coins and coinage 14, 16, 44, 46, 47
Coke, Sir Edward 108, 109, 110, 111
Constitution of United States: 11–12; Fifth Amendment 112; Sixth Amendment 112
Continental Congress (1774) 111
Corfe Castle 55, 172
Cornhill, William de, Bishop of Coventry 119, 150
crusades 36;
Fourth 31; Third 23–7
Cumberland 96
D
Declaration of Independence, US 128, 129
Dialogue of the Exchequer, The 15
Dickinson, John 112, 113
Domesday Book 30
Dover 98, 156; Battle of (1217) 95
E
Edward I, King 106–7, 112
Edward II, King 107
Edward the Confessor, King 71, 95, 105
Eleanor of Aquitaine 11, 21, 23, 27–8, 37, 38–9
Exchequer, the 15–16, 19, 26n, 52, 55, 82
F
Falaise, Treaty of (1174) 56
feudalism 15n
FitzAlan, William 64, 82
FitzGerald, Warin 119, 155
FitzHerbert, Matthew 119, 156
FitzHerbert, Peter 119, 155
FitzHugh, John 119, 159
FitzNigel (FitzNeal), Richard
FitzRobert, John 15, 16
FitzWalter, Robert 60–1, 73, 164, 166; seal of 61, 62–3
Forz, William de, Count of Aumale 161–2
Fotheringay 98
Frederick I (Barbarossa), Emperor 23
G
Gaillard, Château 28, 29, 30, 37
Gascony 36, 37, 107
General Eyre (circuit judges) 17
Gerald of Wales 8, 35
Gervase of Canterbury 35–6
Gloucester Abbey 101
Gray, John de, Bishop of Norwich 49
Gray, Walter de, Bishop of Worcester 119, 149
Great Seal (of John) 74, 77, 79, 90
Great War (1173–4) 20
Guala Bicchieri 98, 101
Gwenwynwyn ap Owain, Prince of Powys 56
H
Habeas Corpus 85
Henry I 12, 71, 96n; charter of liberties 70–1, 74
Henry II, King 11–21, 34; accession 12; character and reputation 11–12, 20–1; conflict with Thomas Becket, 12, 13, 19–20; cruelty of 20; financial regime 15–16; imposition of authority 12–14, 20; legal regime 16–17, 19
Henry III, King 34, 99, 170; minority 101, 103; and reissues of Magna Carta 104–6; and Simon de Montfort 106
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor 27, 30
Henry of London, Archbishop of Dublin 119, 148
Holy Land / Outremer 11, 23, 27
Hood, Robin 54, 55
Hugh of Wells, Bishop of Lincoln 119, 149
Human Rights Act, European 114
Huntingfield, William de 171–2
I
Innocent III, Pope 8, 30, 51, 98; annulment of Magna Carta 94, 95; excommunication of John 52; Interdict on England 49–50, 52; rapprochement with John 61, 69
Interdict (on England) 49–50, 52; raising of 61
Ireland 11; John in 35, 49, 55, 56; see also Henry of London
Isabel of Gloucester 36, 53, 162
Isabella of Angoulême 36, 37, 38–9, 53
J
Jaffa 27, 156
James I, King 108
James II, King 111
Jerusalem 23, 27
Jews 52; debts to 74–5, 84, 103
Jocelin of Wells, Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury 119, 149
John, King 7–8, 34; assassination plot against 60–1; and baronial discontent 69–77; before king 29, 35; character and reputation 33; and civil war 95–8; death 99; effigy 100; failed invasion of France 64–7; financial impositions of 44, 47, 50, 52–3; loss of Normandy 37, 43; marriages 36; oppression of barons 53–6; peripatetic court 44; silver penny 46, 47; subjugation of British Isles 56–7; takes the cross 69; see also Arthur; Innocent III; Interdict; Magna Carta; Philip II
John of Salisbury 49, 91
K
King John (play) 108
L
La Rochelle 66
Lacy, John de, Constable of Chester 64, 168–9
Lambeth, Treaty of (1217) 103, 154
Langton, Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury 49–50, 55, 61, 95, 147, 149, 150;
and Magna Carta 73, 74, 75, 80–1, 83, 119
