U.S. tourist helps keep the Magna Carta safe

Man with hammer tried to smash document’s case

LONDON — An American tourist from Louisiana, with the help of a Salisbury Cathedral employee, stopped a hammer-wielding thief from stealing the Magna Carta and escaping.

Matthew Delcambre, of New Iberia, La., said that he and his wife, Alexis, were sightseeing in the southwest English city when a man tried to shatter the glass encasing the precious manuscript in the church’s Chapter House. After Alexis tried to raise the alarm, Delcambre and other bystanders banded together to try to hold the thief back behind the doors of the Chapter House.

When the thief pushed past them, the 56-yearold IT expert gave chase into an outer courtyard. He grabbed the man’s arm near the courtyard gate and knocked away the hammer. A church employee tackled the man and held him down.

“It wasn’t me by myself,” he said. “It was completely a group effort.”

The Magna Carta, which was protected by two layers of thick glass, wasn’t damaged.

Wiltshire police said Saturday that a 45-yearold man was freed on bail until Nov. 20 as officers continue to investigate.

Salisbury Cathedral’s Magna Carta is one of four existing specimens of the 1215 charter that established the principle that the king is subject to the law. It is considered the founding document of English law and civil liberties and influenced the creation of the U.S. Constitution.

The document, its name Latin for “Great Charter,” was short-lived. Despotic King John, who met disgruntled barons and agreed to a list of basic rights, almost immediately went back on his word and asked the pope to annul it, plunging England into civil war. It was reissued after the king’s death.

Of all those who played a part in corralling the thief, Delcambre credits his wife, Alexis, first and foremost, since she noticed the thief wielding a hammer as he came out of the bathroom for disabled people, and then she sought help.