June 15th marks
Magna Carta Day. While this doesnt have the same cachet as
Memorial Day or the
Fourth of July the history of the Magna Carta is arguably far more important. A number of the rights codified in the Constitutions
Bill of Rights find their origins in the
Magna Carta. The charter was drafted by the
Archbishop of Canterbury as a way to settle tensions between the
King of England and some of his barons.
The Magna Carta is the foundation of the Western conception of individual liberties particularly in the
Anglosphere. It is also one of the most mythologized documents in history. Still many today are unaware of its actual content and the historical context in which it was drafted.
The Origins of the Magna Carta
While much of the historical context is complex the main point is this: Under the rule of
King John in the 13th century several barons were unhappy with the nebulous nature of rule and administration. The Magna Carta was an attempt to codify the procedures by which the King ruled over his subjects in particular the barons. The Great Charter" was renewed by subsequent kings though under parliamentary rule much of its main provisions were slowly stripped away.
The dispute that led to the drafting of the Magna Carta revolved around how a king was supposed to rule. It was believed at the time that while the king had unlimited powers he should govern with the counsel of his barons using custom as his guide. The Magna Carta is an attempt to address what the rules are for when the king is not ruling in this fashion.
The Magna Cartas origins are as a failed peace treaty between the king and some of his rebellious barons. King John had been steadily losing his ancestral lands on the continent to King Phillip II of France. To help wage war to maintain these lands he levied high taxes on his barons. His barons needless to say did not care for this. This led to the
First Barons War one of the earliest civil wars in England between the king and his nobles.
The main rights established by the Magna Carta are due process of law and its corollary the right to a fair trial by a jury of ones peers the latter of which is spelled out in the
Magna Carta. The interpretation of what these rights mean and how they are applied has changed significantly in the nearly 1000 years since the document was first drafted. Whats more whenever kings would readopt the charter they would often amend it to address the issues of the day.
For the most part these changes are very obscure and very much a product of their times. However there are some significant trends that are worth discussing in any history of the Magna Carta. For example in the 16th century under the rule of
Henry VIII the Magna Carta fell out of favor. Henry VIII mounted a massive propaganda campaign denying any right of the nobles to rebel while also demanding full support for the Crown in all of its struggles against the papacy. On the other side of things Catholic rebels frequently cited the Magna Carta when fighting the Crown.
By the end of the 16th century the view had flipped almost completely. The Magna Carta was seen as the embodiment of ancient traditional English values that had been overthrown in the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Magna Carta was seen not as a revolution in rights but a restoration of rights that had existed since time immemorial. This is now regarded as at best inaccurate and at worst as a complete fabrication and total myth.
By the 17th century the document became a central part of British political culture. There was increasing tension between the Parliament and the Crown with regard to the proper duties of the latter. The Magna Carta was usually cited in arguments for those who emphasized the power of Parliament when arguing against the
Divine Right of Kings. The Parliament was framed as one of the ancient English institutions protected by the charter. After the 1640 revolution and the ensuing
Commonwealth many rejected the idea that the new republic was bound by an agreement made between the Crown and a nobility that no longer existed.
Continue reading
Magna Carta Day: The Forgotten History of Magna Carta Day and What It Commemorates on
Ammo.com.
