A Detailed Outline for an Essay on the Signing of the Magna Carta in 1215

Democracy is a concept that most countries nowadays highly value. However, the concept that the people get to decide how their countries are ruled has not always been there. If we look back in history at the way decisions concerning countries were made, we would discover a different system. A system where the king was appointed by God, and therefore was the one who made all the decisions. Thankfully, this system started to crack in 1215 when a new document was found.

A document that has been seen as a symbol of democracy, freedom, and liberty. The Magna Carta is one of the most famous documents in history; however, the history of how it came to be is quite astonishing.

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Topic Sentence: The Magna Carta was signed during the reign of King John, a king who is now known as the worst king in British history. King John inherited the king after his beloved brother King Richard “The Lionheart” died. John was widely known for taxing his people heavily and was excommunicated by the Pope after he refused to put the archbishop that the Pope wanted.

This lead to many siding with the Pope, and to avoid a riot, he agreed to the pope being the “leader of England and him to just rule it on his behalf.

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Topic Sentence: There are multiple reasons why the Magna Carta was brought up. John loved going to wars, and these wars needed to be financed somehow, so he taxed his people heavily.

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The tax money also financed John’s extravagant lifestyle. If the barons did not pay the taxes, he would take their land and their property. The barons also lost their lands to the wars that John insisted on having and losing. John lost so much land that he became known as John Lackland. All these things together were the reason why the barons decided to support Prince Louis of France, more than John, and this was the reason John had no other choice but to sign a little document that would change British History.

Taxes, Prince Louis, Losing land, John Lackland, Barons

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Topic Sentence: In 1215 in Runnymede near Windsor, The Charter of Liberties is signed for the first time. The signing of the charter happened in July and a few weeks later, by September the document was revoked. When King John signed the Great Charter of Liberties he never had the intention of following the document. He went to the pope, who was the leader of England and asked him to revoke the document. This was something that the pope agreed to do, but the consequences of this decision were large. This decision led to the Baron’s war and the Barons decided to support Prince Louis of France. Prince Louis went to war with Henry and managed yet again to take land from the king, this included Normandy that England had taken earlier with the Normans. After a war between the two, the king returned homesickly, and a few days later, King John was no more.

The Charter of Liberties is signed

July September

Revoked

The result of the decision.

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Topic Sentence: After the death of King John, his son, Prince Henry, became King Henry III. The barons concluded that a 12-year-old child was easier to control than a grown-up prince. So, the powerful barons became the king’s advisers and were convicted in 1216 to resign from the Charter of Liberties. However, this time a new document included another section, The Charter of Forests, that allowed the barons access to the forest that only the king previously had access to. The Charter Liberties and The Charter of Forests became known as The Great Charter, or in Latin Magna Carta.

King Edward, second signing, The Charter of the Forests, The great charter

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Topic Sentence: In 1225 the Magna Carta was resigned once again.

Magna Carta resigned, the baron war, French in-laws, a group of barons that will lead

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Topic Sentence: The Magna Carta contains different topics and rules. One mentioned above is the access to the king’s forest. The Magna Carta

The content of the Magna Carta

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Topic Sentence: The Magna Carta is now seen as a symbol of freedom and democracy, inspiring many other documents that we use today.

The legacy of the Magna Carta