Magna Carta
The Magna Carta, Latin for "Great Paper", was written as a charter for England in 1215 (Magna 1). The Magna Carta has had the most significant influence on modern day common law and constitutions. The document was originally written because of disagreements between the Pope, King John, and his English barons over the rights of the king. The Magna Carta required the king to renounce certain rights, and to accept that the powers of the king could be bound by law (Asimov 12). There are a few misconceptions about the Magna Carta, however. It was not the first document to attempt to limit the power of the king. It, however, failed to limit the power of the king, especially during the Middle Ages. The Magna Carta had been strengthened during the Stuart and Tudor period, and well into the 18th century. In fact, evidence of the Magna Carta can be seen in the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Almost every common law country with a constitution has been influenced by the Magna Carta. Most importantly, the Magna Carta is not one single document; it was many documents unified under one name (Asimov 15). After the Norman Conquest in 1066, England had become the most powerful monarch Europe had ever seen. This was in part because of the combination of the centralized government system created by the Norman rulers and the Anglo-Saxon systems (Ayars 4). After King John was crowned in the early thirteenth century, a series of failures on his part led the barons of England to revolt and place checks on the king's power. By 1215, the barons had had enough of the king. They joined forces and took London forcibly. They forced King John to sign the document know as the "Articles of Barons", which was the original Magna Carta. The most important part of the document was the clause that allowed a group of twenty-five barons, at any time, to meet and overrule the king (Asimov 22). The king even had to take an oath to the committee. However, as soon as
Cited: Asimov, Isaac. Shaping of England. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1969. Ayars, James Sterling. We hold these truths: from Magna Carta to the Bill of Rights. New York: Viking Press, 1977. Great Charter. 30 Mar 2006 < http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/magnacarta.htm> The Magna Carta. 28 Mar 2006 < http://www.cs.indiana.edu/statecraft/magna-carta.html>