<p class="title">A 45-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of trying to steal an original copy of the 1215 Magna Carta from Salisbury cathedral in southern England, police said on Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Alarms were activated when an attempt was made on Thursday evening to smash the glass box containing the priceless medieval charter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A man matching the description given by witnesses was arrested on suspicion of attempted theft, possession of an offensive weapon and criminal damage ..," Wiltshire police said in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The parchment, one of only four original copies still surviving, was not damaged in the incident, they added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">One of the most important manuscripts in English history, the Magna Carta is a charter of citizens' rights curbing the arbitrary power of medieval kings which among other things guaranteed the right to a fair trial.</p>.<p class="bodytext">King John agreed to place his seal on the document in June 1215 at Runnymede near Windsor, west of London, as a means of ending an uprising by rebel barons.</p>
<p class="title">A 45-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of trying to steal an original copy of the 1215 Magna Carta from Salisbury cathedral in southern England, police said on Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Alarms were activated when an attempt was made on Thursday evening to smash the glass box containing the priceless medieval charter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"A man matching the description given by witnesses was arrested on suspicion of attempted theft, possession of an offensive weapon and criminal damage ..," Wiltshire police said in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The parchment, one of only four original copies still surviving, was not damaged in the incident, they added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">One of the most important manuscripts in English history, the Magna Carta is a charter of citizens' rights curbing the arbitrary power of medieval kings which among other things guaranteed the right to a fair trial.</p>.<p class="bodytext">King John agreed to place his seal on the document in June 1215 at Runnymede near Windsor, west of London, as a means of ending an uprising by rebel barons.</p>