Magna Carta

Sir Thomas More: You threaten like a dockside bully.
Cromwell: How should I threaten?
Sir Thomas More: Like a minister of state. With justice.
Cromwell: Justice is what you're threatened with.
Sir Thomas More: Then I am not threatened.
--A Man for All Seasons

Yesterday marked the 800th anniversary of the establishment of the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta (Latin for 'Great Charter') was an agreement between King John of England and a group of local barons. Having been the target of plunder by the King, the barons rebelled and defeated royal forces in battle. The Magna Carta was essentially a peace treaty meant to quell future war.

Although the Magna Carta is largely a collection of specific provisions between a feudalistic king and barons of the time, it does include some principles that helped shape libertarian thought and the rule of law in centuries to come. For example, the Magna Carta states that:

"No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned, disseised, outlawed, banished, or in any way destroyed, nor will We proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land."

Similar ideas can be found in the Bill of Rights.

The Magna Carta, then, can be considered as one of the first documents that put the idea of limiting the power of government into the minds of people.

Unfortunately, the anniversary of the Magna Carta is also a reminder of the difference between documented law consistent with natural rights and its realization in everyday life. Soon after the Magna Carta was written, the agreement was nullified and England plunged into civil war. Centuries thereafter, the Magna Carta was resurrected as the basis for preventing tyrannical rule only to be violated by the governing regime. Today, we face the same thing.

The lesson that seems hard for us to learn is this: rulers don't have to follow rules when they enjoy a near monopoly position in the use of aggressive force. Eight hundred years after the Magna Carta, we are still duped by the belief that elegant law on paper can easily subdue motivated principals contracting with strong-armed government agents in their quest for discretionary rule.