Freedom and protest: Magna Carta and its legacies

Week 1

Magna Carta, Parliament and the Law 1215-1300 (Lecturers: Nigel Saul and Jonathan Phillips)

Learning outcome: to set the scene for studying Magna Carta; to show how Magna Carta became embedded in practice in England

Week 2

The reinvention of Magna Carta, 1508-1642 (Lecturer: Justin Champion)

Learning outcomes: to understand how the significance of  the Magna Carta was reinvented in the context of the conflict between monarchy and parliament; to explore the use of Magna Carta in political cartoons

Week 3

The Whig Ancient Constitution, 1642-1776 (Lecturer: Justin Champion)

Learning Outcomes: to understand, and examine, how the ‘idea’ rather than the ‘event’ of Magna Carta became used by conservative and radical political groups; to understand the export of the tradition of Magna Carta into the American colonies

Week 4

Magna Carta and the wider world: constitution making (Lecturer: Emm Johnstone with others)

Learning outcomes include: to understand the significance of Magna Carta and its ideals in the establishment of constitutions and bills of human rights over the past two centuries

Week 5

Public history: memorialisation and memorials (Lecturer: Graham Smith and others)

Learning outcomes include examining the purposes of commemoration in modern society.

Week 6

Magna Carta: A History of an Argument c.1800-2015 (Lecturer: Graham Smith)

Learning outcomes include: to appreciate the complex and contested uses of Magna Carta in contemporary debates about human rights and the rule of law.