1. What was the significance of the Magna Carta?
Year 7 Topic 4
What was the significance of the Magna Carta?

2. Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was a document sealed by King John after negotiations with his barons and their French and Scots allies at Runnymede, Surrey, England in 1215.
There they sealed the Great Charter (in Latin - Magna Carta). It established a council of 25 barons to make John keep to the clauses like protection from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and parliament choosing when the king could charge taxation.
Because he was forced to seal the charter, John sought approval to break it, from his spiritual overlord Pope Innocent III. Denouncing it as "not only shameful and demeaning but also illegal and unjust", the Pope agreed (so at the time, Magna Carta wasn’t significant for long! But...)
Magna Carta has influenced English and global law to the present day. It is one of the most celebrated documents in English history. It is recognised as a cornerstone of the idea of the freedom of citizens.

3. Websites