Why we have absolute power over our President
Updated: Sep 2
In the summer of 1215, a group of fed-up medieval noblemen marched into a muddy meadow called Runnymede. They weren’t looking to overthrow the monarchy; they were looking to chain it to the rule of law. King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta, and to ensure he kept his word, a committee of 25 barons—known as the Sureties—was elected to enforce it.
The Power of Leverage
What makes these 25 men fascinating isn't their titles. It is Clause 61 of the Magna Carta—the "Security Clause." These men demanded the lawful right to seize the King's castles and lands if he broke his oath.
What are the Magna Carta Barons or Sureties?
Empire Shakers. If the king broke his promise and violated the charter, the 25 Baron were enforcers or sureties had the legal right under the agreement to seize his castles and lands until he fixed the problem.
The Stakes:
The Sureties were powerful barons, dukes with castles and armies and they were putting their lives and property on the line to ensure the king stayed true to his word.
Why they matter today
The wording of the constitution is the Magna Carta and our founding fathers say we have absolute power over our president if he doesn't follow the rules we agreed to in the Constitution! Thanks Ancestors!!!
The structural blueprint of how our ancestors successfully forced King John to his knees at Runnymede unfolds across four key phases:
1. Stripping the Empire's Funding
The Root Cause: King John lost Normandy and vast French territories through disastrous, expensive military blunders.
The Financial Boycott: To fund his wars, John ruthlessly over-taxed the English nobility and seized their lands.
The Resistance: Your ancestor, Baron Saher de Quincy, alongside other prominent northern barons, flatly refused to pay these heavy taxes (scutage) or supply knights for foreign campaigns. This effectively choked off the financial engine of the royal army.
2. Renouncing Feudal Oaths
Breaking the Chain: Under feudal law, a king's power relied entirely on vows of fealty sworn by his barons.
The Defiance: In May 1215, the rebel barons gathered under the military leadership of Robert Fitzwalter. They formally renounced their ties of loyalty to King John, signaling to the world that he was no longer their recognized sovereign. They declared themselves the "Army of God and Holy Church."
3. Securing London (The Strategic Turning Point)
The March: The barons weaponized their private household armies and marched south.
The Capture: On May 17, 1215, London's citizens opened the city gates to the rebel barons. Capturing London—the wealthy economic heart and primary fortress of the realm—stripped King John of his ultimate strategic stronghold. Isolated and physically surrounded, the king realized he had no choice but to negotiate.
4. Forcing the Law Above the Crown
The Ultimatums: The two sides met in June 1215 on the neutral marshlands of Runnymede. The barons presented John with 63 detailed legal clauses protecting individuals from royal overreach, demanding trial by jury and an end to arbitrary arrests.
The Enforcement Clause (Clause 61): To guarantee compliance, the barons inserted a radical enforcement mechanism. They formed a permanent council of 25 Magna Carta Surety Barons. If the king violated the agreement, this committee held the legal authority to seize the king's castles, lands, and possessions until grievances were corrected.
By forcing King John to seal the Magna Carta under threat of military overthrow, our ancestors permanently stripped the English crown of absolute, unchecked authority. It transformed the foundational rule of government from "The King is Law" into "The Law is King."
More on the Magna Carta
Even more on the Magna Carta
Centuries later, our cousins Thomas Jefferson and John Adams looked closely at that exact concept of legal leverage over a ruler. When they designed the Great Seal and framed the Constitution, they stripped that leverage from kings and handed it directly to the citizens.
The Great Seal of America operates as the spiritual successor to the Magna Carta in three ways:
1. The Legal "Signature" of Sovereign Power
The Baronial Invention: In 1215, King John did not sign the Magna Carta with a pen. Instead, our ancestors forced him to melt hot wax and press his massive, official Great Seal of England into the parchment to make the law legally binding.
This is the Why of the Great Seal. It is the hot wax, it is the Law in an image. Every time you see the Great Seal of America, as Americans WE ARE THE GREAT SEAL AND ALL IT STANDS FOR. This is who and what we are. NOW Today and every day since the Constitution and the Great Seal of America were created.
