Magna Carta audio reading

What it is

This is a LibriVox audio recording in which a volunteer reads aloud an English text of the Magna Carta, the charter of rights agreed in 1215 between King John and the English nobility. The reader is a modern volunteer, not King John or anyone from 1215, and the recording was made recently. The original charter was written in Latin, so this reading is only a rough approximation of its content. The recording is dedicated to the public domain.

Why it matters

Magna Carta is often seen as one of the most important early influences on the long development of constitutional law. It was created because of disagreements between the Pope, King John and his English barons over the rights of the king. Listening to it shows how the text can reach people today, but the words heard here are an English version read by a volunteer, not the charter as it was written.

Look closer

• Who is reading, and how might a volunteer's choices change the way the text sounds?
• Which rights in the charter would have mattered most to the barons who agreed to it?
• What might a spoken version leave out that the written Latin original would show?