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[lastplayed]

Just how important is Magna Carta 800 years on?

This year people in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and plenty of other nations will mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. The document will be lauded for establishing one vital principle.
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This year marks the 800th anniversary of the charter's first signing on 15 June 1215 at Runnymede on the banks of the Thames between Windsor and Staines.
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The charter was agreed between King John and a group of leading barons, led by Robert fitzWalter, exasperated at the king's arbitrary rule and high taxes. It was in effect a peace treaty designed to head off armed conflict. It failed.

Shamelessly stolen from the above article:

What was Magna Carta?

Magna Carta outlined basic rights with the principle that no-one was above the law, including the king

It charted the right to a fair trial, and limits on taxation without representation

It inspired a number of other documents, including the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Only three clauses are still valid - the one guaranteeing the liberties of the English Church; the clause confirming the privileges of the City of London and other towns; and the clause that states that no free man shall be imprisoned without the lawful judgement of his equals

The British Library has two copies of the 1215 Magna Carta

One original copy is owned by Lincoln Cathedral and one by Salisbury Cathedral

So uh, happy birthday!

 

[frontovik]

One of the most important documents in human history which prevented the monarchs of England from wielding absolute power & ensured that every free man is given access to a fair and lawful trial. Awesome.

 

[Not]

Europe is so important

Western culture truly is the best humanity has to offer

To another 800 years

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Good job england.

 

[DrSlek]

Happy Birthday, you old girl.

 

[FZZ]

Europe is so important

Western culture truly is the best humanity has to offer

To another 800 years

I can't tell if sarcasm or not

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

yay!

 

[manzoman96]

Interesting. Truly a landmark document.

 

[Kyne]

let's go.

 

[brianmcdoogle]

I've seen all but one, I think, surviving copy of it. The best was a church that in Salisbury that they might have had on loan. We tried seeing it, and got rebuked by a guard, but a kind priest escorted us personally to it and we got to spend a good deal of time with it alone. It was totally unexpected and such a wonderful experience to see it on such a personal level with just my family and this priest and guard. Wonderful. If anything, it truly pays to be nice and kind and respectful to others, and they might let you do and see things that others aren't usually permitted to do.

Edit: changed spelling of Salisbury.

 

[Dennis]

GAF can't read that because they didn't learn superior cursive in school.

 

[UnluckyKate]

I knew about the taxation thing but not about the trial and that the king was above the law. If French Kings would sign such a document maybe they wouldn't loose their head 500 years later.

let's go.

Always loved the art for these games but never heard anything but tedious things about their gameplay/story

 

[HORRORSHØW]

I can't tell if sarcasm or not

lol yeah sounds ignorant but who the hell knows for certain

 

[lastplayed]

Added a nice romantic picture for dramatic effect.

 

[Not]

I can't tell if sarcasm or not

There wouldn't even be "sarcasm" without Europe. Truly the Master Continent.

 

[Cameron122]

Wasn't it the nobles wanting to decentralize the power of the state to their own fiefdoms

my knowledge of history is shit once the Western Roman Empire kicks the bucket

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Added a nice romantic picture for dramatic effect.

King looks pissed

 

[Trojita]

let's go.

lol was going to mention this game series. Loved the art.

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Wasn't it the nobles wanting to decentralize the power of the state to their own fiefdoms

my knowledge of history is shit once the Western Roman Empire kicks the bucket

It was rich people wanting to limit the power of the sovereign and strengthen their own power. By no means truly liberal or anything but it was one of the first steps away from having powering in a single person or a single institution and codifying it in a document (I think its actually still law in the UK)

 

[lastplayed]

It was rich people wanting to limit the power of the sovereign and strengthen their own power. By no means truly liberal or anything but it was one of the first steps away from having powering in a single person or a single institution and codifying it in a document (I think its actually still law in the UK)

Yeah it wasn't exactly a humanitarian endevour. But it was an essential first step.

 

[Cameron122]

It was rich people wanting to limit the power of the sovereign and strengthen their own power. By no means truly liberal or anything but it was one of the first steps away from having powering in a single person or a single institution and codifying it in a document (I think its actually still law in the UK)

Well at least some good things came out of it!

