king not below man,
but below God and the law …
this at least is clear
No one at the time regarded the Charter as a final settlement of all outstanding issues, and its importance lay not in details but in the broad affirmation of the principle that there is a law to which the Crown itself is subject. Rex non debet esse sub homine, sed sub Deo et lege — the king should not be below man, but below God and the law. This at least is clear.
Winston Churchill writing about the Magna Carta in his book, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples: Vol. I. The Birth of Britain (Ontario, McClelland & Stewart, 1956).
Rex non debet esse sub homine, sed sub Deo et lege.
The king should not be below man, but below God and the law.
Mr. Churchill continues, “He has his sphere of action, within which he is free from human control. If he steps outside it he must be brought back. And he will step outside it if, ignoring the ancient Council of the kingdom, and refusing to take the advice of his wise men, he tries to govern through his Household, his favourites, or his clerks.”
The king should not be below man, but below God and the law.
If he steps outside it he must be brought back.
According to Wikipedia: Magna Carta was issued in June 1215 and was the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government was not above the law. It sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power, and placed limits of royal authority by establishing law as a power in itself.
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