What 800-year-old document is sealed in an airtight display case, bears a king’s signature, and made an everlasting impact on the laws and rights of more than one country?
If you said anything other than the Magna Carta then a history lesson is waiting for you, and it’s a big one. It’s all wrapped around a unique and fascinating exhibit in Edmonton’s Federal Building featuring the best preserved of the seven surviving copies of the document. The copy on display actually arrived from the year 1300, having been sealed by King Edward I.
It’s also the first time that it has toured to this province and only the second time it’s ever been to Canada. Magna Carta: Law, Liberty and Legacy is the name of the document’s travelling show and Alberta is the last stop on its cross-country visit so people now have fewer than four weeks to pay a visit and absorb the vast cultural importance that is contained within those ancient words.
“Our fellow Albertans will have the opportunity to see and learn about the Magna Carta, the document that set the very groundwork for democracy and human rights,” explained Hon. Robert E. Wanner, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
“Magna Carta and its companion document the Charter of the Forest offer a historical framework for what we as legislators do. Our work gives a life and relevance to the words inscribed on those priceless pieces of parchment so many centuries later.”
The Charter of the Forest, a.k.a. the Carta de Foresta, was written in 1217 as a corollary agreement to reaffirm the rights of free men to access the royal forest. Much like the Magna Carta, this charter is written on old parchment with a quill pen and affixed with the royal great seal, a badge of wax tied to the document with a ribbon to confirm the king’s assent.
The Magna Carta did see several reissues over its early years as ways of establishing its importance to the crown and the commoners alike. It details several key principles of human rights and legal protection under such banners of peace, privilege, freedom, compensation, obligation, protection, justice, and service.
Its pillars stipulate such everlasting legislative milestones as how nobody is above the law of the land, not even the king, and how everyone is entitled to freedom from unlawful detention without cause or evidence, as well as the right to trial by jury.
It also notes that a widow could not be forced to marry and give up her property, a point considered to be a major first step in women's rights.
The interactive exhibit offers a variety of interpretive features to help visitors understand and appreciate why the two documents are so important, including a transcription and translation of the old and difficult to read text so that we can make sense of it all.
Magna Carta: Law, Liberty and Legacy runs until Dec. 29 at the Borealis Gallery located in the Federal Building, 9820 107 St. in Edmonton. Admittance is free. Contact 780-427-7362 or visit www.assembly.ab.ca/visitorcentre/borealis/magnacarta.html for more information.
Events
In conjunction with the exhibit, there are several other cultural events set to take place to round out the Magna Carta experience.
Speakers Series: Tuesdays until Dec. 15
From 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on select Tuesdays, a series of guest historians, musicians and re-enactors will provide context to the Great Charter through engaging information sessions. Dr. James Muir, assistant professor with the U of A’s Department of History and Classics and Faculty of Law will present Magna Carta: Canada and the Last 200 Years on Dec. 8 and musical group Chanticleer will perform English Music from the Time of Magna Carta on Dec. 15.
These free sessions will be held in the Capital View Room and are open to the public.
Letters of Magna Carta: Sun., Dec. 13
Members of the Edmonton Calligraphic Society will be on hand from 1 to 3 p.m. to guide, demonstrate and discuss both historic and contemporary calligraphic practices. Visitors will have the opportunity to try calligraphic lettering, to learn about historic inks, parchments and writing utensils and to admire the work of amateur and professional calligraphers practising in our city today. Through this hands-on workshop, visitors will gain insight into how Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest were inscribed 800 years ago. This special public event will be held in the pavilion.
