A Brief History of Magna Carta
In 1215, English barons forced King John to sign Magna Carta, which, for the first time, enshrined the principle that nobody, the king included, was above the law of the land. Magna Carta examines the struggles that led to the signing, what exactly the charter said and its implications, and looks at how it has influenced the rule of law elsewhere, from the constitution of the USA to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The first chapter concerns the dysfunctional Plantagenets. When John came to the throne he was King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine and Count of Anjou. King Philip of France (who had his own ambitions) was John’s feudal overlord for his lands in France and I found it difficult to keep track of who laid claim to what.
The rest of this gripping book examines John’s constant demands for money from his barons and the subsequent crisis of government, which led to the fateful meeting at Runnymede. The Charter was uninterested in ameliorating the legal position of women, Jews, foreigners and peasants, which remained grossly unjust; but the rule of law was, however tenuously, established. This fascinating overview is well worth reading.
