Forest
Did she die in vain?
As it was less important than the Charter of the Forest, why do we all know about Magna Carta?
The making of the series
How do you know what we hear about in the news is a true interpretation of events? How can you be sure? If the present can be open to interpretation, then is the same true of historical events? Find out about the thinking behind
The Things We Forgot To Remember radio programmes from the producer in
the making of the series.
We venerate the Magna Carta as the foundation rock of English political development. But the sort of law that it enshrined was not as important as that which was put into practice by another charter passed two years later: the Forest Charter.
Forest Law - and the customary rights to a material life which it enshrined – set out the terrain over which English men and women would struggle for 500 years, arguing about the simple right to make a living.
Michael Portillo reinvigorates this lost charter and discovers the shady political expediencies that made Magna Carta worth remembering.
You can read a transcript of this programme.
