Hidden away in the Guisborough Chartulary is the Cleveland Charter. It was issued in 1209, when Peter de Brus acquired
the Langbaurgh Wapentake. In his Charter he imposes constraints upon himself, which six years later would be imposed upon
King John.
It is a statement about good government and a prototype of the Magna Carta. It survived because the Knights and free
tenants of Cleveland deposited it in the Priory, under the protection of the one who proclaimed, "he casts the mighty from
their thrones and raises the lowly."
In 1216 King John marched north and moved against the Northern Barons, who had forced him to sign the Magna Carta. He
attacked and took Skelton Castle. In February he met Peter de Brus in Guisborough Priory, where even John dared not harm him.
In the Magna Carta, "the realm was more than a geographic or administative unit. It was a community, capable of possessing
rights and liberties." It went on to inspire the American Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
Devotion to Our Lady includes more than sentimentality and flowery prayers. We are proud that the Shrine of Our Lady
of Guisborough is a place where liberty and rights have been protected and cherished.
