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"We're delighted to announce that our dedicated Magna Carta website is now live. It features a whole wealth of Magna Carta-related material, including: articles by distinguished contributors such as Shami Chakrabarti, Dan Jones, Geoffrey Robertson, and Joshua Rozenberg illustrated descriptions of the items on display in Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy a range of teaching resources for use in primary and secondary schools a series of videos, including talking heads such as William Hague and two animations narrated by Terry Jones"

"Introduction: Here on our first slide, we have John reluctantly ratifying the Magna Carta. He is surrounded by his barons and senior clergymen, and they are all gathered at Runnymede meadow, neutral ground between Windsor Castle and the lands of his barons. But on this image, which dates from centuries after the Magna Carta there is a small historical inaccuracy…King John is holding a quill signing the Magna Carta in this image, when in fact he engrossed the Magna Carta with his seal…Little thing like that may not seem particularly important, but its indicative of how the Magna Carta passed into mythology."

"One of the questions we're most frequently asked at the British Library is: why is there more than one manuscript of Magna Carta? The simple answer is that, when the Great Charter was first granted by King John in 1215, numerous copies were made so that its terms could be distributed more easily throughout the kingdom of England. Four of those 1215 manuscripts survive to the present day, one of which is owned by Lincoln Cathedral, another by Salisbury Cathedral and the other two being held at the British Library in London."

"A book of medieval law that predates the Magna Carta and is described as 'Britain's hidden treasure' has been made available to view online"

"So unpopular was John that his barons finally rose up in rebellion against his arbitrary rule, and against the severe punishments often inflicted upon them, until they eventually forced the king to grant them the Charter of Liberties, also known as Magna Carta, at Runnymede on 15 June 1215. Few can have lamented King John's eventual demise at Newark Castle - most probably following an attack of dysentery -in October 1216. Writing some forty years later, Matthew Paris (d. 1259), monk and historian of St Albans Abbey, delivered the ultimate condemnation: 'Foul as it is, Hell itself is made fouler by the presence of John'."

"What do Magna Carta, Beowulf and the world's oldest Bibles have in common? They are all cared for by the British Library's Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts Section. This blog publicises our digitisation projects and other activities"

"Story of medieval England 20/36 King John and the Magna Carta" VIDEO

1. Between Magna Carta and the Parliamentary State: The fine rolls of King Henry III 1216-1272 and the project A fine in the reign of King Henry III (1216-1272) was an agreement to pay the king a sum of money for a specified concession. The rolls on which the fines were recorded provide the earliest systematic evidence of what people and institutions across society wanted from the king and he was prepared to give. They open a large window onto the politics, government, economy and society of England in the hinge period between the establishment of Magna Carta at the start of Henry's reign and the parliamentary state which was emerging at its end. This Project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, makes the rolls freely available to a wide audience while at the same time, in the Fine of the Month feature, providing regular comment on their historical interest. Users of the website are also invited to follow and contribute to the Fine Rolls blog.