Magna Carta

By Interactive Media

The Magna Carta, issued in 1215 by King John. 'No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions ... except by the lawful judgement of his peers...To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.' Although not originally intended as a bill of rights, Magna Carta was used in these terms whenever people's liberties were challenged and is celebrated today as England's eary form of democracy. The continuing symbolic significance of Magna Carta was shown when the universal Declaration of Human Rights was presented to the United Nations in 1948 as a 'Magna Carta for the future'.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Interactive Media
• Release date: Jun 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781909676510

Book preview

Magna Carta

LONDON ∙ NEW YORK ∙ TORONTO ∙ SAO PAULO ∙ MOSCOW

PARIS ∙ MADRID ∙ BERLIN ∙ ROME ∙ MEXICO CITY ∙ MUMBAI ∙ SEOUL ∙ DOHA

TOKYO ∙ SYDNEY ∙ CAPE TOWN ∙ AUCKLAND ∙ BEIJING

New Edition, Timeless Classic, World Classic

Published by Sovereign

An imprint of Max Bollinger

27 Old Gloucester St,

London WC1N 3AX

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www.interactive.eu.com

This Edition

First published in 2013

Author: Anonymous

Editor: Max Bollinger

Copyright © 2013 Sovereign

Cover design and artwork © 2013 urban-pic.co.uk

All Rights Reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

The greatest care has been taken in compiling this book. However, no responsibility can be accepted by the publishers or compilers for the accuracy of the information presented.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book has been requested.

ISBN: 9781909676510 (ebk)

Bref: MCT-03

Contents

MAGNA CARTA

INSPIRING BOOKS

MAGNA CARTA

John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the archbishop, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries, foresters,

Reviews for Magna Carta

[medievalgirl-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great little book and Introduction to the people, places and background of the Magna Carta, helping readers realiize why it was created and why it was important. The last chapter explores its legacy up to the modern age, and how it influenced the reformers of the 17th century England and later America- even when they read ideas into the charter that did not actually exist.

Its also research tool, with some useful appendices, including the text of the Magna Carta in Latin and English, a timeline of events, and Brief Biographies of the leading figures.
I for one tend to be a little skeptical of 'popular' history books written by people who are not trained historians, but Dan Jones' research seems to be sound, and this has whet my appetite for his next book, '1215' due for release later this year.

[john257hopper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This short and well illustrated book covers the background events that led up to the issuing of Magna Carta 800 years ago today (though I understand from a separate article I read online that some historians think the actual issuing took place on the 19th, notwithstanding the date on the face of the four extant copies of the original issue). The author places the Charter firmly in its context of Plantagenet politics, resisting the tendency to over-romanticise it, and shows what it meant to its contemporaries, which is by no means always the same as it what had meant to succeeding generations. Nevertheless, among the many clauses that point to contemporary issues to do with property, inheritance and scutage, are key clauses on freedom of the individual from arbitrary use of state and judicial power, that have informed many subsequent constitutional documents including the US Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights. A great general introduction.