On Monday, June 15 at 5:30 pm theMagna Carta (“The Great Charter”) was sealed.  Sealed at Runnymede, England, on June 15, 1215, Magna Carta continues to have an impact today. This transformative milestone will be marked in Halifax at an event organized by Dr Thomas Curran at the University of King's College on its 800th anniversary.

 

Two leading Nova Scotia jurists and a celebrated Dalhousie historian, with Dr Curran, will rehearse the circumstances that led to this peace treaty and its 800-year influence on English-speaking jurisprudence.

 

The Honourable Justice Peter Bryson of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal will introduce the historical circumstances that brought the Charter into being. The Honourable Justice Jamie Campbell will explore "The Imagined Magna Carta," contrasting what the Great Charter said with how it was later characterized. 

 

Dr Thomas Curran will highlight the ecclesiastical context of its production and its almost immediate annulment. Finally, Dalhousie History professor and Acting Dean of the Dalhousie Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Dr Krista Kesselring, will share insights into the subsequent history and reception of this ground-breaking charter.

 

PLEASE NOTE THE ROOM HAS BEEN CHANGED: The panel discussion will now take place from 5:30-7:30 pm in the KTS Lecture Hall, second floor the New Academic Building. Event attendees will be able to join in a toast to the Charter at the conclusion of the formal proceedings with wine or sparkling water. Reception to follow.