In Benedict XVI’s encyclical Deus Caritas Est, we read the following, referring to 1 Corinthians 13:3 on the centrality of charity: “This hymn must be the Magna Carta of all ecclesial service….” Benedict could use this reference to the famous English Charter in a modern encyclical from Rome on Christmas, 2005 because the Magna Carta has itself become a world-wide synonym of a basic rule, a foundation on which orderly life is built. In fact, this same Magna Carta had much to do with Benedict’s famous medieval predecessor, Pope Innocent III (1160-1216). Indeed, Innocent revoked it some three weeks after it was signed at Runnymede on June 15, 1215.
Thus, if anyone thinks that history is easy to understand, he should reflect on this fact: Innocent III, in his capacity as universal feudal sovereign, nullified the terms of the Magna Carta. It did not necessarily make him a tyrant. At the time, neither Innocent nor anyone else could have anticipated the subsequent fame of the Magna Carta. The reigning English monarch, King John, one of the worst of the English rulers, was at the time losing a war over his French possessions. King John swore loyalty to Innocent, who had already put England under interdict for John’s dealings with the Church. John’s oath was a way to gain time. In pursuing his interests in France, John had to tax the English barons heavily, too heavily in their view.
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