We all first learned about the Magna Carta in middle school (ok, fine, high school. Ok, fine, earlier today on todayinhistory.com.) The name comes from the Latin Magna, meaning great, and Carta, meaning cart, because like a great cart, it pulled the people forward and gave them lots of rights. Issued in June of 1215 by King John, it is the most famous document in British constitutional history. Of course, it didn't start out that way. It had to climb its way up to the top, past King Arthur's "Check out this sword I pulled out of this rock," and King Aethelwulf's "A Treatise On People We Should Kick Out Of England, Ok, You Got Me, I Really Just Mean The Jews." But, like Angelina Jolie, the Magna Carta knew once it made it to the top, it would stay there forever, and everyone would forget about its humble beginnings, such as the time it made out with its brother on NATIONAL TELEVISION I MEAN ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?
By June of 1215, things weren't going well between King John and the barons. Barons were rich people who leased land from the King to rent out to semi-rich people. Barons could even mint their own money. Some people think the barons really needed to stop complaining and just thank the Lord they weren't serfs -- those people know from problems -- to which the barons responded, "Yeah? Well I'm going to kill your whole family." That ended that conversation.
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