MAGNA CARTA

Introduction
Magna Carta is the latin name for Great Charter. Full name of that charter is
Magna Carta Libertatum (Latin for Great Charter of Freedoms). It is an
English charter originally created in 1215 because of disagreements between
Pope Innocent III, King John and his English barons about the rights of the
King. Magna Carta required the king to renounce certain rights and respect
certain legal procedures. King John must accept that the will of the king could
be bound by law. Magna Carta was the most significant early influence on the
long historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law today.
Great Charter is considered one of the most important legal documents in the
history of democracy and is influenced many common law documents, such as
the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights. Every common law state has
been influenced by Magna Carta.
Many clauses of Magna Carta were renewed throughout the Middle Ages and
further. By the early century most clauses had been repealed from English law.
We have a number of popular misconceptions about Magna Carta, like that it
was the first document to limit the power of an English king by law. That is
wrong because it was not the first, and was partly based on the Charter of
Liberties. Second popular misconception is that Magna Carta is a single static
document. Magna Carta is variety of documents referred to under a common
name.
 The Basics
Magna Carta is chief defense against unjust rule and arbitrary in England.
Magna Carta established for the first time a very significant constitutional
principle that the power of the king could be limited by a written grant.

In the 12th century the English king had become the most powerful monarch
in Europe. But after King John was crowned in the early 13th century, a
series of stunning failures on his part led the barons of England to revolt and
place checks on the king's power. Kings Johns unsuccessful attempts to
defend his domination in Normandy led to oppressive demands on his
subjects. Taxes were raised. Because of that, in January 1215 a group of
barons demanded a charter of liberties as a safeguard against the Kings
arbitrary behavior. The barons took up arms against John and captured
London in May 1215. In June both parties met and held negotiations at
Runnymede, a meadow by the River Thames. The barons forced King John
to agree to a document called the Articles of the Barons. On 19 June 1215
the barons renewed their oaths of fealty to King John. Meanwhile the royal
chancery produced a formal royal grant, based on the agreements reached
at Runnymede. This was the original Magna Carta.
 Events leading to Magna Carta
Discontent in the realm

Major reasons for revolt of the aristocracy against the King John were his relationship with King of
France Philip.

Phillip declared Arthur as the ruler of Anjou and gave John's french territories to him. John killed
Arthur under unclear circumstances and lost the support of french barons.

Battle of Bouvines was in July 1214. The result of battle was French victory against King John's
allies and Philip gained control of Anjou, Maine, Tourein, and Normandy.

Other reason for the uprising of barons was Johns excomunication from the Holy Roman-
Catholic Church.

Scutage was raised eleven times during his reign.

 Uprising

10.6.1215 Barons enterd London.

John was forced to agree to the articles of the Barons in which

barons stated their demands and attached a Great Seal at
Runnymede on June 15, 1215. After that the barons renewed
their oath to King John.

Formal document to record the agreement was created by Lord

Chancellor on July 15, this was the original Magna Carta.

This made John King only by title so when barons left the London
he broke the pact and civil war broke out known as First Baron's
war.
 First Baron's War

As the King John broke clause 61 (security clause which stated that a committee of 25 barons,
could meet any time and overrule the will of king) and renounced the Magna Carta, civil war
erupted in 1215.

Barons invited Prince Louis, son of Philip August, to help them fight King John.

King John fled to Winchester and Louis entered London with almost no resistance. On July 19th
Louis began the first siege of Dover Castle which was the last King's fort left in Kent.

The siege lasted until October 14 when Louis due to fatigue of his troops called a truce and
returned to London.

John died on October 18, 1216 from dysentery in Lincolnshire leaving his nine year old son
Henry.

