[431] London had helped the barons secure the charter and was rewarded by being specifically included in its provisions. [432] Here we have a definite statement as to the composition of the Great Council. The distinction between greater and lesser barons is mentioned as early as the times of Henry I. (1100-1135). In a general way it may be said that the greater barons (together with the greater clergy) developed into the House of Lords and the lesser ones, along with the ordinary free-holders, became the "knights of the shire," who so long made up the backbone of the Commons. In the thirteenth century comparatively few of the lesser barons attended the meetings of the Council. Attendance was expensive and they were not greatly interested in the body's proceedings. It should be noted that the Great Council was in no sense a legislative assembly. [433] It is significant that the provisions of the charter which prohibit feudal exactions were made by the barons to apply to themselves as well as to the king. [434] This is an important legal enactment whose purpose is to prevent prolonged imprisonment, without trial, of persons accused of serious crime. A person accused of murder, for example, could not be set at liberty under bail, but he could apply for a writ _de odio et atia_ ("concerning hatred and malice") which directed the sheriff to make inquest by jury as to whether the accusation had been brought by reason of hatred and malice. If the jury decided that the accusation had been so brought, the accused person could be admitted to bail until the time for his regular trial. This will occur to one as being very similar to the principle of _habeas corpus_. John had been charging heavy fees for these writs _de odio et atia_, or "writs of inquisition of life and limb," as they are called in the charter; henceforth they were to be issued freely. [435] To disseise a person is to dispossess him of his freehold rights. [436] Henceforth a person could be outlawed, i.e., declared out of the protection of the law, only by the regular courts. [437] That is, use force upon him, as John had frequently done. [438] The term "peers," as here used, means simply equals in rank. The present clause does not yet imply trial by jury in the modern sense. It comprises simply a narrow, feudal demand of the nobles to be judged by other nobles, rather than by lawyers or clerks. Jury trial was increasingly common in the thirteenth century, but it was not guaranteed in the Great Charter. [439] This chapter is commonly regarded as the most important in the charter. It undertakes to prevent arbitrary imprisonment and to protect private property by laying down a fundamental principle of government which John had been constantly violating and which very clearly marked the line of distinction between a limited and an absolute monarchy.