The Magna Carta Principles & Pronouncements

HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT? A new constitutional principle: formally determined in writing, for the first time, that the power of the king could be LIMITED.

A KEY PLAYER King John: The King of England in 1215 A.D. – the year the Magna Carta was created.

What Exactly Did Magna Carta Do? Specifically… 1) The King must recognize the right of an enforcement council of tenants-in-chief and clergymen to make ecclesiastic appointments. (I.E. - the power to appoint Church officials.) 2) Barons must give consent for inordinately high taxes

What Exactly Did Magna Carta Do? 2) Became the basis for English Common Law and future constitutions, including our own American Constitution! 1) Stipulated that no common freeman was to be punished except within the context of established common law

What the Magna Carta was NOT: The document was NOT a statement of principles by which a government was to abide, like the U.S. Declaration of Independence for example. It was a statement of present-day It was a statement of present-day grievances – problems to be dealt grievances – problems to be dealt with at the time. with at the time.

How the Principles of Magna Carta Laid the Foundation for the U.S. Bill of Rights Clause 39: No man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.

But How Does That Relate to the Bill of Rights? The key phrase in Clause 39 is “lawful judgment of his equals”. Basically, it is being stated that a man cannot be punished without the lawful consideration and consent of his peers. The U.S. Bill of Rights protects its citizens with the guarantee of “trial by jury”, meaning that for a person to be convicted of a crime, his/her case must be weighed by a jury of his/her peers.

What Did Magna Carta Achieve? Prior to the signing of the Magna Carta, a king could modify the law as he saw fit – to suit his needs and achieve his ends. The Magna Carta limited the power of the crown in a way which would lead eventually to a shift in power to the community = DEMOCRACY!

But Don’t Get the Wrong Idea… Though the Magna Carta may have directly influenced the establishment of civil liberties, that was not the intention of the Barons who instigated it. They did not intend the document to benefit the common man, but rather only to protect their own lives and financial assets

Not Everyone Approved… Pope Innocent III, head of the Catholic Church in England at the time, objected to Magna Carta because it called for English authorities, and not himself (the Pope) to appoint church officials.

Pope Innocent III Takes Action! * Innocent III called Magna Carta a “shameful and demeaning agreement, forced upon the king by violence and fear... “ * With the Pope’s support, King John repudiated (cancelled) Magna Carta, but it was reinstated upon his death

The Principles of Magna Carta in Action Throughout History Following its reinstatement after King John’s death, Magna Carta does not become historically consequential until England’s 17 th Century

The Principles of Magna Carta in Action Throughout History King James I King Charles I In the 17 th Century, the Stuart Kings, James I and Charles I, attempted to reestablish a more dictatorial role for the King of England. It would end badly for them, thanks to Magna Carta

The Principles of Magna Carta in Action Throughout History Sir Edward Coke… Chief Justice for James I Leading Parliamentary member opposing Charles I Stated: “Magna Carta will have no sovereign!”

The Principles of Magna Carta in Action Throughout History By enlisting the help of others to join the opposition, in 1628 Coke forced Charles I to sign a document reestablishing Magna Carta called “Petition of Right”. This document placed legal limits on Charles I’s power…

The Principles of Magna Carta in Action Throughout History When Charles I decided that the Petition didn’t really mean all that much to him, and began to disregard it, he was beheaded.

The Principles of Magna Carta in Action Throughout History Prior to the American Revolution, American colonists resisted the Stamp Act (an action taken by England to tax them on legal documents of all kinds), by citing the Magna Carta The Massachusetts Assembly Stated that the Act was “against the Magna Carta and the natural rights of Englishmen, and therefore, according to Lord Coke, null and void.”

Content Standard Addressed in this Presentation… According to the California Department of Education, at Grade Ten, History/Social Science students must be able to “List the principles of the Magna Carta” (10.2.2)

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