Skip to content
Magna Carta episode artwork

Sep 30, 2025 43 min

Magna Carta

from Dan Snow's History Hit

Dan and leading medieval historians explain everything you need to know about Magna Carta...and the story is more dramatic than you might think. Magna Carta sprang from an England on the brink of civil war; the feeble king John left grappling for control after a disastrous defeat in France in the early 13th century and a baron's rebellion in England. It was forged at a standoff on the banks of the Thames in 1215 and still provides the basis of law for most of the English-speaking world today. With thanks to Dr Michael Livingston, Dan Jones and Dr Jess Nelson. This episode was produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore with additional production from Mark Edger. Click here to listen to Dan's explainer on William the Marshal. Click here to listen to Dan's explainer on Richard the Lionheart. You can sign up to watch Dan and Dr Michael Livingston's documentary series on Magna Carta on https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on. You can also email the podcast directly at [email protected].

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Magna Carta

0:00 43:00

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of Dan Snow's History Hit?

This episode is 43 minutes long.

When was this Dan Snow's History Hit episode published?

This episode was published on September 30, 2025.

Can I download this Dan Snow's History Hit episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.