Retro Raunch Revisit

JUN 15, 1215: Regarded as one of the most important legal documents in all history, the Magna Carta is sealed by King John of England in Windsor. Originally drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, its purpose was to make peace between the unpopular King and a group of dissident barons who were upset that its forerunner, the previous Charter of Liberties of 1100 had not been properly followed. When the COL was abolished by Pope Innocent III (that allowed for royal exploitation, abuse & tyranny to continue) it was viewed as collusion with papal corruption that in part led to the First Barons' War (1215-17). The Magna Carta's immense significance was in limiting the dominance of absolute monarchy by establishing the King's authority was not above the law -- a groundbreaking basis in principles of freedom that also laid foundations for due process, protection against arbitrary imprisonment, access to swift trial & impartial justice, and the development of democratic rule of law adopted by many nations particularly in the influencing of later judicial drafts such as the US Constitution and Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. While the Magna Carta stands as a major symbol of liberty protecting individual rights and limiting government power, many historians however consider its reputation as one of the holiest & most sacred medieval texts (further inspiring many other English Statutes) was infact only represented as such due to centuries of being mythologized. In Britain, many of the Magna Carta's clauses have long been repealed and of the original existing 13 copies, only 4 survive.