Runnymede: the heart of democracy
Runnymede in the English county of Surrey – from the Old English runieg (council island) and mede (meadow) – was where the Magna Carta was sealed by King John on 15th June 1215.
The Magna Carta has become one of the most important documents anywhere in the world. It marked the path to individual freedom, parliamentary democracy and the supremacy of law, restricted the excesses of the elite, and has been copied and followed by scores of countries.
Article 39 is all-important: “No free man shall be taken, imprisoned, outlawed, banished or in anyway destroyed, nor will we proceed against or prosecute him, except by lawful judgement of his equals and by the law of the land”.
The European Convention of Human Rights, the Constitution of the United States and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are all based upon Magna Carta, as are the laws of countless democracies throughout the world.
The memorial, pictured here, centres upon a pillar of English granite (below) on which is inscribed "To commemorate Magna Carta, symbol of Freedom Under Law". The memorial was provided by the American Bar Association and was unveiled in 1957.
The Runnymede water meadow is owned and administered by the National Trust, with (of course) free access to all.
Runnymede: the heart of democracy
Runnymede in the English county of Surrey – from the Old English runieg (council island) and mede (meadow) – was where the Magna Carta was sealed by King John on 15th June 1215.
The Magna Carta has become one of the most important documents anywhere in the world. It marked the path to individual freedom, parliamentary democracy and the supremacy of law, restricted the excesses of the elite, and has been copied and followed by scores of countries.
Article 39 is all-important: “No free man shall be taken, imprisoned, outlawed, banished or in anyway destroyed, nor will we proceed against or prosecute him, except by lawful judgement of his equals and by the law of the land”.
The European Convention of Human Rights, the Constitution of the United States and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are all based upon Magna Carta, as are the laws of countless democracies throughout the world.
The memorial, pictured here, centres upon a pillar of English granite (below) on which is inscribed "To commemorate Magna Carta, symbol of Freedom Under Law". The memorial was provided by the American Bar Association and was unveiled in 1957.
The Runnymede water meadow is owned and administered by the National Trust, with (of course) free access to all.