Sir John Baker: Magna Carta, lecture at St Andrews

On 2 April, 2015, Sir John Baker will deliver a lecture at the University of St Andrews under the auspices of the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Law and Literature. The lecture is open to the public.

Abstract
Magna Carta has had an immense influence on hearts and minds, and even events, over the last eight hundred years. Yet it is not always understood that this has been achieved more by magic than by operation of positive law. Much of the text was obsolete or obsolescent five hundred years ago, and what remained was difficult even for the lawyers of those days to interpret. In any case, no remedies were provided for private subjects in case the words were not observed by the king. The lecture will address some of these legal difficulties and outline how and when they were overcome.