 King John would have been surprised that the charter he sealed at Runny Mead 800 years ago has become such a powerful and influential document. When Magna Carta was first granted in 1215 it was a practical solution to a political crisis and essentially a peace treaty. But the most important thing about it was it established the principle of the rule of law and people have looked back to it over the centuries ever since as a defence against arbitrary and unjust rulers. Magna Carta still inspires the European Convention on Human Rights, the Human Rights Act and similar bills of rights to be found as a result of freedom struggles all over the modern world. The British Library's Magna Carta exhibition is the biggest exhibition on Magna Carta that there has ever been. It includes two original Magna Carta documents from 1215, Thomas Jefferson's handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence and one of the original copies of the United States Bill of Rights. We have paintings and ceramics, statues and a whole range of other artefacts to tell the story of this world famous document.