preview

Magna Carta Research Paper

Decent Essays

José Valdez
The Magna Carta

The Magna Carta is one of the most important documents from the Middle Ages. It was a charter of liberties that, King John of England, agreed to. It would initially put him, future kings, and the rest of England under a unified rule of law. It can be generally described as a peace treaty. It was written by King John’s barons who were the lowest level of British nobility. All of it was originally written in Latin, so its name translates to “The Great Charter”.

Those involved with The Magna Carta were powerful men of the time. The charter itself was made because of King John, who was just a terrible king that abused his great power. He lied, was greedy, and didn’t really care about anyone but himself. During those …show more content…

John knew about it but didn’t think it would matter. That the people of England would stay loyal to him. As a result, the barons successfully captured London, the capital of England and gained massive support from the people there. After that happened, John was now obligated to work out some kind of negotiation with the …show more content…

During the Middle Ages, it was very successful in creating rules to live by which the whole kingdom followed. Things were fair, and the King still had to obey the laws which everyone else did. The Magna Carta consists of a preamble and 63 short clauses. The document also guaranteed the rights of the people, the right to justice and the right to a fair trial. The U.S. Constitution & Bill of Rights, still used now, have some obvious influences from the Magna Carta. For example, the Fifth Amendment states, “Nor shall any persons be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law”. This is basically Clause 39. It created a basis for ruling which were finally fair for everyone. The kings couldn’t abuse their power for their own personal gain, they were subjects to the rules of justice that everyone else was. Though only 3 of the clauses are still used in present times, The Magna Carta holds the foundation for English common law as it is known

Get Access