Magna Carta

Magna Carta

by Alexis Dean

​The Magna Carta was...

​-written by English noblemen or barons

​-forced King John of England to protect certain rights of people and limit the king's powers

​-the king must follow the law of land

​One important idea is limited monarchy

​-share some power with the parliament

​-follow a constitution and laws passed by the parliament

​Some other ideas are...

​-writ of habeas corpus (provide cause or reason for holding someone in jail)

​-rule by a constitution

​-common law (based on customs and prior legal decisions, used in civil cases)

The Magna Carta became a symbol that not even kings are above the law​

Check your knowledge​

​

Multiple Select

who wrote the magna carta?

• english noblemen

• barons

• king

• co

Multiple Choice

do kings have to follow the law of the land?

• yes

• no

• nooo

• yee

Multiple Choice

what is one important idea?

• limited monarchy?

• no

• a symbol that not even kings are above the law

• what important idea?

Multiple Choice

what did the Magna Carta become a symbol of?

• even kings are not above the law

• hmm?

• writ of habeas corpus

Common Law and the Magna Carta

​

The Plantagenet Dynasty

• Last Norman king, Stephen, died in 1154. His nephew succeded him and he became the first Plantagenet king.

• Henry II is remembered as a great reformer. He reduced the power of the barons and established a direct dependency between the knights and the king.

• He established permanent institutions (Westminster).

Poll

Henry II is the founder of the English Common Law. What do you think the term "common" refers to?

• There were not judges and everyone could practise law.

• It was the same thoughout the country.

• It was based on common beliefs.

The Common Law

• It was a system based on custom, comparisons, previous cases and previous decisions (judges do not use the law as a primary sourche, such as in civil law, but they make law themselves).

• Trial by jury: to resolve land dispute, he created local juries.

Poll

Do you think Italian legal system is based on common or civil law?

• Common Law

• Civil Law

Henry II's successors

• Richard the Lionheart (1189-1199) -> Third Crusade

• John (also known as John Lackland) -> he imposed high taxes in order to unsuccessfully defend his French territories; the barons rebelled and occupied London; John was forced to sign a peace treaty called the Magna Carta.

The Magna Carta (1215)

It establishes that everyone is subject to the law, including the king, and guarantees the rights of individuals, the right to justice and the right to fair trial.

The Magna Carta was a turning point in human rights:

• The law of "habeas corpus" forbade torture and stated that no free man could be arrested, imprisoned or dispossessed of his property without fair trial.

• The right of the church to be free from governmental interference

• The rights of all free citizens to own and inherit property and to be protected from excessive taxes.

Think about human rights...

What are they? Can you give a definition?

https://youtu.be/zIuDfzCyPKY

Norman Conquest and Magna Carta

​

Pages 658 -663

​

The Norman Conquest

• 1066 a man named William, Duke of Normandy landed in England to challenge the throne

• William descended from Viking Raiders called Northmen or Normans

• He fought for control of England after a weak King Edward died

• On Christmas Day 1066 he was crowned King of England

Multiple Choice

Who was William of Normandy's ancestors?

• The Vikings

• The English

• The Romans

• The Franks

Norman England

• The Norman Conquest changed England

• Many nobles were killed in battle and William gave their lands to nobles from Normandy

• King William introduced a strong feudal system

• Everyone in the church and government now came from Norman descent.

Multiple Choice

True or False - The Norman Conquest changed England

• True

• False

King John

• 1199 a new ruler became king of England, King John

• He was a descendent of William of Normandy

• By 1204 he had lost some land in the French area owned once by William

• To get the land back he needed to raise taxes to build an army

• His lords and barons did not like this

Magna Carta

• By 1215, England's leaders had had enough of King John's high taxes and military failures

• The Barons forced him to sign a document that promised them certain rights.

• This document became known as the Magna Carta or Great Charter

• In the Magna Carta, King John agreed to recognize the rights of barons

Multiple Choice

Who was King John?

• A rebellious Baron

• A descendent of William of Normandy

• A pope

Multiple Choice

What did the Magna Carta do?

• Made King John even more powerful

• forced King John to recognize the rights of the Barons

• Gave him all the power over the French lands he lost

What did the Magna Carta say?

