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A meditation on Magna Carta and the foundations of liberty
This page celebrates Magna Carta and its enduring legacy. June 15 is Magna Carta Day, marking the anniversary of the charter's sealing at Runnymede in 1215.
Magna Carta (Latin for 'Great Charter') was a document forced upon King John of England by rebellious barons in 1215. It attempted to limit royal power and establish that the king was subject to law.
The charter addressed many specific grievances of the time — forest law, feudal dues, widow's rights, fish weirs in the Thames. But its lasting legacy lies in broader principles:
Magna Carta was not democratic — it protected barons, not common people. It was annulled within months. It failed to prevent civil war. And yet it survived, was reissued, became mythologized, and planted seeds that would grow into constitutional government worldwide.
The Fifth Amendment's due process clause, the right to a fair trial, habeas corpus, the principle that government is limited — all trace their lineage to a meadow by the Thames, where angry nobles made a reluctant king promise to follow the law.