2012
First Published
3.91
Average Rating
136
Number of Pages
The Magna Carta is arguably the greatest constitutional document in recorded history, yet few people today understand either its contents or its context. This Very Short Introduction, which includes a full English translation of the 1215 Magna Carta, introduces the document to a modern audience, explaining its origins in the troubled reign of King John, and tracing the significant role that it played thereafter as a symbol of the subject's right to protection against the absolute authority of the sovereign. Drawing upon the great advances that have been made in our understanding of thirteenth-century English history, Nicholas Vincent demonstrates why the Magna Carta remains hugely significant today.
Avg Rating
3.91
Number of Ratings
121
5 STARS
19%
4 STARS
54%
3 STARS
26%
2 STARS
1%
1 STARS
0%
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Author
Nicholas Vincent
Author · 3 books
Professor Nicholas Vincent of the University of East Anglia has published a dozen books and some hundred articles on twelfth- and thirteenth-century history for both scholarly and popular audiences, including work on the English and European context of Magna Carta as well as Magna Carta: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2012). When a 1297 issue of Magna Carta recently came up for auction, Professor Vincent was commissioned by Sotheby’s to write the catalogue. During his research he discovered two previously unidentified originals of Magna Carta. For the Magna Carta Project he has been searching archives across Britain, Ireland and France for the charters of King John. Also published under Nick Vincent.
