What was Magna Carta and why was it important?
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The British Library’s version of Magna Carta. You can visit the British Library to see all kinds of amazing documents as well as Magna Carta ,at 96 Euston Rd, London NW1 2DB
King Richard the Lionheart fought in the Crusades in the “Holy Land “ to “liberate” Jerusalem and the surrounding area from Islamic rule. In the process, he needed a vast amount of money from the English people to pay for his campaigns. In England his brother John had to raise taxes to pay for these adventures and a ransom when Richard was captured and held hostage. When Richard died, the countries finances were still in a bad way and John exploited the situation further using what ever means he could dream up. John was defeated in France and lost Normandy, held since the time of William the Conqueror. To win Normandy back, John waged expensive and fruitless wars. Barons in England objected to John’s measures but John simply carried on. It all came to a head with the barons rising up against the king and in 1215, John was forced by the barons to stop continuing what the believed were illegal and tyrannical practices.
Lincoln Castle has a vault especially built to house Magna Carta and where you can get a good view of it.
Magna Carta is seen by many historians as one of the most important documents in history because it established first in 1215, the principle that everyone is subject to the law, even kings and queens and it guarantees the rights of individuals, the right to justice and the right to a fair trial. It is significant because it put England on the way to democracy. Over time the powers of English kings were curtailed especially in the 17th Century. Furthermore, Magna Carta is often cited as having strongly influenced the American Bill of Rights in 1791 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rightist 1948.
Chapter 1 states; We have granted all freemen of our kingdom, for us and our heirs forever, all the underwritten liberties, to be had and held by them and their heirs, of us and our heirs forever.
Chapters 12 and 14 state; No tax was to be levied except by the common counsellor our realm. To obtain that counsel, the king would summon the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls and greater barons individually to a meeting at a fixed place and with at least forty days notice. King John charged and raised taxes as he pleased. All kings did, but John did it excessively. Magna Carta stopped this so that representatives of the people had to give consent.
Chapter 39 states ; No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or disseized or outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined, (ie he cannot be stripped of his rights or possessions)neither will we go or send against him except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land(ie no force will be unlawfully sent against him). In Britain today, if a person is arrested and no court proceedings take place, the arrested person’s lawyer can ask for a “writ of Habeus Corpus “ and their client will be immediately released. John would arrest whoever he wanted, and even hold people hostage, until money had been handed over by the family of the hostage as he demanded. John would use his laws to get money from people or refuse justice until they had paid a substantial sum.
Chapter 40 states; To no-one will sell, to no-one will we deny or delay right or justice. To end the barons uprising against him and bring about peace, King John was forced to put his seal on Magna Carta but soon afterwards,(10 weeks) he reneged on the deal and even gained the Pope’s support! The Pope declared it “null and void of all validity for ever” and stated that Magna Carta was ,”illegal, unjust, harmful to royal rights and shameful to the English people”. Consequently, the civil war between John and his barons broke out again and only ended when John died in 1216.
Above Salisbury Cathedral. Here you can see what is known as the best preserved copy of Magna Carta.
Kings after King John have agreed to later versions of Magna Carta and its principles of freedom from arbitrary arrest and no tax rises without the people’s consent in some form are still valid today. One of the reasons for the English Civil War was that Charles I was arbitrarily raising taxes, he asked for “Ship Money” an ancient tax on coastal towns during war time but he asked everyone to pay the tax and England was not in a war. Furthermore, he tried to imprison anyone who refused to pay and he even attempted to arrest 5 MPs sitting in the House of Commons without getting any courts or judges involved.
In the USA, colonists opposing the British crown quoted Magna Carta, shouting no taxation without representation. Magna Carta strongly influenced the The American Constitution and several states’ constitutions. 1791 Bill of Rights cites Magna Carta and it has been quoted for legal purposes in the USA ever since.
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