Magna Carta was signed on June 15, 1215: quotes, Horrible Histories, Monty Python, Mark Steyn.

VA Viper ^ | 06/14/2018 | Harpygoddess

[harpygoddess]

The Magna Carta (the "Great Charter"), the basis of the thesis that leaders are not above the law, the beginning of the path from absolute monarchy to the rule of law, and an important foundation of our Anglo-Saxon liberties, was signed on June 15, 1215 by England's King John at Runnymede, south of London. John, the youngest son of Henry II, reigned from 1199 to 1216 and aroused fierce opposition in both the nobility and the church for his high-handed authoritarianism.

The resulting bloodless rebellion ended when John - under compulsion - signed the Great Charter, drafted in Latin by the British clergy, that guaranteed both baronial and ecclesiastical rights and privileges and the customs of the towns. Of course, as soon as the barons left London, John renounced the document and then appealed to Pope Innocent II, who technically still ruled England. The Pope declared the Magna Carta null and void. It was modified, re-issued and reaffirmed a handful of times until the final version of 1225, and is now considered the most important document of English constitutional history. Four contemporaneous copies remain extant in England.

[harpygoddess]

Of Magna Carta, Winston Churchill wrote in his "History of the English Speaking Peoples",

"The underlying idea of the sovereignty of law, long existent in feudal custom, was raised by it into a doctrine for the national State. And when in subsequent ages, the State, swollen with its own authority, has attempted to ride roughshod over the rights and liberties of the subject, it is to this doctrine that appeal has again and again been made, and never, as yet, without success."

[Ohioan]

And the most relevant demonstration of Jefferson's theses in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence,

Declaration Of Independence--With Study Guide

[MamaB]

I was reading some genealogy notes from a genealogy site. An ancestor was a surety for the Magna Carta and I do not know what that was. Does anyone?

[Slyfox]

FYI:

The English have what they call an "unwritten Constitution" and the Magna Carta is considered part of that.

Charters and laws signed and proclaimed would have a copies made and they would then send them to every county in England.

So, they don't have a constitution written like ours which was written in a matter of months, but instead they have a series of laws handed down and embedded with all the other laws collected.

[macgregor_45]

“At the signing of the Magna Carta, twenty-five men, representing the barons, signed as sureties of the baronial performance, in effect pledging the barons to fulfill their obligations to the Crown in accordance with the terms of the Great Charter.”

[Jacquerie]

Yep, the Brit Constitution is what Parliament says it is. We don’t have that excuse, yet are headed down a similar path to tyranny.

[outofsalt]

Whole boneless beef tenderloin is on sale at Kroger. (Make sure they pay you for my click on your site.) I’m going to get some to have a Magna Cartaque!

[dirtymac]

did you go to school in the United States?

If you graduated from high school before 1975 then you should know what the Magna Carte is.

If you graduated from high school after 1975 then you are probably having a difficult time reading this post.

[SES1066]

In 1938, one of the 4 'original' Magna Carta (Lincoln Cathedral) was sent to New York for display at the New York World's Fair of 1939-40 at the British Exhibition. With the start of WW2 and with the deadly U-Boat attacks, returning this precious document to England became a problem.

With the agreement between the British Government and the neutral US Government, the custody of this Magna Carta was given to the US Library of Congress and in November of 1939 it was put on display in the same hall as the originals of the US Declaration of Independence and US Constitution.

Following Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Magna Carta and the other irreplaceable documents in the possession of the Library of Congress were sent to the Gold Repository at Fort Knox, Kentucky. In 1944, these items were returned to Washington DC and were again put on public viewing. It was not until 1946 that the Lincoln Cathedral Magna Carta was returned to its original owners in England.

The genealogists have determined that President George Washington is not only descended from King John I, but also from 6 of the rebellious Barons who signed the document.

[MamaB]

I am well aware what the Magna Carta is. I do not remember ever hearing the word, surety in connection with it. So, get off your high horse and act nicely. My brain is not working right now when my daughter is in a rehab hospital after having a massive stroke on April 20 and I am going back to the dr with pneumonia which I have had since the day before her stroke. The Er dr said it would be a miracle if she survived. You and others do not know what anyone is going through so be nice. Enough rant!

[ops33]

A Magna Surety was a nobleman that swore an oath that he would “ensure” that the King would comply with the provisions of the Charter.

[Peter Libra]

I did some research and all in vain, because I wisely reread the posts. macgregor 45 had quoted the proper definition. That of the 25 powerful men who were to keep tabs on the keeping of the Magna Carta. The nearest surety to where I am from in England was Geoffrey De Say of Edmonton (Middlesex).

My sincere wishes for your daughters recovery and indeed your own health. Though I and my wife - married 61 years are quite elderly, we realise how lucky we are to be healthy. Life can be cruel, indeed people need all the support they can get.

[MamaB]

Well, we know that better than some. Our younger daughter died in 04. Then 2 years later, my older brother was found dead by his tractor. 2 months later, my husband died of liver cancer. 2 weeks later, my sister’s husband died. To top it off a few months later my mom died. She was nearly 103 but was still very hard. We tell others if we make it through January, we are ok. My parents and her daddy all died on January 6 of different years and my daughter died on January 15. The ER dr told us it would take a miracle for my daughter to survive. Well, through many prayers, we got that miracle. Like I told a relative, Jesus is the answer!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks harpygoddess.

[SunkenCiv]