1251 Magna Carta Brought About

1251 Magna Carta brought about a "balancing act" that ended the rebellion and promoted an ideal of feudal government

Western Civilization 1 Essay Question

Analyze what caused the Popular Rebellion and how the 1251 Magna Carta brought about a "balancing act" that ended the rebellion and promoted an ideal of feudal government. Why is the Magna Carta considered a cornerstone of modern English law?

Before the creation of the 1251 Magna Carta, the English nobility were in a state of revolt. The English barons were angry that King John had lost England's French territories. The English Church exposed John's weaknesses, as a monarch, during the controversy that had ensued over John's failed attempt to name the Archbishop of Canterbury according to his own desires, not the will of the Pope. Finally, the high taxes imposed by John upon the feudal nobility proved to be the last straw -- the English barons took over London and demanded an agreement between the nobility and the king, essentially limiting John's power as a king by defining their own rights as nobles. Rather than attempt to overthrow John, the barons instead demanded limits upon his excesses, and thus established a kind of balancing act of rights in the form of the Magna Carta. The document did not deny the power of the king, but suggested that the king must share certain rights with the church and those who served him in the form of the nobility. All persons named in the document were bound by certain obligations to one another, rather than merely subservient to the king's will.

Although the Magna Carta arose from a disagreement between King John, the Pope, and the English nobility, and did not confer rights upon English citizens but merely the English Church and nobility, it is still seen today as significant in the history of English democracy. It limited the ability of the king to exercise executive power over all aspects of government. The Magna Carta established the freedom of the English Church. It established certain rights of the nobility under the rule of law that could not be violated by the king. It formulated the philosophical tradition of common law rights of the nobility in England, which allowed the establishment of the House of Lords and Commons. Thus early on in its history, monarchical government was limited in its power in England, unlike France and Germany. One of the Magna Carta's clauses actually allowed the barons to overrule the will of the monarch, and established the right of use process.