Background and ContextJohn (the youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine) was not the first English king to grant concessions to his citizens in the form of a charter, though he was the first one to do so under threat of civil war. Upon taking the throne in 1100, Henry I had issued a Coronation Charter in which he promised to limit taxation and confiscation of church revenues, among other abuses of power. But he went on to ignore these precepts, and the barons lacked the power to enforce them. They later gained more leverage, however, as a result of the English crown’s need to fund the Crusades and pay a ransom for John’s brother and predecessor, Richard I (known as Richard the Lionheart), who was taken prisoner by Emperor Henry VI of Germany during the Third Crusade.Did you know? Today, memorials stand at Runnymede to commemorate the site's connection to freedom, justice and liberty. In addition to the John F. Kennedy Memorial, Britain's tribute to the 35th U.S. president, a rotunda built by the American Bar Association stands as "a tribute to Magna Carta, symbol of freedom under law."In 1199, when Richard died without leaving an heir, John was forced to contend with a rival for succession in the form of his nephew Arthur (the young son of John’s deceased brother Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany). After a war with King Philip II of France, who supported Arthur, John was able to consolidate power. He immediately angered many former supporters with his cruel treatment of prisoners (including Arthur, who was probably murdered on John’s orders). By 1206, John’s renewed war with France had caused him to lose the duchies of Normandy and Anjou, among other territories.Who Signed the Magna Carta and Why?A feud with Pope Innocent III, beginning in 1208, further damaged John’s prestige, and he became the first English sovereign to suffer the punishment of excommunication (later meted out to Henry VIII and Elizabeth I). After another embarrassing military defeat by France in 1213, John attempted to refill his coffers–and rebuild his reputation–by demanding scutage (money paid in lieu of military service) from the barons who had not joined him on the battlefield. By this time, Stephen Langton, whom the pope had named as archbishop of Canterbury over John’s initial opposition, was able to channel baronial unrest and put increasing pressure on the king for concessions.With negotiations stalled early in 1215, civil war broke out, and the rebels–led by baron Robert FitzWalter, John’s longtime adversary–gained control of London. Forced into a corner, John yielded, and on June 15, 1215, at Runnymede (located beside the River Thames, now in the county of Surrey), he accepted the terms included in a document called the Articles of the Barons. Four days later, after further modifications, the king and the barons issued a formal version of the document, which would become known as the Magna Carta. Intended as a peace treaty, the charter failed in his goals, as civil war broke out within three months. After John’s death in 1216, advisors to his nine-year-old son and successor, Henry III, reissued the Magna Carta with some of its most controversial clauses taken out, thus averting further conflict. The document was reissued again in 1217 and once again in 1225 (in return for a grant of taxation to the king). Each subsequent issue of the Magna Carta followed that “final” 1225 version.

What political event in England gave commoners a voice in their government? aKing Edward I’s Model Parliament bKing Henry II’s Constitutions of Clarendon cKing John’s Magna Carta dKing Henry II’s legal reforms

Read the passage.A Step for DemocracyOne of the most important years in the history of democracy was 1215, when King John of England signed a document called the Magna Carta. Among other things, the Magna Carta made it illegal to buy or bribe one's way out of legal trouble—previously a common practice. More important, the Magna Carta made it clear that the king of England could not change laws or impose taxes without the people's consent. Because of the Magna Carta, the barons of England, along with civic and church leaders, began having regular meetings with the king to discuss matters such as proposed new taxes. The barons were meant to represent the interests of the people who lived on their land. This practice—revolutionary at the time—laid the groundwork for the modern political system known as representative democracy. Representative democracy allows elected officials to speak for the interests of their constituents, the citizens they represent.What is the main, or central, idea of the passage?The Magna Carta led the king to start having regular meetings with the barons of England.The Magna Carta set the stage for democratic governments by affirming the rights of citizens to participate in government.The Magna Carta changed the way England's legal system worked by making it illegal to buy or bribe one's way out of legal trouble.Submit

The king who broke from the Roman Catholic Church and started the Church of England so he could annul his first marriage in a quest for a son as the legitimate heir to the throne.

John Locke was born in England in 1632. His thinking about government and people's rights had a major impact on the Enlightenment.Whereas Thomas Hobbes had argued that kings should have absolute power, Locke favored constitutional monarchy. In this type of government, a basic set of laws limits the ruler's power.Locke's ideas reflected a tradition of limitations on the English monarchy dating back to 1215, when English nobles forced King John to sign Magna Carta, or the “Great Charter.” Magna Carta established the idea that even monarchs had to obey English laws and respect certain individual rights.Over time, Parliament became the main check on the monarch's power. During the civil war of the 1640s, Locke's father fought on the side of Parliament. The young Locke was greatly influenced by his father's beliefs.In the 1680s, another crisis developed. The new king, James II, was Catholic. James's enemies in Protestant England feared that he wanted to put Catholics in power and forced him to flee the country in 1688.In 1689, Parliament gave the crown to James's Protestant daughter Mary and her husband, William. Parliament also passed a bill of rights, which strengthened the power of Parliament as the representative of the people. For example, the English Bill of Rights forbade the monarch from keeping a standing army in peacetime or levying taxes without Parliament's consent. It also listed individual rights, including protection in court cases from excessive fines and “cruel and unusual punishment.”Locke approved of these changes in England. In 1690, he published Two Treatises of Government, in which he offered a theory of government that justified Parliament's actions.Locke denied the divine right of monarchs to rule and argued that the true basis of government was a social contract, or agreement, among free people. Under this agreement, the purpose of government was to protect people's natural rights, including the right to life, liberty, and property. The people are the sole source of power and must agree to give power to the government to rule on their behalf. Therefore, according to Locke's social contract, a government's authority was based on the consent of the governed. If the government failed to respect people's rights, it broke the contract and could be overthrown.Locke's view of government had a wide influence. In 1776, his ideas would be echoed in the American Declaration of Independence

King Henry V encouraged the development of a unique English culture by A. translating the Holy Bible into the English language. B. banning the speaking of French in public places. C. prohibiting the use of Latin in church services and publications. D. ordering government documents to be written in informal English.