The Magna Carta is a basic document that states liberties guaranteed to the English people. It proclaims rights that have become a part of English law and are now the foundation of the constitution of every English-speaking country.

The Magna Carta, which means “great charter” in Latin, was drawn up by English barons (nobles) and church leaders to limit the king’s power. In 1215 they forced the tyrannical King John to agree to the charter.

The Magna Carta stated that the king must follow the law and could not simply rule as he wished. It was one of the first documents to state that citizens had such rights. Today many people consider Magna Carta to be the first written constitution in Europe.

King John’s cruelty and greed united the powerful feudal nobles, the church leaders, and the people against him. He demanded too much money in taxes. While the king was waging a disastrous war in France, the leading barons of England met secretly and swore to compel him to respect the rights of his subjects. When John returned, they presented him with a series of demands.



 

Magna Carta: signing

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.John tried to gather support in order to avoid giving in to the demands, but almost all his followers deserted him. Too weak to resist the barons and bishops, at last he met with them along the south bank of the Thames River, in a meadow called Runnymede. King John affixed his seal to the Magna Carta on June 15, 1215.

The document then underwent further modifications, with the final version agreed to on June 19.

The document had 63 sections. Although much of it deals with feudal rights and duties, it also includes provisions that protect the rights of the church, merchants, and townspeople.

The Magna Carta also guaranteed the rights of women and children who inherited property, and it stated that people could not be punished for crimes unless they were lawfully convicted.

Finally, the Magna Carta gave barons the right to declare war on the king if he did not follow the charter’s provisions.

English rulers often tried to ignore the Magna Carta. However, it was the beginning of significant limitations on the English monarchs’ power.

As the monarch lost power, the nobles and, later, Parliament gained it.


Magna Carta memorial

In later centuries leaders and ordinary people cited the Magna Carta as a guarantee of basic human rights. The document has become a symbol and a battle cry against oppression, with each generation reading into it a protection of its own threatened liberties.

Today, England is part of the United Kingdom, a constitutional monarchy. That means the monarch shares power with a government that is organized according to a constitution.

The Magna Carta influenced not only English law but laws in many other countries, which later used the principles of the Magna Carta in their constitutions.

The Magna Carta is considered a forerunner of the English Bill of Rights, the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. In the United States both the national constitution and the state constitutions show ideas and even phrases directly traceable to the Magna Carta.


Universal Declaration of Human RightsUN PhotoIn 1948 the United Nations (UN) adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the foundational document of international human rights law. It was referred to as humanity’s Magna Carta by Eleanor Roosevelt, who chaired the UN Commission on Human Rights that was responsible for the drafting of the document.

       

Magna Carta Timeline

1066–87

                                                                    William I

Photos.com/Getty ImagesWith his conquest of England, William I secures for himself and his immediate successors a position of unprecedented power. During his rule over England (1066–87) he is able to dominate not only the country but also the barons who had helped him win it and the clergy members who served the English church.

1100

William’s son Henry I accedes to the throne. He is compelled to make concessions to the nobles and clergy in the Charter of Liberties, a royal edict issued upon his coronation.

1136

Henry I’s successor, Stephen, issues yet another charter with even more generous promises of good government in church and state.

1154

Henry II also begins his reign by issuing a charter promising to restore and confirm the liberties and free customs that Henry I, his grandfather, had granted “to God and holy church and all his earls, barons and all his men.” Henry II thus continues the tradition that the king’s coronation oath be strengthened by written promises stamped with the king’s seal.

1189–99

Richard I, known as Richard the Lionhearted, becomes king in 1189. His reign lasts nearly 10 years. He personally takes part in the Crusades, a series of religious wars. Opponents capture him, and England pays an enormous ransom to free him. He spends the last five years of his reign at war with France. All this costs money, but English nobles have little power over Richard because he can raise taxes whenever he wants.

1199–1213

King John

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Rosenwald Collection, 1980.45.28When Richard dies in 1199, the barons select John to be their king. By 1204 John loses Normandy and most of his other French lands in a war with Philip II. John then quarrels with Pope Innocent III about the appointment of Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury in 1206. John is excommunicated in 1209, and for a period England is forbidden most religious services. John finally recognizes the new archbishop in 1212 and is absolved from excommunication by Langton in 1213. Langton will later encourage rebellious barons to demand from John a solemn grant of their rights.

1214–25

John launches a military campaign against France in 1214 but makes no lasting gains. His heavy taxes and aggressive assertion of feudal privileges lead to the outbreak of civil war in England in May 1215. Rebellious barons march against John and quickly establish control of London, weakening John’s position. He is forced to meet the barons at Runnymede on June 15, 1215, and to sign the charter of liberties known as the Magna Carta. The document guarantees political liberties to the people of England and requires the king to follow the law. Among the charter’s provisions are clauses providing for reforming laws and judicial procedures and controlling the behavior of royal officials.


 

Magna Carta

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.John has no real intention of supporting the charter, however. He recruits a new army and lays waste to baronial estates in the north. But his cause is weakened by the arrival of Prince Louis (later Louis VIII) of France, who invades England at the barons’ request. John continues to wage war vigorously but dies in October 1216, leaving the issues undecided. His death makes possible a compromise peace, including the restoration of the rebels, the succession of his son Henry III, and the withdrawal of Prince Louis from England. Advisers to the young Henry III (who is only nine years old) almost immediately reissue the Magna Carta in his name, in November. (The document is reissued again with some alterations in 1217 and 1225.)

1790

By May 29 the Constitution of the United States has been by ratified by all 13 U.S. states. The basic rights embodied in the document echo the Magna Carta.

1948

The United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, another document partly inspired by the principles of the Magna Carta.


Magna Carta Causes and Effects

Causes

The tyrannical rule of King John and his increasing assumption of powers created resentment among many in England, particularly his barons.

The English barons sought to protect themselves and the public at large from encroachments of royal authority.

Among the main grievances against the king was that he demanded too much money from the people in taxes.

The barons were also aware of the king’s waning power. After John waged a disastrous war in France, the barons swore to compel him to respect the rights of his subjects.

The barons presented John with a series of demands. John sought to avoid giving in to them, leading the barons to renounce their allegiance to him. They marched against him in May 1215 and soon captured London.

Magna Carta: signing

Forced to meet the barons at Runnymede, a meadow by the Thames, King John affixed his seal to the Magna Carta on June 15, 1215. 

Effects

Careful provision was made in the Magna Carta for limiting royal taxes and assessments and for reforming laws and judicial procedures.

In addition, the Magna Carta provided certain guarantees for the people as a whole. Although much of the document dealt with feudal rights and duties, it also included provisions to protect the rights of the church, merchants, and townspeople.

The Magna Carta stated that people could not be punished for crimes unless they were lawfully convicted.

The charter also gave the barons the right to declare war on the king if he did not follow its provisions.


 

Know about the necessary precautions to bring the whole series of the Magna Carta together at the Robing Room of the Palace of Westminster to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the charter's issue

© UK Parliament Education Service (A Britannica Publishing Partner)As significant as the Magna Carta was to people of the 1200s, the charter proved to be even more important to subsequent generations. It was the first step in establishing England’s constitution, and many other countries later used the principles of the Magna Carta in their constitutions too. 

In the 17th century, when England’s North American colonies were shaping their own fundamental laws, the words of the Magna Carta were worked into them. The basic rights later embodied in the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights echo the charter, and the Fourteenth Amendment can trace its ancestry to the Magna Carta as well.