The Magna Carta Conference: booking now open

Booking has now opened for The Magna Carta Conference, a landmark event commemorating the 800^th anniversary of the Charter’s issue. Hosted by the The Magna Carta Project, it will be held 17-19 June 2015 at King’s College London and the British Library. Members of The Magna Carta Project will be joined by renowned scholars from across the globe to share major new discoveries and research on Magna Carta and its world, in conjunction with the British Library’s Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy exhibition. To be part of this momentous occasion, be sure to book your tickets via Eventbrite.  

The conference will cover the world of Magna Carta in unparalleled breadth and depth (you can view the whole conference programme on the Magna Carta Project website): from the Charter’s background and later use to its place in medieval law; from propaganda and political ideas in King John’s reign to kingship in medieval literature; from John’s military campaigns to the scribes of his court; and from the Charter’s continental and British context to its impact on society.  

There will also be a conference reception at KCL’s Maughan Library (spaces are limited, so book now to avoid disappointment!), where the J. C. Holt Undergraduate Essay  Prize will be awarded by Melvyn Bragg, and a rare opportunity to enjoy a private viewing of the British Library’s Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy exhibition, introduced by lead curator Claire Breay. Those attending day three of the conference are also being offered free entry to the British Library’s Early European Parallels to Magna Carta evening event (again, spaces are limited so book now to be sure of a place).  

Speakers will include: Nicholas Vincent, Jinty Nelson, Levi Roach, Björn Weiler, Martin Aurell, Janet Burton, Sophie Ambler, Anne Duggan, John Hudson, George Garnett, Hugh Doherty, Tessa Webber, Andrew Payne, Geoffrey French, Stephen Church, Daniel Power, Henry Summerson, David Crook, Paul Brand, Scott Waugh, Jean-Philippe Genet, Louise Wilkinson, Claire Breay, Marc Morris, John Gillingham, William Chester Jordan, John Maddicott, Alice Taylor, Peter Crooks, Nigel Saul and David Carpenter. 

'Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy' opens at the British Library

Julian Harrison and HRH the Prince of Wales in front 
of the statue of Geoffrey de Mandeville 

Yesterday evening saw the triumphant opening of Magna Carta, Law, Liberty, Legacy at the British Library, by HRH the Prince of Wales. The exhibition is the biggest anywhere devoted to the history of a single document. It brings together an astonishing array of exhibits, in a way that is unlikely to be seen again – from King John’s thumb bone, to Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the American Declaration of Independence, to letters revealing Winston Churchill’s plan to gift Lincoln’s Magna Carta to the USA, as well (of course) as the British Library’s two 1215 Magna Cartas and examples of other thirteenth-century issues. (You can view the collection items here). 

Claire Breay and Julian Harrison show the Savernake hunting horn to HRH the Prince of Wales

Curated by Claire Breay and Julian Harrion, the exhibition was planned with advice from Nicholas Vincent and David Carpenter of the Magna Carta Project, with the support of the AHRC. Already it has received laudatory reviews in the Guardian and the Telegraph. 

Claire Breay introduces a replica of King John's effigy

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)

The Four 1215 Magna Cartas at the British Library

King John hunting, from British Library MS Cotton Claudius D II

1,215 members of the public will be able to view the four surviving original Magna Cartas of 1215, which will be brought together at the British Library on 3 February 2015 to mark the 800^th anniversary of the Charter’s endorsement. The British Library holds two engrossments of the 1215 Charter; a third is preserved at Lincoln Cathedral and a fourth at Salisbury Cathedral. This will be the first time that all four originals have been brought together. Members of the public can apply for the chance to attend the event via a ballot, which opened this week.

The British Library will also be holding a major exhibition to commemorate the 800^th anniversary (Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy), which will open on 13 March 2015. Members of the Magna Carta Project are advising on the exhibition and will provide chapters for its catalogue. Further information can be found on the Medieval Manuscripts blog.

In preparation for events next year, conservators at the British Library have been subjecting one of their Magna Cartas to multispectral analysis. The document was badly damaged in the Cotton Library fire of 1731, making much of its contents impossible to read with the naked eye. As a result of the images produced by this analysis the text can now be read once more. Further details of the conservation work can be found on the Collection Care blog.