In 2015, many of us celebrated the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. This was the Magna Carta sealed by King John at Runnymede. Negotiated with the barons and knights of England, it wasn’t long before the King had the Great Charter declared null and void by the pope mere months after the agreement.
By wait! By the following year, King John was dead, leaving his young son Henry as heir to the throne. At just nine years of age.
Fortunately, England’s greatest knight, William Marshall, although at an advanced age, served as protectorate to Henry and not only assured his crowning as King, but was instrumental in having Henry re-issue the Magna Carta, once in 1216 and then again in 1225. This latest version contained much the same content as the previous 1215 version and was given the royal seal once Henry had come of age, settling power-sharing disputes and ceding more authority to the barons.
The Charter would become ever more engrained in English governance and political life, a feature which continued in the reign of Henry’s son, Edward I.
This document had far reaching influences on all of the commonwealth countries and is called, by some, the greatest document in history.
This year marks the 800th anniversary of the Henry III second version of the Charter – an enduring document for the ages.
For more on this amazing story, watch Secrets of the Magna Carta https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQO-7INNkZE.