Magna Carta
The Magna Carta (Great Charter) was first issued in 1215 by King John. The document shown here is the final version, issued in 1225 by John's son Henry III.
Magna Carta was not a medieval bill of rights for the king's subjects. It was a last ditch attempt to stop a civil war - but 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 found these terms unacceptable and war soon followed.
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. Three important clauses still form a part of English statute law today. The two most well known are:
- 'No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions ... except by the lawful judgement of his peers.'
- 'To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.'
Although not originally intended as a bill of rights, Magna Carta became seen in these terms whenever people's liberties were challenged. In 1641 it was used by lawyers in the struggle between Parliament and Charles I. With the American War of Independence against Britain, two clauses from Magna Carta became the fifth and sixth amendments of the American Constitution. The continuing symbolic significance of Magna Carta was shown when the universal Declaration of Human Rights was presented to the United Nations in 1948 as a 'Magna Carta for the future'.
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