Magna Carta

In England, feudal relations between kings and their barons dictated the rights and duties of each. The barons provided military and other services to the king and the king provided protection and grants of land, to the barons. In theory, the king was supposed to consult his barons before raising taxes or demanding large amounts of military service. With the ascension of King John to the throne, the delicate balance of feudalism was lost.

Besides military service, feudal custom allowed the king to make certain other exactions from his barons. In times of emergency, and on such special occasions as the marriage of the baron's eldest daughter, the king could demand from them a financial levy known as an `aid'. When a baron died, he could demand a succession duty or `relief' from the baron's heir. If there was no heir, or if the succession was disputed, the baron's lands could be forfeited or to the Crown. If the heir was under age, the king could assume the guardianship of his estates, and enjoy all the profits from them until the heir came of age. The king had the right, if he chose, to sell such a guardianship to the highest bidder, and to sell the heir himself in marriage for such price, as the value of his estates would command. The widows and daughters of barons might also be sold in marriage. With their own tenants, the barons could deal similarly. The scope of abuse in this system, if it were not altruistically applied, was obviously great.

The king had a power, which he might abuse, and the acts of John were sufficient that he was a horrible abusive ruler who became intolerable. He had charged excessively for royal justice, sold church offices, levied heavy aids, and abused the feudal incidents of wardship, marriage, and property. He had also appointed advisers from outside the baronial ranks. John demanded greater taxes and additional military service from his barons. He also imposed high taxes without the barons' consent, which was a violation of feudal law and custom. John also alienated the Roman Catholic Church by appointing the archbishop of Canterbury. Abuses were aggravated by the difficulty of obtaining a fair hearing of complaints, not only against the king and his agents but also against lesser feudal lords.

The heavy taxation of his reign and the constant encroachments of royal justice roused a feeling among the barons, which showed itself in a demand for their "rights" put forward at John's accession. It is indeed obvious that, quite apart from acts of individual injustice, the royal administration was attacking in every direction the traditional rights of the barons and not theirs only. A majority of the clauses of the Magna Carta are concerned with matters such as these and with the misuse of their powers by royal officials.

In the opening clause the "freedom" of the Church was reinforced and in particular confirming its right to elect its own dignitaries without royal interference. The most important, I thought, was

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