Lanvallei, William de 168
Laud, (Archbishop) William 110
Le Goulet, Treaty of (1200) 35–6
Leopold of Austria, Duke 27
Limoges 30
Limousin 31
Lincoln, Battle of (1217) 101, 173
Lincoln Cathedral Magna Carta 79
Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn the Great) 56, 59, 96
London, City of 73, 84, 95, 96, 98, 101, 168
Longspée, William, Earl of Salisbury 66, 67, 98, 119, 151–2, 164
Louis VII, King of France 14
Louis ‘the Lion’, Prince (of France) 94, 95–6, 98, 101, 103
Lusignan, Hugh de 36
Luttrell Psalter 23, 24–5
M
Madison, James 112, 183
Magna Carta 19, 20, 31, 43, 74–91, 86–7; annulment (1215) 93, 95; clauses analysed 80–9; and democracy 88, 115; four surviving copies (1215) 79; given by John 77; influence in USA 111–12; legacy and fame of 7–8, 101–17; monument to 112, 70, 71; naming of 103; negotiations for 72–7; printing 108; reissues (1216–1300) 101–7, 123, 137; sealing of 79; text in Latin and English 119–45; see also Articles of the Barons; Unknown Charter
Magna Carta for the Web 116
Magna Carta Holy Grail (Jay-Z album) 116
Maine 37, 41
Malet, William 169, 171
Mandela, Nelson 115
Mandeville, Geoffrey de, Earl of Essex and Gloucester 53, 64, 162
Map, Walter 11
Marshal, John 119, 158–9
Marshal, William, 1st Earl of Pembroke 30, 42, 55, 73, 95, 101, 119, 151, 152–3
Marshal, William, the Younger, 2nd Earl of Pembroke 148, 162, 165–7
Matilda (daughter of Henry I) 12, 19
Matilda (sister of John) 59
Medway, River 7, 75, 84, 133
Mirebeau, Battle of (1202) 37
Montbegon, Roger de 73, 171
Montfichet, Richard de 169, 172
Montfort, Simon de, Earl of Leicester 102, 103, 106
mort d’ancestor, writ of 19, 127
Mowbray, William de 73, 167
N
Neville, Hugh de 119, 156
Newark 99
Newcastle 44
Niger, Ralph 20
Norham, Treaty of (1209) 56
Norman Conquest (1066) 17, 21
Normandy 11, 23, 29, 30, 60, 71, 106; French invasion (1199) 35–40; John’s loss of 8, 37, 41–3; reconquest attempted 64–5
Northampton, Assize of (1176) 17
North, the (of England) 44, 60, 64, 66, 69, 73, 93, 96, 98
Northumberland 96
novel disseizin, writ of 17, 127
O
Outremer see Holy Land
Oxford 23, 98
P
Pandulf Verraccio, Bishop of Norwich 61, 73, 119, 144, 150
Paris 66
Paris, Matthew 75; Chronica Majora 94, 95, 161, 173; Historia Anglorum 156, 157;
map of Britain 42, 43
Percy, Richard de 73, 169
Petition of Right (1628) 110, 115
Philip II ‘Augustus’, King of France 21, 23, 29, 30, 47, 61; conquest of Plantagenet Empire 36–7; dealings with John (1190s) 35–6; continental power of 41–2, 59; invasion attempt (1213) 61–2; war with John’s allies (1213–14)64–7, 69
pipe rolls 26, 30
Plantagenet, Geoffrey 21, 36
Plantagenet, Henry (‘the Young King’) 21
Plantagenet Empire 11, 14, 26, 31, 37, 42; John’s loss of 37, 41–3; reconquest attempted 64–7
; Poitiers 37
Poitou 30, 37, 66
Q
Quincy, Saer de, Earl of Winchester 73, 162, 164, 166
R
Ralph of Coggeshall 8, 33, 69, 99n
Red Book of the Exchequer, The 52
Richard I (‘the Lionheart’), King 23–31, 24–5, 34; accession 21; capture and ransom 27–8; military prowess 23, 27, 29; revenue raising 26; and Third Crusade 27, 30; war with France 29–31
Richard II, King 107
right, writ of 19
Roches, Peter des, Bishop of Winchester 119, 148–9, 156
Rochester Castle 95, 172
Roger of Howden 23, 26
Roger of Wendover 52, 96, 99n, 101, 165
Roppel, Robert de 119, 158
Ros, Robert de 168
