MAGNA CARTA, 1215-2015

 

 

The Making of Magna Carta

October 1214  the meeting at Bury St Edmunds

17 May 1215   the take-over of London by the barons

15 June 1215   the king’s agreement to Magna Carta at Runnymede

19 June 1215   the proclamation of peace and renewal of the rebel barons’ homage to the king

28 October 1216   the death of King John at Newark

12 November 1216 first reissue of Magna Carta

6 November 1217  issue of Magna Carta and Charter of the Forest

11 February 1225  definitive reissue of Magna Carta

 

 Magna Carta and the rule of law: key clauses (1215 version of the Charter)

 

Cl 39  No free man shall be imprisoned or disseised save by lawful judgement of his peers and the law of the land

Cl 40   To no one shall we sell delay or deny right or justice

Cl 45    Justices, sheriffs and constable should know the law of the land

Cl 61   Enforcement clause – appointment of the Twenty Five Barons 

 

Magna Carta and the origins of parliament: key clauses (1215 version of Charter)

 

Cl 12 No scutage or aid will be levied without common counsel

Cl 14  To obtain common counsel for an aid, we will have archbishops, bishops, abbots and earls summoned individually by our letters, and we will summon by our sheriffs and bailiffs all those who hold of us in chief, giving forty days’ notice

 

Note –  2015 will also see marking the 750th anniversary of the parliament to which Simon de Montfort summoned the burgesses from the towns (January 1265)

Celebration of the anniversary

A major exhibition about Magna Carta and its history will be held at the British Library, 12 March-1 September 2015.  For a few days at the beginning this will bring together the four surviving ‘originals’ of the 1215 Magna Carta, those held at the BL itself and at Salisbury and Lincoln Cathedrals.   There will also be exhibitions at Lincoln and Salisbury themselves and at the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

 There will be a ceremony of rededication to the principles of the Charter at Runnymede on 15 June 2015.  For full details of the celebrations across the country, for teaching resources, and for essays and speeches on the Charter and the history of liberty, see the MC800 website.