Estovers of common

October 29, 2003 1:24 PM

The Secret History of the Magna Carta. This is a fascinating article on the Magna Carta and the lesser known Charter of the Forest, and the early establishment of the rights of commons.
posted by homunculus (7 comments total)

Excellent post.
posted by four panels at 1:38 PM on October 29, 2003

dammit. this is one of those super-good-post-thingies-that-no-one-comments-on as recently debated/praised/condemned/etc. in meta.

the linebaugh article is very appropriate to current times; and, appropriateness aside, quite an excellent piece of writing.

many of us learn in middle and/or high school some of the import of the magna carta, but there are other bits just as important, or even more so, that are so unknown as to be described as "secret".

read and get commenting, people, it's only the basis for much of western common law!
posted by dorian at 4:23 PM on October 29, 2003

My descendants signed it twice.
posted by thomcatspike at 4:48 PM on October 29, 2003

Excellent post
posted by caddis at 7:38 PM on October 29, 2003

mAy I take the tme to say thank you for this excellent and thoroughly informative post.
posted by johnnyboy at 4:08 AM on October 30, 2003

You're welcome. aNd take as much tme as you need. ;)
posted by homunculus at 11:06 AM on October 30, 2003

The Shelley quotes in Linebaugh's article are from The Mask of Anarchy and Declaration of Rights, btw.
posted by homunculus at 1:28 PM on October 30, 2003