Fact File:
Magna Carta
The what, who and why
Glossary
Magna Carta: Latin for Great Charter, the result of an agreement between King
John and the Barons about how England was to be governed.
Barons: rich land owners who wanted to manage their own affairs to their
advantage.
The significance of Magna Carta
 Magna Carta was issued in June 1215 at Runnymede by King John. It came after
the barons had rebelled against the king because they did not like the way he
was ruling.
 The main importance of Magna Carta is that it put in writing for the first time the
principle that the king was not above the law; in governing the country, the king
must stick to the law.
 Magna Carta included a law that said 25 barons could force the king to keep to
the rules it set out. Kings had never before been forced to obey the law in this
way.
 Magna Carta set out 63 clauses (rights). These included - no one shall be
arrested or imprisoned except by the judgement of their equals and according to
the law of the land, and that no one will be denied justice.
 Three clauses remain in force today with the best known being that everyone has
a right to trial by their equals. This is similar to a trial by jury today and something
that affects every person in the United Kingdom.
 Magna Carta influenced the development of democratic rights across the world,
including the Bill of Rights in the United States of America.
Key dates
 1199: John becomes King of England, Duke of Normandy (in France), Duke of
Aquitaine (in France), Count of Anjou (in France), and Lord of Ireland.
 1204: The King of France takes much of John’s land, leading John to raise taxes
for his wars.
 1215: June. Magna Carta is sealed at Runnymede. Within months the Pope
declares it illegal.
1216: October. John dies and his son Henry becomes King. Magna Carta is
reissued.
Mr. Scalera – 7th Grade Social Studies (Chapter 5, Section 1 – Magna Carta)
Why is one copy of Magna Carta burnt?
Both copies of Magna Carta in the British Library came from the enormous
collection of manuscripts amassed by Sir Robert Cotton who died in 1631.
Exactly a century later, in 1731, there was a disastrous fire at Ashburnam
House in Westminster where his library was then housed. Many rare and
valuable manuscripts were destroyed or damaged in the fire, and
unfortunately one of Cotton’s two copies of Magna Carta was caught up in
the blaze.
What does 'Magna Carta' mean?
'Magna Carta' means 'The Great Charter'. In 1215 it was known as the
Charter of Liberties, but when it was confirmed in 1217, the clauses dealing
with the law of the royal forest were taken out and put into a separate
document known as 'The Charter of the Forest'. After that, people began to
refer to the Charter of Liberties as Magna Carta to distinguish it from the
shorter Charter of the Forest.
How much of Magna Carta is valid today?
Only three of the 63 clauses in Magna Carta are still valid today. These are
the first clause guaranteeing the liberties of the English Church; the clause
confirming the privileges of the city of London and other towns; and the
most famous clause of all which states that no free man shall be imprisoned,
dispossessed, outlawed or exiled without the lawful judgement of his equals
or by the law of the land. The other 60 clauses were either left out of the
early confirmations of Magna Carta or have become redundant and been
repealed in modern times.
Why is Magna Carta important?
Magna Carta was the first grant by an English king to set detailed limits on
royal authority. Through its statement of liberties, it sought to prevent the
king from exploiting his power in arbitrary ways and it made clear that the
king was subject to the law, not above it.
Source - http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/government/magnacarta.htm