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To discover how the Magna Carta has influenced history
To find out more about the
competition
Welcome to My Magna Carta, helping to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta! Take a trip in our time machine to see how this important document has shaped the world we live in today. What do you think a new Magna Carta should look like? See if you can create one suitable for the 21st Century.
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Magna Carta is so much more than a peace treaty between a quarrelsome King and his barons, sealed (not signed) in a meadow on the banks of the Thames on June 15th, 1215. Its lasting iconic value as the foundation of so many world democracies lies in the power of an idea - a principle, which states that nobody, including the King, is above the law of the land.
Simon de Montfort and Anglo-Norman rebel noblemen, convened a 'parley' in a field near Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire on 14th December 1264. It was not only in defiance of King Henry III, but was radical in having democratically elected knights and borough representatives from throughout the kingdom. The de Montfort Parliament was the first example of its kind in England.
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The Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, was passed during the reign of the restored monarchy of Charles II after the English Civil War. It strengthened the ancient and powerful writ which had been a feature of English Common Law since before Magna Carta. It served to safeguard individual liberty, preventing unlawful or arbitrary imprisonment. Habeas Corpus is Latin for "you may have the body" – subject to legal examination before a court, or a judge.
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The American Declaration of Independence as penned by Thomas Jefferson was an indictment of George III's numerous breaches of English Common Law enshrined within Magna Carta, to which the thirteen colonies were equally bound. It became the legal justification for the American Revolutionary War that had been raging for over a year, by 4th July, 1776.
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 has been described as the Magna Carta of our age. Arising from the ashes of WW2 and the unspeakable barbarity of the conflict, it set out basic freedoms, comprising 30 articles to which all humans are entitled. It is safeguarded and underwritten by the United Nations and adopted into the laws of almost every country in the world.
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My Magna Carta is an international creative essay competition for 11 to 18 year olds in celebration of the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta. Young people from across the UK, the English-Speaking Union's member countries and throughout the Commonwealth are invited to create their very own Magna Carta for the 21st century: one document that safeguards and promotes the rights, privileges and liberties of either their own country or the whole world.
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My Magna Carta

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