Question

How did the Magna Carta change the relationship between the monarch and the people?

A. It made the monarch first among equals.
B. It allowed the people to choose the monarch.
C. It made the monarch accountable to the people.
D. It placed limits on the monarch’s power.

And explain why you think its the answer you chose.

Answer 1

The Magna Carta gave barons specific rights that the king was not allowed to violate. One of these was the freedom from arbitrary imprisonment. However, these rights did not immediately extend to all the people. The Magna Carta applied mostly to the aristocracy and the Church.

Answer 2

Magna Carta placed limits on the monarch's power.

• The Magna Carta, published in June 1215, was the first document to express the idea that the king and his government were subject to the law.
• By creating law as a power unto itself, it tried to restrain the king from abusing his position of authority and set boundaries for royal power.
• It was first published in 1215 in Runnymede, a  field near the Thames in Berkshire, halfway between Windsor and Staines.
• Throughout society, including the king, lords issued charters that granted rights and liberties to certain people and organizations.
• They were written accounts of someone's deeds that were sealed with wax. Magna Carta resulted from a political crisis and an insurrection by the top men of England, even if its format was typical for the time.