The Magna Carta established that no one, not even the king, is above the law.

The Magna Carta, or 'Great Charter,' was sealed by King John of England on June 15, 1215, at Runnymede near Windsor. This pivotal moment came after rebellious barons forced the king to negotiate, driven by his heavy taxation and failed foreign policies. The document contained 63 clauses designed to protect the rights of the church and nobility from royal overreach.Clause 39 stands as the most significant provision, stating that no free man shall be imprisoned or stripped of his rights except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. This clause is widely recognized as the precursor to modern due process, effectively ending the monarch's ability to act on personal whim without legal justification.Though King John persuaded Pope Innocent III to annul the charter just ten weeks after it was signed, his successors reissued it multiple times, notably Henry III in 1225. When it was formally enrolled in the English statute books in 1297 under Edward I, it had become a symbol of liberty. Its principles profoundly influenced the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights centuries later.Four original copies of the 1215 Magna Carta survive today, held by the British Library, Lincoln Cathedral, and Salisbury Cathedral. Historians at institutions like the National Archives emphasize that while it originally served elite baronial interests, it established the universal principle that power must be constrained by law. This transformation from 'Rex Lex' (the King is Law) to 'Lex Rex' (the Law is King) remains a cornerstone of global jurisprudence.