KING JOHN:Seize his lands.
KING JOHN:And lock up his son.
KING JOHN:Hm. That's what you get if you don't pay your taxes.
KING JOHN:And you.
KING JOHN:You must marry Isabel de Turnham. Now hand over a chest-full of silver.
NARRATOR:The year is 1214, King John rules over all England. Above him is the Pope, Head of the Church and overlord of all Catholic countries. King John must obey the Pope but the English people must obey the King.
NARRATOR:He even decides who the rich and powerful people, the nobility will marry.
ARLETTE'S MOTHER:Arlette, this will be your new papa.
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:Um. Well, hello Arlette.
ARLETTE:But I don't want a new papa.
ARLETTE'S MOTHER:We don't have any choice Arlette. Since your father has died I am a widow, and King John has said I have to marry him. I must do as the King says.
ARLETTE:No, no! Absolument pas!
NARRATOR:French is the common language amongst the nobility. In fact, until only a few years ago King John ruled over half of France, but has since lost these territories in wars. He is desperate to win them back.
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:The King doesn't ask us if we should go to war, he just taxes us to pay for it.
ARLETTE'S MOTHER:But if King John reclaims Normandy you could get back the castle you used to have there.
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:He'll never win back anything. All he does is lose land. His wars are a waste of time and a waste of our money!
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:Oh, he's not nicknamed John Lackland for nothing!
ARLETTE:Let me sit on your shoulders Edmund so I can pick the cherries.
EDMUND:We can't do that! I'm a servant, I could be fined if the sheriff catches us!
ARLETTE:Who said?
EDMUND:The King, that's who. He's made this a royal forest which means only he can hunt in it.
ARLETTE:But I'm nobility, I won't get into trouble.
EDMUND:No-one's allowed, not even you. And if the sheriff catches you and doesn't give you a telling off, your papa certainly will.
ARLETTE:I keep telling you, he's not my papa.
EDMUND:Shh! The sheriff is coming. Hide!
SHERIFF:What are you doing peasant?
SHERIFF:You can't cut down these trees.
PEASANT:But sire, I beg you, I, I, I just need a bit of wood for a fire.
SHERIFF:It's against the law, as well you know.
PEASANT:Oh, have a care sire, my children are cold, they need food to eat and we have to cook.
SHERIFF:Only the King can get food and wood from the royal forest. Are you the King?
PEASANT:No sire, but I live here, I'm, I'm surrounded by trees and nature's food and I, [crying] I cannot let the forest provide!
SHERIFF:So you're not the King and this is not your forest. Now pay the fine!
SHERIFF:Peasant!
NARRATOR:Ordinary people must pay a few shillings for breaking forest laws. For Barons it can be hundreds of pounds and for serious offences, such as hunting, it could even mean being blinded or put to death.
EDMUND:That poor man, it's so unfair.
NARRATOR:King John continues fighting to win back his territories in France.
NARRATOR:But loses again.
NARRATOR:And again.
NARRATOR:And runs out of money. He returns to England, disgraced and penniless.
ARLETTE'S MOTHER:What?! We have to pay more money to the King?
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:He said I did not get permission to put a fish trap in the river, so I must pay for his forgiveness! Oh, I will never be able to afford to pay him back!
ARLETTE'S MOTHER:Oh, there are so many laws we must obey and yet the King obeys none.
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:Enough is enough. Barons from the north are rebelling against the King and heading to London! I'm going to join them.
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:Edmund, come!
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:We have no time to lose.
NARRATOR:A group of rebel Barons and religious men refuse to stay loyal to King John. The rebels take over the City of London and the King, now broke, is forced to meet with them at Runnymede, near Windsor, to discuss peace terms. It is now the 15th of June, 1215.
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:If you wish us to renew our oaths of allegiance and give back the City of London you must agree to our terms.
KING JOHN:And what are these … terms?
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:You must return all hostages and give back land and castles to all those who've had them wrongly taken away.
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:You shall give back all royal forests that you have created during your reign.
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:And no free man shall be arrested, put in prison, sent away or have force used against him, unless a trial has been held with a jury to decide.
NARRATOR:And because it is difficult for the Barons to trust the King.
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:Twenty five Barons will be elected to make sure these terms are kept.
NARRATOR:After much talk, the King agrees to the Barons' wishes; he can do little else.
NARRATOR:The King's clerks copy down the terms in Latin, and these are distributed throughout the kingdom. It becomes known as the Magna Carta, which means Great Charter. It is authenticated by the Great Seal. This is the first time royalty has ever been made to follow a set of rules.
EDMUND:Your papa, I mean the Baron, he was incredible!
ARLETTE'S STEPDAD:Uh-hm. A, a cherry Arlette?
ARLETTE:Thank you. Thank you, papa.
NARRATOR:At last everyone is happy. Well, not quite everybody.
KING JOHN:Write this to the Pope!
KING JOHN:You are my overlord! You can stop this ridiculous nonsense!
NARRATOR:And the Pope in Rome agrees. He declares the Magna Carta…
POPE:Null and void!
NARRATOR:After only ten weeks the Magna Carta agreement is broken.
KING JOHN:Huh, huh, huh! Never again will they tell me, me, the King, what I can and cannot do!
KING JOHN:Ha!
NARRATOR:But this is not, as King John hopes, the end of Magna Carta, it is only the beginning.
NARRATOR:Battles over the powers of the King rage for a long time to come.
NARRATOR:And today, no-one in Britain is above the law.
NARRATOR:The Magna Carta goes on to inspire laws in many other countries all over the world.
Video summary
An animation outlining the events of 1214 and 1215, detailing how British barons rebelled against King John, forcing the signing of the Magna Carta.
King John’s wars with France and his desperate need for funds are the reasons for John’s increasingly arbitrary and unpopular rule.
The barons are finally pushed too far by constant fines and taxes and rebel, seizing London to force the king to negotiate limits to his power.
This leads to the Magna Carta being agreed at Runnymede in June 1215.
This clip is from the BBC series The Story of Britain.
Teacher Notes
This could be used as an introduction to the Magna Carta and start discussions on how it was used.
What is the Magna Carta? Why was the Magna Carta made?
You could go on to explore the impact of the Magna Carta then and today.
This clip will be suitable for teaching History at KS2 in England, Foundation Phase in Wales, KS1 and KS2 in Northern Ireland.
Also Early 1st and 2nd Level in Scotland.
The Normans. video
Exploring British life in 1066 through the eyes of a Norman family.
Domesday Book. video
Exploring 1085 and the compilation of Domesday Book.
Anglo-Saxon Britain. video
Exploring life in Anglo-Saxon Britain through the eyes of one family.
Bronze Age Britain. video
Exploring life in Bronze Age Britain through the eyes of one family.
Middle Stone Age. video
Life in Middle Stone Age or Mesolithic Britain through the eyes of one family.
New Stone Age. video
Life in Neolithic Britain through the eyes of one family.
Roman Britain. video
Exploring life in Britannia through the eyes of one Roman family.
The Normans. video
Exploring British life in 1066 through the eyes of a Norman family.
Boudica and the Roman Invasion. video
Exploring life in Britain at the time of Boudica’s rebellion through the eyes of one family.
