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Magna Carta

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Story Summary

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Runnymede - made famous in the early 13th century as the place where King John agreed to the Magna Carta (the "Great Charter") - is not far from Windsor Castle.  Image of Runnymede by Wyrdlight, online courtesy Wikimedia Commons.  License:  CC BY 3.0

 

At Runnymede, at Runnymede,
Your rights were won
At Runnymede!

(Rudyard Kipling 1865-1936
Popular British writer of stories and poems)

King John (Lackland) was a bad king. At least, that’s how history remembers him.

According to legend, he gave Robin Hood (also called Robin Longstride and Robin of Locksley) - the heroic archer of Sherwood Forest who died a treacherous death - a terrible time. 

He tried to steal the throne from his brother, Richard the Lionheart, while Richard was out of the country.

He was a lousy son to his mother, the famous Eleanor of Aquitaine (once portrayed by Katherine Hepburn).

Yet ... King John gave his barons (and ultimately the world) the Magna Carta, one of the greatest legal documents ever written and a cornerstone of modern national constitutions.

 

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Key to Color-Coded Links

Original Release Date:  July, 2000
Updated July, 2012

To cite this story, using MLA Guidelines:

Bos, Carole D. "Magna Carta" AwesomeStories.com. Date of access
       <http://www.awesomestories.com/history/magna-carta>.

IN OTHER WORDS: Author. Title of story. Name of web site. Date of access <URL>.