1211 1212 1213 1214 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 1220
Contents: political eventshuman rights, social justice commerce religion education |
The Magna Carta signed at Runnymede in mid-June limits the power of the English monarchy and makes rule of law superior to arbitrary rule that is subject to royal whim and will. John Lackland has antagonized his feudal barons by trying to sell off the country's fisheries and divert revenues from navigational tolls on the Thames to his own benefit; supported by Scotland's new king Alexander II, the lords meet with the English king between Staines and Windsor and exact major concessions, notably tax relief and a reaffirmation of traditional feudal privileges contained in the accession charter signed by Henry I a century ago. John immediately appeals to Pope Innocent III, who issues a bull annulling the charter, and although John imports foreign mercenaries to fight the barons, the Magna Carta will remain the basis of English feudal justice (see Provisions of Oxford, 1258).
German noblemen crown the Hohenstaufen king Friedrich of Sicily their king Friedrich II at Aix-la-Chapelle July 25. The victory of his ally Philippe II Augustus of France at the Battle of Bouvines last year has strengthened Friedrich's hand (see 1218).
Former Japanese samurai Tokimasa Hojo dies at Izu February 6 at age 76, having entered the priesthood 10 years ago.
England's Magna Carta reaffirms human rights. Chapter 39 of the document states, "No freeman shall be arrested and imprisoned, or dispossessed, or outlawed, or banished, or in any way molested; nor will be set forth against him, nor send against him, unless by the lawful judgment of his peers, and by the law of the land."
Chapters VI and VII in the Magna Carta say, "A widow, after the death of her husband, shall forthwith and without difficulty have her marriage portion and inheritance (maritagium et hereditatem); nor shall she give any thing for her dower, or for her marriage portion, or for the inheritance which her husband and she shall have held on the day of the death of that husband"; "Let no widow be compelled to marry, so long as she prefers to live without a husband; provided always that she gives security not to marry without our [royal] consent, if she holds of us, or without the consent of the lord of whom she holds, if she holds of another." Adult single women and widows in England have for more than a century been the equal of men in all business affairs, with laws of inheritance showing only a small bias toward male heirs, but laws with respect to married women are more complicated, women having their own dowries and property, men having the use of their wives' lands and command over their wives' chattels.
The Magna Carta contains clauses protecting merchants against unreasonable tolls.
The Dominican order of monks (Fratres Praedicatores, or Preaching Friars) is founded by the Spanish-born priest Dominic, 45, who was made canon of the cathedral at Osma at age 24 and 10 years later attacked the Albigensian "heretics" in Languedoc (see Cathar persecution, 1213; 1233).
The Fourth Lateran Council convenes at Rome in mid-November and continues for a month; Pope Innocent III has spent 3 years planning the council, whose members rule that Raymond VI, comte de Toulouse, has forfeited his lands because of his failure to extirpate heretics and that the lands and title rightfully belong to Simon de Montfort, who will henceforth call himself comte de Toulouse, vicomte de Béziers et Carcassonne, and duc de Narbonne. Raymond does not accept the judgment, nor do the townspeople of Toulouse (see politics, 1217). The largest assembly of church leaders in 1,000 years, the council brings together 2,283 dignitaries, including 61 archbishops, 412 bishops (the bishop of Amalfi dies of suffocation in the press of finery at the opening ceremony), and 800 abbots and priors. The council anathematizes the English barons who forced John Lackland to sign the Magna Carta, it prohibits trial by ordeal, and it requires Jews to wear yellow circles on their clothing. With regard to the Resurrection, it announces that Christ "descended into Hell, rose again from the dead, and ascended into Heaven. But he descended in soul, rose again in the flesh, and ascended equally in both."
The Fourth Lateran Council adopts laws that exclude Jews from public office, restrict their interaction with Christians, limit Jewish financial trade, and mandate unique Jewish dress requirements. The laws institutionalize anti-Semitism in Europe and effectively disenfranchise Jews from the rest of society.
English scholar Robert Grosseteste, 40, becomes chancellor of the university at Oxford. A onetime urchin who begged in the streets of Lincoln for his livelihood, he will tutor the young son of John Lackland and play a role in the intellectual life of Oxford until he resigns in 1221 to pursue a career in the clergy.
1211 1212 1213 1214 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 1220
