[MR] BBC: Harvard Magna Carta Confirmed as Original

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Two days ago the BBC first reported that a strike of Magna Carta owned by
the Harvard Law School library is an "original copy". That is going to take
some explaining, so bear with me.

So there is only one true Magna Carta, if indeed the one shoved under King
John's nose truly survives. But there were official copies, ordered by
successive kings through 1300, each hand written by scribes on
uniformly-sized parchment, sealed officially by an officer known as a
"spigurnel", and then sent by the crown to various important towns,
churches or castles. Twenty-three official copies, now twenty-four, are
known to survive, though there may have been as many as 200 made.

The document was purchased by Harvard in 1946 for just $27.50 (about £7, an
amount described as "peanuts"). It was long thought to be just an
unofficial knock-off -- old, but insignificant. Digital copies of the
Harvard document were minutely examined by historical experts, including
King's College Professor David Carpenter, and pronounced to be authentic.
The piece was probably one of the last official copies, ordered in 1300 by
King Edward I, and is thought to have been sent to the town of Appleby in
Cumbria.

The BBC story, with photos, is at
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm23zjknre7o .

A BBC video commentary can be seen at
https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cqj7vg0xkj4o .

More (a lot more!) about Magna Carta is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta .

When I was in middle school in California, one of our official state
textbooks included the poem "Bad King John" by Eleanor Farjeon (
https://www.poemist.com/eleanor-farjeon/bad-king-john ). The poem was
followed by the added line, "And King John signed.", which appeared to be
part of the poem. The original charter was NOT signed by King John. Nor did
he, or anyone, else affix their seal to the document. So much for
historical accuracy, and even for the accuracy of the textbook.

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.