History Podcast: 1215 and all that: a Bad King, and a Good Thing

Taking Liberties with Magna Carta

· Issued at Runnymede June 1215

· Grandfather of all our liberties

· Totemic qualities it still possesses

· 42 day detention of rule

· Citizen is guaranteed against the state

· Public liberties, rights of the citizen

What it says

· Only historical document in English that everybody has heard of

· Contains some clauses that even today have general significance and are believed to guarantee the rights of the people

· 39 and 40 clauses are still on the statute book today: no man outlawed, enslaved etc. Lands taken off him except by law of the land, no one will we not sell of refuse right or justice

· 60+ clauses

· Less relevant causes e.g removal of fish weirs from rivers

· 50-51 removal of Gerald Daffy etc. Some clauses are very personal and less for the good of the kingdom

· Removal all alien knights etc. Basically anyone not English

· Opening of the charter begins conventionally enough with name of the king, those who attended the issue at Runnymede beginning with AB of C

· First clause: we have granted to God – initially granted not to citizens of England but to God king speaking directly to the almighty.

Context

· Why did he sign Magna Carta? Peace treaty to begin with

· May 1215 Barons had seized London and held it against the king forcing him into negotiations with his Barons

· Need for peace treaty? Because John was a slippery character

· Opinions of John differ little from 13th C similar to Matthew Paris view “hell itself is defiled by the vileness of John”

· 19th C “king John cruel as Nero” “combined in his single person all the vices who ever held the crown”

· Charged with a whole catalogue crimes

· Henry II 1189 John had rebelled against his father although he was his favourite

· 1190s Richard crusading etc. John rebelled again

· 1199 Richard died John seized the throne (argued to have belonged to Arthur of Brittany son of Geoffrey)

· 1200 John remarried divorcing Isabel of Gloucester but kept her lands, married southern French heiress Isabella of Angouleme (8-14 years old)

· Isabella already betrothed to southern French Baron Hugh du Lusignan (withheld consummation because of her age) Hugh rebelled and dragged Arthur of Brittany

· 1202 in a brilliant military manoeuvre he held Arthur captive at Mirebeau

· Arthur led into captivity and never seen again – John believed to have killed him

· Phillip declared John’s French lands forfeit and seized John’s possessions in Northern France: Normandy, Maine and Anjou

· 1203 John lost Normandy 1204 retreated to England

· John back in a realm unaccustomed to having a King

· Set on reclaiming his lands and raised extraordinary taxation to pay for reclamation of continental lands

· Came into conflict with Barons and Knights who did not wish to pay those taxes

· Fell out with the English church and confiscated a large part of their estates taking their revenues for his re-conquest

· Arose from his refusal to allow Stephen Langton become AB of C, John wanted Bishop of Norwich: John de Gray. Papacy excommunicated them

· Interdict 1208-124 over England – lack of church services

· 1213 John came to terms with Church allowed Langton back into England placed England under direct papal sovereignty and paid the Pope 100,000 marks a year

· Placing England under the red hand of Rome

· 1214 John spent collected money on an expedition to France to attack Philip

· August 1214 at Bouvines John’s northern fork cut off

· Forced back to England with money and reputation gone

· Stirrings of Baronial discontent

· May 1215 seizure of London by Rebel Barons

· Lustful of Barons wives? Cause of discontent

· When friends deserted him he punished their families

· Suspicious man

· Pipe rolls of government 1210 (middle of John’s reign) (written in medieval latin) tell us about nature of kingship

· John kept a copy of everything: outgoing and ingoing

00.00minutes – 30.10minutes/68.20

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Notes from listening to the podcast "1215 and all that: A Bad King and a Good Thing"