DECISIVE MOMENT June 15, 1215

Magna Carta
King John’s growing unpopularity with his barons, aggravated by his
financial demands and defeat in France, finally led to open revolt in
the spring of 1215. At Runnymede, near Windsor, the King and his
rebellious subjects met and agreed to Magna Carta, a charter of
liberties. Some of the clauses would endure for centuries.

J
ohn’s authority was fatally damaged
by the comprehensive defeat of his
army by Philippe II of France at the
Battle of Bouvines in July 1214. To
make matters worse, the Justiciar, Peter
des Roches, who had administered
England in John’s absence, had levied
a scutage (feudal due payable in lieu
of military service) of three marks per
knight. After widespread resistance to
this oppressive tax throughout the fall
of 1214, a coalition of barons came
together and produced a charter of
liberties, which had—they said—been
granted to the English by Henry I.
Rebellion and agreement
The barons demanded John confirm
this charter, but he fobbed them off
with a promise of a reply after Easter,
while himself appealing to Pope
Innocent III. Given that John had
vowed to go on a crusade to the Holy
Land, the Pope’s reply was predictable
and he ordered the barons to pay the
scutage. Furious, the barons mustered
an army and marched south toward
the King’s position at Wallingford,
in Oxfordshire. On May 5, they
renounced their homage, so entering
a formal state of rebellion. The loss
of London to the rebels on May 17
concentrated John’s mind, and he
ordered Stephen Langton, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, to act as
a go-between. Langton arranged the
meeting at Runnymede between
the two sides on June 15, although the
terms had probably been largely agreed
beforehand. Magna Carta (“Great
Charter”) was dated that day, and on
June 19 it was “made firm.”
Failure and symbolism
The terms of this extraordinary
63-clause agreement largely confirmed
the barons’ feudal rights, particularly
with regard to inheritance, and
restricted the royal right to tax them.
Those clauses that seemed to enhance
the rights of free men were strictly
subsidiary to this main purpose.
Although it endured for centuries as
a symbol of England’s constitutional
liberty, in the short term, Magna Carta
was a failure. Neither the more extreme
barons nor John were satisfied with
it, and civil war broke out again in
September. It was still rumbling on
when John died in October 1216.

“ No free man shall be taken or

imprisoned… except by… lawful
judgment of his peers…”
MAGNA CARTA, CLAUSE 39, 1215

Magna Carta
Four copies of the Great Charter of 1215 have survived.
It was reissued with modifications in 1216, 1217, and
1225, under John’s successor, Henry III. While most
clauses were repealed or became redundant, the right
to a fair trial has remained a cornerstone of English law.

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