Chapter XI: Front Matter (11)

_Nasik Cubes._--A Nasik cube is composed of n³ small equal cubes, here
called cubelets, in the centres of which the natural numbers from 1 to
n³ are so placed that every section of the cube by planes
perpendicular to an edge has the properties of a Nasik square; also
sections by planes perpendicular to a face, and passing through the
cubelet centres of any path of Nasical summation in that face. Fig. 25
shows by dots the way in which these cubes are constructed. A dot is
here placed on three faces of a cubelet at the corner, showing that
this cubelet belongs to each of the faces AOB, BOC, COA, of the cube.
Dots are placed on the cubelets of some path of AOB (here the knight's
path), beginning from O, also on the cubelets of a knight's path in
BOC. Dots are now placed in the cubelets of similar paths to that on
BOC in the other six sections parallel to BOC, starting from their
dots in AOB. Forty-nine of the three hundred and forty-three cubelets
will now contain a dot; and it will be observed that the dots in
sections perpendicular to BO have arranged themselves in similar
paths. In this manner, p1, q1, r1 being placed in the corner cubelet
O, these letters are severally placed in the cubelets of three
different paths of AOB, and again along any similar paths in the seven
sections perpendicular to AO, starting from the letters' position in
AOB. Next, p2q2r2, p3q3r3, ... p7q7r7 are placed in the other cubelets
of the edge AO, and dispersed in the same manner as p1q1r1. Every
cubelet will then be found to contain a different combination of the
p's, q's and r's. If therefore the p's are made equal to 1, 2, ... 7,
and the q's and r's to 0, 1, 2, ... 6, in any order, and the q's
multiplied by 7, and the r's by 7², then, as in the case of the
squares, the 7³ cubelets will contain the numbers from 1 to 7³, and
the Nasical summations will be [Sigma]7²r + [Sigma]7q + p. If 2, 4, 5
be values of r, p, q, the number for that cubelet is written 245 in
the septenary scale, and if all the cubelet numbers are kept thus, the
paths along which summations are found can be seen without adding, as
the seven numbers would contain 1, 2, 3, ... 7 in the unit place, and
0, 1, 2, ... 6 in each of the other places. In all Nasik cubes, if
such values are given to the letters on the central cubelet that the
number is the middle one of the series 1 to n³, the sum of all the
pairs of numbers opposite to and equidistant from the middle number is
the double of it. Also, if around a Nasik cube the twenty-six
surrounding equal cubes be placed with their cells filled with the
same numbers, and their corresponding faces looking the same way,--and
if the surrounding space be conceived thus filled with similar cubes,
and a straight line of unlimited length be drawn through any two
cubelet centres, one in each of any two cubes,--the numbers along that
line will be found to recur in groups of seven, which (except in the
three cases where the same p, q or r recur in the group) together make
the Nasical summation of the cube. Further, if we take n similarly
filled Nasik cubes of n, n new letters, s1, s2, ... s_n, can be so
placed, one in each of the n^4 cubelets of this group of n cubes, that
each shall contain a different combination of the p's, q's, r's and
s's. This is done by placing s1 on each of the n² cubelets of the
first cube that contain p1, and on the n² cubelets of the 2d, 3d, ...
and nth cube that contain p2, p3, ... p_n respectively. This process
is repeated with s2, beginning with the cube at which we ended, and so
on with the other s's; the n^4 cubelets, after multiplying the q's,
r's, and s's by n, n², and n³ respectively, will now be filled with
the numbers from 1 to n^4, and the constant summation will be
[Sigma]n³s + [Sigma]n²r + [Sigma]nq + [Sigma]p. This process may be
carried on without limit; for, if the n cubes are placed in a row with
their faces resting on each other, and the corresponding faces looking
the same way, n such parallelepipeds might be put side by side, and
the n^5 cubelets of this solid square be Nasically filled by the
introduction of a new letter t; while, by introducing another letter,
the n^6 cubelets of the compound cube of n³ Nasik cubes might be
filled by the numbers from 1 to n^6, and so _ad infinitum_. When the
root is an odd composite number the values of the three groups of
letters have to be adjusted as in squares, also in cubes of an even
root. A similar process enables us to place successive numbers in the
cells of several equal squares in which the Nasical summations are the
same in each, as in fig. 26.

