Book Review : A Brief History of the Magna Carta

Visitors can see Magna Carta and The Charter of the Forest at Lincoln Castle where they occupy a room of their own.

Outside the entrance, writ large on the wall, are excerpts from Magna Carta and once you read what this document gave the ordinary (non-royal) people of England it makes you realise what few rights those people had prior to the signing of this significant piece of paper. The author does point out that King John didn’t sign Magna Carta as he almost certainly couldn’t write, but someone signed it on his behalf with his authority.

If anything, the Charter of the Forest was more significant to contemporary English land users (I won’t say landowners) at the time it was signed, but Magna Carta has endured simply because of the civil liberties and rule of law it enshrined in writing.

The details provided are enthralling including the fact the ink comprised oak-gall sap and either soot or lampblack. The oak tree produces oak-gall sap to protect itself from the stings of wasps who want to penetrate the bark to lay their eggs.

The book covers the history of the life of King John who seemed a complex character to put it mildly and the after effects of the signing including the relevance of Magna Carta today where its existence appears to be more appreciated in the USA than in the UK.