To: Land Shark who wrote (1552351 ) 8/14/2025 11:00:32 AM From: Maple MAGA 1 RecommendationRecommended By
Read Replies (1) | Respond to The Magna Carta (1215) is often celebrated as the foundation of liberty, but in reality it was a flawed, limited, and very context-specific document . Here are the main weaknesses and flaws historians point out:1. It Wasn’t About Universal Rights Magna Carta was drafted by rebellious barons to protect their own feudal privileges against King John, not to create democracy or human rights for all. Most people in England—peasants, serfs, women, the poor—were not protected . Their lives changed very little. 2. It Was Class-Based The rights enshrined largely benefited nobles, the Church, and wealthy landowners . Commoners and serfs (the vast majority of the population) were excluded from the protections. 3. It Failed Immediately King John asked the Pope to annul it, and within months the Pope declared it “null, void, and of no validity forever.” Civil war broke out between John and the barons soon after. Only later kings (Henry III, Edward I) reissued edited versions of the charter, gradually embedding parts of it into English law. 4. It Reinforced Feudalism Instead of breaking down unjust systems, Magna Carta strengthened the feudal hierarchy by codifying obligations between lords, vassals, and the king. It did little for freedom in the modern sense—it locked society more tightly into its rigid medieval class structure. 5. Selective & Inconsistent Application Many of its 63 clauses were very narrow and technical (e.g., rules about fish-weirs on rivers, weights and measures, inheritance procedures). Over time, later generations romanticized a handful of clauses (like the right to trial by jury or protection from unlawful imprisonment) while ignoring most of the text. 6. It Didn’t Establish Democracy Magna Carta didn’t create parliament or elections—it only promised the king would consult the barons on taxation. Real parliamentary government in England evolved centuries later (especially after the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution of 1688). 7. It Was Easily Ignored English monarchs often reissued it for political convenience, then ignored its restrictions when it suited them. Its protections only gained durability after repeated re-interpretation by judges and parliamentarians, especially in the 17th century. In Short Magna Carta was a patch-up peace treaty between a weak king and his barons , not a universal bill of rights. Its flaws were: narrow scope, class bias, immediate failure, reinforcement of feudalism, selective enforcement. symbolic afterlife —inspiring ideas of limited government, due process, and constitutionalism—was far more important than the document itself.
