Does Magna Carta matter today?

Welcome to the History Extra podcast. Today we've got the final episode of our Sunday series on Magna Carta, exploring its legacy across subsequent centuries. And if you've enjoyed this series, join us next Sunday when we'll be examining the life, legend and legacy of one of British history's most famous monarchs, Elizabeth I. Don't miss that, but for now it's back to Emily Briffitt and Nicholas Vincent for the last word on Magna Carta. Politicians invoke it, activists wield it, and legal thinkers debate what it can still offer our modern world.

But what does Magna Carta actually mean today? I'm Emily Briffitt and I'm joined by historian Professor Nicholas Vincent. In this fourth and final episode of our series on the Charter, we're going to be considering its long afterlife, tracing how a narrow medieval settlement morphed into a legendary document that still speaks to our ongoing struggle over power, justice and freedom. Welcome back to this our fourth episode, Nicholas. Hello.

It's a pleasure to have you back. We are going to be talking all about the legacy of Magna Carta. This is something we've been building to over the the course of the series and is something that keeps coming up again and again. But if we go back to the 13th century, what was the immediate impact of Magna Carta on the 13th century mindset? It's there constantly when people object to a king or what a king is up to, they are aware that there is a precedent set by Magna Carta and that this in a sense is an ongoing process.

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