A lot has happened since our last post. On June 19th, we took off heading South to Oxford for our Magna Carta Conference. This was a symposium co-sponsored by the BYU International Center for Law and Religion Studies and the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion. The event celebrated the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta.
Before the conference, we visited Warwick Castle which is reputed to be the best preserved castle in England. It was very nice, but it is an amusement park with falconry, jousting, and all the trimmings. But it was quite nice.
We stayed Saturday night the in a wonderful manor house in Warwick.
Manor House in Warwick
The grounds were incredible and there was an old church right out our window
Taken from the window of our room
On Sunday, we attended church at the Warwick Branch and then, on the way to Oxford, we visited Anne Hathaway’s (Shakespeare’s wife’s) house in Stratford Upon Avon.
Sunday night was a kickoff fireside at the Oxford meetinghouse with Elder Bruce Hafen as the speaker. I was very impressed with his comments on the Magna Carta and its influence on families and the need for covenants. He focused heavily on the role of Archbishop Stephen Langdon in forming the Magna Carta. He promised to send us a copy of his talk.
The conference was held at the St. Hughes College of Oxford University. There are 28 Colleges forming Oxford University. We had three days of lectures which often delved more deeply into the minutia of the history of the MC than my attention could tolerate. One interesting approach was to invite representatives from English Colonies to comment on the role of the MC in the formation of their governments (Nigeria, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, U.S.).
On Tuesday, we visited Runneymede (the site of the signing in 1215). Not much there except some chairs in a grassy field and a monument erected by the American Bar Association.
Present site at Runneymede where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215
We then visited the British Library where we saw the original Magna Carta and many other ancient documents which both preceded and followed the MC. A very well done exhibit.
That night, we met at the Inner Temple of the Inns of Court and in the Temple Church or the “Round Church” as it is called. This church was the original home of the Knights Templar who were the fiercest warriors and the shrewdest bankers of their day.
Knights Templar were recognized by the red crosses on their amour and horses
The head of the Knights Templar was the Master of the Temple Church. We met the present-day Master of the Temple Church, a very engaging man by the name of Robin Griffith Jones. I had a nice visit with him about the role of the church in the administration of justice in the UK. The Temple Church is right in the center of the Inns of Court and is attended by most of the judges and barristers who office in the Inn. The keynote speaker that night was The Rt Hon The Lord Judge PC QC Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales (2008-2013). That is the equivalent of the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. Despite the heady title, he was a very warm and extremely insightful person and speaker. Again, I was impressed with his comments on how religion provides the moral compass which guides the judicial function.
Us with the Chief Justice
At dinner in the Inner Court
On Thursday, Stewart and Barbara Nielsen rode the train up to Oxford from London and we did an all day blitz of the Cotswolds. A truly beautiful place. All the homes are of the limestone material mined locally and they specialize in flowers. Every home is a showpiece of quaint beauty. We stayed the night on Friday at the Market Cross Abbey House in Malmsbury. They only rent out one room of the house as a B&B and we were lucky enough to get it. The property is one of the finest private gardens in all of England—over 2,000 varieties of roses—which were all in bloom.
The Market Abbey House
Our room at Market Abbey House
The Garden at the Market Abbey House with ruins of the Abbey behind
More of the Gardens
More Gardens
Lower Gardens and Lake
The drive back on Friday was horrendous. What should have been a 2.5 hour drive lasted over 8 hours. I am now told to never drive the motorways on Fridays. I went into the office on Saturday to get caught up on a lot of work.
Fun’s over…back to work.