Question

The Magna Carta was most important because it

Answer 1

The Magna Carta, also known as Carta Magna, is the most important legal document in Great Britain and at its bases lay the rights and liberties given to the citizens and people of this nation. The original Magna Carta was chartered in 1215 and it became the document by which two opposing factions: King John the third, of the Angevin line, and the English barons, came to peaceful agreements. Before the Magna Carta was established and signed, conflict arose between the King and the barons, which led to a war known as the First Baron´s War, but through the efforts of Church representatives, in the end, the two factions signed this document. The highest importance of the Magna Carta, aside from ending years of conflict between the ruler and his subjects, was that through it many of the customs and traditions typical of feudal England were changed. One of these was the belief that the King was above and beyong the control of the law and of his subjects. Another very important change generated by this document, and at the heart of it, was the taxation with which King John forced his barons to restore the coffers of the Crown after his war with King Phillip II of France in 1204. In the document, it was stated that the King was not free to establish taxes and make decision without the acknowledgement and acceptance of his lords and subjects. What the Magna Carta, in summary, did, was institute political reform in England and change the feudal practices that generated the First Baron´s War. This is why the correct answer is B: provided legal limits on the power of the king.