Magna Carta: Difference between revisions

Research by [[Victorian era|Victorian]] historians showed that the original 1215 charter had concerned the medieval relationship between the monarch and the barons, rather than the rights of ordinary people. The majority of historians, now see the interpretation of the charter as a unique and early charter of universal legal rights as a myth that was created centuries later. Despite the changes in views of historians, the charter has remained a powerful, iconic document, even after almost all of its content was repealed from the statute books in the 19th and 20th centuries. Magna Carta still forms an important symbol of liberty today, often cited by politicians and campaigners, and is held in great respect by the British and American legal communities, [[Alfred Denning, Baron Denning|Lord Denning]] describing it as "the greatest constitutional document of all {{not a typo|times}}—the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot".{{sfn|Danziger|Gillingham|2004|p=268}} In the 21st century, four [[Exemplified copy|exemplifications]] of the original 1215 charter remain in existence, two at the [[British Library]], one at [[Lincoln Castle]] and one at [[Salisbury Cathedral]]. There are also a handful of the subsequent charters in public and private ownership, including copies of the 1297 charter in both the United States and Australia. Although scholars refer to the 63 numbered "clauses" of Magna Carta, this is a modern system of numbering, introduced by Sir [[William Blackstone]] in 1759; the original charter formed a single, long unbroken text. The four original 1215 charters were displayed together at the British Library for one day, 3 February 2015, to mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. None of the original 1215 Magna Carta is currently in force since it has been repealed; however, four clauses of the original charter (1 (part), 13, 39, and 40) are enshrined in the 1297 reissued Magna Carta and do still remain in force in England and Wales (as clauses 1, 9, and 29 of the 1297 statute).