King John's Abuse Of Power

147 Words1 Pages
In 1215 there was a lot of civil unrest as a result of King John’s abuse of power.
A group of barons drafted the Articles of the Barons, which became the first version of the Magna Carta. Fearing that this rebellion would escalate into a full scale civil war and endanger his throne, King John signed the document, making it Europe’s first written constitution. While it was initially was meant to protect the interests of the noblemen, in time, the rights established by the Magna Carta were also extended to the commoners.

King John had an unstable relationship with the Pope, but was able to reconcile with him some time before his death. A week after King John’s death, the Pope decided to nullify the Magna Carta and sought after to excommunicate