The centrality of Christianity to the freedoms we enjoy
from Christian Concern:
In this extract from Magna Carta Unravelled (Wilberforce Publications), Philip Quenby highlights how Christian beliefs and Biblical law was fundamental to the freedoms enshrined in Magna Carta and enjoyed around the world ever since.
Magna Carta is widely regarded as a foundational text of the British constitution and an essential guarantor of basic freedoms. It is notable, for example, that the charter granted by King John in June 2015 nowhere mentions three things that in the public consciousness are now closely associated with the document: parliament, democracy and juries.
Yet, by speaking of “liberties”, “customs”, “rights”, “justice”, “the law of the land and “the common counsel of the land”, Magna Carta came to embrace precisely these things … but there was something else about Magna Carta which was unique, and which helped provide the motivating power for extension and development of the rights and freedoms which King John’s original charter first proclaimed. For the Great Charter was not suddenly summoned into being out of nowhere. It drew on and tapped into a Saxon heritage which was grounded in Christianity…
… The very idea of having King John seal a charter was largely the brainchild of Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton, who based the charter sealed at Runnymede on 15 June 1215 on the so-called Coronation Charter which had been issued by Henry I over a century beforehand. That Coronation Charter had promised to abide by the laws of King Edward (meaning Edward the Confessor, the last Saxon king whom Normans recognised as having been a legitimate ruler). In their turn, these laws of Edward the Confessor incorporated earlier Saxon codes, including those of King Alfred the Great, and so Magna Carta preserves a direct link to Saxon England.
Promising to abide by the laws of King Edward effectively meant taking over Saxon laws (and just as important, the Saxon approach to law) lock, stock and barrel. It was a repeat of the promises that William the Conqueror had made in an attempt to legitimise his claim to the English throne and gain Saxon support for his rule.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
