What would you do? You are a baron, one of England’s great nobles, living in northern Britain. Winter is approaching, and it looks like it will be very cold soon. To prepare for winter, you send some of your servants to a forest on your land to gather firewood. When they return though, they don’t have much wood. The king has chopped down many of the trees in your forest to build a new castle. Dismayed, you send a messenger to ask the king to pay a fair price for the wood, but he refuses. How can you get the king to respect your rights?

King John and the Magna Carta

 starter activity Around the picture below, you can read some of the qualities which medieval people expected their king to have! Which three are the most important for a medieval king? ? King Richard I Rich, but not greedy Healthy & strong Inspiring Hard working Brave Wise Firm but fair Good soldier Good judge of character God- fearing

Were all medieval monarchs successful? What was Magna Carta?

 King John manages to upset everyone!! The first king to give up some of his power was John. He is famous as Prince John in make believe stories of Robin Hood. In the stories he is a wicked and foolish prince who taxes the people of England unfairly. Some historians say John was just as foolish in real life. Others say he was simply unlucky! John ruled England from 1199 to He faced the following problems

Problem # 1 He quarrelled with the Pope about how to run the Church. From 1208 until 1213, the Pope banned all church services in England and English people feared that they would all go to HELL! Some Church leaders blamed John for the trouble.

Problem # 2 John went to war twice against the French king. His army was badly beaten both times. He lost almost all the land that his father had gained in France!

Problem # 3 John raised taxes in England to pay for the wars. This upset his BARONS! He ordered them to pay far more tax than earlier kings had done!

Forming of the Magna Carta 1215 barons had enough & listed their grievances List became known as Magna Carta (Great Charter) John met barons at Runnymede It introduced the idea that even the king must obey some laws!

Magna Carta The king must not interfere with the Church When a baron inherits land he should pay the king no more than £100 The king cannot collect new taxes unless the barons and bishops agree No freeman can be put in prison without trial by a jury Justice will be without delays or bribes Traders must be able to travel freely without having to pay tolls The King’s men must not take anyone’s goods without paying for them. As soon as peace is restored, all foreign merchants should leave the country.

 Write this down!!! Magna Carta – a document listing rights that the king could not ignore (“Great Charter”) Required that everyone – even the king obey the law. Habeas Corpus – people could not be kept in jail with out a reason.

 Final Thought Why was Magna Carta such an important document? King John’s tomb, Worcester Cathedral