Introduction

There is a certain irony in commemorating Magna Carta today, since so little of it survives as statute. Most of its articles have been repealed by subsequent legislation. For a document that is over 800 years old, that should not be surprising. Yet it endures as more than a mere document. It is an icon of law and order, justice and rule of law. In the light of that sentiment, however, one cannot help but flinch at some of its provisions, in particular those that seem to identify as potential threats minority groups who, given their minority status, may have been vulnerable at the time. In this regard, clauses 10 and 11 of Magna Carta of 1215 are of particular interest:

As much as Magna Carta is celebrated as a testament to law and justice, the reference to Jews can understandably unsettle modern readers. It is troubling to see how often these clauses can quickly be brushed aside as if aberrations that distract from the main thrust of the document, namely its commitment to rule of law. For instance, Kent Worcester, when introducing a symposium on the Great Charter, briskly remarked: ‘While [Magna Carta] affirmed numerous social distinctions, it nevertheless assumed a rough legal parity among those people designated as free men.’