Constraints on Kingship Flashcards
All 12 cards in this deck
What is scutage?
A payment barons made to the king instead of providing military service. King John charged it heavily, causing resentment.
Give one reason the barons were dissatisfied with King John's rule.
He lost important lands in France (e.g. Normandy, 1204).
Why did King John fall out with the Pope?
He refused to accept Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury, so the Pope excommunicated him and placed England under an Interdict.
When and where did King John seal Magna Carta?
June 1215, at Runnymede.
Give one key term of Magna Carta.
No free man could be imprisoned or punished except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land.
True or false? Magna Carta brought lasting peace between King John and the barons straight away.
False. John persuaded the Pope to annul it within months and civil war broke out.
True or false? Magna Carta was reissued after King John's death.
True. It was reissued under Henry III (1216, 1217 and 1225) and became part of English law.
What did Magna Carta (1215) say about scutage and other taxes?
Clause 12 said scutage or an 'aid' could not be raised without the general consent of the kingdom, so the king could no longer simply demand money from his barons.
How did Magna Carta try to make King John keep its terms?
Clause 61 set up a council of 25 barons who could take action against the king if he broke the charter.
What happened at the Battle of Bouvines (1214), and why did it matter for King John?
John's allies were beaten by the French, ending his hopes of winning back Normandy; the barons refused the next scutage demand and began to plan resistance.
Who did the rebel barons invite to be king of England after Magna Carta broke down?
Prince Louis, heir to the French throne. He landed with an army in May 1216, but after John died that October support swung to John's young son, Henry III, and Louis gave up and went home in 1217.
Give one long-term impact of Magna Carta.
It set out the idea that the king was under the law; later challengers, such as John Lilburne in the 1640s and the American colonists, appealed to it to defend their rights.