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Magna Carta and Memorialization: The Perils of Historical Anniversaries

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Magna Carta and New Zealand

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Abstract

2015 was a big year for anniversaries. As well as commemorating Magna Carta, New Zealand marked the ANZAC centenary, while the 175th anniversaries of the Treaty and of Auckland city (1840) also received attention. Why is it that we continue to use such moments of chronological coincidence to consider the meaning of past events? Recent triumphalism concerning Magna Carta may allow us to feel good about ourselves and our legal heritage, but it has very little to say about the political circumstances of the thirteenth century. This chapter examines the gap between the medieval Magna Carta and its modern legacy to reflect on the methodological pitfalls of commemorating anniversaries and on the curious cultural imperative of big round numbers.

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Acknowledgements

I gave an earlier version of this paper at the New Zealand Historical Association biennial conference, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, 2–4 December 2015. My thanks go to delegates for comments and discussion and also to the volume’s editors for their suggestions which have improved this essay considerably.

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  1. University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Lindsay Diggelmann

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  1. Lindsay Diggelmann
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Correspondence to Lindsay Diggelmann .

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  1. University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Stephen Winter

  2. University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Chris Jones

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Diggelmann, L. (2017). Magna Carta and Memorialization: The Perils of Historical Anniversaries. In: Winter, S., Jones, C. (eds) Magna Carta and New Zealand. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58439-3_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58439-3_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-58438-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-58439-3

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