| On this day in history |
[Jun. 15th, 2005|12:00 pm] |
(With apologies to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mabfan).
On 15 June 1215, King John consentented to the demands of his barons, as set out in a document which later became known as Magna Carta, the Great Charter.
The constitutional importance of Magna Carta lies in the fact that it placed limits upon the absolute power of the King and made him subject to the law. The most famous of its sixty-three clauses said that no free man could be imprisoned, outlawed or exiled except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land, and that justice could not be sold, delayed or denied. It also contained clauses relating to the treatment of heirs and widows and to the payment of debts. It provided for uniform measures of wine, ale, corn and cloth throughout the realm. It confirmed the liberties of the Church and of all cities and towns and it sought to regulate the conduct of all local officials such as sheriffs, bailiffs and constables and ensure that they knew and observed the law.
From the St. Edmundsbury website
All of which is a good thing.
And it's a sign of my irredeemable frivolity that what I can remember is actually the Sellar and Yeatman version: ( History is not what you thought. It is what you can remember. ) |
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