RICHARD THE LIONHEARTED. King Henry had two sons, Richard and John. Richard was the boldest and most skilful fighter of his time. When the news was brought to England that Jerusalem had been captured by the Mohammedans, he led an army to Palestine to recapture it. He failed to take the city, but he became famous throughout the East as a fearless warrior and was ever afterwards called the "Lionhearted." At his death his brother John became king. He was as cowardly and wicked as Richard was brave and generous. THE GREAT CHARTER. The leaders of the people, the nobles and the clergy, soon grew tired of John's wickedness. In 1215 they raised an army and threatened to take the kingdom from John and crown another prince as king. John was soon ready to promise anything in order to obtain power once more, and the nobles and bishops met him at Runnymede on the river Thames, a few miles west of London, and compelled him to sign a list of promises. As the list contained sixty-three separate promises, it was called the Great Charter or Magna Charta. If John did not keep these promises, the lords and clergy agreed to make war on him, and he even said that this would be their duty. PROMISES OF THE CHARTER. Many of the articles of the Great Charter were important only to the men of King John's day, but others are as important to us as to them. In these the king promised that every one should be treated justly. He said he would not refuse to listen to the complaints of those who thought they were wronged. The king also promised that he would not decide in favor of a rich man just because the rich man might offer him money. He would put no one in prison who had not been tried and found guilty by a jury. By another important promise the king said he would not levy new taxes without the consent of the chief men of the kingdom. This opened the way for the people to have something to say about how their money should be spent. This right is a very important part of what we call self-government. [Illustration: A PORTION OF THE GREAT CHARTER] PROMISES OF THE GREAT CHARTER RENEWED. In after times whenever the English thought a king was doing them a wrong they reminded him of the promises made by King John in the Great Charter and demanded that the promises be solemnly renewed. In 1265 a great noble named Simon de Montfort asked many towns to send a number of their chief men to meet with the nobles and clergy to talk over the conduct of the king. Others, even kings, soon followed Simon's example by asking the townsmen for advice about matters of government. After a while this became the custom. Occasionally the king wanted the advice of the clergy, the nobles, and the townsmen at the same time and called them together. The meeting was called a parliament, that is, an assembly in which talking or discussion goes on.