Magna Carta and King John

From near-contemporary chroniclers to playwrights and recent screen portrayals, King John is consistently depicted as England’s ‘most evil king’. Yet his reign and his actions led to that most iconic document of freedom, Magna Carta. We explore the origins of Magna Carta in the misrule of King John, and examine its subsequent impact on the British people, at home and abroad. By the end of the course, you will have a clear idea of why Magna Carta mattered in 1215 and why it continues to matter all the way to the present day.

Course details

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Start Date
12 Jul 2026
Duration
5 Sessions over one week
End Date
18 Jul 2026
Application Deadline
28 Jun 2026
Location
International Summer Programme
Code
W15Pm30

Tutors

Professor Stephen Church

Professor Stephen Church

Professor in Medieval Studies, University of Lincoln; Professor Emeritus, University of East Anglia

Aims

This course aims to:

  • introduce you to the life of King John
  • provide historical context on the social structure of the Middle Ages and on the rise and fall of King John, including the church and the barons
  • introduce some of the primary sources for our understanding of King John, including Magna Carta 1215

Course content

Have you heard of Magna Carta? Of course you have! You heard of it in school and Magna Carta is brought up by politicians of both the right and the left. Put in a Google search for "Magna Carta" and what first appears is Wikipedia’s description of it as "a royal charter of rights sealed by King John... promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift and impartial justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown." But what does any of that mean? In this course, we'll explore the origins of Magna Carta; we'll look at the texts of the predecessors of Magna Carta (Oh, yes, there were precedents for Magna Carta, but no-one tells you about these); we'll look at the processes by which Magna Carta was made; and we'll look at what Magna Carta meant at the time and for later generations of people. Wherever possible, we'll examine these questions through the contemporary texts, in translation, supported by a reading of the secondary literature.

What to expect on this course

A combination of lectures and document-focused discussions.

Course sessions

  1. Precursors to Magna Carta. We look at the texts which inspired Magna Carta
  2. The Road to Magna Carta. We look at the causes of the Magna Carta Crisis
  3. Magna Carta 1215: We examine in detail the text of Magna Carta 1215
  4. The reissues of Magna Carta: especially 1225 Magna Carta, the real foundational text because that is the text which entered the statute books. We also consider how Magna Carta changed English medieval government.
  5. Magna Carta through the ages: What did Magna Carta mean to successive generations?

Learning outcomes

As a result of the course, you will gain a greater understanding of the subject and you should be able to:

  • identify some of the factors behind the rise and fall of King John
  • understand the historical context of the creation of Magna Carta
  • understand how Magna Carta changed approaches to government

Required reading

There is no required reading for this course. See Course materials for supplementary reading once registered.