Answer:
A. In clause 12, the king is restricted in the types of taxes he can impose without approval of the Great Council (a group made up of the nobles). This restricted his ability to raise taxes for wars. This had been the main concern of the nobles in the years preceding the document, because taxes had been raised to fund a war against France. The nobility benefited because the Magna Carta defined individual rights and emphasized the role of laws in society. Clause 39 states, for example, that people should be punished only after a ruling by their peers (similar to the idea of a jury trial) or by the sanctions of the law. Also, the phrase "no free man" implies that all people should be treated equally under the law. By emphasizing this ideal, the Magna Carta restricted the king’s ability to punish his subjects.
B. Under Clause 1, the church was exempted from the Magna Carta. The nobles made clear that the church should be free from interference of the king and nobility. An interesting point was that the nobles explicitly included the phrase “for us and our heirs forever,” which means that they envisioned no point when government should be involved in the affairs of the church. This can be seen as a precursor to the philosophy regarding separation of church and state that emerged in the Enlightenment.
C. According to clause 12, the king retained the right to tax the people on issues relating to a monarch’s ransom, the ability to knight his heir, and the ability to raise a dowry for his daughter. By retaining some power to tax, the document implied that the monarchy was still an important aspect of the government.
Explanation:
