MAGNA CHARTA, The Sylvester Hassell In 1215 King John of England was forced by his barons, at Runnymede, to sign the Magna Charta, the legal basis of English liberties, securing life, liberty and property from arbitrary spoliation— representation with taxation, the Habeas Corpus, and trial by jury. In 1265 “the knights, citizens and burgesses” were summoned to form the House of Commons, and thus, with the House of Lords, complete the organization of the British Parliament. (Hassell’s History pg 447)