The National Archives, COPY 1/442/651 (3) Medieval councils and counsel This photograph from 1899 depicts King John and the barons at Runnymede in 1215 during a scene from a play performed at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1899. The Victorians celebrated Magna Carta as the foundation of liberty and democracy. This also fits in with my earlier blog on Simon de Montfort’s historic Parliament in 1265. This anniversary is one of the reasons that 2015 has been designated as the year for celebrating ‘Parliament in the Making’ so in this blog I am going to focus in particular on the clauses of Magna Carta that relate to the emergence of Parliament as an institution.
Today, the Great Charter is viewed as the foundation of many of our rights and liberties and throughout the year there are commemorations, exhibitions and activities around the anniversary, as well as lots of new books, online resources and TV and radio programmes on the subject. This year marks the 800 th anniversary of the granting of Magna Carta by King John.
