What if a dusty $27.50 purchase turned out to be a medieval treasure?
That’s exactly what happened at Harvard Law School.
A so-called “copy” of Magna Carta bought in 1946 was just revealed to be a rare 1300 original.
Professor David Carpenter of King’s College London was casually browsing Harvard’s online archives when something caught his eye.
“I clicked expecting a statute book,” he said, “and instead I saw an original Magna Carta. I nearly fell off my chair.”
Stunned, Carpenter phoned fellow historian Nicholas Vincent.
Why It’s So Famous?
Magna Carta—the Great Charter—laid the groundwork for modern democracy.
It famously declared the king was not above the law.
It was the medieval mic drop that said: even monarchs need to follow the rules.
Only seven of these 1300 versions still exist.
Now, Harvard has one, misfiled and underestimated for decades.
Assistant Dean Amanda Watson called it a “fantastic discovery.”
Historians are buzzing about the remarkable provenance, which traces back through abolitionists and a WWI pilot.
