WHAT IS MAGNA CARTA?

The Magna Carta (“Great Charter”) is a document guaranteeing English political liberties that
was drafted at Runnymede, a meadow by the River Thames, and signed by King John on June
15, 1215, under pressure from his rebellious barons. By declaring the sovereign to be subject to
the rule of law and documenting the liberties held by “free men,” it provided the foundation for
individual rights in Anglo-American jurisprudence.

WHAT DID MAGNA CARTA GUARANTEE?

Among the Magna Carta’s provisions were clauses providing for a free church, reforming law
and justice, and controlling the behavior of royal officials. One of the charter’s 63 clauses tasked
the barons with choosing 25 representatives to serve as a “form of security” ensuring the
preservation of the rights and liberties that had been enumerated. Above all, the Magna Carta
guaranteed that government, royal or otherwise, would be limited by the written law of the land.