800th anniversary of Magna Carta

Along with other major historical events such as the Protestant Reformation by Martin Luther in 1517, the Westphalia Treaty in 1648, the French Revolution in 1789, the Russian Revolution in 1917, and dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990, the year of 1215 is worth to remember as an important event of the world history occurred in that year. On June 15, 1215, the Magna Carta was established in the U.K. Magna Carta, which is translated as "Great Charter" in English. Originally, the Latin adjective "Magna" was given to the charter because it was great in volume, not great in contents. However, the charter has become one of the greatest documents in the history of humanity.

When flying toward the south on an airplane from Heathrow Airport in London, it will soon bring you to the plains of Runnymede. If it were 800 years ago, you would see a bigger tent with the Royal Standard of the England flying over among tents of nobles and knights on the plain. The bigger tent was for John, the King of England, also known as John the Lackland. King John raised taxes to finance a war that he waged to take back the lost land in France. In resistance against the increased taxes, the nobles revolted to seize London. Thanks to the intervention of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the nobles of England and King John sealed a peace treaty in the Runnymede, which is the Magna Carta.

Magna Carta, originally written in Latin, was translated first into French, the language of nobles, and later into English. From the end of the 13th century, even farmers memorized and cited the Magna Carta to protest against the injustice. In 1640, the parliament in England tried to find legal basis to dethrone King Charles I from the Magna Carta. From American independence activists in the 18th century to Nelson Mandela of South Africa in the 20th century, many people sought basis for justification of their actions from the great charter.

Magna Carta’s Article 39 states, "No free man shall be seized or imprisoned except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land." The Article 12 of Constitution of Korea stipulates, "All citizens shall enjoy personal liberty. No person shall be arrested, detained, searched, seized or interrogated unless it is so authorized pursuant to statute." As such, the Constitution of Korea shares the same principle of liberty with the Magna Carta, which was written 800 years ago. It sure is the great document of the humanity.

pisong@donga.com