Question

Think about what life was like for commoners before the Magna Carta. Now, in at least 150 to 200 words, write an essay that compares and contrasts what life might have been like for a commoner before the Magna Carta and what it might have been like after it came into effect. Use your imagination, and create a character or characters, and describe the legal change through their eyes.

Answer 1

Most of us are familiar with the Magna Carta as the first document to limit the authority of kings and declare the rule of law and the rights of the governed. But Peter Linebaugh, an historian at the University of Toledo, offers a more provocative view in an essay, “ The Secret History of the Magna Carta” ( Boston Review , Summer 2003). As originally declared in 1215, the Magna Carta may have validated “freedom under law,” as lawyers like to crow. But several mutations in the Magna Carta, later incorporated into the document we know today, recognize the rights of commoners.

Answer 2

The Magna Carta is one of the most important documents in history. It is often considered the document that first limited the authority of the king in England.

However, the Magna Carta was mostly meant to protect the barons of England, not the commoners. Nevertheless, it did provide some protections for them as well.

For example, the Magna Carta established that no one, not even the king, can be above the rule of law. This is an important idea that allowed society to feel more equal. Moreover, it established legal concepts such as habeas corpus, which limits the arbitrary actions of the law. These concepts most likely made the commoners feel less abused and allowed them to think of the law as less arbitrary.