Magna Cartas re-united at the British Library

Nick Vincent, Tessa Webber & David
Carpenter, with Chris Woods

On 4 February 2015, members of the Magna Carta Project joined British Library curators and conservators as well as other experts to examine the four surviving Magna Cartas of King John. This once-in-a-lifetime event came as part of a historic week, in which the Magna Cartas of 1215 held by the British Library and the Cathedrals of Lincoln and Salisbury were brought together, for the first time, in the British Library’s conservation centre. You can read more about the event on the British Library’s Medieval Manuscripts blog.

Tessa Webber & Nick Vincent, in Tessa's
office at Trinity College, Cambridge

In preparation, MCP Principal Investigator Nicholas Vincent had met with palaeography expert Dr Teresa Webber of Trinity College Cambridge to examine images of King John’s other surviving charters. The hope is to discover more about the working of John’s chancery and – if possible – to identify the scribes who wrote the Magna Cartas. (The Magna Carta Project is gathering all of the 250-odd original charters of King John  – some of these are already online, and can be viewed here.)

It soon became clear that the Magna Cartas still have many secrets to reveal – watch this space for further discoveries!

L-R: Julian Harrison (BL), David Carpenter (MCP), Tessa Webber (Cambridge), Emily Naish (Salisbury), Edward Probert (Chancellor of Salisbury), Chris Woods (conservator, Lincoln & Salisbury), Claire Breay (BL), Kristian Jensen (BL), Cordelia Rogerson (BL), Philippa Hoskin (Univ of Lincoln), Gavin Moorhead (BL), Louise Wilkinson (MCP)