Magna Carta sealed at Runnymede
June 15, 1215
Cornered by his rebellious barons in a Thames-side meadow, King John pressed his seal to a charter limiting royal power. He repudiated it within weeks, but the document outlived him and seeded centuries of constitutional argument about the limits of a crown. Its sixty-three clauses would be cited by English parliamentarians, American colonists, and civil liberties lawyers for the next eight hundred years.
In context
Also in 1215 (4 other events on record)
- Fourth Lateran Council convenes in Rome · Europe · Religion
- Mongols capture Zhongdu, Jin capital · East Asia · War
- Inuit Thule culture expands across Arctic · North America · Exploration
- Aquinas's father plans his religious career · Europe · Religion
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Politics
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources