King John’s high-handed government so offended his barons that in 1215 they presented him with a charter of liberties to sign. No sooner had he done so than he went back on his promises, plunging the country into revolt. A year later he died, and the charter, broken, and now having outlived its key signatory, was all but forgotten.

The charter of liberties signed by King John was largely forgotten until the 17th century, when it was brought forward as evidence that England’s monarchs had long ago signed away their right to absolute power, limiting the powers of the Crown. The revival was complete when Magna Carta became one of the chief influences on the US Constitution of 1788.

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