Signing Of Magna Carta - 800 Years - Pontefract, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 41.536 W 001° 18.603
30U E 611586 N 5950610
This stone pillar commemorates the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta treaty between King John and 25 Barons.
Waymark Code: WM17B04
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/16/2023
Views: 1
The pillar is on Bridge Street opposite Pontefract Town Hall.
"Magna Carta Libertatum (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called Magna Carta (also Magna Charta; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215."
link
King John was an unpopular King, who the Barons believed over reached his powers.
Although the treaty was first annulled, then re-introduced and modified a number of times it is taken as a symbol of liberty and legal rights. It influenced the early American colonists in the Thirteen Colonies and the formation of the United States Constitution and is still held in great respect by the British and American legal communities.
At the time that the treaty was signed John de Lacy, the Baron of Pontefract, was one of the Barons that signed the treaty and so the treaty has great significance to the town.
On each side of the pillar is a relief carving and inscription relating to the signing of the treaty.
Side 1 has the coat of arms of Pontefract and underneath the following inscription.
PONTEFRACT CELEBRATING 800 YEARS OF
THE MAGNA CARTA
LIBERTY FREEDOM JUSTICE
THE FOUNDATION OF MODERN DEMOCRACY
1215 - 2015
Side 2 has a relief carving of the obverse of King John's Seal.
King John is seated upon the throne. He wears a three-pointed crown. He holds a sword in his right hand, symbolizing his power. In his left hand, he holds the sovereign’s orb that is sprouting a plant-like stem, atop which is a cross. The text around the king reads: IOHANNES DEI GRACIA REX ANGLIE DOMINUS HIBERNIE this translates as JOHN THE GRACE OF GOD, KING OF ENGLAND, LORD OF IRELAND.
Underneath the seal is the following inscription.
THE MAGNA CARTA OR GREAT CHARTER
WAS SEALED ON 15TH JUNE 1215
AT RUNNYMEDE
BETWEEN 25 BARONS AND KING JOHN
side 3 has a relief carving of the notational sign of the De Lacy family and underneath the following inscription.
NOTARIAL SIGN OF THE DE LACY FAMILY
USED TO CERTIFY DEEDS AND CONTRACTS
Side 4 has a relief carving of the coat of arms of John de Lacy with the following inscription underneath.
JOHN DE LACY (1192 - 1240)
BARON OF PONTEFRACT
ONE OF 25 BARONS WHO FORCED KING JOHN
TO AGREE TO THE MAGNA CARTA