Latest news with #medievalhistory
Sky News
26-06-2025
- General
- Sky News
Historian blames post-war 'chaos' for Harvard Magna Carta 'copy' confusion
A British historian who discovered a copy of the Magna Carta was a genuine manuscript has shared his theory on why the document was misidentified. Harvard Law Library bought a version of the royal charter at auction for just $27.50 in 1946, the equivalent of around $450 (£328) today. The vellum document was described as a "copy made in 1327... somewhat rubbed and damp-stained" - but two historians last month discovered it was actually a rare original worth millions of pounds. The document was just one of seven versions of the Magna Carta to survive from King Edward I's 1300 issue of the charter. Professor David Carpenter, who made the discovery with Professor Nicholas Vincent, believes "post-war chaos" is to blame for the confusion. Speaking at a meeting of the Pipe Roll Society at The National Archives in London, he said: "This was just after the war, there was still a measure of chaos, someone has misread the date on it. "This is most likely how it happened." Following the discovery, Prof Vincent traced the history of the document prior to Harvard buying it. His research suggests that after it was issued by King Edward I to the former parliamentary borough of Appleby, it fell into the hands of a family before being passed to slavery abolitionist Thomas Clarkson. Via his estate, it ended up in the hands of Forster Maynard, a World War One flying ace, who sold it to London book dealers Sweet & Maxwell for £42, which then sold it to Harvard. Prof Carpenter, a medieval historian at King's College London, immediately realised the 'copy' looked a lot like the real Magna Carta when he spotted it in Harvard's online catalogue. "I immediately sent the image to my colleague Nicholas Vincent asking him 'Is this what I think it is?'," he said. Speaking at the same meeting, Prof Vincent said: "I told him immediately, you know what that is!" The Magna Carta was originally established in 1215 under King John and outlined the rights of ordinary people under common law for the first time.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Norwich castle confirms summer opening after years of delays
Renovations to Norwich Castle Museum are due to end, almost two years after a projected finish date. Work to refurbish the castle's Norman keep began in 2020 but was held up by the pandemic. Dr Tim Pestell, senior curator of archaeology, confirmed the finishing touches were being carried out and objects were ready to be installed in the museum for a summer 2025 opening. "It has been an absolute marathon," he said. Dr Pestell said the castle was only two months away from reopening. "We will open this summer. We are on the final stretch," he said."The display cases are nearly all in now. We have builders doing their tidying up work, ready to come out, and we have the objects ready to be installed. They are being pinned on their backing boards." The project has faced many delays, including some caused by the Covid-19 were problems in obtaining steel, due to the war in Ukraine. In March 2022, the project's contractor Morgan Sindall told the BBC work would be completed by the end of 2023, but more problems arose. Hidden Norman and Victorian features were discovered and a leaking roof needed to be replaced, causing it to miss a revised target of reopening last summer. Named Royal Palace Reborn, the project has included restoring the original floor levels in the keep and recreating the great hall and the apartments of Norman kings. A new gallery of medieval life was also part of the castle has just acquired what is believed to be the largest collection of 7th Century gold coins found in Britain. The collection includes 129 coins, featuring 118 different designs, that were found by two metal detectorists in a west Norfolk field between 2014 and 2020. Dr Pestell said: "It will be an incredible relief to see that open. It has been an absolute marathon, as it has been for all of the members of our team, but it's going to be amazing. "It's going to be well, well worth the wait." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Gizmodo
16-05-2025
- General
- Gizmodo
Harvard Paid $26 for ‘Cheap Copy' of Magna Carta—Turns Out It's an Original Worth Millions
Harvard had an Antiques Roadshow moment when a professor discovered that an original copy of the Magna Carta was worth millions. In 1946, Harvard purchased what they believed to be a cheap copy of Magna Carta for $25.70. It turned out to be a screaming deal, because the document is actually a rare early 14th-century edition estimated to be worth millions. The document was buried in the Harvard Law School Library's archives until 2023, when David Carpenter, professor of medieval history at King's College London, identified it while perusing the library's website. In a statement from Harvard Law School, Carpenter described the document as 'a remarkable testament to a fundamental stage in England's political development' and as 'one of the world's most valuable documents.' Carpenter was studying unofficial copies of Magna Carta when he made a surprising discovery. Labeled as HLS MS 172 in Harvard Law School Library's digital archives, the document was described as a copy of the 1327 Magna Carta 'somewhat rubbed and damp-stained.' Carpenter immediately realized that the alleged copy might actually be an official copy. He enlisted the help of Nicholas Vincent, a professor of medieval studies at the University of East Anglia, to verify the document's authenticity. The researchers used images taken by Harvard librarians with ultraviolet light and spectral imaging to compare the text of HLS MS 172 with other original copies of Magna Carta from 1300. Carpenter and Vincent's research revealed that HLS MS 172's dimensions were consistent with those found in the original copies. The handwriting was also similar, with the large capital 'E' at the start in 'Edwardus' and the elongated letters in the first line. Magna Carta, originally penned by King John in 1215, was the first document to put into writing the principle that monarchs were not above the law. It is widely considered to be a foundational symbol of liberty and one of the earliest declarations of human rights. The document has influenced many constitutions, including that of the United States. And as far as official copies of Magna Carta go, the rediscovered document is particularly special. Five other editions were written after the original in 1215. HLS MS 172 is a copy of the last edition to be authorized with the king's seal by King Edward I, in 1300. There are only six other official copies of the 1300 version known to still be in existence. Its discovery is especially poignant as Harvard faces funding cuts and intense political pressure. 'The provenance of this document is just fantastic. Given where it is, given present problems over liberties, over the sense of constitutional tradition in America, you couldn't invent a provenance that was more wonderful than this,' Carpenter said in a statement.
