Next Monday marks 800 years since an agreement was made between an English king and his feuding barons that was to have long-term ramifications across the world.
The Magna Carta of June 15, 1215, by which the English barons curtailed the excessive powers of King John, is often regarded as the foundation for the basic freedoms enjoyed by many people across the world today.
The document effectively curbed the king's arbitrary demands for money and enshrined the principles of equality and basic rights under the law of the land, in particular with regard to property and taxation.