Magna Carta to Be Displayed at National Archives
WASHINGTON — A copy of the Magna Carta, the 13th-Century document on which much English and American law is based, will go on display at the National Archives for a year starting May 2.
The Great Charter, signed by England’s King John in 1215, gave rights to English landholders that have been extended to form the basis of much of the current Anglo-American legal system.
The document was revised and reissued several times during the 13th Century, and the version to go on display in Washington was prepared in 1297 and signed by King Edward I.
Discovered among the Brudenell family records in England in 1974, it is one of only four remaining of the 1297 charter. It will be displayed in the rotunda of the Archives, near the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
The copy was purchased from the Brudenell family by Dallas businessman H. Ross Perot in 1984.
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