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This collection traces Magna Carta from the political conflicts of King John’s reign to its later use as a symbol of law, liberty and constitutional government. Edited by Lawrence Goldman, it brings together papers associated with the charter’s eight-hundredth anniversary and asks how a medieval settlement acquired meanings far beyond its original circumstances.
The contributors examine the social and political setting of 1215, the role of the Church and the charter’s subsequent history. Later chapters follow its revival by Sir Edward Coke, its place in seventeenth-century disputes over royal power, and its use in arguments surrounding the American Revolution.
The volume also explores Magna Carta’s appeal to reformers and radicals in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain. Its historical approach distinguishes the original document from the changing claims made in its name, making it useful to readers interested in legal history, constitutional ideas and the long afterlife of influential political texts.