Free Republic

Fascinating interview of Stephen Church by John Batchelor. Discussion of the political and military events which led to the Magna Carta and border divisions within the kingdoms of France.

It won’t be long before Americans all across the country are celebrating our great national birthday. And we won’t do so quietly. “It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty,” John Adams, our second president, wrote of July 4. “It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” Indeed it should. I also frequently urge people to reread our founding charter, the Declaration of Independence, which...

On this day 800 years ago, King John was compelled to sign the Magna Charta, formally accepting a limit to his prerogative to ravage everything in England. But the ink on his signature was barely dry before he brought in foreign forces and tried to wipe out the barons who had compelled him to sign the Charta. The English almost lost their newly-recognized rights within months of the signing because they were not sufficiently suspicious of the King. As David Hume noted in his magisterial History of England, The ravenous and barbarous mercenaries, incited by a cruel and enraged...

LONDON — June 19 will mark the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta — the great charter of rights and freedoms drawn up by the Catholic Abbots of England’s Catholic monasteries and the feudal barons of the English counties and presented to King John to sign. Queen Elizabeth II will visit Runnymede on the Thames, where the signing took place, and various ceremonies and commemorative events are planned around the country for the occasion. But what most people perhaps do not recognize is the central role played by the ROMAN CATHOLIC Church in all of this.

Yesterday was the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede. The “Great Charter” (actually, its full name was Magna Carta Libertatum, or Great Charter of Liberty) was the first codification in English history of the principle that the power of government had limitations. I attended a mini-conference to commemorate it on Sunday night and yesterday morning. Hosted by the American Freedom Alliance, in Bellaire (near the UCLA campus), it was an intellectual feast, with talks and panels from historical scholars and law professors (including Amy Peikoff, an Objectivist atheist who declared Ted Cruz to be the...

Last week I was writing about Magna Carta and how the Catholic Church’s role has been written out, in particular the part of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton. But the same could also be said about much of English history from 600AD to 1600; from the very first law code written in English, which begins with a clause protecting Church property, to the intellectual flourishing of the 13th century, led by churchmen such as Roger Bacon, the Franciscan friar who foresaw air travel. However, the whitewashing of English Catholic history is mainly seen in three areas: political liberty, economic...

Except that there's something rather different about this rural corner of England. These riverside fields at Runnymede are reputed to be the setting for one of the most significant moments in UK democratic and constitutional history. The National Trust labels it "the birthplace of modern democracy," while an impressive monument commemorates a "symbol of freedom under law." It was here, of course, that the Magna Carta is said to have been sealed on June 15, 1215 under the title of the "Great Charter."

Archaeologists have uncovered a royal palace used by King Henry II AN ANCIENT royal palace near Kingsclere unearthed during recent excavations will be open to the public over the weekend (September 22-23). The Royal Palace of Fremantle has lain hidden under the Hampshire Downs at Tidgrove Warren Farm, in the parish of Hannington, for nearly 900 years. Over the last three years the site has been excavated by staff and students from the University of Southampton in association with the Kingsclere Heritage Association local volunteers. Explorations have revealed a medieval enclosed settlement surrounded by a massive ditch - larger than...

Tomorrow, you can hardly have failed to notice, marks the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, the document famously issued by King John at Runnymede on June 15, 1215. Most people are understandably a little hazy about the charter’s contents (it runs to 63 clauses and over 4,000 words). But they are aware that it was a “good thing” – a significant step in the direction of the liberties we enjoy today.

MAGNA CARTA, on which King John placed his seal 800 years ago today, is synonymous in the English-speaking world with fundamental rights and the rule of law. It’s been celebrated, and appropriated, by everyone from Tea Party members to Jay Z, who called his latest album “Magna Carta Holy Grail.” But its fame rests on several myths. First, it wasn’t effective. In fact, it was a failure. John was a weak king who had squandered the royal fortune on a fruitless war with France. Continually raising taxes to pay for his European adventures, he provoked a revolt by his barons,...

