! He raved like a wild beast; he clenched his fists; he stamped upon the floor. But he saw that he was helpless. At last he said that he would sign the charter at such time and place as the barons might name.
“Let the time be the 15th of June,” they said, “and let the place be Runnymede.”
Now Runnymede was a green meadow not far from the city of London, and thither the king went with his few followers. There he was met by the barons, with an army of determined men behind them.
The charter which Stephen Langton and his friends had drawn up was spread out before the king. He was not a scholar, and so it was read to him, line by line. It was a promise that the people should not be oppressed; that the rights of the cities and boroughs should be r