Among the many ingenious squares given by various writers, this
article may justly close with two by L. Euler, in the _Histoire de
l'académie royale des sciences_ (Berlin, 1759). In fig. 27 the natural
numbers show the path of a knight that moves within an odd square in
such a manner that the sum of pairs of numbers opposite to and
equidistant from the middle figure is its double. In fig. 28 the
knight returns to its starting cell in a square of 6, and the
difference between the pairs of numbers opposite to and equidistant
from the middle point is 18.

A model consisting of seven Nasik cubes, constructed by A. H. Frost,
is in the South Kensington Museum. The centres of the cubes are placed
at equal distances in a straight line, the similar faces looking the
same way in a plane parallel to that line. Each of the cubes has seven
parallel glass plates, to which, on one side, the seven numbers in the
septenary scale are fixed, and behind each, on the other side, its
value in the common scale. 1201, the middle number from 1 to 7^4
occupies the central cubelet of the middle cube. Besides each cube
having separately the same Nasical summation, this is also obtained by
adding the numbers in any seven similarly situated cubelets, one in
each cube. Also, the sum of all pairs of numbers, in a straight line,
through the central cube of the system, equidistant from it, in
whatever cubes they are, is twice 1201. (A. H. F.)

_Fennell's Magic Ring._--It has been noticed that the numbers of magic squares, of which the extension by repeating the rows and columns of n numbers so as to form a square of 2n - 1 sides yields n² magic squares of n sides, are arranged as if they were all inscribed round a cylinder and also all inscribed on another cylinder at right angles to the first. C. A. M. Fennell explains this apparent anomaly by describing such magic squares as Mercator's projections, so to say, of "magic rings."

The surface of these magic rings is symmetrically divided into n²
quadrangular compartments or cells by n equidistant zonal circles
parallel to the circular axis of the ring and by n transverse circles
which divide each of the n zones between any two neighbouring zonal
circles into n equal quadrangular cells, while the zonal circles
divide the sections between two neighbouring transverse circles into n
unequal quadrangular cells. The diagonals of cells which follow each
other passing once only through each zone and section, form similar
and equal closed curves passing once quite round the circular axis of
the ring and once quite round the centre of the ring. The position of
each number is regarded as the intersection of two diagonals of its
cell. The numbers are most easily seen if the smallest circle on the
surface of the ring, which circle is concentric with the axis, be one
of the zonal circles. In a perfect magic ring the sum of the numbers
of the cells whose diagonals form any one of the 2n diagonal curves
aforesaid is ½n(n² + 1) with or without increment, i.e. is the same
sum as that of the numbers in each zone and each transverse section.
But if n be 3 or a multiple of 3, only from 2 to n of the diagonal
curves carry the sum in question, so that the magic rings are
imperfect; and any set of numbers which can be arranged to make a
perfect magic ring or magic square can also make an imperfect magic
ring, e.g. the set 1 to 16 if the numbers 1, 6, 11, 16 lie thus on a
diagonal curve instead of in the order 1, 6, 16, 11. From a perfect
magic ring of n² cells containing one number each, n² distinct magic
squares can be read off; as the four numbers round each intersection
of a zonal circle and a transverse circle constitute corner numbers of
a magic square. The shape of a magic ring gives it the function of an
indefinite extension in all directions of each of the aforesaid n²
magic squares. (C. A. M. F.)

See F. E. A. Lucas, _Récréations mathématiques_ (1891-1894); W. W. R.
Ball, _Mathematical Recreations_ (1892); W. E. M. G. Ahrens,
_Mathematische Unterhaltungen und Spiele_ (1901); H. C. H. Schubert,
_Mathematische Mussestunden_ (1900). A very detailed work is B.
Violle, _Traité complet des carrés magiques_ (3 vols., 1837-1838). The
theory of "path nasiks" is dealt with in a pamphlet by C. Planck
(1906).

