King John: "Alright. It all started with a war in 1205 with Phillip II. I lost the war and lands in Anjou and Normandy. People were then unhappy that I lost land in France. I also treated myself, because I am king, to many expensive luxuries and made nobels pay lots of money. After that, I was in a debate with Pope Innocent III about who the new archbishop of Canterbury should be. I wanted a certain canidate, one the pope didn't want, so he appointed his without my consent. People were on my said when I said that the church should be seperate from the kingdom, so the pope tried to make me eat my words. He placed England under interdict, or loss of support from the Catholic Church. Next, the church decides to excommunicate me. Lucky for England, I was a great leader and we worked throught the years. I even stole revenue from the church to pay for important things. I guess this is the time when people started to not enjoy me "taking away there rights" and someone tried to assassinate me in 1212. With Phillip II on the run, I decided to cave and work with the Pope. He lifted the exommunication, interdict, and I accepted England as a fief. Innocent also made me grant liverties to the church. After that I did some bad stuff with taxes and so on...anyways, a group of barons rebelled and forced me to sign a document called the Magna Carta in 1215."
Interviewer: "What did it say?"
John: "It said that Barons have certain guarenteed rights and that I must too obey laws. They also established this idea of 'due process of law' or the listed rules that government must follow for trials of citizens."
Interviewer: "And why was the Magna Carta important?"
John: "The Magna Carta had crucial ideas for government that are used presently in the United States. The idea that no one is above the law, even the president (king). Also that we have a bicambrial legislature and the powers of each, like handeling money and taxes, are kept the same."
A picture of the document.
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