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Mariana Abad
Heather Bennett
English 7°1
March 11, 2013
Magna Carta
Magna Carta, also known as Great Charter, was signed by King John at Runnymede on June
15th of 1215. This process was lead due to barons that were exhausted of paying the taxes King John
asked for. Magna Carta not only ended conflicts between the barons and the king, but it changed the way
of thinking from people since they had more freedom
Before the Magna Carta was made there were many struggles from feudalism. There were
many gaps due to the taxation King John was asking for. The taxes were leading people to rebel against
the king and force him to leave the throne. Even the Magna Carta itself was claiming those taxes John
was applying, were “evil.” King John’s excommunication over an argument with Archbishop of
Canterbury on 1209 was also a cause for Magna Carta to be done. This argument was made because John
had taken advantage of the church and stole property from them, so he could sell those objects to his
bishops as a benefit.
Barons used to give their lands to King John in return to get services from him. They also
had less power than they were expected to. Whilst the king approached from the others. As History
Learning Site said, “By 1204, John had lost his land in northern France. In response to this, John
introduced high taxes without asking the barons. This was against feudal law and accepted custom.”
Although most barons had provided him with money and men, King John on 1213 started to require
military service from those barons who hadn’t helped him on battle. The Pope had banned all church
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services in England; barons were really worried since they feared Hell and respected religion a lot. They
started to have courage and got to the point where they had to rebel since King John wasn’t managing
England well and were tired of all the taxes they had to pay to such a foolish king.
On May 3rd the rebels declared war against King John. The baron, Robert FitzWalter, who was a
longtime adversary, led this rebellious act against King John. This act was small at the beginning since
Robert never had true respect among the laws, but this changed when King John’s son, William Marshal
joined the rebels. Most of the demands the rebels were asking for came from the “Unknown Charter,”
which was from Henry I. This war has been called civil war; Robert FitzWalter had captured all London
against the king. By spring of 1215 both sides; King John and the rebels were willing to discuss some sort
of agreement.
Archbishop Stephen Langton, some of the most powerful barons in England, and King John were
drafting an article named “Article of the Barons” on June 10, 1215. Once again on June 15 at Runnymede
the barons renewed the Oath of Fealty, which was when a vassal swore to the lord to be loyal to him and
also pay him homage. The Great Charter could’ve meant only a sign of surrender to the king and to the
rebels. For King John was only a sign that he had taken his dignity too far. As for the rebels it was only a
way to give London back to England.
The American Constitution has been linked to the Magna Carta almost since the independence of
America. Most of the constitution is based on Magna Carta, it is considered to be the first constitutional
way of government. Most of the United States liberties are based upon this. One of the most important
agreements was the freedom of the church, which is applied as having the freedom of religion; this would
be stated on the 1st amendment of the American Constitution. Magna Carta also allowed the citizens to
have a bigger voice in the government.
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The church also had a better place when the Magna Carta was signed since they are now
split form the country.
IT IS ACCORDINGLY OUR WISH AND COMMAND that the English Church shall be free, and that
men in our kingdom shall have and keep all these liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably in
their fullness and entirety for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs, in all things and all places for ever.
As the 63rd law from Magna Carta expressed, the church and the people could be chose and not be
arranged by the country you were born in. This gave the church a new type of liberty that may have
affected them. Many of the first laws on the Magna Carta were directed to the Church.
Human rights also had a base on the Magna Carta, it gave liberty to people, for citizens to be able to
inherit and own property, for the church to be free, also to be safe from excessive taxes, and equality. It
also forbids bribing and misconduct. The human rights were written about 300 years after the Magna
Carta, it influenced it a lot but also it had to be revised to see if those laws were still legible on those
times.
Even though Magna Carta is nearly 800 years old it still runs around this generation, if we didn’t
had it, many things would’ve been very different possibly on negative aspects, and it may had changed
the whole history and we would be living in tyranny. King John died a year after the Magna Carta had
been signed and his 9 year-old boy took over England.
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Works Cited
Aubuchon, Dennis. "Connecting the Magna Carta to the U.S. Constitution." Web log post.
HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb.-Mar. 2013.
<http://dennisaubuchon.hubpages.com/hub/Connecting-the-Magna-Carta-to-the-USConstitution>.
G. R. C. Davis, Magna Carta, Revised Edition, British Library, 1989. "The Text of Magna Carta."
Internet History Sourcebooks Project. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb.-Mar. 2013.
<http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/magnacarta.asp>.
Ibeji, Dr Mike. "King John and the Magna Carta." BBC News. BBC, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. Feb.-Mar.
2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/magna_01.shtml>.
"Magna Carta." Britannia History. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb.-Mar. 2013.
<http://www.britannia.com/history/docs/magna2.html>.
Magna Carta. History Learning Site. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb.-Mar. 2013.
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/magna_carta.htm>.
"Magna Carta, Petition of Right, History of Civil Liberties : United for Human Rights." Magna Carta,
Petition of Right, History of Civil Liberties : United for Human Rights. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb.Mar. 2013. <http://www.humanrights.com/what-are-human-rights/brief-history/magnacarta.html>.
Turner, Ralph V. "The Meaning of Magna Carta since 1215." History Today. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb.Mar. 2013. <http://www.historytoday.com/ralph-v-turner/meaning-magna-carta-1215>.
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Unknown. "Magna Carta 1215." Magna Carta 1215. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb.-Mar. 2013.
<http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/magna-carta.htm>.