Harvard’s Forgotten Stained Document Holds a Shocking Secret: An Original 1300 Magna Carta Unveiled After Decades
Imagine buying something for less than the price of a decent dinner back in ’46, tucking it away, and only decades later realizing you’d snagged an actual medieval crown jewel—not a trinket, but an original Magna Carta from 1300 issued by King Edward I. Harvard University did exactly that with a document once dismissed as a mere replica, paid a modest $27.50, and stashed it in the archives, unaware it was among the select few surviving originals of one of the most revolutionary legal instruments ever crafted. Who knew that a dusty old parchment could outshine your favorite Netflix drama with its saga of kings, barons, and the fight to hold rulers accountable—like a centuries-old mic drop on royal absolutism? It makes you wonder: How many other “forgotten replicas” are hiding in plain sight, waiting to rewrite history? Strap in, because this isn’t your usual dusty museum piece; it’s a cornerstone of freedoms, rediscovered. LEARN MORE
Purchased for just $27.50, this document was believed to be a mere replica, but a medieval history professor searching Harvard’s archives recently determined that it’s actually an original Magna Carta issued by King Edward I.
Lorin Granger/Harvard Law SchoolThe Magna Carta found at Harvard University was consistent with other originals issued by King Edward I.
In 1946, Harvard University purchased what it believed to be a replica of the Magna Carta, the historic document signed by King John of England in 1215 that limited the power of the monarchy and established that no man was above the law. At the time, the university paid $27.50 (around $462 today) for the document, and it had been sitting in their archives ever since.
However, British researchers recently discovered that Harvard’s Magna Carta was no mere copy, but rather an original issued by King Edward I in 1300 — one of just seven that have survived to the present day.
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