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Magna Carta of 1217

Regency government of Henry III · 1217

One of only four surviving copies of the 1217 reissue of Magna Carta, kept at Hereford Cathedral, issued as peace was restored after civil war.

A 1217 reissue of Magna Carta, part of the sequence of reissues that gave the charter its lasting name and form.

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A handwritten medieval parchment document displayed in a glass case, with dense brown script in lines across its surface. A smaller document sits in a second case behind it, and a visitor's reflection appears in the glass.
Magna Carta reissue, 1217. Hereford Cathedral.

About this source

What it is

This is a 1217 reissue of Magna Carta, produced by the regency government ruling for the young King Henry III. It is held at Hereford Cathedral, one of only four surviving copies of this reissue and one of the finest of the eight oldest surviving charters.

Why it matters

The 1217 reissue came alongside the peace that ended the civil war following King John's reign, and it is associated with the charter acquiring the name 'Magna Carta' to distinguish it from a related forest charter. It shows how the document's survival and reissue were tied to real political crises, not just abstract ideals.

Look closer

  • Why might a peace settlement include reissuing an earlier charter?
  • What does it mean that only four copies of this version survive?
  • What might be missing from a document written by the king's own government?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Magna Carta on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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