Which document, signed by King John, limited the king's power and protected certain rights?

Which document, signed by King John, limited the king's power and protected certain rights?

• A. The Charter of the Forest
• B. The Petition of Right
• C. The Magna Carta
• D. The Bill of Rights

Answer: (C)

The main idea is that a ruler’s power is checked by law and certain rights are protected. Magna Carta, signed by King John at Runnymede in 1215, was the first major document to constrain the king’s authority. It established that the king must operate within the law and that free men could not be punished or taxed without lawful procedure and consent. It introduced ideas of due process, protection against arbitrary punishment, and the notion that even the king is subject to the law. Although its immediate protections focused on the nobility, its principles gradually expanded to limit royal power more broadly and to uphold certain rights. This document set the stage for later constitutional developments in England and influenced a tradition of the rule of law that informed other rights-focused documents. The other options reflect different moments or aspects—forestry rights, late-renaissance-era limits on taxation and imprisonment, and rights codified after the Glorious Revolution—so they don’t address the earliest establishment of limiting royal power and protecting rights in the way Magna Carta does.

The main idea is that a ruler’s power is checked by law and certain rights are protected. Magna Carta, signed by King John at Runnymede in 1215, was the first major document to constrain the king’s authority. It established that the king must operate within the law and that free men could not be punished or taxed without lawful procedure and consent. It introduced ideas of due process, protection against arbitrary punishment, and the notion that even the king is subject to the law. Although its immediate protections focused on the nobility, its principles gradually expanded to limit royal power more broadly and to uphold certain rights. This document set the stage for later constitutional developments in England and influenced a tradition of the rule of law that informed other rights-focused documents. The other options reflect different moments or aspects—forestry rights, late-renaissance-era limits on taxation and imprisonment, and rights codified after the Glorious Revolution—so they don’t address the earliest establishment of limiting royal power and protecting rights in the way Magna Carta does.