The Magna Carta Project
J.C. Holt Undergraduate Essay Prize
The Magna Carta Project invites entries for the J.C. Holt prize for the best undergraduate
essay on Magna Carta. The prize for the winning entry will be £250, to be awarded at the
project’s conference at King’s College London/British Library, 17-19 June 2015.
Entries must be written by a current undergraduate student. They should address one of
the questions below, be between 2,000 and 2,500 words in length (inclusive of footnotes),
and include a bibliography. In answering the question, entrants might choose to consider
the original issue of Magna Carta in 1215, the Charter’s subsequent issues and/or the
Charter’s later history. The judges will be looking for rigour of argument, clarity of
expression and engagement with both primary sources and secondary literature. Entries
should be emailed in PDF format to [email protected] no later than 1 March
2015. The email should include the following information:
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Name of entrant
Email address
Name and address of university
Essay question chosen
Name of university supervisor (to be contacted for verification of status in the
event of shortlisting)
Questions:
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To what extent was Magna Carta a radical document?
How far was Magna Carta just another example of ‘the natural reaction of feudal
societies’ to the demands of royal government? (J. C. Holt).
To what extent was rebellion in England in 1215 a response to defects in John’s
personality, rather than his policies?
The rebellion against John ‘was a rebellion of the King’s debtors’. (J.C. Holt). How
far do you agree?
How satisfactorily did Magna Carta deal with the problems set by Angevin kingship?
How far did Magna Carta represent the interests of the ‘community of the kingdom’?
Why was the first issue of Magna Carta a failure?
What, or who, ensured Magna Carta’s survival?
What is the most important date in the history of Magna Carta?
In the thirteenth century, did Magna Carta matter more as a symbol than for what it
contained?
Was Magna Carta more important in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries than
it was in the thirteenth?
Today, does Magna Carta matter more as a symbol than for what it contains?