Lincolnshire Radical History

Magna Carter

Written in 1215, the Magna Carta (or Great Charter) is effectively the first written constitution in European history.

Magna Carta was sealed by King John on 15 June, in southern England, and contained 63 clauses. The document was drawn up after his barons rebelled and forced him to agree to limitations on his power, because he had demanded heavy taxes to fund his unsuccessful wars in France.

Only a few weeks later, by August 1215, Pope Innocent III had annulled Magna Carta, declaring it null and void for having been sealed under duress. King John died of dysentery aged 50 in October that year.

But, over the course of the next few centuries, the ideals of Magna Carta gathered momentum and assumed a greater authority in respect of the central key clauses concerning liberty and justice.

In the 17th century, Magna Carter inspired two defining acts of English legislation. The first was the Petition of Right (1628):

“No free man shall be…imprisoned or disseised [dispossessed]… except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.”
Petition of Right

The second was the Habeas Corpus Act (1679), which referred to Clauses 39 & 40 stating:

“To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice.”
Habeas Corpus Act

In 1776, rebellious American colonists looked to the Magna Carta as a model for their demands of liberty from the English Crown. Its legacy is especially evident in the Bill of Rights and the United States Constitution. Nowhere is this more so than the influence of clause 69 on the fifth and fourteenth amendments of the Constitution, which guarantee:

“Nor shall any persons be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.”
United States Constitution

Although much significance was placed on Magna Carta during the 17th and 18th centuries, at the time it was written, the charter was simply a practical solution to a political crisis. The document primarily served the interests of the highest ranks of feudal society by reasserting the power of the barons to limit despotic behaviour by the king.

Magna Carta was written on durable parchment, which was made from dried sheepskin. The scribes who produced it wrote in medieval Latin and abbreviated words to save space on the parchment.

Magna Carter was a quick solution meant to last.

Many copies of the document were sent out to bishops and sheriffs across the country. The exact number is unknown, but four survive: one in Lincoln, one in Salisbury, and two in the British Library.

The 800th anniversary of the original charter occurred on 15 June 2015 and, to this day, Magna Carter is used a symbol for liberty against tyranny.

Magna Carter today

Today Magna Carta is regarded as an international icon of liberty and freedom. It is on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, which recognises important documentary heritage worldwide.

Only four surviving copies of Magna Carter are in existance and one is in Lincoln Castle.


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