 

[NYCmetsfan]

Well at least some good things came out of it!

lots of good things can come from self interest!

Once the rich people were like, we want rights, it was only a matter of time before the poor plebs demanded them too.

scotland rules

 

[Tesseract]

scotland rules

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

What does Magna Carta even mean? I am pretty sure it's a Mage spell in some RPGs!

 

[NYCmetsfan]

What does Magna Carta even mean? I am pretty sure it's a Mage spell in some RPGs!

Great Charter

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

It was rich people wanting to limit the power of the sovereign and strengthen their own power. By no means truly liberal or anything but it was one of the first steps away from having powering in a single person or a single institution and codifying it in a document (I think its actually still law in the UK)

plutocracy?

 

[Desi]

Always loved the art for these games but never heard anything but tedious things about their gameplay/story

You can get in a random battle while standing still...shit was rough

 

[lastplayed]

plutocracy?

Feudalism

 

[Silver Arrows]

No one's going to make a Magna Carta Holy Grail joke?

You slackin, GAF

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

Sipping from the cup 'till it runneth over, Holy Grail

 

[Chezzymann]

Wow time flies by fast

 

[hom3land]

Why is the writing so small? Did everyone have tiny hands back then?

 

[lastplayed]

Why is the writing so small? Did everyone have tiny hands back then?

No it's just that we've got bigger.

 

[DrSlek]

Wasn't it the nobles wanting to decentralize the power of the state to their own fiefdoms

Archbishop Stephen Langton has founded the "Lower Crown Authority in the Kingdom of England" Faction.

 

[Valhelm]

It was rich people wanting to limit the power of the sovereign and strengthen their own power. By no means truly liberal or anything but it was one of the first steps away from having powering in a single person or a single institution and codifying it in a document (I think its actually still law in the UK)

I'd say that it was quite progressive for its time, much like how capitalism as we know it was very progressive 200 years ago.

 

[Anon67]

Big Paper ftw

 

[Sectorseven]

edit: wrong scene, but oh well.

 

[Simplet]

I knew about the taxation thing but not about the trial and that the king was above the law. If French Kings would sign such a document maybe they wouldn't loose their head 500 years later.

But then we wouldn't have got the declaration of human rights.

 

[Kurt Angle]

just like everything else, USA did it better

 

[Groof]

I remember it like it was yesterday

 

[Onemic]

I was there

 

[Sakura]

Europe is so important

Western culture truly is the best humanity has to offer

To another 800 years

Hear hear

 

[DrSlek]

just like everything else, USA did it better

You stand upon the shoulders of giants, USA.

 

[ChainedMaster]

Magna Carta is hailed as such a human rights achievement but it isn't. It protected barons, not all people, to a fair trial. There were still peasants. Peasants had no real rights, only the nobility (barons) did. But hooray for Eurocentric history.

 

[PushTheButtonMax]

GAF can't read that because they didn't learn superior cursive in school.

Shit's written in Latin yo.

 

[Boss Mog]

Europe is so important

Western culture truly is the best humanity has to offer

To another 800 years

I wouldn't count on it, at least not in Europe.

 

[hitme]

Still not as old as Larry King.

 

[RedShift]

Magna Carta is hailed as such a human rights achievement but it isn't. It protected barons, not all people, to a fair trial. There were still peasants. Peasants had no real rights, only the nobility (barons) did. But hooray for Eurocentric history.

How edgy.

A big step in the right direction is still worth celebrating even if it leaves you a long way from the final destination.

 

[ChainedMaster]

How edgy.

A big step in the right direction is still worth celebrating even if it leaves you a long way from the final destination.

A step in the right direction for England, maybe. There are many instances in history of "steps in the right direction", many much more significant than the Magna Carta. Yet the only reason it gets mentioned is Eurocentrism. More specifically, Anglocentrism. Only thing Magna Carta guaranteed was more rights to the lower nobility. But yeah, edgy, sure.

 

[lastplayed]

Magna Carta is hailed as such a human rights achievement but it isn't. It protected barons, not all people, to a fair trial. There were still peasants. Peasants had no real rights, only the nobility (barons) did. But hooray for Eurocentric history.

No one's claiming it was a gift to all mankind. It's an important moment in English history, that's all. It has every right to celebrate it.