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.
Langton followed his sovereign to Northampton and persuaded him, at least for the present, to refrain from any serious measures of revenge.
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.
When one reflects how active and prominent Langton and other prelates were at Runnim.ede the change is not surprising.
To the original members were afterwards added several remarkable persons, amongst whom were Josiah Wedgwood, Bennet Langton (Dr Johnson's friend), and, later, Zachary Macaulay, Henry Brougham and James Stephen.