Top of page

Search results for: maine

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Constitutions of Clarendon

Posted by: Margaret Wood

The Constitutions of Clarendon were issued by Henry II in 1164.  This document became the bone of contention between Henry II and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was also his former chancellor and friend, Thomas Beckett.  The quarrel between these two men eventually led to Thomas’s murder and then elevation to sainthood, as well as …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Shakespeare and King John

Posted by: Margaret Wood

April 2014 marks the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth.  As a way of combining a salute to Shakespeare and continuing our fascination with all things Magna Carta, I thought I would take a look at Shakespeare’s play, “King John.”  The play is believed to have been written in the 1590s, but it was not …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

National Poetry Month and Bad King John

Posted by: Margaret Wood

The following post is cross posted on the From the Catbird Seat: Poetry & Literature blog. Magna Carta is coming to the Library of Congress in November 2014!  This document is regarded as being one of the foundations of representative government and at the same time marked a defeat of the king by his barons.  But long before 1215, …