Summary:
The Magna Carta was a treaty, designed to avert civil war and to take away some of King John's power. He had gone head to head with some powerful barons, and everyone was angry and threatening. However, King John was not wrongly accused of doing wrong: he expelled monks from Canterbury, alienated Pope Innocent III as well as many barons, spent too much money trying to keep his hold on France, and oppressed the people with his overpowering rule. Soon, faced with the threat of crumbling peace, a tumultuous country, and invasion, King John sued for peace with the Pope. This did not appease the barons, and there was a rebellion. Rebels fought and took over London, and King John FINALLY stopped being a stubborn butt and agreed to come to terms with them--terms that made up the Magna Carta. At the time, this document didn't seem all that important or revolutionary. It was ultimately a failure, and only a month later, King John asked for its annulation. The Pope agreed. Despite this failure at conception, overtime, it proved to be extremely significant in the shaping of history.It was used by radicals to portray themselves as conservatives, which was beneficial to their goals of rebelling and going against common beliefs. It also spoke directly to the Anglo-Saxon urge of justifying the past, using the present as evidence--changing everything around them, while turning a blind eye and faking complete normality.
Questions:
1. OMG what was the king's hostage doing to her son??!!??!
- When the doors were finally opened to have their corpses removed, they realized that the woman had been chewing on her son's cheek. Gour-mom food. aha. aha.
2. At the time, what was England's relationship with its neighbors?
- It was rocky due to England becoming a oppressive, rogue nation, and countries such as France, Wales, Scotland, and Rome were planning on overthrowing England.
- He agreed because there were rebels overtaking the country, and they had already gained ground in London.
4. What was the impact of the Magna Carta at the time?
- Nada. No impact. It was a failure at its conception because, of course, the King did not obey its commands and had it annulled after a month of its existence.
5. How did later kings use the charter to their advantage?
- William Marshal, successor to King John, led the royal troops into battle against the French and held victory over them. After this success, he reissued the Charter and turned it into "the monarchy's most powerful weapon." The former rebels did not have a cause to stand up for anymore, and the previously fervent rebellion died away. Later, Henry III reissued the Charter yet again, and most of the witnesses to it were, in face, former rebels.
6. How did Edward Coke revive the importance of the charter?
- Edward Coke and a group of others revived the Magna Carta, keen to show that they were traditionalists and not revolutionaries. He based his claims on the Magna Carta, and although some of them were complete nonsense, he was able to point out that the Magna Carta did establish the rightful limits of power on the monarchy. He was able to base the Petition of Rights off of the Magna Carta, which Charles I was forced to sign.
7. How did American colonial leaders use the Magna Carta?
- The Massachusetts Assembly used it to justify their protesting of the unfair taxes that British Parliament imposed upon them, saying it was "against the Magna Carta..." The First Continental Congress also justified their rebellion with the Magna Carta, saying that what they were doing was parallel to what past Englishmen had done to assert their liberties. The American Bill of Rights also bares striking similarities to certain parts of the Magna Carta.
8. Why is the Magna Carta more important to modern Americans
than to the British?
than to the British?
- It has been able to shape American history more heavily than it has British history. References to it are made all the time in modern-day legal cases all over America, and it is highly codified in jury instructions.
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