THE NEGOTIATIONS concerning the Char-
ter were carried on from Monday, June 15, till Friday,
June 19. When they were concluded, each side remained
in wary watchfulness, the King at Windsor and the barons in Lon-
don. On the 19th John sent letters to all his sheriffs, forest officers,
bailiffs, and other officials, announcing that by God's grace a firm
peace had been restored between him and his barons and free men,
as they might see by the copies of the Charter that he was sending
to each of them. He ordered that the Charter be publicly read in
each bailiwick and firmly observed. Sheriffs were ordered to cause
every one to swear to obey the twenty-five barons in the contingen-
cies mentioned in the Charter and to take an oath to that effect at a
time and place to be appointed by the barons. At the next county
court twelve knights were to be elected to inquire into all abuses by
the King's officers.

John was immediately besieged by a host of claimants to lands

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