The Magna Carta is hailed, rightly so, as the forerunner of many modern constitutions of state, including the American Declaration of Independence. It was the first time a monarch was subjected to the law of the land, just like any other citizen.
However when the errant King John signed the document on the banks of the river Thames at Runnymede on June 1215 neither he nor the rebel barons who challeged him saw it as more than an expedient move to temporarily curb his excesses. They could not have dreamed it was to play such a pivotal role in the forming of democracy. The BBC have the full story
