Salisbury Cathedral and Magna Carta
Plans for 2015 and the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta 1215
Salisbury Cathedral is extremely proud to be home to the finest of the four surviving
original 1215 Magna Carta. It plans to take a leading role in the 2015 celebrations
marking the 800th anniversary of the historic and iconic document, inscribed in
the UNESCO ‘Memory of the World’ register, whose legacy has been its enduring
global influence. Magna Carta’s clauses on social justice form the cornerstone of
modern democracy and liberty worldwide and are as pertinent today as they were
800 years ago. Our Magna Carta is on permanent display to visitors in our
newly-conserved Chapter House.
See Magna Carta 1215:
Monday-Saturday: 1 April – 31 October, 9.30am – 4.30pm
1 November – 31 March, 10.00am – 4.30pm
Sundays: all year, 12.45pm – 3.45pm.
Plans for 2015
• To re-display and re-present Magna Carta in the newly-conserved
Chapter House, safeguarding the document for the future
• To use the latest interpretation techniques to communicate Magna Carta’s
historic background and modern significance to the many extra visitors we
expect to welcome.
We wish to commemorate the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta by promoting its
values and ideals through a wonderful mix of spiritual and secular celebrations
promoting justice and freedom in a practical sense, and running a full programme
of learning and outreach events for people of all ages. Plans inlude:
• A lecture series chaired by the Dean of Salisbury featuring international
speakers exploring topics inspired by Magna Carta
• A week-long Flower Festival in September 2015
• A Medieval Fair for all the family
• A pageant involving hundreds of people
• A special concert and a Celebratory Eucharist.
Alongside this activity, the Cathedral’s education department will work closely with
schools throughout the year to deliver curriculum-focused programmes supporting
citizenship and history.
Further details of Salisbury Cathedral’s Magna Carta 800th anniversary celebrations and
special events will be published later this year.
In delivering its ambitious programme Salisbury Cathedral intends to work closely with partners including:
The British Library, Visit Wiltshire, Lincoln Cathedral, Magna Carta 800th Committee, Wiltshire Council,
Dorset County Council, Diocese of Salisbury, the American Bar Association, BBC, UNESCO, Salisbury
International Arts Festival and Salisbury City Council.
Brief background information on Magna Carta 1215
Magna Carta is one of the most celebrated documents in English history, regarded as the cornerstone of
English liberty, law and democracy, and its legacy has been its enduring worldwide influence. It was written
in Latin, the language of all official documents of the period, on a single skin of vellum (calfskin). It consists
of 63 clauses written on 76 tightly packed lines, written with the standard medieval time and space-saving
abbreviations. The critical importance of the charter is that it imposed for the first time detailed written
constraints on royal authority in the fields of taxation, feudal rights and justice, and limited unjust and
arbitrary behaviour by the king. Magna Carta has become an icon for freedom and democracy throughout the
world. The other surviving copies are held by the British Library and Lincoln Cathedral.
Salisbury’s copy of Magna Carta 1215 is in excellent condition. Written in a neat business hand, it is closer in
some ways to a book hand than to the business hand of the royal chancery. It has various medieval and postmedieval endorsements including anno domini 1215 written in a hand very similar to that of the antiquary
and herald Robert Glover. It is assumed to be the exemplar of the charter delivered to Wiltshire and then
stored in the cathedral archives.
Bronze (c1880) depicting King John, Archbishop Langton and a baron at the time of Magna Carta
The Salisbury Connection
At Runnymede King John was urged to accept the demands of the barons and agree Magna Carta by his
half-brother William Longespeé, whose effigy is in Salisbury Cathedral. Also present at Runnymede was Elias
of Dereham who at the time was steward to one of the key players in the crisis, the Archbishop of Canterbury
Stephen Langton. Elias was at the centre of the discussions between the King and the barons and, once Magna
Carta was sealed, was entrusted with delivering ten of the thirteen copies made, one of which was given to the
original cathedral at Old Sarum. Elias later became a Canon of Old Sarum before masterminding the building
of the present Salisbury Cathedral.
01722 555120
[email protected]
www.salisburycathedral.org.uk