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Essay On Magna Carta

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The Magna Carta, also known as the “Great Charter”, is one of the best known political documents in history. It has influenced nearly every great document of note following it, including the Declaration of Independence written by the founding fathers of America. The Magna Carta was a direct result of the reigns of King Richard the Lionheart and his brother King John and was written by barons who wanted to protect their rights, albeit in a way that mostly benefitted them. Therefore, this paper will attempt to examine the historical context surrounding the Magna Carta, what concerns the document demonstrated about the reigns of Richard and John as exemplified by the demands within the charter, and how the Magna Carta changed the relationship …show more content…

This, of course, was not the first of John’s scheming, but Richard was always “liberal to the extent of folly” with his younger brother. The last straw for many regarding the reign of Richard was his capture by the Holy Roman Emperor upon his return from the crusade, in which his ransom was greater than what the English crown made in one year. Immediately, taxes were increased and collected to pay this ransom. Eventually, Richard was killed in another military exploit and John was crowned king in April of 1199. John has been characterized as one of the worst English kings in history and it largely seems to be a correct portrayal. John lost the duchy of Normandy to King Phillip of France, giving Phillip the resources he would later need to wage war against England. The loss of this territory left John living in England where “his disagreeable personality brought him into regular conflict with his barons.” John was also very determined to reconquer “Normandy and the rest of his lost French lands [which] drove him to an extortionate form of government…he devoted himself to squeezing as much money as humanly possible out of his subjects, particularly his barons and the Church.” To make matters worse, John treated hostages and prisoners abominably and may have killed his nephew. Then John angered the Church, which was the last straw. The conflict began over Pope Innocent III and John both wanting the authority to appoint a new Archbishop of Canterbury. This disagreement

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