The Magna Carta

The Magna Carta was a document listing rights; which the King could not ignore. The Magna Carta was made in 1215 by a group of nobles who wanted the King to respect their rights. They were trying to find a way to limit the King's power. In Latin Magna Carta means "Great Charter." Some of the effects the Magna Carta could cause was: The King was REQUIRED to honor certain rights. One of the rights was the habeas corpus which in Latin meant "you have the body." This right meant that you couldn't keep people in jail without having a reason why. The Magna Carta also made everyone (plus the King) obey the law. After the magna Carta was signed there became changes in the world. The English were inspired by the Magna Carta and wanted to find more ways to limit the King's power. There was a council made of nobles to advise the King which later became Parliament (which is the lawmaking system that governs England today). Parliament was only of knights and town leaders and later the King could barley do anything without Parliaments help. The judges for court also had to be free of royal control. Otherwise, people believed that the judge would always side with the king. Later, in the late 1600's the king agreed to free the courts of his control.