A lot of the Magna Carta takes outrage that would have been expressed as, "How dare you sir! I will not stand for this injustice!" and translates it into formal sounding legalese.
For each clause that explains some offense, you just know that there was some red-faced baron with steam coming out of his ears. These barons were willing to stand up to a king with absolute authority and explain to him how unfair he was being. It's a safe bet that they were pretty angry.
Questions About Injustice
- What do you think King John's worst injustice was, and why?
- Do you think King John was less just than other kings from the same time period, or did he just get called out for it more? Explain.
- Do you think there was a better way to seek justice than writing a list of demands? Was violence a better option with a sneaky king like John? Explain.
- The barons were living long before civil disobedience was a trend. But if you could send Martin Luther King Jr. or Mahatma Gandhi back in time to 1215, what advice do you think they would have given to the rebels crying over injustices?
Chew on This
King John of England embodied injustice in both his personal and professional life. With every new revelation about his doings a more shocking wrong is revealed.
King John's failure wasn't that he was unjust, merely that he was a politician working in a system that did not yet value fairness.