• John had to promise not to collect taxes without the approval of a council of barons and churchmen

• He had to recognize the right of a trial by jury

• It made it clear that even the King had to abide by laws

• Over time the Magna Carta was extended to ordinary citizens

• The United States adopted something similar called the Bill of Rights

Multiple Choice

Who did the Magna Carta protect at first?

• ordinary citizens

• King John

• The barons

Norman Conquest and Magna Carta

​

Pages 658 -663

​

The Norman Conquest

• 1066 a man named William, Duke of Normandy landed in England to challenge the throne

• William descended from Viking Raiders called Northmen or Normans

• He fought for control of England after a weak King Edward died

• On Christmas Day 1066 he was crowned King of England

Multiple Choice

Who was William of Normandy's ancestors?

• The Vikings

• The English

• The Romans

• The Franks

Norman England

• The Norman Conquest changed England

• Many nobles were killed in battle and William gave their lands to nobles from Normandy

• King William introduced a strong feudal system

• Everyone in the church and government now came from Norman descent.

Multiple Choice

True or False - The Norman Conquest changed England

• True

• False

King John

• 1199 a new ruler became king of England, King John

• He was a descendent of William of Normandy

• By 1204 he had lost some land in the French area owned once by William

• To get the land back he needed to raise taxes to build an army

• His lords and barons did not like this

Magna Carta

• By 1215, England's leaders had had enough of King John's high taxes and military failures

• The Barons forced him to sign a document that promised them certain rights.

• This document became known as the Magna Carta or Great Charter

• In the Magna Carta, King John agreed to recognize the rights of barons

Multiple Choice

Who was King John?

• A rebellious Baron

• A descendent of William of Normandy

• A pope

Multiple Choice

What did the Magna Carta do?

• Made King John even more powerful

• forced King John to recognize the rights of the Barons

• Gave him all the power over the French lands he lost

Multiple Choice

Who did the Magna Carta protect at first?

• ordinary citizens

• King John

• The barons

Any questions????

Open Ended

Who are some people we have studied so far in Module 7?

Multiple Choice

Fought against the Norman dynasty in the civil wars of the 1140s and 1150s

Succeeded King Stephen as King of England in 1154

Established the Plantagenet dynasty in England

Created the basic rules for English "common law"

Created the "jury" system to hear criminal and civil court cases

• Richard the Lionheart

• William the Conqueror

• Hnery II

• James I

Multiple Choice

William the Conqueror set up an efficient bureaucracy and streamlined taxation in England by ordering the compilation of the 1086

• Book of Kells

• Domesday Book

• King James Bible

• Bayeux Tapestry

Multiple Choice

What was the historical significance of the Battle of Hastings in 1066?

• William the Conqueror defeated Harold Godwinson and established the Norman dynasty of English monarchs

• Viking raiders proved that they could defeat the Normans

• King John I reinforced his power as the King of England by putting down his nobles

• none of these are correct

Multiple Choice

Eleanor of Aquitaine was

• all of these are correct

• a rich landowning noble who had interests in France and England

• one of the main leaders in organizing the ill-fated Second Crusade

• wife of Henry II, and mother of Richard the Lionheart and John I

Multiple Choice

What was King Richard the Lionheart's legacy in England?

• cruel and irrational tyrant who imprisoned his wife and children for betraying him

• promoter of literacy and arts, whose main accomplishment was funding the building of Westminster Abbey

• weak-minded king who allowed Spain and Portugal to dominate English government for two decades

• crusading warrior-king who spent all but 10 years of his rule fighting in foreign lands

Poll

I know about the Magna Carta

• I know a lot!

• i have heard about it

• Sounds familiar

• Never heard of it

Open Ended

Do these laws remind you of laws of your own government? If so, which ones?

Multiple Choice

Why did King John raise taxes?

• For his new castle

• To pay for his wars

• He liked to fight

• To get back at the French

Poll

Why did the English barons force John I to sign Magna Carta?

• they wanted noble titles and fiefs in Spain and Portugal

• they wanted to fight larger wars against France

• the king was denying nobles the right of habeas corpus and was taxing the commoners too heavily

• they wanted to create a republic and to end all monarchy in England