Secrets of the Magna Carta, Written by Martin Durkin
By Thomas Walker-Werth
Produced & Directed by John Blystone
Narrated by Hugh Bonneville
Running time: 100 minutes
Unrated
The sealing of the Magna Carta in 1215 was a major turning point in world history. It helped to topple the idea that kings are above the law, preventing the crown from taxing noblemen without their consent and establishing the right of all people to due process and legal protection of private property. Written by wealthy English barons keen to protect themselves from the tyrannical King John, it would go on to have an impact far greater than they could have imagined, liberating British commerce and inspiring American independence. In the 2017 two-part documentary Secrets of the Magna Carta, writer Martin Durkin sets out to tell the story of this incredible document and its legacy.
That story begins with the invasion of England by the Norman king William. He and subsequent kings heavily taxed the English people, then used their money to fight wars and secure the Norman kings’ interests in France, which angered the English, setting the stage for revolt. During this segment, Durkin presents an interesting perspective on the story of Robin Hood. Rather than simply “stealing from the rich to give to the poor,” Robin Hood is depicted as the embodiment of the popular rebellion against the harsh taxes imposed by Norman kings (especially John, the “Bastard King”). He steals from the Sheriff of Nottingham, the tax collector, to return money to the people from whom it was appropriated.1
The period leading up to the sealing of the Magna Carta is covered quickly, and the documentary moves on to discuss this “Great Charter’s” subsequent impact on English society. Through its defense of property rights, the Magna Carta made it possible for people to establish new businesses, which led to increased specialization, sparking a boom in production, trade, and innovation.
The first fifty-minute episode takes the viewer right up to the creation of the British Bill of Rights and the early colonization of America in the 17th century. . . .This speedy storytelling gives the documentary the feel of a white-knuckle ride through history, skipping from one major event to another, delivering a broad picture of the history of liberty in England and America.
Episode two continues the whistle-stop tour through modern history, from the American Revolution to today. It examines the anti-liberty trends of recent centuries and decades, noting how the principles originally set out in the Magna Carta have been violated, how governments collect far more taxes today than did even the autocratic King John, and how this trend away from the principles of private property and free trade has harmed people, businesses, and human prosperity.
Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville delivers an emotive narration, while many of today’s most notable defenders of liberty provide commentary on the story, including the late Walter Williams, Matt Ridley, David Boaz, and Deirdre McCloskey.
As Secrets shows, the Magna Carta had a tremendous impact on the history and development of freedom and the resultant human flourishing. However, viewers will walk away none the wiser about the moral and philosophic arguments that led to the British Bill of Rights, the American Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution, all of which the documentary presents as direct consequences of the Magna Carta’s liberalization of trade. The Magna Carta was a crucial step in the development of the ideas of liberty in political discourse. However, it remained for figures such as John Locke, Montesquieu, Algernon Sidney, and the American founders to make the deeper moral and philosophic case for freedom and design institutions to protect it.
Although Secrets of the Magna Carta prioritizes political and economic explanations, largely overlooking the importance of philosophy, it nevertheless presents a compelling and fascinating overview of the story of liberty over the past eight hundred years. To a viewer unfamiliar with this history, it offers an accessible if somewhat overdramatized journey that is both enlightening and entertaining. To those already familiar, it provides interesting new angles and details on aspects of the development of freedom and economic prosperity throughout English and American history. Despite a few flaws, it is nonetheless a great introduction to the Magna Carta, as well as a powerful warning of the need to defend its principles of liberty from the threats those ideas face today.