In 1215 the English barons, fed up with the wimpy, weak‑willed rule of King John, forced their way into London. They brought with them a new document for the king to sign. Wisely, the King signed and sealed it at Runnymede, a water-meadow about twenty miles southwest of London.

We know this document today as the "Magna Carta," the "Great Charter," or literally, the "Great Paper."  This ground‑breaking document forced the King to acknowledge limitations on his ruling rights, forced him to accept the strictures of legal proceedings, and generally ac…