His Justiciar at once laid before him the claims of the Councils of St.
Alban's and St.Paul's; but the death of Geoffry at this juncture freed him from the pressure which his minister was putting upon him.

"Now, by God's feet," cried John, "I am for the first time King and Lord of England," and he entrusted the vacant justiciarship to a Poitevin, Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester, whose temper was in harmony with his own.

But the death of Geoffry only called the Archbishop to the front, and Langton at once demanded the king's assent to the charter of Henry the First.

In seizing on this charter as a basis for national action Langton showed a political ability of the highest order.

The enthusiasm with which its recital was welcomed showed the sagacity with which the Archbishop had chosen his ground.