|
|
Article: The Magna Carta.(individual rights in King John's England)
- Article from:
- Calliope
- Article date:
- April 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
The cross-shaped signatures on this Norman charter dating to between A.D. 1072 and 1076 include those of William the Conqueror, his queen Matilda, and he Archbishop of Rouen. A scribe wrote in their names.
When the English nobility summoned King John to the fields of Runnymede in 1215, they had already composed a set of demands. Their list was in Latin, as is the name by which their agreement with John has come to be known: Magna Carta, or the "Great Charter." This fact raises an interesting question: Why would people communicate with their own king in a language that was not their own, a language that had to be studied for years by anyone who used it?
...