Back to the Plantagenets calendar
A rebellion against John and his high
taxes began in the north of England and it soon reached as far as London. John eventually agreed to meet the barons at a place called Runnymede and there they
all signed the Magna Carta, which means a great charter. It laid down what the King could do with regard to taxes and listed the baron’s dislikes, what they
thought was wrong and how to put it right. It was the first time that the power of the King had been, in any way, limited in writing. It was a formal document
stating that a King had to follow the laws of the land and it guaranteed the rights of individuals against the wishes of the King. The Magna Carta established
the idea that the people of England, at this stage represented by the barons, could limit the power of a King, if he was doing things that were not good for
the country.
Sounds good doesn’t it and maybe it would have been? However John decided to ignore it, claiming it was not legal as he had signed it while under a
lot of stress. This, not surprisingly, upset the barons. Furthermore John also persuaded the Pope to say the Magna Carta was not legal. Lucky he had made it up
with the Pope a few years ago.
Our story this week is about the signing of the Magna Carta.
Forward to 1216AD
