1.5.3

The Magna Carta & the Monarchy

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The Impact of the Magna Carta on the Monarchy

The Magna Carta was a turning point in English history. It was the first time that the King had given in to the barons and done as they wanted.

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Limiting the monarch's power

  • Ultimately, no future monarch had unlimited power after the Magna Carta.
  • This meant that no monarch had ‘absolute’ authority.
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A declaration of human rights?

  • The Magna Carta was not self-consciously a declaration of human rights. But, in later years, people claimed it was. For example, in the 17th century.
  • Today, historians argue that the Magna Carta was a negotiation between the barons and King John. It was mostly concerned with feudal (landlord) rights and the system of justice, rather than human rights.

Jump to other topics

1The Medieval World: 450-1450 AD

1.1Anglo-Saxon England

1.2The Contest for the English Throne

1.3Conquering the Holy Land, 10-96-1396 AD

1.4King John

1.5The Magna Carta & Parliament

1.6The Black Death

2Worldviews

3The Empire of Mali

4The Renaissance & Reformations, 1500-1598 AD

5The British Empire, 1583-1960 AD

6The Peasants' Revolt

7Religion in the Middle Ages

8Slavery, 1619-1833 AD

9The English Civil War, 1642-1660

10The Industrial Revolution, 1750-1840

11US Independence, 1775-1783

12The French Revolution, 1789-1815

13The British Empire, 1857–1930

14Suffrage

15World War 1, 1914-1918

16The Inter-War Years, 1919-1939

17World War 2, 1939-1945

18The Cold War, 1947-1962

19Civil Rights in the USA, 1954-1975

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