Teeth Extracted from King John to be Displayed at British Library Magna Carta Event

The two molars belonging to King John were taken from his tomb when it was opened in 1797 , they will now be put on display along with his thumb bone at an exhibition to mark the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.

Curator of the exhibition Julian Harrison said: "John's tomb at Worcester Cathedral was opened for a brief period in 1797, and certain body parts removed as souvenirs... by William Wood, a stationer's apprentice."
www.bbc.co.uk...

Four Surviving Magna Cartas United For First Time In 800 Years.

Negotiations between John and his barons failed and civil war broke out in May 1215. When the rebels seized London, John was compelled to negotiate further and, on 19 June at Runnymede on the River Thames, he accepted the baronial terms embodied in the Magna Carta, which limited royal power, ensured feudal rights and restated English law. It was the first formal document stating that the monarch was as much under the rule of law as his people, and that the rights of individuals were to be upheld even against the wishes of the sovereign.
King John (c.1167 - 1216)

Grave robbers…

a reply to: intrptr

Heck we grave rob all the time.


Back to the OP probably the greatest document for the people ever.
Paved the way for the constitution of the USA.

I guess his teeth might be interesting to some one.

a reply to: boymonkey74

Heck we grave rob all the time.

Not me, Disturbing the dead is not my idea. The people that took the souvenirs are especially awful, they want to put them in a museum and charge people a dollar and a half just to see them.

Don't it always seem to go…

(finish the line)

a reply to: intrptr

So we should stop digging up mummies or fossils of past hominids?.

a reply to: gortex

Wow this has to be the most useless and disgusting exhibit ever shown to mankind in the whole history of all exhibitions ever made!
Wtf? And Why?

a reply to: Peeple

Wtf? And Why?

The information is in the linked article , to you it's useless and disgusting to others it's an historical link back to the 13th century and the person who laid the foundations for modern democracy.

Teeth extracted from a medieval English King will be displayed as part of the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.

They should get Eric Idle to sing "And did those teeth in ancient times / walk upon England's pastures green".

Otherwise what's the point?

a reply to: gortex

Exactly the importance of the magma carta is massive.
Without it no constitution in the USA or indeed would there be a USA?.
It took away the divine right of kings, it gave power to the people man.

originally posted by: gortex

The information is in the linked article , to you it's useless and disgusting to others it's an historical link back to the 13th century and the person who laid the foundations for modern democracy.

But man his teeth? Has he secret inscriptions on them, or a hidden antenna, or anything interesting?
Or would I go there and then leave with the feeling I looked at a very old tooth?

Sorry, I just don't get it.

a reply to: boymonkey74

So we should stop digging up mummies or fossils of past hominids?.

Okay, I misspoke. Something about research vs. circus…

They catch wild animals and put them in zoos for profit. I abhor that, too.

"Theres whats right and theres whats right and never the two shall meet." --Hyatt from, "Raising Arizona"

For a second, I thought the headline to this thread was tongue in cheek because getting John to sign the document was like pulling teeth ...

And this also reminds me somewhat of all those churches that have the bone of this or that saint.

They don't seem to differ much in appearance from modern English teeth.

a reply to: ketsuko

EXACTLY what I thought ... as if these "relics" of King John somehow make the documents more "real."

Fetish behavior in humans is fascinating.

a reply to: intrptr

They're corpses. Just corpses. There is no need to pay special respect to a dead body.

a reply to: obscurepanda

They're corpses. Just corpses. There is no need to pay special respect to a dead body.

There some difference of opinion on that. But displaying the body or body parts for profit is more what I had in mind.

Theres no need for that either.

originally posted by: Xaphan
They don't seem to differ much in appearance from modern English teeth.

You funny… (love your Avatar)

"They took the whole F_____G Bar!"