Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman
“Sunday, June 15, is the 810th anniversary of the day in 1215 that rotten King John put his seal to the sheet of parchment known as Magna Carta at Runnymede in England. It wasn’t the first charter issued by an English monarch pledging to subordinate his power to the law (custom), yet it has had a staying power like no other in the imagination of people worldwide. This is especially ironic when you consider that at John’s request, Pope Innocent III nullified the charter just 11 days later …. With the nullification, the civil war resumed between king and landholders who had grown tired of his taxes for wars in France (which he had lost along with vast properties) and other impositions. In the end, however, the barons more or less triumphed, as John’s successors, starting with his nine-year-old son, reissued the charter, albeit in revised editions.” (06/13/25)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2025/06/tgif-magna-carta-day.html