The Magna Carta (meaning 'legal charter' in Latin) was an official document that was sealed under oath by King John in June 1215.
John's father, Henry II, was a very unpopular King because he fought many unsuccessful wars and mad the population pay heavy taxes. When John took over, he continued to do the same. He over-taxed his nobles and barons by huge amounts and ignored their traditional rights so he could afford to keep his military running, because they lost a lot of money by losing wars. He made powerful enemies and lost most of the English-controlled land in France. He was arresting opponents at will, quarrelling with the Catholic Church, and overall being a very bad leader.
In June 1215, angry nobles forced a meeting with him at Runnymede, on the bank of the River Thames in England. They made him give his official seal on the Magna Carta, an agreement between the nobles and the monarch. The Magna Carta was a document that limited the power of the King and protected the rights and privileges of nobles and others below them. It also meant that King John agreed to observe common law and the traditional rights of the nobles and the church. This was the beginning of people's rights and liberties that would eventually lead to democracy.
John also agreed that 'no free man' could be jailed except by the lawful judgement of his peers, or by the lord of the land. This idea eventually developed into a key part of English common law known as habeas corpus: the legal concept that an accused person cannot be jailed indefinitely without being charged with a crime, the court must consult. Today, the idea of rights and liberties and habeas corpus are continued in the Bill Of Rights in the U.S. Constitution , or the Commonwealth Act in Australia.
The Magna Carta was an extremely important document, because it gave the people their rights back, limited the power of the King and has been incorporated into the government system today.
John's father, Henry II, was a very unpopular King because he fought many unsuccessful wars and mad the population pay heavy taxes. When John took over, he continued to do the same. He over-taxed his nobles and barons by huge amounts and ignored their traditional rights so he could afford to keep his military running, because they lost a lot of money by losing wars. He made powerful enemies and lost most of the English-controlled land in France. He was arresting opponents at will, quarrelling with the Catholic Church, and overall being a very bad leader.
In June 1215, angry nobles forced a meeting with him at Runnymede, on the bank of the River Thames in England. They made him give his official seal on the Magna Carta, an agreement between the nobles and the monarch. The Magna Carta was a document that limited the power of the King and protected the rights and privileges of nobles and others below them. It also meant that King John agreed to observe common law and the traditional rights of the nobles and the church. This was the beginning of people's rights and liberties that would eventually lead to democracy.
John also agreed that 'no free man' could be jailed except by the lawful judgement of his peers, or by the lord of the land. This idea eventually developed into a key part of English common law known as habeas corpus: the legal concept that an accused person cannot be jailed indefinitely without being charged with a crime, the court must consult. Today, the idea of rights and liberties and habeas corpus are continued in the Bill Of Rights in the U.S. Constitution , or the Commonwealth Act in Australia.
The Magna Carta was an extremely important document, because it gave the people their rights back, limited the power of the King and has been incorporated into the government system today.