Henry was crowned on October 28, 1216 at Gloucester Abbey because London was held by
Louis.
 The Text of Magna Carta
JOHN, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke ofNormandy and Aquitaine,
and Count of Anjou, to his archbishops,bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, foresters,
sheriffs,stewards, servants, and to all his officials and loyal subjects,Greeting. KNOW THAT
BEFORE GOD, for the health of our soul and those of ourancestors and heirs, to the honour of
God, the exaltation of the holy Church, and the better ordering of our kingdom, at the advice of
ourreverend fathers Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of allEngland, and cardinal of
the holy Roman Church, Henry archbishop ofDublin, William bishop of London, Peter bishop of
Winchester, Jocelinbishop of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh bishop of Lincoln, Walter Bishopof
Worcester, William bishop of Coventry, Benedict bishop ofRochester, Master Pandulf subdeacon
and member of the papal household,Brother Aymeric master of the knighthood of the Temple in
England,William Marshal earl of Pembroke, William earl of Salisbury, Williamearl of Warren,
William earl of Arundel, Alan de Galloway constable ofScotland, Warin Fitz Gerald, Peter Fitz
Herbert, Hubert de Burghseneschal of Poitou, Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert,
ThomasBasset, Alan Basset, Philip Daubeny, Robert de Roppeley, John Marshal,John Fitz Hugh,
and other loyal subjects:
(1) FIRST, THAT WE HAVE GRANTED TO GOD, and by this present charterhave confirmed for us and our heirs
in perpetuity, that the EnglishChurch shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and itsliberties
unimpaired. That we wish this so to be observed, appearsfrom the fact that of our own free will, before the
outbreak of thepresent dispute between us and our barons, we granted and confirmed bycharter the freedom
of the Church's elections - a right reckoned to beof the greatest necessity and importance to it - and caused
this to beconfirmed by Pope Innocent III. This freedom we shall observe ourselves,and desire to be observed
in good faith by our heirs in perpetuity.TO ALL FREE MEN OF OUR KINGDOM we have also granted, for us
and our heirs for ever, all the liberties written out below, to have and tokeep for them and their heirs, of us and
our heirs:

(2) If any earl, baron, or other person that holds lands directly ofthe Crown, for military service, shall die, and at his
death his heirshall be of full age and owe a `relief', the heir shall have hisinheritance on payment of the
ancient scale of `relief'. That is tosay, the heir or heirs of an earl shall pay 100 for the entire earl'sbarony, the
heir or heirs of a knight l00s. at most for the entireknight's `fee', and any man that owes less shall pay less,
inaccordance with the ancient usage of `fees

(3) But if the heir of such a person is under age and a ward, when hecomes of age he shall have his inheritance
without `relief' or fine.

(4) The guardian of the land of an heir who is under age shall takefrom it only reasonable revenues, customary
dues, and feudal services.He shall do this without destruction or damage to men or property. Ifwe have given
the guardianship of the land to a sheriff, or to anyperson answerable to us for the revenues, and he commits
destructionor damage, we will exact compensation from him, and the land shall beentrusted to two worthy and
prudent men of the same `fee', who shallbe answerable to us for the revenues, or to the person to whom we
haveassigned them. If we have given or sold to anyone the guardianship ofsuch land, and he causes
destruction or damage, he shall lose theguardianship of it, and it shall be handed over to two worthy
andprudent men of the same `fee', who shall be similarly answerable tous.
 (61) Since, moveover, for God and the amendment of our kingdom and forthe better allaying of the quarrel
that has arisen between us and ourbarons, we have granted all these concessions, desirous that theyshould
enjoy them in complete and firm endurance forever, we give andgrant to them the underwritten security,
namely, that the baronschoose five and twenty barons of the kingdom, whomsoever they will,who shall be
bound with all their might, to observe and hold, andcause to be observed, the peace and liberties we have
granted andconfirmed to them by this our present Charter, so that if we, or ourjusticiar, or our bailiffs or any
one of our officers, shall inanything be at fault towards anyone, or shall have broken any one ofthe articles of
this peace or of this security, and the offense benotified to four barons of the foresaid five and twenty, the
said fourbarons shall repair to us (or our justiciar, if we are out of therealm) and, laying the transgression
before us, petition to have thattransgression redressed without delay. And if we shall not havecorrected the
transgression (or, in the event of our being out of therealm, if our justiciar shall not have corrected it) within
fortydays, reckoning from the time it has been intimated to us (or to ourjusticiar, if we should be out of the
realm), the four baronsaforesaid shall refer that matter to the rest of the five and twentybarons, and those
five and twenty barons shall, together with thecommunity of the whole realm, distrain and distress us in all
possibleways, namely, by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, and in anyother way they can, until
redress has been obtained as they deem fit,saving harmless our own person, and the persons of our queen
andchildren; and when redress has been obtained, they shall resume theirold relations towards us. And let
whoever in the country desires it,swear to obey the orders of the said five and twenty barons for
theexecution of all the aforesaid matters, and along with them, to molestus to the utmost of his power; and
we publicly and freely grant leaveto everyone who wishes to swear, and we shall never forbid anyone
toswear.All those, moveover, in the land who of themselves and of their ownaccord are unwilling to swear to
the twenty five to help them inconstraining and molesting us, we shall by our command compel the sameto
swear to the effect foresaid. And if any one of the five andtwenty barons shall have died or departed from
the land, or beincapacitated in any other manner which would prevent the foresaidprovisions being carried
out, those of the said twenty five barons whoare left shall choose another in his place according to their
ownjudgment, and he shall be sworn in the same way as the others.Further, in all matters, the execution of
which is entrusted,to thesetwenty five barons, if perchance these twenty five are present anddisagree about
anything, or if some of them, after being summoned, areunwilling or unable to be present, that which the
majority of thosepresent ordain or command shall be held as fixed and established,exactly as if the whole
twenty five had concurred in this; and thesaid twenty five shall swear that they will faithfully observe allthat is
aforesaid, and cause it to be observed with all their might.And we shall procure nothing from anyone,
directly or indirectly,whereby any part of these concessions and liberties might be revokedor diminished; and
if any such things has been procured, let it be void and null, and we shall never use it personally or by
another
(62) And all the will, hatreds, and bitterness that have arisen betweenus and our men, clergy and lay,
from the date of the quarrel, we havecompletely remitted and pardoned to everyone. Moreover,
alltrespasses occasioned by the said quarrel, from Easter in thesixteenth year of our reign till the
restoration of peace, we havefully remitted to all, both clergy and laymen, and completelyforgiven,
as far as pertains to us. And on this head, we have causedto be made for them letters
testimonial patent of the lord Stephen,archbishop of Canterbury, of the lord Henry, archbishop of
Dublin, ofthe bishops aforesaid, and of Master Pandulf as touching this securityand the
concessions aforesaid.

