Pope Innocent III has a beef with the Magna Carta in 1215
Pope Innocent III has a beef with the Magna Carta, issues a Papal Bull August 24, 1215 annulling the charter.
“On behalf of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and by the authority of SS Peter and Paul his apostles, and by our own authority, acting on the general advice of our brethren, we utterly reject and condemn this settlement [the Magna Carta] and under threat of excommunication we order that the king should not dare to observe it and that the barons and their associates should not require it to be observed: the charter, with all undertakings and guarantees whether confirming it or resulting from it, we declare to be null, and void of all validity for ever. Wherefore, let no man deem it lawful to infringe this document of our annulment and prohibition, or presume to oppose it. If anyone should presume to do so, let him know that he will incur the anger of Almighty God and of SS Peter and Paul his apostles.”
https://www.churchauthority.org/rejection-of-the-magna-carta/
8th Centenary of the Death of Pope Innocent III
Issued in 2016 by the Vatican City post office
Papal Bull issued by Pope Innocent III declaring the Magna Carta annulled. Courtesy the British Library Cotton MS Cleopatra E I, ff. 155–156
Pope Innocent III viewed King John as a vassal and, as such, had no authority to sign what was one of the earliest civil rights charters. Concordat Watch has a good, brief bit of background on how the Pope was able to annul the charter. I’ve kept the links they use in the quote below for those who love diving into history rabbit holes. Worth the distraction, trust me.
In 1208 King John broke the Concordat of London by refusing to appoint Stephen Langton, the Pope’s candidate for Archbishop of Canterbury. (His great-grandfather, Henry I, had appointed bishops until the concordat forbade this.) John then then seized all the possessions of the archbishoprics of Canterbury and York. As punishment Pope Innocent III put England under an interdict. This meant that priests were ordered to go on strike: they were not allowed to conduct church services, hear confessions or administer sacraments, (including death rites, a denial of which, according to Church teaching, could lead to eternal torture in the fires of Hell). The next year Innocent upped the pressure further by excommunicating John, which absolved his subjects of their oaths of fealty and was an open invitation to rebellion.
Four years later the Innocent III lifted the ban, but made the King his vassal and all of England papal territory. Then in 1215 the Pope learned that his vassal had put his seal on the Magna Carta, a guarantee of the rights of freemen which even came with a military enforcement committee. The Pope was furious:
We refuse to overlook such shameless presumption which dishonours the Apostolic See, injures the king’s right, shames the English nation, and endangers the crusade… on behalf of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and by the authority of Saints Peter and Paul His apostles, [we] utterly reject and condemn this settlement. Under threat of excommunication we order that the king should not dare to observe and the barons and their associates should not insist on it being observed. The charter with all its undertakings and guarantees we declare to be null and void of all validity forever.
https://www.concordatwatch.eu/the-pope-cancels-the-magna-carta-1215–t41481
A little art and an important Independence Day: