Introduction to the Timeline

This timeline is a guide to the early history of Magna Carta in England, and the medieval context from which it arose, from the Norman Conquest (1066) to the end of the 13th century. The Great Charter was a product of its time, before it became a document for the ages, and grew not only from King John's tumultuous reign but a history of English law and conflict. Following John's reign, the Charter was altered, challenged and renewed. Magna Carta stood the test of a dynamic century to become English statutory law in 1297.

Timeline Key