Magna Carta
lit. โgreat charterโ
The 1215 English charter โ extracted from a reluctant King John by his barons โ that for the first time put a king under written law.
Origin
On June 15, 1215, King John, militarily weak and broke, met his rebellious barons at Runnymede and accepted a charter limiting royal power. Most of its sixty-three clauses concerned medieval feudal disputes and were soon repealed. But a handful โ including a guarantee that no free man could be imprisoned 'except by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land' โ survived into modern law and were quoted at length by 17th-century English parliamentarians and the American founders. Four original copies still exist; one is in the US National Archives on permanent loan.
Modern usage
The default reference for 'the foundation of liberty under law.' Quoted ritually at every constitutional anniversary in the English-speaking world. Often invoked with more weight than the text actually carries โ the document's modern stature is largely retroactive. The exhibit at Salisbury Cathedral is the canonical one for tourists.
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