Magna Carta: the Bury St Edmunds Connection, 20 September 2014

Ruins of Bury St Edmunds Abbey

Members of the Magna Carta Project will be speaking at an upcoming conference at Bury St Edmunds: ‘Magna Carta: The Bury St Edmunds Connection’, on Saturday 20 September 2014.

Project Co-investigator Professor David Carpenter will speak about the meeting of King John’s barons that took place at Bury St Edmunds in the autumn of 1214. The meeting is of great importance in the story of Magna Carta, for it was there that the barons swore that, if King John would not agree to rule justly, they would press their demands by force. David will re-examine the evidence for this meeting and, indeed, ask whether or not it actually took place.

Professor Nicholas Vincent, Principal Investigator of the project, will speak about the place of Magna Carta in the wider world. What continental influences went into the making of the Charter? How has it, in turn, influenced the law and government of the USA or other parts of the world? Why does it enjoy iconic status not just in England, but across four continents?

Co-investigator Professor Paul Brand will talk about Magna Carta in the courts: its enforcement and interpretation 1215-1300. Magna Carta was, of course, a major constitutional document but its individual clauses were also invoked by litigants and the royal justices in the course of individual cases heard in the courts.

The event will take place on 20 September at The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, from 10.00. Tickets can be purchased via the venue’s website.