Magna Carta

Magna Carta was a formal document signed in 1215 between King John of England and a group of nobles who opposed some of his actions. A charter is a written agreement. The nobles forced John to accept it because they wanted rules that even a king had to follow. Magna Carta became one of the most famous documents in English history because it set limits on royal power.

Before Magna Carta was created, King John had many conflicts with the nobles and the Church. A noble is a high-ranking person who owns land. John asked for high taxes to pay for wars, especially after losing land in France. Many nobles felt these taxes were unfair. John also argued with the pope about who should be the Archbishop of Canterbury, the most important church leader in England. These problems caused nobles to rebel against him.

In 1215, the nobles gathered their forces and met John at a place called Runnymede, near the River Thames. They presented a list of demands. A demand is something strongly asked for. John agreed to seal Magna Carta, which included many rules. One rule said the king could not collect certain taxes without permission from his council of nobles. Another rule protected free men from being jailed without a fair trial. A trial is a legal process used to decide if someone has broken the law.

Magna Carta did not end the conflict right away. Soon after signing it, John tried to cancel the document. As a result, a short civil war began between the king and the nobles. A civil war is a war between groups in the same country. After John's death in 1216, his young son Henry III became king. Henry’s advisors reissued Magna Carta several times to gain support from the nobles. Over time, it became accepted as part of English law.

Although the original Magna Carta applied only to a small group of people, later generations saw it as a symbol of wider rights. A symbol is something that represents an idea. Its ideas about fair trials, limits on rulers, and following the law influenced many later documents, including the United States Constitution. Many countries today refer to Magna Carta as an early step toward laws that protect people's rights.

Today, only a few original copies of Magna Carta still exist, and they are kept in museums and libraries. Students learn about Magna Carta because it helped shape the idea that rulers must obey the law and cannot act without limits. By studying this document, young learners can understand how agreements between leaders and citizens helped form modern systems of government.