MAGINN, WILLIAM (1793-1842), Irish poet and journalist, was born at Cork on the 10th of July 1793. The son of a schoolmaster, he graduated at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1811, and after his father's death in 1813 succeeded him in the school. In 1819 he began to contribute to the _Literary Gazette_ and to _Blackwood's Magazine_, writing as "R. T. Scott" and "Morgan O'Doherty." He first made his mark as a parodist and a writer of humorous Latin verse. In 1821 he visited Edinburgh, where he made acquaintance with the Blackwood circle. He is credited with having originated the idea of the _Noctes ambrosianae_, of which some of the most brilliant chapters were his. His connexion with Blackwood lasted, with a short interval, almost to the end of his life. His best story was "Bob Burke's Duel with Ensign Brady." In 1823 he removed to London. He was employed by John Murray on the short-lived _Representative_, and was for a short time joint-editor of the _Standard_. But his intemperate habits and his imperfect journalistic morality prevented any permanent success. In connexion with Hugh Fraser he established _Fraser's Magazine_ (1830), in which appeared his "Homeric Ballads." Maginn was the original of Captain Shandon in _Pendennis_. In spite of his inexhaustible wit and brilliant scholarship, most of his friends were eventually alienated by his obvious failings, and his persistent insolvency. He died at Walton-on-Thames on the 21st of August 1842.

His _Miscellanies_ were edited (5 vols., New York, 1855-1857) by R.
Shelton Mackenzie and (2 vols., London, 1885) by R. W. Montagu
[Johnson].

MAGISTRATE (Lat. _magistratus_, from _magister_, master, properly a public office, hence the person holding such an office), in general, one vested with authority to administer the law or one possessing large judicial or executive authority. In this broad sense the word is used in such phrases as "the first magistrate" of a king in a monarchy or "the chief magistrate" of the president of the United States. But it is more generally applied to minor or subordinate judicial officers, whether unpaid, as justices of the peace, or paid, as stipendiary magistrates. A stipendiary magistrate is appointed in London under the Metropolitan Police Courts Act 1839, in municipal boroughs under the Municipal Corporations Act 1882, and in particular districts under the Stipendiary Magistrates Act 1863 and special acts. In London and municipal boroughs a stipendiary magistrate must be a barrister of at least seven years' standing, while under the Stipendiary Magistrates Act 1863 he may be of five years' standing. A stipendiary magistrate may do alone all acts authorized to be done by two justices of the peace.

The term _magistratus_ in ancient Rome originally implied the office of _magister_ (master) of the Roman people, but was subsequently applied also to the holder of the office, thus becoming identical in sense with _magister_, and supplanting it in reference to any kind of public office. The fundamental conception of Roman magistracy is tenure of the _imperium_, the sovereignty which resides with the Roman people, but is by it conferred either upon a single ruler for life, as in the later monarchy, or upon a college of magistrates for a fixed term, as in the Republican period. The Roman theory of magistracy underwent little change when two consuls were substituted for the king; but the subdivision of magisterial powers which characterized the first centuries of the Republic, and resulted in the establishment of twenty annually elected magistrates of the people, implied some modification of this principle of the investiture of magistrates with supreme authority. For when the magistracies were multiplied a distinction was drawn between magistrates with _imperium_, namely consuls, praetors and occasionally dictators, and the remaining magistrates, who, although exercising independent magisterial authority and in no sense agents of the higher magistrates, were invested merely with an authority (_potestas_) to assist in the administration of the state. At the same time the actual authority of every magistrate was weakened not only by his colleagues' power of veto, but by the power possessed by any magistrate of quashing the act of an inferior, and by the tribune's right of putting his veto on the act of any magistrate except a dictator; and the subdivision of authority, which placed a great deal of business in the hands of young and inexperienced magistrates, further tended to increase the actual power as well as the influence of the senate at the expense of the magistracy.

In the developed Republic magistracies were divided into two classes: (a) magistrates of the whole people (_populi Romani_) and (b) magistrates of the _plebs_. The former class is again divided into two sections: ([alpha]) curule and ([beta]) non-curule, a distinction which rests mainly on dignity rather than on actual power, for it cuts across the division of magistrates according to their tenure or non-tenure of _imperium_.

a. The magistrates of the people--also known as patrician magistrates,
probably because the older and more important of these magistracies
could originally be held only by patricians (q.v.)--were: ([alpha])
Dictator, master of the horse (see DICTATOR), consuls, praetors,
curule, aediles and censors (curule); and ([beta]) Quaestors, and the
body of minor magistrates known as _xxvi. viri_ (non-curule). The
dictatorship and consulship were as old as the Republic. The first
praetor was appointed in 366 B.C., a second was added in 242 B.C., and
the number was gradually increased for provincial government until
Sulla brought it up to eight, and under the early principate it grew
to eighteen. Censors were first instituted in 443 B.C., and the office
continued unchanged until its abolition by Sulla, after which, though
restored, it rapidly fell into abeyance. Curule aediles were
instituted at the same time as the praetorship, and continued
throughout the Republic. The quaestorship was at least as old as the
Republic, but the number rose during the Republic from two to twenty.
All these offices except the censorship continued for administrative
purposes during the principate, though shorn of all important powers.

b. The plebeian magistrates had their origin in the secession of the
_plebs_ to Mons Sacer in 494 B.C. (see ROME: _History_). In that year
tribunes of the _plebs_ were instituted, and two aediles were given
them as subordinate officials, who were afterwards known as plebeian
aediles, to distinguish them from the curule magistrates of the same
name. Both these offices were abolished during the decemvirate, but
were restored in 449 B.C., and survived into the principate.