BBC News
15-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Magna Carta 'copy' could be an original
Experts have found an unofficial copy of the Magna Carta might actually be an original from 1300. It's currently held by Harvard Law School in the United States. It bought it for just $27.50 (then about £7) in 1946 and has been sat in its library ever since. But two medieval history professors think it's an incredibly rare lost original of the document from 1300 in the reign of King Edward I and could be worth millions. They compared it to the 25 surviving copies of the document in the world and found the handwriting, dimensions and wording were identical to other originals from 1300. But what is the Magna Carta, why is it such an important document, and why did Horrible Histories make a song of it? Read on to find out more. What is the Magna Carta? The Magna Carta is seen as the basis of many UK laws and marks the first time that ordinary people were protected by rights. The first version was written up in 1215 in Runnymede on the banks of the river that time, King John was in charge of England. He was fighting with landowners called barons who were unhappy with how he was running the country and how much he was taxing them. The Magna Carter was like an agreement between the King and the barons to take away some of the king's power. Learn all about the history of the Magna Carta on BBC BitesizeIt set out a list of basic rules about how the country would be of the most important, was that no one was above law - including the king. King John signed it (he actually put his seal on it) which meant that the clauses named would apply to the original copy was made, it was then copied about 250 times and taken around the country so it would apply versions were issued by successive kings until 1300, when this copy at Harvard Law School is thought to have been drawn up. While not many of the rules still exist today, the Magna Carta was important to create the idea that the law should still apply to royalty, that everyone should have a fair trial, and that people shouldn't be taxed too much.
Asharq Al-Awsat
15-05-2025
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Harvard Thought it Had Cheap Copy of Magna Carta. It Turned Out to be Extremely Rare
Harvard University for decades assumed it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta in its collection, a stained and faded document it had purchased for less than $30. But two researchers have concluded it has something much more valuable — a rare version from 1300 issued by Britain's King Edward I, The Associated Press reported. The original Magna Carta established in 1215 the principle that the king is subject to law, and it has formed the basis of constitutions globally. There are four copies of the original and, until now, there were believed to be only six copies of the 1300 version. 'My reaction was one of amazement and, in a way, awe that I should have managed to find a previously unknown Magna Carta,' said David Carpenter, a professor of medieval history at King's College London. He was searching the Harvard Law School Library website in December 2023 when he found the digitized document. 'First, I'd found one of the most rare documents and most significant documents in world constitutional history,' Carpenter said. 'But secondly, of course, it was astonishment that Harvard had been sitting on it for all these years without realizing what it was.' Confirming the document's authenticity Carpenter teamed up with Nicholas Vincent, a professor of medieval history at Britain's University of East Anglia, to confirm the authenticity of Harvard's document. Comparing it to the other six copies from 1300, Carpenter found the dimensions matched up. He and Vincent then turned to images Harvard librarians created using ultraviolet light and spectral imaging. The technology helps scholars see details on faded documents that are not visible to the human eye. That allowed them to compare the texts word-for-word, as well as the handwriting, which include a large capital 'E' at the start in 'Edwardus' and elongated letters in the first line. After the 1215 original printed by King John, five other editions were written in the following decades — until 1300, the last time the full document was set out and authorized by the king's seal. The 1300 version of Magna Carta is "different from the previous versions in a whole series of small ways and the changes are found in every single one,' Carpenter said. Harvard had to meet a high bar to prove authenticity, Carpenter said, and it did so 'with flying colors.' Its tattered and faded copy of the Magna Carta is worth millions of dollars, Carpenter estimated — though Harvard has no plans to sell it. A 1297 version of the Magna Carta sold at auction in 2007 for $21.3 million. A document with a colorful history The other mystery behind the document was the journey it took to Harvard. That task was left to Vincent, who was able to trace it all the way back to the former parliamentary borough of Appleby in Westmorland, England. The Harvard Law School library purchased its copy in 1946 from a London book dealer for $27.50. At the time, it was wrongly dated as being made in 1327. Vincent determined the document was sent to a British auction house in 1945 by a World War I flying ace who also played a role defending Malta in World War II. The war hero, Forster Maynard, inherited the archives from Thomas and John Clarkson, who were leading campaigners against the slave trade. One of them, Thomas Clarkson, became friends with William Lowther, hereditary lord of the manor of Appleby, and he possibly gave it to Clarkson. 'There's a chain of connection there, as it were, a smoking gun, but there isn't any clear proof as yet that this is the Appleby Magna Carta. But it seems to me very likely that it is,' Vincent said. He said he would like to find a letter or other documentation showing the Magna Carta was given to Thomas Clarkson. Making Magna Carta relevant for a new generation Vincent and Carpenter plan to visit Harvard in June to see its Magna Carta firsthand — and they say the document is as relevant as ever at a time when Harvard is clashing with the Trump administration over how much authority the federal government should have over its leadership, admissions and activism on campus. 'It turns up at Harvard at precisely the moment where Harvard is under attack as a private institution by a state authority that seems to want to tell Harvard what to do,' Vincent said. It also is a chance for a new generation to learn about the Magna Carta, which played a part in the founding of the United States — from the Declaration of Independence to the adoption of the Bill of Rights. Seventeen states have incorporated aspects of it into their laws. 'We think of law libraries as places where people can come and understand the underpinnings of democracy,' said Amanda Watson, the assistant dean for library and information services at Harvard Law School. 'To think that Magna Carta could inspire new generations of people to think about individual liberty and what that means and what self-governance means is very exciting.'
