John’s subjects – or those that counted – had had sufficient. Demanding the restoration of their ‘ancient and accustomed liberties’ the barons and the clergy met John at Runnymede in June 1215, and forced him to put his seal to the excellent document that would limit his powers. Much of Magna Carta seems remote today, but it tells us exactly what the barons of 1215 wanted John to stop performing – for instance one passage refers to just who may or may not set fish traps about the River Thames.

And it was a brave attempt to set standards of fair treatment for the weak, to ensure systematic administration of law, and to guarantee the freedom from the church. Nevertheless, the meat of the charter today lies within the fact that the barons were saying that the king was subject to the law like everybody else, no-one ought to be arrested, imprisoned or victimized in any way except ‘by the lawful judgement of his peers (equals) or by the law from the land’, and also the king should not sell, deny or delay justice.

Usually, as soon as he was clear of Runnymede, John repudiated the charter and civil war broke out. His death in 1216 and the accession of his young son Henry III, under sensible regents, mercifully brought the conflict to an end. The charter was renewed and updated in 1216, 1217 and finally in 1225.

By the end from the century Magna Carta was considered the initial statute of the kingdom, and ever since then, whenever there has been a dispute about the powers of the monarch or about personal or public rights, Magna Carta is referred to. It isn’t just of fundamental importance within the way the British constitution is set up – establishing the difference between legal kingship and tyranny – but has influenced practically all government and legal systems which are based about the English one Magna Carta rules OK.