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Category: Education

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Celebrating Magna Carta’s Birthday

Posted by: Nathan Dorn

Today is the 806th anniversary of the day King John of England committed to undertake the reforms that were enumerated in Magna Carta. King John granted Magna Carta to his barons on June 15, 1215, in order to halt their rebellion and to regain their support for his leadership. While Magna Carta was a document …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

French Civil Code of 1804: Images from the Foreign and Comparative Law Webinar by Nicolas Boring

Posted by: Nathan Dorn

On January 28, 2021, Foreign Law Specialist Nicolas Boring discussed the Napoleonic Code’s history, evolution, and legacy in an installment of the Law Library of Congress’ foreign and comparative law webinar series. The webinar discussed the prehistory of the French Civil Code, its drafting and adoption, its contents, and the history of its immense influence …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Stamp Act of 1765 – Pic of the Week

Posted by: Nathan Dorn

Saturday marked the 250th anniversary of the passage of the Virginia Resolves on the Stamp Act, one of colonial America’s most important expressions of protest against the policies of the British government in London. The focus of the objections that the House of Burgesses raised in the Virginia Resolves was the Stamp Act of 1765, a piece …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

No Taxation Without Representation Circa 1215 AD, or, Magna Carta: A Beginner’s Guide

Posted by: Nathan Dorn

Magna Carta, the Charter of Liberties sealed by King John of England in 1215 AD, is routinely cited as one of the most important documents of our constitutional tradition.  It ranks with the English Bill of Rights (1689), The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution in symbolic power.  And while the details of …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

The State of What?? U.S. States that Never Made the Cut

Posted by: Nathan Dorn

New Jersey was once “the Two Jerseys” (East and West). Kentucky started out as Virginia’s backyard.  Connecticut once harbored imperial dreams—claiming a Western Reserve that stretched all the way to the banks of the Mississippi. The shapes of our States have a complex and unexpected history.  It’s easy to forget that history owes a debt to …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Templar Secrets at the Law Library of Congress?

Posted by: Nathan Dorn

This month marks the ten year anniversary of Italian scholar Barbara Frale’s discovery of lost medieval documents relating to the trial of the Knights Templar. Frale, a scholar of medieval paleography, was doing historical research at the Vatican Secret Archive when she uncovered a fourteenth century manuscript which recounts a previously unknown chapter in the history …