Man Tries to Steal the Magna Carta

The Wiltshire Police in Salisbury, England, reported that a 45-year-old man tried to steal the Magna Carta, the UK’s first attempt at setting the foundations for constitutional government and freedom under the law.

The police reported that alarms in Salisbury Cathedral sounded shortly before 5 p.m. on Oct. 25, after a man armed with a hammer tried to smash the glass display case housing the precious document.

The unnamed attacker managed to punch three holes in the glass box housing the artifact.

Cathedral staff wrestled the man to the ground, Time reported, and police officers placed the man under arrest when they arrived.

The man was arrested on suspicion of attempted theft, possession of an offensive weapon and criminal damage. The suspect was taken to Melksham Police Station for interrogation.

According to police, the document was not damaged and no one was injured.

Wiltshire Police are asking anyone who witnessed the attack to contact them by dialing 101 and mentioning crime reference number 541800101438.

This copy of the Magna Carta, one of four dating to the year 1215, is kept in a glass enclosure in Salisbury Cathedral. Screenshot/CNN

Ancient and Important Document

The Magna Carta Libertatum, Medieval Latin for “the Great Charter of the Liberties” and commonly called the Magna Carta, was a pact between King John of England and his noblemen that outlined the rights and responsibilities of the various members of English society.

Signed in 1215, the document lays out the basic tenets of rule of law as recognized in Western society. As such, it formed the most basic foundation for many nations’ founding documents, and influenced the United States Constitution.

The Magna Carta recognized that all citizens had rights, including the right to a fair trial.

“Only four copies of Magna Carta dating from 1215 have survived the ravages of time and Salisbury Cathedral is proud to be home to the best preserved original manuscript,” the cathedral stated, according to NPR.

The Magna Carta was written in Medieval Latin, and as such, was not legible to the people who signed it, who all spoke medieval French. Screenshot/CNN

The document attacked the “divine right” of kings, the idea that all kings were chosen by God and everything they did was therefore correct and proper—no matter how unfair or brutal.

The pope annulled the agreement after about two and a half months—as soon as King John’s letter arrived. “"I declare the charter to be null and void of all validity forever,” NPR reported him as saying in his nullification decree.

After the Magna Carta was nullified, the English barons resumed their war with King John. After John’s death in 1216, the regents running the country for young King Henry reinstated parts of the document.

Another version was issued in 1217, and yet another in 1225.

King Edward I, son of King Henry, issued the final version in 1297.

From NTD.tv