King John and Magna Carta

 Political history of the West has largely consisted of attempts to put into action the religious principles that rulers must obey the higher law.  An example is Moses and the Ten Commandments. Leaders, when they strayed, were forced to answer to a higher law than themselves – canon law  In England this was integrated into common law of the land, which was developed after the Norman conquest in 1066.

 Judges ruled in individual cases in the light of precedent or custom.  Common law consisted primarily of local customs governing disputes mainly over property ownership and contracts.  These evolved into more general rules that were applied by judges in particular cases.

 Common law system could be referred to as the “law of the land.”  Men believed that they should be treated, judged, according to the customary rules of their country and not merely the whim of the king.

 responsible for the English legal system known as “common law.”  an innovative ruler who undertook numerous judicial and administrative reforms, placing judicial authority in the hands of royal circuit judges,and replaced trial by ordeal or battle with rudimentary trial by jury.  the English system was different because it was based on precedent.

 Early in England, the Anglo-Norman times, it become the practice of royal judges, to summarize their cases.  They wrote down the points of law on which their decision had been reached.  The “law reports” were compiled and kept current.

 These summaries were among the first law books/texts used by law students.  a certain uniformed practice began to form.  judges would reach similar judgments as their peers had earlier decided upon.  This didn’t mean common law was static.  A judge could use his own judgment and establish a new precedent.  So, the common law can be looked upon as something alive and changing.

 To protect the law of the land, nobles rebelled against King John in the early thirteenth century.  They were successful because kings of Europe during the period were relatively weak.  Nobles owed allegiance to the king, but he people and soldiers owed theirs to the local lord not to the king.  As John sought to become more absolute, the nobles had the means to keep him in check.

 After the battle at Runnymede in 1215, the nobles forced John to sign Magna Carta, the key document in the idea of limited government.  Magna Carta, over 500 years later, would inspire the American colonists in their fight for independence.

 John had lost his vast holdings in France, an inheritance from his father, Henry II.  A rebellion soon broke out with the barons revolting against John and his arbitrary policy.  Although the king possessed superior resources, the barons captured London and forced a showdown.

 An assembly of barons confronted the king and demanded that their traditional rights be recognized, written down, and confirmed by his seal.  John gave into their demands and accepted the charter.

 King John agreed to cease violating the barons’ rights.  taxing without consulting any council or parliament.  overridden towns’ and cities’ historic practices of levying their own taxes and regulating their own commerce.

 kept the power to judge solely in his own hands, denying justice to those unable to find his court in time to be heard.  denied trial to his subject according to English custom. Jury trials, protection from force confessions, and other aspects of due process were denied so that the king could convict whomever he pleased.

 Magna Carta spelled out the English people’s fundamental rights.  it was no Bill of Rights as we currently understand that term.  These protections were originally intended only for the privilege classes.  Over time, they became the rights of all English people and were incorporated into other documents.

 Magna Carta established the principle that the power of the monarchy was not absolute – the king was not above the law.  It bound monarchs by the higher law to respect the common law rights it declared.