3. King John of England: The Magna Carta and the Rule of Law // Хартия Вольностей // A2 listening

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My name is Sarah and I am a librarian at the cathedral in Salisbury. We have a very special, very old paper here, more than eight hundred years old. People from all over the world come to see it. Today I want to tell you the story behind this paper. It is about a king who was not loved by his people. His name was King John, and he was one of the worst kings in our history. But, in a strange way, his bad rule gave us something very good.

King John was born in 1166. He was the youngest son of King Henry II. His father had four sons, and there was a lot of land in the family. But John was the youngest, so at first, he had no land at all. People called him "John Lackland," because "to lack" means "to not have." His big brother was the famous Richard the Lionheart. Richard was tall, brave, and a great soldier. People loved him. John was not like his brother. He was clever, but he was also angry and selfish.

When Richard became king, he went away to fight in a holy war for many years. While Richard was away, John tried to take the crown for himself! It was not a nice thing to do. But in 1199, Richard died, and now John was the king for real.

King John had many problems. First, he lost a war in France. He lost most of the English lands across the sea, including Normandy. The English lords were very angry, because many of them had family lands in France. They started to call him "John Softsword."

Second, John needed money to fight new wars. So he made the people pay very high taxes. Rich and poor — everyone had to pay. He took money from the lords and from the church. Sometimes, when a lord did not pay, John took the lord's children as prisoners. People were afraid of him.

Third, John had a big fight with the Pope in Rome. The Pope was the leader of the church. John did not want to listen to the Pope. So the Pope said that no church in England could open. Babies could not be baptised. Dead people could not be buried in church land. The English people were scared and unhappy.

By the year 1215, the lords had had enough. They got their soldiers and went to London. They were ready to fight the king. King John was alone and weak. He had to listen to them. The lords met the king in a big field next to the River Thames. The place was called Runnymede.

The lords gave the king a paper. The paper had sixty-three rules on it. We call this paper the Magna Carta, which means "Great Charter" in Latin. The rules said important things. The king cannot take a free man and put him in prison without a fair trial. The king cannot take money from the people without asking the lords. Even the king must obey the law.

King John signed the paper, but he did not really want to obey it. Soon, war started again. But John got sick, and he died in 1216. He was only forty-nine years old.

The Magna Carta did not change life quickly. But the idea inside it was very strong. It said that nobody, not even the king, is above the law. This idea grew over many centuries. Today, in many countries, our laws and rights come from this old paper.

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