As noted in an earlier post, this week is marks the 790th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta. Five years ago, Religion & Liberty published a series of essays on foundational documents in the history of Western civilization, or, as Edmund Burke called it, “this fierce spirit of liberty.” The first of these essays was on the Magna Carta, “In the Meadow That Is Called Runnymede.” Here are the others:

John Milton’s Areopagitica, “The Liberty to Know, to Utter, and to Argue.”1689 English Bill of Rights, “Vindicating Their Ancient Rights and Liberties.”United States Declaration of Independence,‘We Hold These Truths’.Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty, ‘Almighty God Hath Created the Mind Free’.