In some ways the rebel barons weren't really asking for much. They lived at a time when there were already plenty of dumb rules that ruined everything. Their lives were filled with inexplicable taxes (why should you have to pay the king so that your daughter can get married?) and traditional ways of doing things that nobody was allowed to question.
All they were saying in the Magna Carta was that King John should stick with the terrible rules already in place and not make up new terrible rules. Because King John wasn't just being unfair; he was being unfair in a wholly unfamiliar way.
Questions About Tradition and Customs
- What can historians learn about medieval customs from the Magna Carta, and what aspects of life does it leave out?
- Why is it that many of the customs mentioned in the Magna Carta involve the lives of women? Do these seem especially unfair to you? Why or why not?
- If you were going to fight to preserve one medieval tradition or custom mentioned in the Magna Carta what would it be and why?
- Do you think that the barons were just afraid of change? Explain.
Chew on This
King John was an innovator ahead of his time. If he had lived in a time and place where change was more easily accepted he might have been respected for his cleaver manipulation of the tax code.
The barons were really rebelling against all of England's many harmful traditions and customs. They were just starting with those most closely associated with the hated King John. If they'd been more successful the takedown of other traditions would have surely followed.