The Mad King And Magna Carta Analysis

In 1215, The Magna Carta was brought up in a field in England known as Runnymede. The Magna Carta was a charter that was targeted against the deranged king of England at the time, King John. The Archbishop of Canterbury wrote up the charter to make peace between King John and barons who despised him. Dan Jones explains the history of King John and the Magna Carta in an article he had wrote for the Smithsonian. In his article, “The Mad King and Magna Carta,” the author Dan Jones begins with a short narrative of when he had visited Runnymede. While he was there he found that, “There was little to indicate that we were near the spot where, 800 years ago, King John agreed to a peace treaty with his rebellious barons.” Jones then compares the Magna Carta to a various other written …show more content…
In addition to this, he claims the Magna Carta is different because its point was “to restrain a king who was using his legal powers too keenly” rather than inventing laws to “fill the vacuum of anarchy” like the English laws that came before it. Following these statements, Jones provides us with a brief insight into the life of King John. In 1167, was born to King Henry II. In 1199, he was then named King John. He had no trouble becoming king even though he was known to be scheming and dishonest. Jones continues describing King John and his reign over his father’s dynasty. He explains that shortly after taking the throne, John had lost most of the territories his father had controlled during his reign. Further in his description of King John’s reign, Jones also covers two main points that lead up to the Magna Carta being proposed to King John. First, John was now forced to spend almost his entire reign in England where his disagreeable personality brought him into regular conflict with the barons. Second, Johns determination to reconquer Normandy and the rest of his lost French lands drove him to an extortionate form of government. Jones reestablishes the