Magna Carta: why didn't King John keep his word?

Welcome to the History Extra podcast. It's the third episode today of our Sunday series on Magna Carta, and we're going to be exploring the charter's immediate, turbulent aftermath. As King John was poised to have his seal pressed into the wax of a document that would reverberate for centuries to come, did he understand the ramifications it would have? And what were the chances he would keep his word? I'm Emily Briffitt and I'm joined by historian Professor Nicholas Vincent.

In this penultimate episode, we're following the tumultuous years that followed immediately after 1215, from war to negotiation as well as the repeated reissuing of the Charter's ideals. Welcome to this episode, Nicholas. It's a pleasure to have you back. And for me too. So in this episode, we're going to be looking at the immediate aftermath.

So, when the seal was pressed into wax in 1215, did anyone believe this oath would be kept? I very, very much doubt that anyone believed that it would be kept. They knew their king only too well. Now, we touched on this last episode, so I'm sure this might be a a slight touch point again in this episode. Was there any penalty set out if this promise was not kept?

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