Epilogue
‘Magna carta, the single most important legal document in history. The foundation for global constitutions, commerce and communities. The anchor for the Rule of Law.’
The Rt. Hon. Fiona Woolf, C.B.E.1
Although a failure in the short term, in the long term, Magna Carta was to be the first step in the process of establishing defined limitations to royal rights, creating a standard that would be observed by both the crown and its agents. By the late 1200s Magna Carta was regarded as a fundamental statement of English liberties. It set the precedent for future reform programmes, such as the Provisions of Oxford of 1258, the Ordinances of 1311, the Petition of Right of 1628 and the Grand Remonstrance of 1641. It is the closest thing England has to a constitution. Moreover, the influence of Magna Carta has spread far beyond England’s shores. It can be seen in the United States’ 1791 Bill of Rights, in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.
The provisions of the 1215 Magna Carta give us an insight into the situation in England at the time, giving us some sense of the abuses of which the barons had been the victims for years. The crown was forbidden to interfere in church placements, in the dispersal of a deceased’s property and to wrongfully dispossess people of their land and goods, without the proper writs being prepared by a sheriff and read in a court of assize. In short, the king was no longer able to inflict arbitrary judgement on his people without following the rule of law. Magna Carta meant the king was no longer above the law; it put the king firmly within it, subject to checks and balances through his barons.
What is remarkable about Magna Carta is that in a world dominated by men, so many incredible women played a part in the life of this great charter, in its instigation, implementation and endurance. Although most of the sixty-three clauses of Magna Carta are now defunct, three still remain on the statute books, two of which refer to the church and London’s rights, respectively. The third surviving clause promises ‘to no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice.’ That no person could be imprisoned, outlawed or deprived of his lands except by judgement of his peers and the law of the land has remained the cornerstone of the English legal system ever since. That this clause was brought into existence through the tragedy and suffering of Matilda de Braose, and her family, is a stark reminder of the influence that women, often seen as powerless chattels, could exert on their own life and times.
No individual woman is identified in Magna Carta; the princesses of Scotland are mentioned but not named. The queen is mentioned in the security clause, but not by name, while the names of thirty-nine men are given, including King John. The words ‘man’ or ‘men’ appear nineteen times, while ‘woman’ appears just once and ‘widow’ and ‘wife’ each appear twice.2 This imbalance is indicative of the male-dominated times. Women had a very limited public role; they did not sit on juries and only rarely held public office; two exceptions highlighted in this book being Nicholaa de la Haye and Ela of Salisbury, who each took on the role of sheriff of their respective shires following the deaths of their husbands.
Although it was initially a political failure, torn asunder within weeks of its creation, Magna Carta started England on the road to democratic government and, more importantly, universal suffrage, culminating in votes for women in 1918. Magna Carta was the first step. Within a generation of the charter’s first issue, women such as Eleanor de Montfort were helping to fight for political reform and others, such as Isabel d’Aubigny, were using its clauses to their advantage. Women had been a part of the fight for and against King John in the lead up to the first issuing of Magna Carta. They had influenced its creation and continued to use its clauses to fight for their rights and those of their families. There was still a long way to go, especially for women. Magna Carta was not the start of the women’s rights movement, but it serves as a benchmark for how far society has come in the last eight centuries.