The Magna Carta was drawn up by the leading members of the English nobility and was then presented to the very unpopular King John to sign during the summer of 1215 at Runnymede. In fact the Magna Carta was originally referred to as the Runnymede Charter.
The widespread unpopularity of King John within the kingdom of England itself went to extraordinary not to mention unprecedented levels, and the rebellion launched by the leading members of the English nobility quickly gained control of most of the country. The leaders of the rebellion believed that King John had no other choice than to give into their demands, and sign the Runnymede Charter in June 1215, or risk ruin.
The Drafting of the Magna Carta
The leading English nobles did not resort to the traditional strategy of rebellions during the summer of 1215 of putting somebody else on the throne of England because there was no alternative candidate to King John himself.
Therefore instead of installing a new king to guarantee the privileges and the rights of the gentry as well as the nobility were actively respected they proposed the Runnymede Charter. The leading nobility intended that the charter should be fully honoured by the unreliable King John or they would remove him from his throne. Indeed the following they had to resort to fighting King John again as he attempted to regain full control of his kingdom.
The Signing of The Magna Carta
Thus the aristocratic authors of the Runnymede Charter, which soon became known as the Magna Carta took their opportunity to persuade the weakened King John to sign it. The Magna Carta was a legal and constitutional document that bound him and all of his successors to fully respect the liberties of his English subjects as mentioned in the charter itself.
Undoubtedly the very concept of the Magna Carta was absolutely extraordinary within its own right, let alone its actual content. For in affect the aristocratic authors of the Magna Carta were actually being exceptionally far-sighted when they persuaded the reluctant King John to sign that document at Runnymede.
To a very large extent the main rebellion leaders that were responsible for the drafting as well as the writing of the Magna Carta wanted a legal and constitutional document that was legally binding on King John and his successors. As they correctly expected him to attempt to overturn its provisions, and to defeat them in battle.
Neither King John nor his son Henry III were able to overturn the provisions of the Magna Carta, whilst his grandson Edward I was a powerful monarch that formerly stuck to the limits imposed upon him by the charter.
Sources:
Morgan K O (editor) The Oxford Mini History of Britain - Volume II the Middle Ages
Paragon, Oxford
Schama, S. A History of Britain -At the Edge of the World 3000BC-AD 1603 (2000), BBC Worldwide, London
Morgan K.O (editor) The Oxford Popular History of Britain (1993)
