New
New
Year 2

King John and Magna Carta

I can explain what Magna Carta was and why King John had to agree to it.

New
New
Year 2

King John and Magna Carta

I can explain what Magna Carta was and why King John had to agree to it.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Some of John's barons were so angry with him that they started a rebellion.
  2. To stop the fighting, John was forced to accept an agreement called Magna Carta.
  3. In this agreement, John promised not to tax his barons so heavily, and to behave better in the future.
  4. Magna Carta made John weaker and his barons stronger.
  5. Even after John died, kings and queens that followed him have followed the agreements set out in Magna Carta.

Keywords

  • Rebellion - a rebellion is when people refuse to listen to orders and fight against leaders

  • Magna Carta - Magna Carta was a written document that set out the rules a king or queen had to follow

  • Laws - laws are a set of rules that everyone has to follow

Common misconception

Some may think that kings and queens after King John forgot about Magna Carta.

Kings and queens after King John still followed Magna Carta and it remained as a very important document of rights for the people. Today, there are still four of the original 63 clauses in use in England.

Lots of copies of Magna Carta are still preserved today, including in the British Library in London and in Lincoln Castle and Salisbury Cathedral. There may be another near to your location that students could look at.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
John was the youngest of children.
two
four
Correct answer: eight
Q2.
Which is the correct definition for the word 'siege'?
money everyone has to pay to the people in charge of a country
Correct answer: when an army surrounds a castle to force the people inside to surrender
powerful and rich people who owned land and armies in England
Q3.
King John made the angry because he kept asking them for money and armies.
Correct Answer: barons
Q4.
Select the things King John did to make people angry.
Correct answer: He made people pay higher taxes.
He won battles in France.
Correct answer: He lost land in France.
Correct answer: It was his fault that the churches were closed.
Q5.
The people in charge of the Church were just as powerful as kings.
Correct answer: true
false
Q6.
Choose the groups of people that were angry with King John.
Correct answer: the Church
Correct answer: the barons
Correct answer: the English people

6 Questions

Q1.
Match each keyword to the correct definition.
Correct Answer:rebellion,when people refuse to listen to orders and fight against leaders

when people refuse to listen to orders and fight against leaders

Correct Answer:Magna Carta,a written document with rules a king or queen had to follow

a written document with rules a king or queen had to follow

Correct Answer:laws,a set of rules that everyone has to follow

a set of rules that everyone has to follow

Q2.
Who started a rebellion against King John?
King Richard
the Church
Correct answer: the barons
Q3.
King John had to agree to talk to the barons because ...
they left the country.
they took over the country.
Correct answer: they joined their armies together.
Q4.
Put these events into the correct order.
1 - King John made lots of people in England angry.
2 - The barons joined their armies together in rebellion.
3 - King John had to agree to talk with the barons.
4 - King John and the barons made an agreement.
Q5.
The agreement that the barons and King John made was called the …
Correct Answer: Magna Carta
Q6.
Kings and queens after John also had to follow the of Magna Carta.
Correct Answer: laws

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