John angered his own nobles with oppressive taxes and other abuses of power. In 1215, a group of rebellious barons cornered John and forced him to sign the Magna Carta, or great charter. In this document, the king affirmed a long list of feudal rights. Besides protecting their own privileges, the barons included a few clauses recognizing the rights of townspeople and the Church.
Among other clauses in the Magna Carta that would have lasting impact were those that protected freemen from arbitrary arrest, imprisonment, and other legal actions, except “by legal judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.”
LATIN was the language that only a small number of educated people, typically priest and nobility, could read. Erasmus has criticised the church for many of the same problems that Martin Luther later attacked.