The powers possessed by all magistrates alike were two:--that of enforcing their enactments (_coercitio_) by the exercise of any punishment short of capital, and that of veto (_intercessio_) of any act of a colleague or minor magistrate. The right of summoning and presiding over an assembly of that body of citizens with whose powers the magistrate was invested lay with the higher magistrates only in each class, with the consuls and praetors, and with the tribunes of the _plebs_. Civil jurisdiction was always a magisterial prerogative at Rome, and criminal jurisdiction also, except in capital cases, the decision of which was vested in the people at least as early as the first year of the Republic, was wielded by magistrates until the establishment of the various _quaestiones perpetuae_ during the last century of the Republic. But in civil cases the magistrate, though controlling the trial and deciding matters of law, was quite distinct from the judge or body of judges who decided the question of fact; and the _quaestiones perpetuae_, which reduced the magistrate in criminal cases to a mere president of the court, gave him a position inferior to that of the praetor, who tried civil cases, only in so far as the praetor controlled the trial in some degree by his _formula_, under which the judges decided the question of fact.

Tenure of magistracy was always held to depend upon election by the body whose powers the magistrate wielded. Thus the magistrates of the _plebs_ were elected by the plebeian council, those of the people in the Comitia (q.v.). In every case the outgoing magistrate, as presiding officer of the elective assembly, exercised the important right of nominating his successor for election.

See A. H. J. Greenidge, _Roman Public Life_, 152 seq., 363 seq.
(London, 1901); T. Mommsen, _Römisches Staatsrecht_, I. 11. i. (1887).
(A. M. Cl.)

MAGLIABECHI, ANTONIO DA MARCO (1633-1714), Italian bibliophile, was born at Florence on the 28th of October 1633. He followed the trade of a goldsmith until 1673, when he received the appointment of librarian to the grand-duke of Tuscany, a post for which he had qualified himself by his vast stores of self-acquired learning. He died on the 4th of July 1714, bequeathing his large private library to the grand-duke, who in turn handed it over to the city.

MAGLIANI, AGOSTINO (1824-1891), Italian financier, was a native of Lanzino, near Salerno. He studied at Naples, and a book on the philosophy of law based on Liberal principles won for him a post in the Neapolitan treasury. He entered the Italian Senate in 1871, and had already secured a reputation as a financial expert before his _Questione monetaria_ appeared in 1874. In December 1877 he became minister of finance in the reconstructed Depretis ministry, and he subsequently held the same office in three other Liberal cabinets. In his second tenure he carried through (1880) the abolition of the grist tax, to take effect in 1884. Having to face an increased expenditure without offending the Radical electorate by unpopular taxes, he had recourse to unsound methods of finance, which seriously embarrassed Italian credit for some years after he finally laid down office in 1888. He died in Rome on the 22nd of February 1891. He was one of the founders of the anti-socialistic "Adam Smith Society" at Florence.

MAGNA CARTA, or the Great Charter, the name of the famous charter of liberties granted at Runnimede in June 1215 by King John to the English people. Although in later ages its importance was enormously magnified, it differs only in degree, not in kind, from other charters granted by the Norman and early Plantagenet kings. Its greater length, however, still more the exceptional circumstances attending its birth, gave to it a position absolutely unique in the minds of later generations of Englishmen. This feeling was fostered by its many confirmations, and in subsequent ages, especially during the time of the struggle between the Stuart kings and the parliament, it was regarded as something sacrosanct, embodying the very ideal of English liberties, which to some extent had been lost, but which must be regained. Its provisions, real and imaginary, formed the standard towards which Englishmen must strive.

