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GCSE History · key term
A person who was not bound to a lord as an unfree peasant. This legal status mattered because Magna Carta did not protect everyone equally.
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Paper 2
Revise: Magna Carta and the First Barons’ WarLegal protection for free men: a free man was not to be imprisoned arbitrarily, but only through lawful judgement or the law of the land. This challenged John’s use of royal power against individuals.
Paper 2
A person who was not legally bound to a lord as an unfree peasant. The protections for free men in Magna Carta did not amount to equal rights for everyone.
Do not describe Magna Carta as democracy or equal rights for everyone. Its protections chiefly benefited free men, especially the barons.
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Its protections concerning justice were particularly important. It stated that no free man should be imprisoned or deprived of his possessions except through the lawful judgement of his equals or the law of the land. It also promised that justice would not be sold, denied or delayed.