The Magna Carta, signed 800 years ago, was intended to protect the rights of the English clergy and aristocracy from encroachment by the king. Hugh Doherty explains that its origins lie, in part, in a struggle between the crown and the nobility concerning the status of Jews, who at the time played an important role in England’s economy. (Video, about 1 hour.)
Read more on Chabad.org: http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media_cdo/aid/2994915/jewish/The-Magna-Carta-and-the-Jews.htm