On the trail of the MAGNA CARTA
The world’s oldest symbol of liberty
This year marks the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta and England has invited the world to take part in a series of birthday celebrations.
You can see history come to life and immerse yourself in medieval times by walking one of six self-guided Magna Carta trails, where various revisions and original copies are housed.
The fabled document — first sealed by King John on June 15, 1215 — laid down the foundations of justice and guaranteed liberty for all, becoming the basis for the British Constitution, influential to this day.
Considered the foundation of democracy, the Magna Carta may be England’s best known export. It is also a curious thing to behold: 4,000 words of medieval Latin written on a single sheet of parchment paper with an ink made of dust, water and powdered oak-apple.
The Magna Carta was revolutionary for its times as it made everyone, including royalty, subject to the law.
The bulk of the 63 clauses dealt with the series of grievances about ownership of land and taxation raised by irate barons and the English church against King John.
The 39th clause guaranteed all “free men” the right to fair treatment and justice (at the time only about one tenth of England’s population was considered free under the feudal system).
The famous decree didn’t last long at first because King John persuaded Pope Innocent II to declare it null and void. However, the King’s son and successor, Henry III, approved a series of revisions over the next decade until the Charter was accepted onto parliament’s roll of statues in 1297. Clauses relating to the forest law were removed to create a separate Forest Charter. This gave rights to the common man and the forests were a key source of firewood and food for commoners.
There are only four surviving copies of Magna Carta — two copies belong to the British Library, one copy is owned by Lincoln Cathedral and one by Salisbury Cathedral. The six Magna Carta trails outline King John’s travels around the country, taking in medieval homes, castles and abbeys. They follow historic routes between London, Windsor and Salisbury, through the Cathedral cities in the north, between Kent and East Sussex in the south, and through the east of England and across the heart of the country. I followed the trail to Durham, a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to a Cathedral and Castle, about three hours north of London by train from Kings Cross station. From June 1 to Aug. 31, Durham University’s Palace Green Library is displaying the unique surviving Nov.12,1216 version and the versions from Feb. 11, 1225 and March 28, 1300.
During the time of the document’s creation, Durham was different from the rest of England. As Gemma Lewis, deputy curator (Castle and Archaeology) explained: “The Prince-Bishops ruled the area and they had their own power. Jurisdiction technically was outside the authority of the Crown, but the bishop was, and still is, a royal appointment. This ambiguous position made Durham particularly conscious of English legal custom and encouraged a strong tradition of record-keeping.”
That’s why the archives of the Cathedral hold so many versions of the Magna Carta. “Copies were distributed around the country to ensure people heard about the contents. The charters may have been proclaimed from the pulpit and then retained in the cathedral’s archive,” according to the Cathedral Office.
Consider booking yourself into a room at the Durham Castle, a few steps from the Cathedral. It houses a residence for Durham University students.
Or, if you want to splurge, book into the Bishop’s or Chaplin’s suites. In the Bishop’s suite, the walls are covered in beautiful tapestries. The four-poster canopy bed makes you feel like you’ve been taken back in time. As a guest of the castle, you’re welcome to join the public guided tours for free.
London, besides being a fabulous city to visit, is also a key stop on the Magna Carta trail. The British Library is home to the exhibit, Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy (March 13- Sept. 1, 2015). Also on display are the English Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and a recording of the famous Nelson Mandela Rivonia trial in the 1960s.
And for those of you who cannot make it over to England, the Magna Carta will tour Canada. The travelling exhibition will feature Durham Cathedral’s original 1225 copy of the Magna Carta, as well as the Charter of the Forest, accompanied by a 12minute high-definition film and interpretive text, in both French and English.
The exhibit will open at the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa/ Gatineau (June 11- July 26), and then travel on to Winnipeg’s Canadian Museum for Human Rights (Aug.15-Sept. 18), Toronto’s Fort York (Oct. 4-Nov. 7) and Edmonton’s Legislative Assembly (Nov. 23-Dec. 29). With files from Henry Stancu. Anne-Marie Marais is a Toronto-based travel writer. Her trip was subsidized by Visit England. Follow Anne-Marie on Twitter @LongLegsTravels and read more at LongLegsTravel.com.