, John Of England

John was an able administrator interested in law and government but heneither trusted others nor was trusted by them. Heavy taxation,disputes with the Church (John was excommunicated by the Pope in 1209)and unsuccessful attempts to recover his French possessions made himunpopular. Many of his barons rebelled, and in June 1215 they forced KingJohn to sign a peace treaty accepting their reforms.
This treaty, later known as Magna Carta, limited royal powers, definedfeudal obligations between the King and the barons, and guaranteed anumber of rights. The most influential clauses concerned the freedom ofthe Church; the redress of grievances of owners and tenants of land; theneed to consult the Great Council of the Realm so as to prevent unjusttaxation; mercantile and trading relationships; regulation of themachinery of justice so that justice be denied to no one; and therequirement to control the behaviour of royal officials. The mostimportant clauses established the basis of habeas corpus (''you have thebody''), i.e. that no one shall be imprisoned except by due process oflaw, and that ''to no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delayright or justice''.
The Charter also established a council of barons who were to ensure thatthe Sovereign observed the Charter, with the right to wage war on him ifhe did not. Magna Carta was the first formal document insisting thatthe Sovereign was as much under the rule of law as his people, and thatthe rights of individuals were to be upheld even against the wishes ofthe sovereign. As a source of fundamental constitutional principles,Magna Carta came to be seen as an important definition of aspects ofEnglish law, and in later centuries as the basis of the liberties of theEnglish people.As a peace treaty Magna Carta was a failure and therebels invited Louis of France to become their king. When John died in1216 England was in the grip of civil war. [Royal]

GIVEN NAMES: Also shown as John, King of England