Four Magna Cartas united

LONDON – You can’t exactly call it a reunion – the four surviving original Magna Cartas had never before been in the same place.

So the British Library called it a “unification event” Monday when the priceless documents were put on display together for the first time.

The event marks the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, which established the timeless principle that no individual, even a monarch, is above the law.

In 1215, 40 rebellious barons came together to declare their rights to King John, and he reluctantly consented to their demands in an attempt to avoid civil war. It included acknowledgements that taxes cannot be arbitrary, that free men cannot be imprisoned without first being judged by their peers or the law and that justice cannot be denied or delayed.

But within weeks, the pope voided the agreement, and England was thrown into war. The document was later incorporated into English law.

The original Magna Carta manuscripts were written and sealed in late June and early July 1215, and sent individually throughout the country, making Monday’s unification unique.

“It’s a real moment in history,” said Julian Harrison, the library’s curator of medieval manuscripts. “Magna Carta has significance not just in England but worldwide. Many people regard it as the foundation of the rule of law.”

The Magna Carta influenced not only Thomas Jefferson when he helped draft the Declaration of Independence, but also the writers of the French constitution and the late South African leader Nelson Mandela, Harrison said.

Officials said the three-day unification will give some lucky members of the public as well as constitutional scholars and medieval manuscript experts a chance to scrutinize and compare the documents.