Description

This engraving by John George Murray depicts a scene in which Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury (1150-1228), purportedly showed a copy of Henry I’s Coronation Charter to an assembly of barons in the abbey church at Bury St Edmunds. Although attired in medieval clothing, each baron in the engraving was a named 19th-century nobleman, drawn from life. Their hair styles, replete with sideburns, betray their true era, while a separate key identifies them as 18 members of the modern nobility of Great Britain and Ireland. Most prominent in the centre, with an ermine-trimmed cloak, is the second Marquess of Hastings, while to his left stands the third Duke of Northumberland. These noblemen were the self-appointed descendants of the Runnymede barons, responsible for the defence, preservation and implementation of the liberties enshrined in Magna Carta.