Festival of Freedoms

This September, members of the Magna Carta Project will be taking part in Parliament’s Festival of Freedoms. The Festival is part of Parliament in the Making, a year-long cultural and education programme that commemorates a series of major anniversaries including 750 years since Simon de Montfort’s parliament and 800 years since the sealing of Magna Carta.

Westminster Hall, site of the
1265 parliament 

On 15 September, Sophie Ambler will be talking at Portcullis House on ‘What Happened at Simon de Montfort’s Parliament?’. De Montfort’s parliament of 1265 is celebrated as a pivotal episode in the history of politics. But why was the parliament summoned and what actually took place? Sophie will describe the tumultuous context of the parliament, with England’s king imprisoned and the kingdom ruled by a council of his subjects, and examine new evidence to reconstruct the events, personnel and atmosphere of the meeting, in order to reveal the dramatic course of the parliament and its theatrical climax. 

Statue of
Llewelyn the Great,
Conwy

On 17 September, David Carpenter will be speaking at The National Assembly for Wales on ‘Wales and Magna Carta in 1215’. Magna Carta, one of the most famous documents in world history, was sealed 800 years ago in 1215. Here, David will explore the crucial role played by the Welsh rulers in the creation of the Great Charter. Focussing on the rebellion against King John by Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales (later known as Llewelyn the Great) and his allies, he will examine the chapters in Magna Carta dealing with their grievances - revealing that Magna Carta is a very much a British document, with important chapters about both Wales and Scotland.

These events are free and all are welcome but booking is required. To find out more about the Festival of Freedoms, to see the full events listings and to book your place, please visit the 2015 anniversary events page on Parliament’s website. 

Democracy Day - 750 years since Simon de Montfort's 1265 parliament

Westminster Abbey Chapter House

Magna Carta Project members appeared on BBC radio and television this week as part of BBC's Democracy Day (20 January) - a series of commemorations inspired by the anniversary of Simon de Montfort's famed parliament of 1265. Commemorations began on 19 January, when Louise Wilkinson appeared on Woman's Hour to talk about Eleanor de Montfort, wife of Simon de Montfort and sister of Henry III. Louise explained Eleanor's perspective on events and her role in the politics of the period. You can listen to this episode of Woman's Hour here, via the BBC website. 

On the same day, the BBC website published an article to which David Carpenter contributed: 'Simon de Montfort: The turning point for democracy that gets overlooked', explaining the significance of the 1265 parliament. You can read David's comments here. He contributed to an article giving a Welsh perspective on events, was interviewed for BBC Wales television and appeared on Good Morning Wales. He also gave live interviews for the BBC international service, as well as for BBC Arabic and Persian. David was also featured on Australian SBS Wolrd News. Later he also spoke on Hereford and Worcester local radio and on the Mark Forrest Show, which goes out across BBC local radio. You can view a video that David made for UK Parliament at Westminster Abbey Chapter House here. 

Sophie Ambler gave live interviews in Westminster Hall on BBC Breakfast, and also appeared in a special feature for BBC Parliament and Daily Politics, a radio version of which was also aired on the Today Programme. She also contributed a guest blog for the History of Parliament, which was featured on the Guardian live politics blog.

You can read Sophie's feature on Simon de Montfort's 1265 parliament, in which Magna Carta was confirmed, on the Magna Carta Project website, as well as David's recent article showcasing a new discovery about the changes made to Magna Carta by Montfort during the parliament.