Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty

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The combination of newspaper articles, timeline and quiz provides a highly accessible way for young and not-so-young people to explore the amazing stories of how freedoms and liberties have been won over the centuries.

But there are a few passages which, although vague, pronounce grand ideals which were seized upon and expanded by later generations. It is equally clear that Langton and the most-influential earl, William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, had considerable difficulty in bringing the most-extreme members of the baronage to a frame of mind in which they would negotiate. At this point I'm convinced that Dan Jones is incapable of writing a boring book even if he actively tries to. These included: the rights of widows, the seizing of corn and horses, and the standardisation of measures for wine and cloth. A “security” clause allowed 25 barons to “distrain and distress” the king should he flout the agreement.As the conflict devolved into stalemate, King John died of dysentery leaving his 9 year old son Henry III on the throne. Yet studying the actual text of the document itself (which you can do without going to DC or England, thanks to the fact that the original 1215 charter is included in its entirety in Appendix A) shows that was not its purpose at all. A best-­selling historian with a popular touch — he has written and hosted TV mini-series based on his books — Jones skirts political legend and sticks largely to what is known. Many, although not all, of the documents issued immediately before the charter have survived either in the original or as official transcripts. John Nichols The Nation “Shows how restraints against tyranny are being abridged as rights once held inalienable are laid aside.

Really enjoyed Jones’ writing style and his focus on the crux of the matter at hand; so much so that I think I’ll gladly pick up a few more of his histories. If the document is now seen as democratic and egalitarian in nature, that is because of where we are and not because of what it was intended to do in the first place, something the author is right to point out. Jones describes the numerous issues associated with tyrannical rule in England under a leader who is more concerned with his own net worth than improving the lives of his people. English kings may have faced resistance to the taxation clause; but they frequently faced such hostility.

In reading this book I have taken great strides to further my knowledge and if you also have limited knowledge I recommend you start here. The pages are peppered with footnotes, with additional notes after Appendix C and before the substantial bibliography. By declaring the sovereign to be subject to the rule of law and documenting the liberties held by “free men,” it provided the foundation for individual rights in Anglo-American jurisprudence. Since the feudal system rested so strongly on the concept of 'might makes right,' John displayed very little might and offered little or no military protection to his nobles.