Magna Carta (1215)
The nutshell
Magna Carta was an agreement made in England in 1215. It was one of the first documents to say that even the king had to obey the law.
Every fact on this page comes from official records and non-partisan explainers. Each source tag — like TNA — opens where a fact comes from.
The basics
What Magna Carta was
Magna Carta means "the Great Charter" in Latin. A charter is a formal written promise. In 1215, King John of England sealed Magna Carta at a meadow called Runnymede, near Windsor.TNA The king agreed to it after a group of powerful landowners, called barons, rebelled against the king.
Why it mattered
Before 1215, a king could mostly do as the king wished. Magna Carta set down a new idea. UK Parliament says it was the first document to put in writing that the king and the government were not above the law.Parl In plain words, even the king had to obey the law of the land.
What it said
Most of Magna Carta dealt with problems from the year 1215. But a few parts set out rules that still feel modern. One famous part promised that a free man could not be jailed or punished without a fair judgement under the law.HoCThis is one root of the idea of a fair trial.
Does it still matter today?
Most of Magna Carta has since been cancelled or replaced by newer laws. The House of Commons Library records that only three parts are still law today — the freedom of the English Church, the old rights of the City of London, and the promise of fair legal treatment.HoC Even so, Magna Carta is still one of the most famous documents in English history.
- UK Parliament describes Magna Carta as the first document to put in writing that the king and the government were not above the law.
- The House of Commons Library records that three clauses are still law today, including the promise that justice will not be sold, denied or delayed.
- The National Archives describes Magna Carta as a symbol of justice, fairness and human rights.
- Most of the 63 clauses dealt with medieval problems, and the House of Commons Library records that nearly all have since been repealed.
- The House of Commons Library points out that two of the three surviving clauses protect institutions, such as the Church and the City of London, rather than ordinary people.
- The famous clause on fair legal process has mostly been overtaken by later laws, according to the House of Commons Library.
The deep end6 min
How Magna Carta came about
By 1215, many English barons had turned against King John. The barons complained that King John ruled in a harsh and unpredictable way, raising heavy taxes and punishing subjects without proper cause. In June 1215, King John met the rebel barons and clergy at Runnymede, a meadow near Windsor, and there sealed the charter now known as Magna Carta.TNA Magna Carta is Latin for "the Great Charter".
What the charter set out to do
Magna Carta contained 63 clauses. Most dealt with the exact complaints of 1215, such as the rights of the church, the customs of towns, control of the royal forests, and limits on the money a king could demand. UK Parliament describes Magna Carta as the first document to put in writing the principle that the king and the royal government were not above the law.Parl One clause said that certain taxes needed the "common counsel of the realm". UK Parliament links this early idea, that a ruler should seek agreement before raising money, to the later growth of Parliament.Parl
How much of it survives in law
Magna Carta was reissued in changed forms over the following years and confirmed as a statute in 1297. During the 1800s and 1900s, most of the old text was repealed by a series of Statute Law Revision Acts. The House of Commons Library records that only three clauses remain in force in law today: the freedom of the English Church, the ancient liberties of the City of London, and the guarantee that justice will not be sold, denied or delayed.HoC The most quoted surviving clause promises that no free person may be imprisoned or stripped of rights without a lawful judgement by equals "or by the Law of the land", a wording the House of Commons Library links to later principles such as trial by jury and due process.HoC
Why it is still remembered
Magna Carta is now treated as a symbol as much as a working law. The National Archives describes Magna Carta as a symbol of justice, fairness and human rights.TNA The image reaches into modern institutions too. A carved stone frieze inside the UK Supreme Court, the highest court in the United Kingdom, shows King John receiving Magna Carta from the barons at Runnymede in 1215, which the court calls an event of importance in English legal and constitutional history.UKSC