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