The causes which led to the grant of Magna Carta are described in the article on _English History_. Briefly, they are to be found in the conditions of the time; the increasing insularity of the English barons, now no longer the holders of estates in Normandy; the substitution of an unpopular for a popular king, an active spur to the rising forces of discontent; and the unprecedented demands for money--demands followed, not by honour, but by dishonour, to the arms of England abroad. So much for the general causes. The actual crisis may be said to begin with the quarrel between John and Pope Innocent III. regarding the appointment of a new archbishop to the see of Canterbury. This was settled in May 1213, and in the new prelate, the papal nominee, Stephen Langton, who landed in England and absolved the king in the following July, the baronial party found an able and powerful ally. But before this event John had instituted a great inquiry, the inquest of service of June 1212, for the purpose of finding out how much he could exact from each of his vassals, a measure which naturally excited some alarm; and then, fearing a baronial rising, he had abandoned his proposed expedition into Wales, had taken hostages from the most prominent of his foes, and had sought safety in London.

His absolution followed, and then he took courage. Turning once more his attention to the recovery of Normandy, he asked the barons for assistance for this undertaking; in reply they, or a section of them, refused, and instead of crossing the seas the king marched northwards with the intention of taking vengeance on his disobedient vassals, who were chiefly barons of the north of England. Langton followed his sovereign to Northampton and persuaded him, at least for the present, to refrain from any serious measures of revenge. Before this interview a national council had met at St Albans at the beginning of August 1213, and this was followed by another council, held in St Paul's church, London, later in the same month; it was doubtless summoned by the archbishop, and was attended by many of the higher clergy and a certain number of the barons. Addressing the gathering, Langton referred to the laws of Edward the Confessor as "good laws," which the king ought to observe, and then mentioned the charter granted by Henry I. on his accession as a standard of good government. This event has such an important bearing on the issue of Magna Carta that it is not inappropriate to quote the actual words used by Matthew Paris in describing the incident. The chronicler represents the archbishop as saying "Inventa est quoque nunc carta quaedam Henrici primi regis Angliae per quam, si volueritis, libertates diu amissas poteritis ad statum pristinum revocare." Those present decided to contend to the death for their "long-lost liberties," and with this the meeting came to an end. Nothing, however, was done during the remainder of the year, and John, feeling his position had grown stronger, went abroad early in 1214, and remained for some months in France. With his mercenaries behind him he met with some small successes in his fight for Normandy, but on the 27th of July he and his ally, the emperor Otto IV., met with a crushing defeat at Bouvines at the hands of Philip Augustus, and even the king himself was compelled to recognise that his hopes of recovering Normandy were at an end.

Meanwhile in England, which was ruled by Peter des Roches as justiciar, the discontent had been increasing rather than diminishing, and its volume became much larger owing to an event of May 1214. Greatly needing money for his campaign, John ordered another scutage to be taken from his tenants; this, moreover, was to be at the unprecedented rate of three marks on the knight's fee, not as on previous occasions of two marks, although this latter sum had hitherto been regarded as a very high rate. The northern barons refused to pay, and the gathering forces of resistance received a powerful stimulus when a little later came the news of the king's humiliation at Bouvines. Then in October the beaten monarch returned to England, no course open to him but to bow before the storm. In November he met some of his nobles at Bury St Edmunds, but as they still refused to pay the scutage no agreement was reached. At once they took another step towards the goal. With due solemnity (_super majus altare_) they swore to withdraw their allegiance from the king and to make war upon him, unless within a stated time he restored to them their rightful laws and liberties. While they were collecting troops in order to enforce their threats, John on his part tried to divide his enemies by a concession to the clerical section. By a charter, dated the 21st of November 1214, he granted freedom of election to the church. However, this did not prevent the prelates from continuing to act to some extent with the barons, and early in January 1215 the malcontents asked the king to confirm the laws of Edward the Confessor and the other liberties of the kingdom. He evaded the request and secured a truce until Easter was passed. Energetically making use of this period of respite, he again issued the charter to the church, ordered his subjects to take a fresh oath of allegiance to him, and sent to the pope for aid; but neither these precautions, nor his expedient of taking the cross, deterred the barons from returning to the attack. In April they met in arms at Stamford, and as soon as the truce had expired they marched to Brackley, where they met the royal ministers and again presented their demands. These were carried to the king at Oxford, but angrily he refused to consider them. Then the storm burst. On the 5th of May the barons formally renounced their allegiance to John, and appointed Robert Fitzwalter as their leader. They marched towards London, while John made another attempt to delay the crisis, or to divide his foes, by granting a charter to the citizens of London (May 9, 1215), and then by offering to submit the quarrel to a court of arbitrators under the presidency of the pope. But neither the one nor the other expedient availed him. Arbitration under such conditions was contemptuously rejected, and after the king had ordered the sheriffs to seize the lands and goods of the revolting nobles, London opened its gates and peacefully welcomed the baronial army. Other towns showed also that their sympathies were with the insurgents, and John was forced to his knees. Promising to assent to their demands, he agreed to meet the barons, and the gathering was fixed for the 15th of June, and was to take place in a meadow between Staines and Windsor, called Runnimede.

