King John signs the Magna Carta in 1215. A Jewish lawyer drew it up
The original copy of the Magna Carta was written in Hebrew, newly discovered evidence has shown.
Clerks at King John’s court charged with compiling the “Great Document” 800 years ago turned for help to a Jewish lawyer, known as David of Cheapside, it is now believed.
Esther Smythe, professor of historical documentation at University College London, said recently unearthed papers showed that David was brought in to draft the complex legal clauses that had proved beyond the skill of John’s scribes.
Ms Smythe said documents dating back to the 13th century had been uncovered in the archive at Taschen Castle, in Lincolnshire, which contained an account by a clerk called Gerald Haman.
Gerald describes how courtiers sought out David and begged him to draw up the charter. He writes that the first copy delivered to the court was in English but with an original in Hebrew, entitled Ha megila Hagdola, attached.
Among Magna Carta’s 63 clauses is the right of every person to fair trial and the principle that even the king is subject to the law. “It’s very exciting,” said Ms Smythe. “It seems the charter guaranteeing many of the rights we now take for granted was Jewish in origin.”
Medieval historian Hugo Mord-Kay, said that the evidence suggested that David had taken the opportunity to add clauses, including one allowing Jews to own castles and another lifting taxes on all schmaltz products. These were excised from the final document.
On This Day In Messianic Jewish History 
Fascinating. I just discovered that Thomas Jefferson actually only translated the Declaration of Independence from Hebrew/Amharic into English. It was originally written by an African slave on his plantation who actually was from Ethiopia named Mustafa Chai. Jefferson was only able to finish the translation through the nourishment of cookies fed to him by his wife’s Jewish housemaid Chadashti. He preferred her poppy seed to the apricot filled variety.
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Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
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Richard, This was so much fun to read. Susan
From: On This Day In Messianic Jewish History <comment-reply@wordpress.com> Reply-To: On This Day In Messianic Jewish History <comment+2jgsm7zhrdcatb4c68evrzz@comment.wordpress.com> Date: Friday, February 27, 2015 at 2:52 PM To: Susan Perlman <susan.perlman@jewsforjesus.org> Subject: [New post] 4 March 1215 Historians reveal the Magna Carta was first written in Hebrew #otdimjh
richardsh posted: “By Paul Rimm, February 26, 2015 King John signs the Magna Carta in 1215. A Jewish lawyer drew it up The original copy of the Magna Carta was written in Hebrew, newly discovered evidence has shown. Clerks at King John’s court charged with “
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Reblogged this on The Lamb's Servant and commented:
I thought this was a fascinating bit of trivia, since husband John’s ancestors include something like 10 signers of the Magna Carta!!
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