To illustrate the decline of feudalism in England use the text below and text 20 from SUPPLEMENTARY READER to complete the table. Add more issues if necessary.

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 418.

DISCUSSION

Magna Carta, originally issued in the year 1215, included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority. Magna Carta means "Great Letter" in Latin. It contained two new ideas. The first was that the king had to obey the law, like other people. And the second idea was that if the king broke the law, the lords had the right to remove that king and choose a new one.

Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English king by a group of his subjects (the barons) in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. King John of England agreed to the demands of his barons. Thus he bound not only himself but his "heirs, forever" to grant "to all freemen of our kingdom" the rights and liberties the great charter described. With Magna Carta, King John placed himself and England's future sovereigns and magistrates within the rule of law.

Magna Carta could be considered a bill of rights for medieval England. More importantly, it set a precedent which changed the face of England forever, by establishing that the King was not above the law.

Magna Carta was described as "the greatest constitutional document of all times - the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot".

The Charter was an important part of the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law in the English speaking world. In practice, Magna Carta in the medieval period did not in general limit the power of kings, but it became an important symbol for those who wished to show that the King was bound by the law. It inspired later constitutional documents, including the US Constitution.