What Was The Magna Carta And When Was It Signed?

The Magna Carta was a great charter in English history. It was granted by King John in 1215 to protect the human rights of the people against the tyrannical powers of the monarchy. The King had been demanding excessive tax payments from his subjects and had also been trying to take away some of the privileges of the Catholic Church. The church sided with the people ant the Archbishop of Canterbury, Langton, persuaded the aristocracy that a charter was needed.

This was drawn up and signed at Runnymede in Surrey on 15 June 1215. Not surprisingly, the Magna Carta starts by protecting the rights of the church. Then it stops the King from making unreasonable tax demands on his landowners and it then tries to set out rules to prevent bribery and other malpractice amongst court officials.

It sets out the basis for our modern trial system in that no freeman should be arrested, imprisoned or punished except by the judgement of his peers according to the law of the land. Four original copies of the charter still exist, on each in the cathedrals of Lincoln and Salisbury and two at the British Library in London.

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