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Magna Carta is the 'Great Charter' that King John set his seal to in June 1215. It is the product of a rebellion by the English barony who were not democrats fighting against a hated monarch, many of them, including their leader Robert FitzWalter, were distinctly unsavoury, holding grudges against the king and resorting to plots and violence on a regular basis.
When the barons succeeded in persuading London to open its gates to them on 17 May 1215, John suspected that the game was up and that he would have to negotiate, if only to buy time. The result of these talks was Magna Carta.
With Magna Carta, the barons were taking a revolutionary step. The focus of their revolt was not a disaffected member of the royal family, as had been the habit of rebellions in the past. The focus in 1215 was the programme of reform outlined in the charter.
King John agreed to the demands of his barons and authorized that handwritten copies of Magna Carta (Great Charter) be prepared on parchment, affixed with his seal, and publicly read throughout the realm. Thus he bound not only himself but his "heirs, for ever" to grant "to all freemen of our kingdom" the rights and liberties the great charter described. With Magna Carta, King John placed himself and England's future sovereigns and magistrates within the rule of law.
It opens with a 'chapter' guaranteeing the rights of the Church, followed by another 15 designed to stop the king exploiting loopholes in feudal customs. A further 10 chapters deal with finances. The barons also sought to ensure that John carried out his promises, safeguarded the rebels from any retaliation, demanded that he get rid of his mercenary captains and tied him to a council of 25 in an effort to ensure his co-operation.
Within all this is another important block of chapters that confirmed people's rights under the common law. These last are crucial, as they subjected the king to the law of the land for the first time in English history.
Magna Carta lasted only three months before John reneged on it. It was not a medieval bill of rights for the king's subjects. It was a last ditch attempt to stop a civil war that had the opposite effect. John made himself very unpopular during his reign by his constant demands for money. The leading barons tried to impose limits on his powers by drawing up Magna Carta. However, John after agreeing to the charter, found it too restrictive and with a Papal annulment of the Magna Carta, war soon followed with a French invasion of England largely supported by the leading barons. However, it formed the basis for three charters issued by supporters of John's son Henry III in 1216, 1217 and 1225, which ensured that Magna Carta remained in the public consciousness. The charter of 1225 actually entered the statute books in 1297 and three of its 63 chapters still stand, including the promise that freemen will be judged by their peers.
After John's death, opponents of the Crown periodically seized upon key sections of the charter in defence of their 'rights'. During one such crisis in 1297, Magna Carta was formally recognised as the law by King Edward I.
Four full copies of the original Magna Carta still exist, one each at Lincoln and Salisbury cathedrals and two in the British Library.
"..here is a law which is above the King and which even he must not break. This reaffirmation of a supreme law and its expression in a general charter is the great work of Magna Carta; and this alone justifies the respect in which men have held it."
--Winston Churchill, 1956
Brief extracts from the Magna Carta:
"...and to all freemen of this our realm, these liberties following, to be kept in our kingdom of England for ever."
"No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or disseised of his Freehold ... except by the lawful judgement of his peers."
"We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right."
Magna Carta is normally understood to refer to a single document, that of 1215. Various amended versions of the Magna Carta appeared in subsequent years. It is the 1225 version, that King Henry III sealed and King Edward I confirmed in 1297, that entered the statute books of England and Wales.
External Links to Magna Carta:
BRITISH LIBRARY: Treasures in full; Magna Carta
NATIONAL ARCHIVES : Magna Carta
FAWKES ON THE MAGNA CARTA: A British Constitution?
WIKIPEDIA: Magna Carta
BBC: King John and the Magna Carta
FREE LAO ALLIANCE: Translation of the Magna Carta
HUMAN CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: Magna Carta
YALE UNIVERSITY: Avalon Project
