Session 3. Magna Carta's long life: from England to the world
Key question: Why does a medieval charter still matter today?
What do you remember from session 2? Answer alone in five minutes, then check.
1. Where and when was Magna Carta sealed?
2. Did King John sign it?
3. Rewrite in today's English: “We will sell to no man [...] either Justice or Right.”
Show the recap answers
- At Runnymede, on 15 June 1215.
- No, he sealed it.
- For example: Justice cannot be bought; nobody can be refused a fair trial or made to wait for it.
Aims
- Follow the legacy of Magna Carta across eight centuries
- Read short quotations from the US Bill of Rights and from Eleanor Roosevelt
- Explain an idea to a French classmate in English (mediation)
To explain how an old idea travelled through time, when the idea matters more than the people, we need the passive voice: be + past participle (was reissued, is still quoted).
Documents
Document A. What is left of Magna Carta in English law
“There are 63 clauses in Magna Carta. [...] Only four of the 63 clauses in Magna Carta are still valid today: 1 (part), thirteen, 39 and 40.”
“Magna Carta was not intended to be a great charter of rights for all people, but designed by the barons to ensure that their rights were protected against the king's power.”
Clause 1 protects the liberties of the English Church, clause thirteen those of the City of London, and clauses 39 and 40 the right to a lawful judgment and to justice without delay.
Document B. Across the Atlantic: the Fifth Amendment (1791)
“No person shall [...] be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
The idea of the law of the land in Magna Carta became due process of law in the United States Constitution.
Source: National Archives (US), The Bill of Rights: a transcription
Document C. Eleanor Roosevelt, United Nations, 9 December 1948
Presenting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the UN General Assembly, Eleanor Roosevelt said that it “may well become the international Magna Carta for all men everywhere”.
Source: Roosevelt House, Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Key words
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| legacy | what remains from the past and influences the present |
| clause | one part of a legal text |
| due process | the fair procedure the law must follow |
| to deprive of | to take something away from someone |
| worldwide | everywhere in the world |
Words in action
EntryComplete with: legacy, clause, due process, deprived of, worldwide.
- Clause 39 is one ______ of Magna Carta.
- Nobody can be ______ liberty without a trial.
- The US speaks of ______ of law.
- The ______ of Magna Carta is still felt today.
- Its ideas became ______.
Show the answers
1. clause. 2. deprived of. 3. due process. 4. legacy. 5. worldwide.
CoreMatch to make collocations: a lasting / a legal / due / to deprive someone + process, of liberty, legacy, clause.
Show the answers
a lasting legacy, a legal clause, due process, to deprive someone of liberty.
StretchWrite one sentence on Magna Carta with legacy and worldwide.
Show the answers
For example: The legacy of Magna Carta became worldwide when its ideas were taken up in the United States and at the United Nations.
To say it: The passive voice
Passive = be (in the right tense) + past participle.
Past: The charter was reissued in 1225. Present: Clause 39 is still quoted today.
We use the passive when the action or the document matters more than who did it. Add by + agent only if it is useful: The charter was declared void by the Pope.
EntryChoose.
- Magna Carta (was reissued / reissued) in 1225.
- The name Magna Carta (was first used / first used) in 1217.
- Clauses 39 and 40 (are still part / still part) of the law.
Show the answers
1. was reissued. 2. was first used. 3. are still part.
CoreRewrite in the passive.
- King John sealed the charter in 1215.
- The Pope declared the charter void.
- The US Constitution guaranteed due process in 1791.
- People still quote clause 39 today.
Show the answers
1. The charter was sealed by King John in 1215. 2. The charter was declared void by the Pope. 3. Due process was guaranteed by the US Constitution in 1791. 4. Clause 39 is still quoted today (no agent: people adds nothing).
StretchIn which of the four sentences above is by + agent useless? Explain why.
Show the answers
In sentence 4: people is vague, it gives no information. In sentences 1 to 3 the agent is important (the King, the Pope, the Constitution).
Activities
- Build the timeline on the board: 1215, 1297, 1791, 1948, today. Language: Write each date of the timeline as a passive sentence: In 1225, the charter was reissued.
- Jigsaw reading: three groups, three documents. Each group explains its document to the others.
- Mediation: a French classmate missed the lesson. In English, explain in one minute why a text from 1215 still matters.
- Summary: Magna Carta was written for the barons, but its ideas, no punishment without a fair trial and justice for all, travelled across the world.
Exercise: Timeline
Put the right date in front of each event: 1215, 1297, 1791, 1948.
- The US Constitution guarantees due process of law.
- King John seals the charter at Runnymede.
- Eleanor Roosevelt compares a UN declaration to Magna Carta.
- The version of Magna Carta still quoted in English law is confirmed as a statute.
Show answers
1. 1791. 2. 1215. 3. 1948. 4. 1297.
Figures of speech in the documents
Eleanor Roosevelt: the Declaration “may well become the international Magna Carta for all men everywhere” (Document C)
Magna Carta, a proper name, becomes a common name for any founding text of rights. This figure is called antonomasia: one famous example stands for a whole category. The words all men everywhere add an effect of universality.
EntryWhat does Eleanor Roosevelt compare to Magna Carta?
Show the answers
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
CoreWhy choose Magna Carta, and not another text, for this comparison in 1948?
Show the answers
Because Magna Carta is old, famous and seen as the first limit put on power: the comparison gives the new declaration the same prestige.
StretchIs “for all men everywhere” really universal? Link with Document A.
Show the answers
In 1215 the charter protected the barons, not everybody, and “men” leaves women out of the words: the formula announces a universal ambition that the history of Magna Carta did not have at first.
Expression task
Mediation (activity 3). A French classmate missed the lesson: explain in English why a text from 1215 still matters.
EntryThree sentences, two of them in the passive.
CoreOne minute. Use three passive verbs, two dates and the words legacy and clause.
StretchOne minute and a half. Use the passive with and without by + agent, and quote Eleanor Roosevelt.
Tools to use:
- was sealed, was reissued, is still quoted
- legacy, clause, due process
- 1215, 1791, 1948
Show a model answer
Magna Carta was sealed in 1215 by King John. It was written to protect the barons, not everyone, but it was reissued several times and four of its clauses are still valid in English law. Its legacy is worldwide: the idea of a fair trial was taken up in the US Constitution in 1791, and in 1948 Eleanor Roosevelt compared the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to Magna Carta.
C1 extension
Eleanor Roosevelt said “for all men everywhere”. Is this formula as universal as it sounds? Compare it with what Document A says about 1215, in a paragraph of 120 words.
Lesson plan for the teacher (55 minutes)
| 5 min | Marked recap |
| 15 min | Jigsaw reading |
| 10 min | Timeline |
| 15 min | Mediation in pairs |
| 5 min | Summary |
| 5 min | Homework |
Find one recent news article or official page (parliament.uk, British Library, BBC) that mentions Magna Carta. Summarise it in five lines and copy the link.
Write it in your planner before the bell. It is also posted on the school platform.
Show a model answer
Model answer: for example the UK Parliament page The contents of Magna Carta. It explains that the charter has 63 clauses, that only four are still valid, and that clauses 39 and 40 inspired principles of English law that were exported to America and other English-speaking countries. Link: parliament.uk, Living Heritage, Magna Carta.