819 years old royal charter found in cardboard box
It confirmed the transfer of ownership of two hamlets as royal charter was dated March 26, 1200.
(Web Desk) – England’s King John original royal charter was found in cardboard box containing the seal of medieval monarchs issued 819 years ago in York.
It confirmed the transfer of ownership of two hamlets as it was dated March 26, 1200.
A historian at Ushaw College Library accidently spotted the royal charter- which believed not to be existed- while going through archives.
Dr Benjamin Pohl, a senior lecturer in medieval history, said he immediately recognized it was an original royal charter, which was carefully prepared and written by a "court hand" - someone who might have been a member of the king’s government.
He said: "Discovering the original charter at Ushaw is extremely exciting, not least because it allows us to develop a fuller picture of the people who were present at York on 26 March 1200 and eager to do business with the new king.”
"Medieval charters are important not just because of the legal acts they contain, but also for what they can tell us about the society and political culture at the time. Our charter might best be described, therefore, as a kind of who s who of northern England (and beyond) at the turn of the 13th century."
Before this discovery, less than a dozen original charters were known to have survived from the first year of King John s reign, making it a hugely exciting find for historians.
