Here is a Google Maps shot of my first road trip. My sister lives in Weybridge and the Magna Carta was signed in Runnymede which is only 10 miles away from Weybridge and 20 miles away from the center of London.

Turns out we were not able to make it to Leicester. We ended up going to Runnymede, the location where the Magna Carta was signed by King John in 1215. A couple interesting facts about the Magna Carta...

1. It was not actually signed! It was sealed in wax by the King.  
2. More than one copy was produced and sent out to officials across the kingdom. 
3. The original Magna Carta had 63 clauses. Only three are still in use today.

• One defends the freedom and rights of the English Church
• Another confirms the liberties and customs of London and other towns
• The last one of the three is the most famous; it covers the court system and the rights guaranteed to the accused. These rights included what would later become known as trial by jury, the right to a government paid lawyer and other rights that contributed to our 6^th Amendment. 

     4. King John did not listen to the rules set out by the charter and faced a two year long rebellion. 

     5. There is more than one version of the Magna Carta. It was revised and set out in 1216, 1217, 1225,       and 1297. Each time clauses were removed and created by kings depending on the situation. 

Here is a picture of me at Runnymede in the field where the Magna Carta was sealed. As you can tell by my clothes it was raining when I left the house. And it was raining 10 minutes after this picture was taken. Thank you to the English weather gods for given me some sun for my photo shoot :) 

Now you may be asking yourself, what on earth does the Magna Carta have to do with Richard III. Well, the Magna Carta changed the course of history. It limited the power of the previously absolute monarchs of England and set into place the foundation for constitutional law as we know it. It paved the way for the first Parliament to meet in England under the reign of John's son, King Henry III in 1258. Parliament was the institution that declared Edward IV's children illegitimate and offered the throne to Richard III. Therefore if King John hadn't sealed the Magna Carta then there wouldn't have been a Parliament that created Richard as King of England.