Magna Carta?

Question

Did the Magna Carta protect the rights and property of all those considered to be free men?

Answer 1

Not initially: The Charter was a feudal document and meant to protect the rights and property of the few powerful families that topped the rigidly structured feudal system. In fact, the majority of the population , the thousands of unfree laborers, are only mentioned once, in a clause concerning the use of court-set fines to punish minor offenses. Magna Carta’s primary purpose was restorative : to force King John to recognize the supremacy of ancient liberties, to limit his ability to raise funds and to reassert the principle of “due process.” Only a final clause, which created an enforcement council of tenants-in-chief and clergymen, would have severely limited the king’s power and introduced something new to English law : the principle of “majority rule.” But majority rule was an idea whose time had not yet come : in September, at John’s urging, Pope Innocent II annulled the “shameful and demeaning agreement , forced upon the king by violence and fear.” The civil war that followed ended only with John’s death in October 1216.


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Answer 2

Well, in the sense that it was designed to limit the power of the king, yes. However, it was not the primary intention.

The Magna Carta was an attempt on the part of the English barons to turn back the tide of Norman autocracy a century after the Norman Conquest. The prior Saxon system had been much more "democratic" in the sense that local lords had a say in the running of the government (and even "elected" the king - although they usually just approved the previous king's stated preference). The Magna Carta struck a balance between the two views of kingship and government, and prevented England from going down the path to autocratic government that eventually led to the French Revolution.

Answer 3

yes it was made so the people could have guaranted rights