Why have we as Americans not used this leverage or power, which is in our blood, our bones, our ancestors sacrifices, when our ancestors overthrew the greatest Military in the world? Must we do this again? Our king is shi&%& all over our constitution and whoring it out right in our faces!
The American Copy: When Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin created the U.S. Great Seal, they created a law, leverage in an image. And now it is plastered all over news casts, on buildings, it is everywhere reminding everyone, country cannot sign international treaties or pass supreme laws without an official seal. The U.S. Great Seal exists because your ancestors established the rule that a government's highest laws must be validated by a sovereign seal. And that SEAL IS the LAW.
2. E Pluribus Unum vs. The 25 Barons
The Baronial Concept: The 25 Magna Carta Surety Barons represented different, competing noble families, but they had to unite into a single council ("The Army of God") to defeat a tyrant. The Sureties insured kings actions by holding the kings property collateral.
The Seal's Symbol: On the front of the U.S. Seal, the eagle holds a scroll reading "E Pluribus Unum" (Out of many, one). This directly mirrors the exact political philosophy of your ancestors: individual, separate entities joining together as a unified force to guarantee law and liberty.
The designers of the Great Seal hid layers of deep, revolutionary meaning behind every element, heavily leaning on the sacred geometry and political numerology of the 18th century.
George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and (almost anyone with a drop of Euopean blood) all share the exact same Magna Carta grandfathers. The Magna Carta isn't a picture on the Great Seal of America—the seal itself is a Magna Carta! In 1215, our ancestors forced King John to stamp his Great Seal to prove that the law is above the King. Centuries later, our relatives Jefferson, Adams, and Washington created this Great Seal to stamp the Constitution and prove the exact same thing. The seal doesn't show history; it enforces it.
I say this with absolute humility: millions of us share this DNA. Our baronial grandfathers weren't flawless saints. They were complex, powerful men protecting their own interests. But in doing so, they accidentally built the scaffolding for modern global freedom.
The 14 Barons in Our Lineage
Here are the fourteen men whose direct bloodlines weave together to form the lineage I am so privileged to steward:
William d'Aubigny – Lord of Belvoir Castle, a military commander who later held Rochester Castle against the King's brutal siege.
Hugh Bigod – Heir to the Earldom of Norfolk, who fought fiercely alongside his father to protect provincial rights.
Roger Bigod – Earl of Norfolk and Royal Steward, one of the oldest and most seasoned leaders of the baronial opposition.
Henry de Bohun – Earl of Hereford and Hereditary Constable of England, who later died while on a crusade to the Holy Land.
Gilbert de Clare – Heir to the Earldom of Hertford, a young nobleman who risked his massive inheritance to stand against tyranny.
Richard de Clare – Earl of Hertford, an elder statesman of the rebellion and one of the wealthiest men in medieval England.
John de Lacy – Lord of Pontefract Castle and later Earl of Lincoln, a powerful northern baron who held massive strategic lands.
William de Lanvallei – Governor of Colchester Castle, who served as a vital strategic link in the eastern counties.
William Malet – Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset, a baron who paid a heavy financial toll in debts imposed by King John.
William de Mowbray – Lord of Axholme, a fierce northern rebel whose family later became one of the most prominent in English history.
Saher de Quincy – Earl of Winchester, a brilliant diplomat who helped negotiate the terms of the charter and traveled to France for support.
Robert de Roos – Lord of Helmsley, a northern baron tightly linked to the defense of the Scottish border.
Geoffrey de Say – A prominent knight with deep landholdings in Kent who completely broke ties with the crown over royal extortion.
Robert de Vere – Heir to the Earldom of Oxford and Hereditary Master Chamberlain, who joined the rebellion whole-heartedly despite royal pressure.
Our Democracy must be renewed every generation by every person.
"Are you a member of a Magna Carta lineage society or tracing these surnames? Leave a comment and let’s connect our branches!"
Comments