Ambler, Sophie Therese (2015) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 'Advisers of King John (act. 1215)'. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
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Advisers of King John (act. 1215) were the twenty-seven named men by whose counsel King John was described as having acted when he granted the first issue of Magna Carta, dated 15 June 1215. This same group also acted as witnesses to the charter, as set out at its close: 'witnessed as aforesaid, with many others'. A few of them were committed supporters of the king and as such earned a place in the list of King John's evil counsellors, drawn up in the 1220s by the chronicler Roger of Wendover. Many more were moderate royalists anxious to avoid civil war, an outcome that seemed likely given the demands of the rebels, represented by the twenty-five enforcers of Magna Carta. When war did break out, and John's power began to crumble, a number of these advisers deserted him.