Richard I (The Lionheart) named five official sites for jousting tournaments so that such events could not be used as local wars, and Brackley was one of these.

The town was the site of an important meeting between the barons and representatives of the King in 1215, the year of Magna Carta.

It explicitly protected certain rights of the King's subjects, whether freemen, serfs, slaves or prisoners—most notably allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment.

King John and the barons were to have signed Magna Carta at Brackley Castle, but they eventually did so at Runnymede.

The Tudor antiquary John Leland visited Brackley, where he learned 'a Lord of the Towne' named Neville had (at an uncertain point in the past) had the parish vicar murdered.

The writer Daniel Codd observed that in the grounds of St Peter's Church, a human-shaped stone effigy is sometimes pointed out as being connected with the event.

In 1602, the metaphysical poet John Donne was elected as Member of Parliament for the constituency of Brackley.

It comprised a motte mound 10 feet (3.0 m) high and approximately 44 yards (40 m) in diameter with an outer bailey to the east.

Two fishponds originally lay outside the ditch but have subsequently been infilled – however south of St. James Lake may have formed a part of this.

[citation needed] It was destroyed between 1173[12] (when the then lord of the manor, the Earl of Leicester, Robert le Blancmain, fell out with Henry II) and 1217 (when the Earl of Winchester, Blancmain's heir, was on the losing side against Henry III during the First Barons' War.

[14] Both the four-bay arcade of the south aisle[15] and the west tower with its niches containing seated statues[14] were added in the 13th century.

[16] In the 15th century there were complaints that successive masters were absentees, holding other livings at the same time as being in charge of the hospital.

[12] Brackley Manor House was also a 17th-century Jacobean building that also originally had one storey plus attic dormers.

[12] In 1875–78 the Earl of Ellesmere had it rebuilt on a larger scale, in the same style but retaining only the doorway and one window of the original building.

Brackley is close to the A43 road, which bypasses the town and links it to Towcester and Northampton to the north-east and the M40 motorway to the west.

The GC Main Line included Brackley Viaduct across the Ouse Valley southeast of the town, which was 255 yards (233 m) in length, 62 feet (19 m) high, had 20 brick arches and two girder spans.

British Railways withdrew passenger trains from the line through Brackley Central in September 1966.

Chiltern Railways is said to want to restore services between London Marylebone and Rugby along the former Great Central Main Line.

[23] This would have Brackley Central railway station reopen with direct services to London, Aylesbury and Rugby.

On the east outskirts of the town was H. Bronnley & Co., makers of hand-made soaps who hold Royal Warrants of Appointment for supplying Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III.

The Brackley Morris Men are one of only seven 'traditional Cotswold' sides remaining in England, and the only one to survive in Northamptonshire.

The plate which is still in the possession of St Peter's Church is dated 1623, and is inscribed with the names of seven men, whom local folklore believes to have been the Morris dancers.

[34] In 1866 an article in the Oxford Chronicle reported on their performance in Banbury, describing their 'many coloured ribbons and other gaudy finery', and the 'witless buffoonery' of their 'fool'.

Brackley Town Football Club,[37] known as the Saints, play in National League North.

Brackley Sports Football Club first team plays in the North Bucks and District League Premier Division and its reserve team plays in the North Bucks and District League Intermediate Division.

[44] Brackley is also the home of F1 team Mercedes AMG Petronas having had Brawn GP, who were bought out by Mercedes-Benz in 2009.