MAGNA CARTA

St Albans
Magna Carta Weekend

Fri 11- Sun 13 June

This year St Albans is hosting celebrations for the Magna Carta, the great charter agreed in 1215 between King John and his barons. St Albans and its abbey played an important part in the events surrounding this momentous step on the way to many of our most valued freedoms.

To download a copy of the lecture on The Rule of Law lecture by Lord Bingham which was delivered by Judge Michael Baker QCDL click on the link - The Rule of Law Lecture 11/06/2010

What is the Magna Carta?

The Magna Carta is the cornerstone of English justice and law. King John, who ruled between 1199 and 1216 A.D., angered the English nobility and commoners alike for his lack of military prowess and his heavy taxation to pay a large national debt.  Members of the nobility, the archbishop of Canterbury, and the Earl of Pembroke forced John to sign the Magna Carta on 15^th June 1215.  It declared that the king and government were bound by the same law as other citizens of England. It contained the antecedents of the ideas of due process of law and the right to a fair and speedy trial. The English view it as a guarantee of law and justice. It became a symbol of liberty and the foundation of constitutional government.

Since that day, the 15^th June 1215 is therefore rightly regarded as one of the most notable days in the history of the world. Those who were at Runnymede in 1215, and other cities such as the “five” Charter cities (notably the City of Canterbury, City of London, Runnymede Borough, City of St Albans and the Borough of St Edmundsbury and the recent City of Lincoln), could not know the consequences that were to flow from their proceedings. The granting of Magna Carta marked the road to individual freedom, to Parliamentary democracy and to the supremacy of the law. The principles of Magna Carta, developed over the centuries by the Common Law, are the heritage now, not only of those who live in the United Kingdom, but in countless countries throughout the world.

How is St Albans involved in Magna Carta?

By 1213 opposition to King John came to a head, led by Stephen Langton Archbishop of Canterbury. On 4^th August 1213, a Great Council was summoned to meet at St Albans. The Council included Barons and churchmen and such meetings later developed into Parliament. Speaking for the King was the Justiciar of England. The Justiciar told the Council that the King had agreed to pay compensation, and this was followed by a discussion on the general rights and liberties of his subjects. A charter along these lines had been drawn up by Henry I a century before, and was revised at St Albans.

It formed the first draft of the Magna Carta. Later, the churchmen accepted it, at a meeting in St Paul’s London, and the Barons did the same at a meeting in Bury St Edmund, Suffolk. The meeting in St Albans was therefore an important step in the production of the Magna Carta, which was presented to John in June 1215 after a rebellion by the Barons. John only signed when he at last realised that he had been defeated. This famous event took place at Runnymede by the Thames.