The Important Role of the Magna Carta and the Reign of Henry II
Common law also called Anglo-American law was characterized as decentralization and placed emphasis on a local court system. The reign of Henry II and the Magna Carta, English law and the English constitution gave great importance to traditions or customs of this country. A rule was sanctioned as the law of the land. Once this happens, it was hard to change. As the years continued, English monarchs and royal judges affirmed that their subjects did have certain personal rights, often referred to as the rights of Englishmen throughout the centuries. The particular common law benefits were a cornerstone were valued as neither monarch nor anyone in the Parliament would dare to change or violate them.
These common law benefits included:
- The right to trial by a jury of one’s peers under the law of the land
- Security in one’s home from unlawful entry
- Limits on government’s power to tax” and are still enforced to this day
Another important major development occurred in 1100. King Henry was crowned on December 19, 1154. King Henry was a fiery King, which he obtained his temperament from his mother. This event occurred across the sea in England and set a precedent for a greater events a long century later. In this year, King Henry I published a Charter of Liberties. Church officials and nobles were pleased as King Henry I had to obey laws regarding their treatment by the king. Early in the following century, one of the great charters of liberty in human history was formulated. This newer charter was written because the king, the pope, and the English barons disagreed about the king’s rights. After a chain of events in the early 1200s, King John I tried to take back some rights and powers that his barons had been enjoying. Unhappy with this movement by King John the barons voiced their displeasure. The ending consequence of this disagreement was the start of a civil war between their king and the barons. The barons were victorious. With this victory came another important development. The support of the Church and others, the Magna Carta was created in June 1215. The barons forced King John to sign a new Charter of Liberties, aka the Magna Carta, or “Great Charter.” This new charter validated the feudal relationships between the King and three classes of the population— barons, clergy, and merchants. Within the charter, the king promised not to increase old-fashioned dues and other money payments to the King without blessing and to respect property rights. As the new charter did not grant new rights, the new charter confirmed certain conventional rights. The following three principles contained in the Magna Carta were important in the later development of constitutional government. Rule of Law the Magna Carta was perhaps the most important early example of a written statement of law.
The idea that the monarch must respect established rules of law must be expressed. The term rule of law refers to the principle that every member of society, even rulers, must obey the law. Sometimes the phrase is rendered as “the supremacy of the law” because it means that rulers must base their decisions on known principles or rules instead of on their own discretion. The Magna Carta, for instance, stated that no free man could be imprisoned or punished “except by the lawful judgment of his peers” and by the “law of the land.” This meant that the government could not take action against the governed unless it followed established rules and procedures. Arbitrary government was outlawed. Rule of law: The principle that both those who govern and those who are governed must obey the law and are subject to the same laws. The barons made King John promise to respect the “ancient liberties and free customs” of the land. The barons did not believe that they were making any drastic change in the position or power of the king. To establish a way to secure grievances or compensation for a loss or wrong done to them, the Crown should breach on their common law rights became their ultimate goal.
As later generations would find out, the Magna Carta began the process of creating other important constitutional principles. For instance, the American colonists found the principle of no taxation without representation (we’ve heard this during the Boston Tea party) and the promises of King John not to impose certain traditional taxes without the consent of “our common counsel of the kingdom.” The creation of the Magna Carta also brought the law to bear against one law-breaking king. These actions gave barons the right to go to war with him again if King John broke the agreement.