At the famous conference, which lasted from Monday the 15th to Tuesday the 23rd of June, the hostile barons were present in large numbers; on the other hand John, who rode over each day from Windsor, was only attended by a few followers. At once the malcontents presented their demands in a document known popularly as the _Articles of the Barons_, more strictly as _Capitula quae barones petunt et dominus rex concedit_. Doubtless this had been drawn up beforehand, and was brought by the baronial leaders to Runnimede; possibly it was identical with the document presented to the royal ministers at Brackley a few weeks before. John accepted the Articles on the same day and at once the great seal was affixed to them. They are forty-eight in number, and on them Magna Carta was based, the work of converting them into a charter, which was regarded as a much more binding form of engagement, being taken in hand immediately. This duty occupied three days, negotiations between the two parties taking place over several disputed points, and it was completed by Friday the 19th, when several copies of the charter were sealed. All then took an oath to keep its terms, and orders were sent to the sheriffs to publish it, and to see that its provisions were observed, two or three days being taken up with making and sending out copies for this purpose. It should be mentioned that, although the charter was evidently not sealed until the 19th, the four existing copies of it are dated the 15th, the day on which John accepted the articles.

The days between Friday the 19th and the following Tuesday, when the conference came to an end, were occupied in providing, as far as possible, for the due execution of the reforms promised by the king in Magna Carta. The document itself provided for an elected committee of twenty-five barons, whose duty was to compel John, by force if necessary, to keep his promises; but this was evidently regarded as insufficient, and the matter was dealt with in a supplementary treaty (_Conventio facta inter regem Angliae et barones ejusdum regni_). As a guarantee of his good faith the king surrendered the city of London to his foes, while the Tower was entrusted to the neutral keeping of the archbishop of Canterbury. John then asked the barons for a charter that they on their part would keep the peace. This was refused, and although some of the bishops entered a mild protest, the question was allowed to drop. Regarding another matter also, the extent of the royal forests, the prelates made a protest. John and his friends feared lest the inquiry promised into the extent of the hated forest areas would be carried out too rigorously, and that these would be seriously curtailed, if not abolished altogether. Consequently, the two archbishops and their colleagues declared that the articles in the charter which provided for this inquiry, and for a remedy against abuses of the forest laws by the king, must not be interpreted in too harsh a spirit. The customs necessary for the preservation of the forests must remain in force.

No securities, however, could bind John. Even before Magna Carta was signed he had set to work to destroy it, and he now turned to this task with renewed vigour. He appealed to the pope, and hoped to crush his enemies by the aid of foreign troops, while the barons prepared for war, and the prelates strove to keep the peace. Help came first from the spiritual arm. On the 24th of August 1215 Innocent III. published a bull which declared Magna Carta null and void. It had been extorted from the king by force (_per vim et metum_), and in the words of the bull the pope said "compositionem hujusmodi reprobamus penitus et damnamus." He followed this up by excommunicating the barons who had obtained it, and in the autumn of 1215 the inevitable war began. Capturing Rochester castle, John met with some other successes, and the disheartened barons invited Louis, son of Philip Augustus of France and afterwards king as Louis VIII., to take the English crown. In spite of the veto of the pope Louis accepted the invitation, landed in England in May 1216, and occupied London and Winchester, the fortune of war having in the meantime turned against John. The "ablest and most ruthless of the Angevins," as J. R. Green calls this king, had not, however, given up the struggle, and he was still in the field when he was taken ill, dying in Newark castle on the 19th of October 1216.

In its original form the text of Magna Carta was not divided into chapters, but in later times a division of this kind was adopted. This has since been retained by all commentators, the number of chapters being 63.

The preamble states that the king has granted the charter on the advice of various prelates and barons, some of whom, including the archbishop of Canterbury, the papal legate Pandulf, and William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, are mentioned by name.