Limiting Kings: Medieval Charters Before Magna Carta

Medieval rulers often needed the support of nobles, clergy and towns, and that dependence produced written promises limiting royal power. In 1100 Henry I of England issued a Charter of Liberties promising to end some abuses of his brother's reign. In 1188 King Alfonso IX of León met with nobles, bishops and townspeople and issued decrees protecting property and the home and promising not to make war without consulting them; UNESCO has called these decrees the oldest documentary record of the European parliamentary system.

Hungary's Golden Bull of 1222 likewise limited the king and allowed nobles to resist unlawful acts. These charters protected mainly the privileged, not ordinary people. Yet they established the idea that a ruler could be bound by written promises, which later reformers could quote to argue that everyone deserved such protection.