Rotulus de valore terrarium Normannorum 42
Rouen 23, 29, 37, 53, 59
Runnymede 7, 70, 71; negotiations at 74–7, 77
Runnymede (play) 54, 55
S
St Maur, (Brother) Aymeric de, Master of Knights Templar 119, 151
Sainte-Mère-Église, William de, Bishop of London 119, 148
Saladin 23, 24–5, 27
Saladin Tithe 26
Salisbury Cathedral Magna Carta 79
Sandwich, Battle of (1217) 103
Say, Geoffrey de 171
Scotland 11, 49, 56, 96, 98, 106
scutage 15, 16, 30, 44, 60, 64, 71, 74, 82, 125, 126
Seine, River 29, 30, 37, 43
Serlo the Mercer, Mayor of London 167–8
Staines 71, 74, 145
Stephen, King 12, 14
Strafford, Earl of 110
Swineshead Abbey 99
T
tally sticks 18, 19
Templar, Knights 69
Thames, River 7, 71, 74, 75, 132
thirteenth (tax) 52
Touraine 37, 41
Trifels Castle 27
U
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) 114
Unknown Charter (c.1214/15) 70–2, 74, 75
V
Vere, Robert de, Earl of Oxford 73, 165
Vermandois 41
Vesci, Eustace de 60–1, 73, 98, 167
Vexin 30
Wales 49, 53, 56, 59–60, 88, 96, 106, 140–1
Wallingford 64, 135
Walter, Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury 27, 49
Walter of Coventry 49, 96
Warenne, William, Earl 73, 119, 154
Wash, the 98–9, 99n
Westminster Abbey 21, 29, 36, 105
William I, King (the Conqueror) 12, 41, 96
William I ‘the Lion’, King of Scots 56
William of Newburgh 12, 20, 33
Winchester, Treaty of (1153) 12
Windsor 71, 73, 74, 145
Worcester Cathedral 96, 97, 101
Y
York 44
Z
Zwin, River 61, 64
Picture Credits
Page: 13 British Library Cotton Claudius D. II, f. 73; 18 SSPL / Getty Images; 24–5 British Museum / Art Archive; 28 Manuel Cohen / Art Archive; 34 British Library Royal 14 C. VII, f. 9; 38–39 DeA Picture Library / Art Archive; 42, 45 British Library MS Royal 14C VII, f. 5v / Topfoto; 46 Neil Holmes/ Bridgeman Images; 51 DeA Picture Library / G. Nimatallah/ Art Archive; 54 Library of Congress;62–3 British Museum / Ealdgyth Wikimedia Commons; 65 Bibliothèque Municipale Castres / Gianni Dagli Orti / Art Archive; 70 Jarrold Publishing / Art Archive; 76 British Library Additional MS 4838 / Art Archive; 83 Granger Collection / Topfoto; 86–7 British Library Cotton MS Augustus ii. 106 / Wikipedia; 90 British Library / Art Archive; 94 MS 16, f. 50v (detail) Parker Library / Corpus Christi College Cambridge; 97 Topfoto; 102 NotFromUtrecht / Wikimedia Commons; 109 Corporation of London /HIP/ Tofoto; 113 Library of Congress; 123 JJ Harrison / Wikimedia Commons; 128 The National Archives and Records Administration; 137 Alex Wong/Getty Images; 152–3 Temple Church, London / Bridgeman Images; 157 British Library Royal 14 C. VII, f. 119 /AKG; 163 The Print Collector/ Getty Images; 170 British Library Cotton Vitellius A.XIII, f6; 173 MS 16, f. 55v (detail) Parker Library / Corpus Christi College Cambridge; 177 British Library Royal 16 G VI f. 362v; 183 Library of Congress.
Acknowledgements
The first essay I ever wrote about England’s medieval history was on the subject of King John and Magna Carta, and it has been both enjoyable and refreshing to return to the subject exactly a decade and a half later. My supervisor at Cambridge in 1999 was Dr Helen Castor – and Helen was kind enough to revisit old ground by reading the manuscript of this book. Now, as then, she offered many perceptive comments on my work. I am incredibly lucky to call her a colleague and a friend.
