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The Magna Carta

A public-domain English edition of the Magna Carta text, compiled from multiple versions for easy reading.

This compiled digital edition gives students direct access to the Magna Carta's wording.

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Full text (public-domain edition)

About this source

What it is

This is a public-domain edition of the Magna Carta, the 1215 charter agreed between King John of England and his barons, gathered from several existing English versions by volunteer editors.

Why it matters

Magna Carta set limits on royal power and listed rights for free men, the church and nobles. Note: this particular file is not an original historical document but a volunteer-compiled digital edition, assembled and corrected by contributors to make the text freely available; the compiler himself noted it might contain errors to be fixed later.

Why it matters

Even so, it preserves the actual wording of the charter, including the opening address by King John to his officials and subjects, making the 800-year-old text accessible to anyone.

Look closer

Why might a volunteer-made digital edition differ slightly from a scholarly printed one?
What does the greeting to "archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons..." tell you about who needed to know the charter's contents?
Why is it important to know how a text you are reading was compiled before trusting it completely?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Magna Carta on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.