Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John

What it is

Written by William Sharp McKechnie, this book is a full-length scholarly commentary on Magna Carta, published by James Maclehose and Sons in Glasgow with Macmillan. It examines the charter clause by clause along with its historical background.

Why it matters

As a later secondary study rather than the charter itself, this book shows how historians have worked to explain what Magna Carta's often difficult medieval clauses actually meant to the people of 1215, and how its reputation grew over the centuries that followed. It is a useful guide for understanding the document's real legal content, separate from popular myth.

Look closer

• Why might scholars need a whole book to explain a single medieval document?
• What is the difference between reading the original charter and reading a later commentary on it?
• What questions might a historian ask that a popular legend about Magna Carta ignores?