Magna Carta, 1215: The Barons' Bargain

In June 1215, rebellious English barons forced King John to agree to a charter at Runnymede, near Windsor. John had lost lands in France, demanded heavy taxes to win them back, and punished opponents arbitrarily, so the barons wanted written limits on his power. The charter's 63 clauses dealt mostly with feudal matters such as inheritance payments and the rights of the Church.

Its most famous promise, clause 39, said no free man could be imprisoned, stripped of property or outlawed except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. Clause 40 promised that justice would not be sold, denied or delayed. The deal collapsed within weeks: Pope Innocent III annulled it in August 1215, and civil war followed. Magna Carta was not a charter for all people, since 'free men' excluded the unfree majority, but it planted the idea that even a king is under the law.