The staff at The National Archives, The British Library, the London Library, Lincoln Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral were all very helpful while I wrote this book. Professor Louise Wilkinson of Canterbury Christ Church University generously offered her thoughts on this book during its writing as did Dr Suzannah Lipscomb of New College of the Humanities. Julian Harrison at The British Library was kind enough to set me in the right direction in thinking about Magna Carta’s international legacy. Dr Nick Barratt at The National Archives gave me his advice on several matters of early Plantagenet history. Conversations with Professor David Carpenter of King’s College, London, and Dr Julie Barrau of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, changed the way I thought about particular aspects of this story. Marta Musso helped with several elements of the research. It should be obvious that none of these brilliant people are responsible for any errors of fact or judgement to be found here.
I am grateful to everyone at Head of Zeus, especially to Anthony Cheetham for suggesting in the first place that this book might be written. Richard Milbank and Mark Hawkins-Dady brought the manuscript to publication with exceptional diligence and skill.
Special thanks, as ever, to Walter Donohue, to my peerless agent, Georgina Capel, and to my girls: Jo, Violet and Ivy Jones. All of them, in their different ways, keep me going.
Dan Jones, October 2014
About this Book
ON A SUMMER’S DAY IN 1215 a beleaguered English monarch met a group of disgruntled barons in a meadow by the river Thames named Runnymede. Beset by foreign crisis and domestic rebellion, King John was fast running out of options. On 15 June he reluctantly agreed to fix his regal seal to a document that would change the world.
A milestone in the development of constitutional politics and the rule of law, the ‘Great Charter’ established an Englishman’s right to Habeas Corpus and set limits to the exercise of royal power. For the first time a group of subjects had forced an English king to agree to a document that limited his powers by law and protected their rights.
Dan Jones’s elegant and authoritative narrative of the making and legacy of Magna Carta is amplified by profiles of the barons who secured it and a full text of the charter in both Latin and English.
Reviews
MAGNA CARTA
‘This beautifully illustrated book makes the eight centuries that now separate us from the Magna Carta slip away, and brings us into direct contact with the most important document in the history of human liberty.
By putting the Magna Carta in its proper historical context, the brilliant young historian Dan Jones triumphantly answers the questions he poses in his Introduction, about how it came to be granted, what it meant at the time, and what it should mean to us today.’
Andrew Roberts
THE PLANTAGENETS
‘Stonking narrative history told with pace, wit and scholarship.’
Observer
‘Dan Jones expertly weaves an enormous medieval tapestry.’
Daily Telegraph
‘Colourful and engaging.’
Sunday Times
About the Author
DAN JONES is a historian and journalist and a pioneer of the resurgence of interest in medieval history. He is the bestselling author of The Plantagenets and The Hollow Crown. He has p
resented television programmes for the BBC and Channel 5, including Britain’s Bloodiest Dynasty: The Plantagenets (2014) and Great British Castles (2015). He lives in London with his wife and children.
You can find Dan on Twitter: @dgjones
Also by this Author
1215
England in 1215. This was not just the year of Magna Carta and King John’s war with his barons, but a year of crusading and church reform, of foreign wars and dramatic sieges, of trade and treachery; a year in which London would be stormed by angry barons; England would be invaded by a French army; and a supposedly impregnable castle would be brought down with burning pig fat.
But this was also a year in which life, for most people, just went on. Thus 1215 opens a window onto everyday life in the thirteenth century: home and church, love and marriage, education and agriculture, outlawry and adventure. It offers a vivid and authoritative portrait – from royal court to peasant wedding – of medieval life in the round, as well as an exhilarating and revelatory exploration of the big themes of politics, warfare, religion, feudalism, mercantilism, travel and the law in a transformative year in English history.
1215 will be released in Summer 2015
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The story starts here.
First published in 2014 by Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Dan Jones 2014
Author photograph: Greg Funnell
Jacket illustration: Amber Anderson
Background image of Magna Carta © The British Library Board, Cotton Augustus II.106
The moral right of Dan Jones to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.