800 years later, the ‘great charter’ still fascinates
On a June day 800 years ago, King John of England met with disaffected feudal barons at Runnymede, a meadow on the River Thames 20 miles from London. Under pressure for overstepping his authority over landowners, the king put his seal to Magna Carta, the “great charter” that in 1215 was merely a summary of customary feudal rights and guarantees