The Magna Carta

Melvyn Bragg and guests Nicholas Vincent, David Carpenter and Michael Clanchy discuss the Magna Carta, the oft-proclaimed foundation of English liberties.The Magna Carta has been cited ever since its issue in 1215 as a foundation stone of English liberties. It includes clauses of universal justice, some of which are still on the statute book, but also sorted out the fishing rights in the upper Thames. Whether Magna Carta is a genuine proclamation of universal liberty or a hotchpotch of baronial self-interest has been debated ever since. Melvyn and his guests examine the ideas contained within it, assess their legacy and find out what really happened all those years ago in a tent in Runnymede.

→ Play on BBC Sounds website

Guests

• Nicholas Vincent 2 episodes
  
• David Carpenter 3 episodes
  
• Michael Clanchy 2 episodes
  

Related episodes

• The Trial of Charles I
  
  4 Jun, 2009 940 History of Europe
• Freedom
  
  4 Jul, 2002 320 Political science
• Sovereignty
  
  30 Jun, 2016 320 Political science
• The Tudor State
  
  26 Oct, 2000 940 History of Europe
• The Peasants’ Revolt
  
  16 Nov, 2006 940 History of Europe
• The Glorious Revolution
  
  19 Apr, 2001 940 History of Europe
• The Domesday Book
  
  17 Apr, 2014 940 History of Europe
• Montesquieu
  
  14 Jun, 2018 320 Political science
• Cultural Rights in the 20th Century
  
  10 Dec, 1998 320 Political science
• The Second Barons’ War
  
  6 May, 2021 940 History of Europe
• Athelstan
  
  1 Jul, 2010 940 History of Europe
• The Monarchy
  
  10 Jun, 1999 940 History of Europe
• The Medieval University
  
  17 Mar, 2011 370 Education
• St Thomas Aquinas
  
  17 Sep, 2009 180 Ancient, medieval, and Eastern philosophy
• The Book of Common Prayer
  
  17 Oct, 2013 200 Religion
• The Restoration
  
  15 Feb, 2001 940 History of Europe
• The Battle of Lincoln 1217
  
  4 May, 2017 940 History of Europe
• The Norman Yoke
  
  10 Apr, 2008 940 History of Europe
• The Putney Debates
  
  18 Apr, 2013 320 Political science
• Rawls’ Theory of Justice
  
  19 Jan, 2023 320 Political science

---

Programme ID: b00k4fg7

Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00k4fg7

Auto-category: 342.2 (Magna Carta and English liberties)