Magna Ohabta

The great charter. A famous state paper of early English times, having been granted by, or rather extorted from. King John, on the demand of the barons of the time, in revolt against the usurpations and excesses of the crown. It appears to have been called Magna Charta on account of its great importance; but some such special tiesignation of it was needed to distinguish it from the Charta de Foresta, or charter of the forest, which was granted about the same time. The provisions of the great charter extend not only to the administration of justice (regulating the various jurisdictions, temporal and ecclesiastical), but also to the personal liberty of the subject, the limits of taxation of his property, the rights of foreign merchants within the realm, as well during peace as in times of war, and also the liberties and privileges of the church. It contains, also, numerous provisions of a purely temporary nature, intended to remedy the prevailing abuses of the times. Many of its provisions have been repealed; but it continues to be regarded as first in importance among the sources of English constitutional law; and many of its principles reappear in provisions of the bills of rights or constitutions of the various states. For a full abstract of Magna Charta, see Wharton Diet., tit. Magna Charta; for the particular meaning of the term charta, and the distinction between a charter and a constitution, see ante, Chakta; Constitution.