of Hereford and Norfolk to go over with his army to Guienne, and
they replied, "The tenure of our lands does not require us to do
so, unless the king went in person." The king insisted; the earls
were firm. "By God, sir Earl," said Edward to Hereford, "you shall
go or hang." "By God, sir King," replied the earl, "I will neither
go nor hang." The king submitted and forgave his warmth.

The struggle between the nobles and the Crown commenced, and was
continued, under varying circumstances. Each of the barons had a
large retinue of armed men under his own command, and the Crown was
liable to be overborne by a union of ambitious nobles. At one time
the monarch had to face them at Runnymede and yield to their
demands; at another he was able to restrain them with a strong
hand. The Church and the barons, when acting in union, proved too
strong for the sovereign, and he had to secure the alliance of one
of these parties to defeat the views of the other. The barons
abused their power over the FREEMEN, and sought to establish the
rule "that every man must have a lord," thus reducing them to a
state of vassalage. King John separated the barons into two
classes--major and minor; the former should have at least thirteen
knights' fees and a third part; the latter remained country
gentlemen. The 20th Henry III., cap. 2 and 4, was passed to secure
the rights of FREEMEN, who were disturbed by the great lords, and
gave them an appeal to the king's courts of assize.

Bracton, an eminent lawyer who wrote in the time of Henry III.,
says:

"The king hath superiors--viz., God and the law by which he is made
king; also his court--viz., his earls and barons. Earls are the