The charter which follows is chiefly introduced for the interesting phrase found in it: “the greater barons of the city.” So far as I know, this phrase is unique; and apart from its importance for London itself, it has a direct bearing on that famous constitutional problem: who were the “barones majores”? In the present case, the phrase, surely, has no specialized meaning. It is probably a coincidence, and nothing more, that “majores” and “minores,” at St. Quentin, had a defined meaning. In M. Giry’s treatise on its _commune_ we read as follows: Notons ici que les citoyens ayant exercé les fonctions de jurés et d’échevins formaient dans la ville une véritable aristocratie: on les appelait les grands bourgeois, _majores burgenses_, par opposition aux petits bourgeois, _minores burgenses_, qui comprenaient tous les autres membres de la commune (p. cxi.). And again: À Saint-Quentin, comme dans toutes les communes, le pouvoir était aux mains des habitants riches qu’on appelait, ainsi qu’il a été dit plus haut, les grands bourgeois (_majores burgenses_), parce qu’ils avaient exercé les charges municipales, et pour les distinguer des petits bourgeois (_minores burgenses_), dénomination appliquée à tous ceux qui n’avaient point rempli les fonctions de juré ou d’échevin. En 1318, pendent la suspension de la commune, ces petits bourgeois se plaignirent de la mauvaise répartition des tailles et traduisirent devant le Parlement les grands bourgeois, auteurs des rôles d’imposition incriminés (p. cxv.). The original of this charter is preserved at the Public Record Office.[516] It is assigned in the official calendar to 1189–1196, but this date can be greatly narrowed. For while it is subsequent to William’s consecration (31st Dec., 1189), it must be previous to his obtaining the legation in June, 1190, for Bishop Hugh was his open foe before he lost it, and could not act with him after that.