AQA HISTORY | POWER & THE PEOPLE
,MAGNA CARTA
1215
CAUSES
WAR King John's failure at the Battle of Bouvines made it clear that he could
not retake French land.
By 1204 John had lost Normandy and by 1206 had lost most of England's
colonies to King Philip of France.
RELIGION Tension with the church - John demanded his own Archbishop of
Canterbury, but Pope Innocent III chose Stephen Langton.
John was excommunicated from the church in 1208 for six years.
CHANCE
GOVERNMENT King John was not a very good king and did not listen to his Great
Council.
COMMUNICATION
ECONOMIC As a consequence of the war, John demanded scutage 11 times.
Richard I had left John in debt because of his war with France.
NEW IDEAS In 1212, the Pope said that it wasn't a sin to kill the king - barons plotted
to do so.
ROLE OF INDIVIDUALS King John’s tyrannical reign and increasing assumption of power caused
many to begin resenting him.
John was a ‘pious’ king as he was accused of treachery.
TOP 3 FACTORS
Role of Individuals - King John
● His tyrannical reign and increasing assumption of power caused many to begin resenting
him
● His poor military authority - war with France - led people to begin to question his
authority. He lost all major colonies of Britain in both 1204 and 1206.
War - Battle of Bouvines
● He lost badly and it was clear that he did not have the military ability to retake land
● His incompetence in war upset the barons, who decided to give him an ultimatum
● Barons’ Wars from 1214-17, invasion invitation to Louis VIII
Religion
● John was excommunicated in 1208
, ● John wanted to appoint his own leading churchmen but chose Langton
● Clause 1: freedom of the church.
EVENTS
Both sides met at Runnymede in June. The barons, with Stephen Langton’s help, drew up their
own grievances and demands that they presented.
John was in such a weak position that he felt that he had to sign the charter, although he never
intended to keep it; he saw it as a chance to rebuild forces. In the eyes of the barons, however, it
was a chance to make the king behave.
Clause 12 : no scutage
Clause 39 : no freeman shall be seized or imprisoned except by the lawful judgement of his equals
or by the law of the land
Clause 40 : To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay rights or justice
SHORT TERM CONSEQUENCES
● Barons renew their allegiance to the king
● Innocent III declared the Magna Carta null
● Second revision of the Magna Carta in 1217
● Third revision (Henry II) in 1225
● Showed that everyone could be persecuted by law
● Showed that you could and had the right to challenge the king
● Prevented the king from imposing unfair taxes and people could only be taxed with
consent.
LONG TERM CONSEQUENCES
● American declaration of independence
● Bill of rights
● British Human rights act in 1998
● Philippines government talked about introducing the Magna Carta for women in 2010
● The Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Mexico quoted the Magna Carta in 1994
when attempting to protect indigenous people in southern Mexico.
SIGNIFICANCE THEN
● Once the king had sealed Magna Carta, he planned to ignore it, but he had to please the
barons. Brought him time before the Pope annulled it
● King John died and his son Henry III was too young to rule so the barons took charge. The
Magna Carta still stood.
● An end to absolute monarchy
● Rights for barons and people.
SIGNIFICANCE NOW
● Considered one of the first steps taken in England towards establishing parliamentary
democracy
, ● Strongly influenced the Bill of Rights in 1771
● In the century after Henry III’s version of the Magna Carta, parliament interpreted it as a
right to a fair trial for all subjects.
● During the period and particularly in the England Civil War, the Magna Carta was used to
restrain the power of monarchs at a time when monarchs on the continent were
supremely powerful
● Sir Edward Coke - ‘The Magna Carta is such a fellow that he will have no sovereign’
● Principles inspired the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and the European
Convention of Human Rights in 1950
● Habeas Corpus as a result of the clause: Clause 39 stopped unfair arrests.
,MAGNA CARTA
1215
CAUSES
WAR King John's failure at the Battle of Bouvines made it clear that he could
not retake French land.
By 1204 John had lost Normandy and by 1206 had lost most of England's
colonies to King Philip of France.
RELIGION Tension with the church - John demanded his own Archbishop of
Canterbury, but Pope Innocent III chose Stephen Langton.
John was excommunicated from the church in 1208 for six years.
CHANCE
GOVERNMENT King John was not a very good king and did not listen to his Great
Council.
COMMUNICATION
ECONOMIC As a consequence of the war, John demanded scutage 11 times.
Richard I had left John in debt because of his war with France.
NEW IDEAS In 1212, the Pope said that it wasn't a sin to kill the king - barons plotted
to do so.
ROLE OF INDIVIDUALS King John’s tyrannical reign and increasing assumption of power caused
many to begin resenting him.
John was a ‘pious’ king as he was accused of treachery.
TOP 3 FACTORS
Role of Individuals - King John
● His tyrannical reign and increasing assumption of power caused many to begin resenting
him
● His poor military authority - war with France - led people to begin to question his
authority. He lost all major colonies of Britain in both 1204 and 1206.
War - Battle of Bouvines
● He lost badly and it was clear that he did not have the military ability to retake land
● His incompetence in war upset the barons, who decided to give him an ultimatum
● Barons’ Wars from 1214-17, invasion invitation to Louis VIII
Religion
● John was excommunicated in 1208
, ● John wanted to appoint his own leading churchmen but chose Langton
● Clause 1: freedom of the church.
EVENTS
Both sides met at Runnymede in June. The barons, with Stephen Langton’s help, drew up their
own grievances and demands that they presented.
John was in such a weak position that he felt that he had to sign the charter, although he never
intended to keep it; he saw it as a chance to rebuild forces. In the eyes of the barons, however, it
was a chance to make the king behave.
Clause 12 : no scutage
Clause 39 : no freeman shall be seized or imprisoned except by the lawful judgement of his equals
or by the law of the land
Clause 40 : To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay rights or justice
SHORT TERM CONSEQUENCES
● Barons renew their allegiance to the king
● Innocent III declared the Magna Carta null
● Second revision of the Magna Carta in 1217
● Third revision (Henry II) in 1225
● Showed that everyone could be persecuted by law
● Showed that you could and had the right to challenge the king
● Prevented the king from imposing unfair taxes and people could only be taxed with
consent.
LONG TERM CONSEQUENCES
● American declaration of independence
● Bill of rights
● British Human rights act in 1998
● Philippines government talked about introducing the Magna Carta for women in 2010
● The Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Mexico quoted the Magna Carta in 1994
when attempting to protect indigenous people in southern Mexico.
SIGNIFICANCE THEN
● Once the king had sealed Magna Carta, he planned to ignore it, but he had to please the
barons. Brought him time before the Pope annulled it
● King John died and his son Henry III was too young to rule so the barons took charge. The
Magna Carta still stood.
● An end to absolute monarchy
● Rights for barons and people.
SIGNIFICANCE NOW
● Considered one of the first steps taken in England towards establishing parliamentary
democracy
, ● Strongly influenced the Bill of Rights in 1771
● In the century after Henry III’s version of the Magna Carta, parliament interpreted it as a
right to a fair trial for all subjects.
● During the period and particularly in the England Civil War, the Magna Carta was used to
restrain the power of monarchs at a time when monarchs on the continent were
supremely powerful
● Sir Edward Coke - ‘The Magna Carta is such a fellow that he will have no sovereign’
● Principles inspired the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and the European
Convention of Human Rights in 1950
● Habeas Corpus as a result of the clause: Clause 39 stopped unfair arrests.
