June 15, 1215: King John signs Magna Carta

On this day in 1215, King John placed his seal on the Magna Carta, a groundbreaking document that subjected the Crown to the rule of law.

King John was unpopular with the barons, often giving arbitrary rulings and seizing estates under the premise that the monarch was above the law. A group of nobles cornered him at Runnymede and forced him to place his seal next to a long, unbroken string of text spelling out 63 clauses.

Beside subjecting the royalty to the same rules, the document – Latin for Great Charter – guaranteed the right to a speedy trial and limited feudal payments to the king. Although it affected only the nobility, it has often been invoked as the starting point for rights for the common man.

For some of the more-obscure provisions of the Magna Carta, check out this story from PRI.

Image: one of the four extant copies of the Magna Carta, from the British Museum