Magna Original Letter established in 1215 the principle that the king is subject to the law and constituted the basis of constitutions around the world
Harvard university has taken over for decades to have a cheap copy of Magna Carta, bought for less than 30 dollars, but two researchers have concluded that it is a rare version of 1300 issued by British king Eduardo I.
The magna original letter established in 1215 the principle that the king is subject to the law and constituted the basis of constitutions around the world. There are four copies of the original and so far it was believed that there were only six copies of the 1300 version.
“My reaction was astonishment and, in a way, admiration for being able to find a magna card hitherto unknown,” said David Carpenter, professor of medieval history at King’s College London.
The teacher was researching the Harvard Law School Library website in December 2023 when he found the scanned document.
Carpenter joined Nicholas Vincent, professor of medieval history at the University of East Anglia, UK, to confirm the authenticity of the Harvard document.
Comparing it with the other six copies of 1300, Carpenter found that the dimensions corresponded. They later turned to images generated by Harvard librarians using ultraviolet light and spectral images. Technology helps academics see details in faded documents that are not visible to the human eye.
This allowed them to compare the word texts to the word, as well as the handwriting, which includes a great ‘and’ uppercase at the beginning of ‘Edwardus’ and elongated letters in the first line.
After the original 1215 printed by King John of England, five other editions were written in the following decades – until 1300, the last time the full document was published and authorized by the king’s seal.
The 1300 version of Magna Carta is “different from previous versions in a series of small aspects, and the changes are in each of them,” Carpenter pointed out.
Harvard had to reach high patterns to prove authenticity, Carpenter said, and did “with distinction.”
Its spent and discolored copy of Magna Carta is worth millions of dollars, estimated Carpenter – although Harvard has no plans to sell it. A 1297 version of Magna Carta was sold at auction in 2007 by $ 21.3 million.
The other mystery behind the document was the course he made until Harvard. This task was left to Vincent, who managed to follow her to the former Parliamentary District of Appleby in Westmorland, England.
The Harvard Law School library bought its copy in 1946 to a London bookier for $ 27.50. At the time, the date was wrongly attributed to 1327.
Vincent determined that the document was sent to a British auctioneer in 1945 by one of the aviation of World War I, which also played a role in the defense of Malta in World War II.
The war hero, Forster Maynard, inherited the archives of Thomas and John Clarkson, who led campaigns against slave trade.
“There is a chain of calls there, as it were, a full proof, but there is still no clear evidence that this is Appleby’s Magna Carta. But it seems very likely to be,” Vincent said.
The professor confessed that he would like to find a letter or other documentation that shows that the magna letter was delivered to Thomas Clarkson.
Vincent and Carpenter plan to visit Harvard in June to see his magna letter firsthand-and say the document is as relevant as always at a time when Harvard is in conflict with the administration led by US President Donald Trump, how much authority the federal government must have about its leadership, admissions and campus activism.
