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Article: Magna Carta
- Article from:
- International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
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Magna Carta
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Emerging as a thirteenth-century agreement between crown and aristocracy, the language of Magna Carta (literally,
“
great charter
”
) proved pregnant with meaning for later generations. The charter came to be seen as representing wider legal and political principles, especially those of lawful and limited government.
The charter was drafted against a backdrop of complex political and military disputes. At the center of each was King John (c. 1167
–
1216), the Plantagenet ruler of England, Wales, Ireland, and much of northern France. A descendant of the Normans who had conquered England a century earlier, John would become the first to reside ...