The Magna Carta
Alex Vardy
Analysis• The Magna Carta is a document/charter which
King John of England (1166 – 1216) was forced to sign.
• It significantly reduced the amount of power that the King had before.
• From then on, Kings and Queens had to follow the rules rather than having absolute power.
• Everyone lived under the same laws
Why was the Magna Carta created?
The Magna Carta was created to:
• Limit the powers of the king
• Preserve basic legal rights to all “free men”
• Forced the monarchy to respect the rights of the common man.
• Prevented the king from increasing taxes without consent of a council of nobles
• Strengthen the powers of nobles
• Fair trial for all freemen
• Reduce the injustice towards vassals
• To stop the King from disrupting the Pope from religious matters
Term: free men only referred to ¼ of the population who are people who owned land and male.
(or great charter)
Who’s King John of England?
• He lived from 1166 to 1216
• He was the youngest of fives sons that King Henry II of England had.
• Very unpopular King between him and the nobles as he was not “fit” for a King! (did not have many qualities that people intended for a King to have)
(he was also the favourite out of the sons)
Nickname: Soft Sword
Important information leading to the creation of
the Magna Carta…• Again, King John was not a popular
King. He lost many wars against the French while he was in power.
• England lost the duchy of Normandy to King Philip II of France under King John’s rule.
• The near extinction of the Angevin Empire – which resulted in the growth of Capetain dynasty under King John’s rule.
• 1202 under King John’s rule, he lost his empire in the northern France.– Thus for the next decade, John attempted to regain the lands. He was
unsuccessful.
• Also, an attempt to defeat King Philip II once and for all failed in 1214 surprisingly.
He then…
• Raised large sums of cash, improved his army and rebuild continental alliances
• Introduced new taxes– This caused the retaliation of King John’s
nobles.– They thought of the new taxers unfair.
John also disputed with the Pope.
• King John had angered Pope Innocent III (the current Pope at that time) by asking for a new archbishop of Canterbury.
• Pope Innocent placed an interdict on England for some years.
• Eventually, the King was excommunicated because John rebelled against the Pope but later he was forgiven.
Interdict: excludes from certain rites of the Church individuals or groups
The King finally stamped the Magna Carta…
• It was stamped by King John at Runnymede on June 15th, 1215.
• The feudal barons forced King John.
• It was drafted by the archbishop Stephen Langton and the most powerful Barons
• It was originally called Articles of the Barons
Today…• The Magna Carta still has a great
influence in rules in today’s society as you can still see it’s influence in the US Bill of Rights and Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• Three of the clauses in Magna Carta are still used in society. EX) habeas corpus “legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention”.~ Wikipedia
Picture of the existing Manga Carta…
• Only FOUR of the original Manga Carta still exist today
Video• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUVnp
e8uffs
If you wish to watch it.
Bibliography:
• http://library.thinkquest.org/20176/mcarta.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John,_King_of_England
• http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-magna-carta.htm
• http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/magna-carta.htm• http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/cot/t2w07magnacarta.htm• http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/magna_carta.htm