On June 15, 1215, at Runnymede, in England, King John signed Magna Carta. The rest, as they say, is history.
On June 15, 2015, at Wheaton, in Illinois, King John, under the watchful eyes of wary barons, bishops, and knights (or at least professional actors bearing a more than cinematic resemblance to them) will do it again! Please join us for the occasion.
The Lincoln Legal Foundation, the British Consulate General at Chicago, the Chicago Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society, and the Du Page County Bar Association are banding together to force King John once again to the table, and to celebrate Magna Carta on this signal anniversary.
The actors and reenactors will be drawn from the ranks of the Fury Theatre Company and the Barony of Ayreton of the Society for Creative Anachronism.
The reenactment and festivities will take place, appropriately enough, on Monday, June 15, 2015, at 5:00 p.m. on the lawn of the Du Page County Government Complex [sic – calling a campus containing a courthouse, a jail, and sundry administrative edifices a “complex” is truth-in-advertising, to the lasting credit of the yeomen citizenry of Du Page County], 421 North County Farm Road, in Wheaton, Illinois.
(In the event of rain the event will move indoors to the atrium of the 421 building, a luxury they didn’t have at Runnymede.)
Scheduled speakers on Magna Carta and its significance will include:
Martin Whalley, Deputy Consul General, United Kingdom
James Laraia, President Elect, Du Page County Bar Association
Laura Kotelman, Chairman, Chicago Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society
and Your Humble Servant,
Joseph A. Morris, President, Lincoln Legal Foundation
The program is open to the public without ticket and without charge.
We solemnly pledge this much: Consistent with Article 29 of Magna Carta, no Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed by Virtue of Attending this Event.
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