(63) Wherefore we will and firmly order that the English Church befree, and that the men in our
kingdom have and hold all the aforesaidliberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably,
freely andquietly, fully and wholly, for themselves and their heirs, of us andour heirs, in all
respects and in all places forever, as isaforesaid. An oath, moreover, has been taken, as well on
our part ason the part of the barons, that all these conditions aforesaid shall bekept in good faith
and without evil intent. Given under our hand -the above named and many others being
witnesses - in the meadow whichis called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the
fifteenth dayof June, in the seventeenth year of our reign.
 Magna Carta re-issued
King John had been forced to agree to Magna Carta, and he immediately attempted to have it
annulled by the Pope.

A period of civil war followed, which ended with the sudden death of King John.

His nine-year-old son, Henry III, was next in line for the throne.

Henry's regents Wiliam Marshal reissued Magna Carta in his name on November 12, 1216,
omitting some clauses, such as clause 61, and again in 1217.

After the 1217 re-issue, it became known as Magna Carta, or Great Charter.

When Henry's regents turned 18 in 1225, Henry III himself reissued Magna Carta again, this time
in a shorter version with only 37 articles.

Henry III's son and Edward I's Parliament reissued Magna Carta for the final time 1297 as part of
a statute called Confirmatio cartarum which stated that is parliament's duty to approve new taxes
which the ruler wishes to impose. This marks the rise of parliamentarism as a important
government system.
 Rights still in force today
In the early seventeenth century, a period of conflict between king and subject,
Magna Carta assumed a new importance.

The clauses of Magna Carta were also echoed in early American colonial charters, in
the American Declaration of independence (1776) and in the United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).

Three of its clauses still stand on the English Statute Book.

Clause 1 of Magna Carta (the orginal 1215) guarantees the freedom of the English
Church.

Clause 39 guarantees the 'ancient liberties' of the city of London.

Clause 39 gives a right to due process.

The 1215 edition was annulled in 1216 but some of the 1297 version is still in force
today and preserves the rights listed above.

In 1828 the passing of the first Offences Against the Person Act, was the first time a
clause of Magna Carta was repealed, namely Clause 36.

Clauses 1, 13, 39, and 40 still in force after the Statute Law (Repeals) Act passed in
1969.
 Conclusion
Magna Carta is such a fellow, that he will have no sovereign.
Jurist Edward Coke

Edward Coke interpreted Magna Carta to apply not only to the protection of nobles but to all
subjects of the crown equally.

Magna Carta is a symbol for the first time the citizens of England were granted rights against an
absolute king. But even that the Great Charter is considered one of the most important legal
documents in the history of democracy we need to know the large part of Magna Carta was
copied, nearly word for word, from the Charter of Liberties of Henry I. That document was issued
when Henry I was crowned in 1100. Charter of Liberties bound the king to certain laws regarding
the treatment of church officials and nobles, granting certain civil liberties to the church and the
nobility.

The document that we known as Magna Carta today is not the 1215 charter, but a later charter of
1225, and is usually shown in the form of The Charter of 1297 when it was confirmed by Edward
I. Charter was reissued three times (1216, 1217 and 1225) in the reign of Henry III in order to
provide for an updated version.
 Martina Grdi
Andrea ele
Mihovil Brebri