'Among the 27 men named in the preamble to Magna Carta as King John of England's advisors and negotiators was Alan, lord of Galloway and constable of the Scottish king, Alexander II. How had this man, ruler of semi-independent Galloway, a senior officer in Alexander's kingdom and lord of Lauderdale and Cunninghame, come to exercise such influence in English politics?'

Originally published on June 11, 2015 11:30 am Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: The Magna Carta has a big birthday coming up. That document, establishing the foundation of the modern judicial system, will turn 800 years old on Monday. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: At the British Library in London, an exhibition displays the Magna Carta alongside original copies of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Bill of Rights. Both of those documents were inspired by the Magna Carta. A couple of months ago, I visited the British Library for a story on the...

What sometimes seem like epic battles to reshape the world generally fade to irrelevance very quickly. To take just one recent example, 20 years ago the Justice Department was trying to break up Microsoft because the software giant was perceived as too powerful to be challenged by other firms. Today, of course, all the talk is of Google and Apple with Microsoft struggling to find a niche. Only a few events and documents -- like the American Declaration of Independence -- are worthy of celebrating even a century or two later. On Monday, June 15, the Magna Carta turns 800,...

Here might be a workable way to look at academia: That which academics dismiss is probably worth exploring. “There is quite a list of academics who question the importance of the Magna Carta,” University of Chicago law professor Richard Helmholz pointed out in a lecture at the Cato Institute on June 4, 2015. “They dismiss it as baronial and backward looking, an immediate failure and talk about the myth of the Magna Carta.” “I don’t think that view is correct.” Certainly, the sections of the Magna Carta he supplied to accompany his talk hold up well in translation: • No...

The anniversary of the signing of the document that established the seeds of Freedom for the individual is this June 15th. It happened in 1215 at Runnymede. All freedom loving people need to honor this August occasion for being the seminal point in the history of the World. Great article. (No linkie because I don't know how to...) It's entitled "Eight Centuries of Liberty"

Paso Robles, CA -- Their political party lines maybe different but one thing United States presidents could share is their family line. A young girl in California has put together a Presidential Family Tree. Twelve-year-old BridgeAnne d'Avignon found that all the presidents but one are related to King John of England through a common ancestor. "They are all cousins and all grandsons of John Lackland," BridgeAnne told KCOY News. The girl searched more than a half million names for months. She started with George Washington, then traced both the male and female family lines to make the connection. KCOY reports...

A rare edition of the Magna Carta has been unearthed in a city library and is believed to be worth a staggering $21.3 million. An archivist stumbled upon the document, a third of which is missing, at the Kent History and Library Centre. The document was found in a Victorian scrapbook after archivist Dr. Mark Bateson was asked to search for another charter from the town of Sandwich. Modal Trigger The recently discovered copy of the Magna Carta is worth millions even though a third of the document is missing.Photo: Zuma Press The edition is believed to be one of...

An original copy of the Magna Carta has been discovered in a scrapbook in Kent, England. The tattered document dates back to 1300, 85 years after King John of England was compelled to sign the first agreement limiting the rights of kings. This version was issued by King Edward I (King John's grandson), who was under pressure from the church and the barons to reaffirm good governance, said Sophie Ambler, a research associate with the Magna Carta Project. "Nobody knew it was there," Ambler said of the damaged document. "This Magna Carta had been stuck into a scrapbook by a...

In June the world will celebrate 800 years since the issuing of Magna Carta. But 2015 is also the anniversary of another important, and far more radical, British milestone in democratic history, writes Luke Foddy. Almost exactly 750 years ago, an extraordinary parliament opened in Westminster. For the very first time, elected representatives from every county and major town in England were invited to parliament on behalf of their local communities. It was, in the words of one historian, "the House of Commons in embryo". The January Parliament, which first met on 20 January 1265, is one of the...

This year people in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and plenty of other nations will mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. The document will be lauded for establishing one vital principle.