London, July 15 (Reuters): The four surviving original copies of Britain’s Magna Carta, the document that first defined government powers as limited by law, will be brought together in 2015 for the first time to mark the charter’s 800-year anniversary.

The British Library has said the four documents, currently held by Lincoln Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral and two by the British Library, would be united at the national library in London for a three-day exhibition.

Originally published in 1215, Magna Carta, meaning The Great Charter, was intended by then-King John to placate powerful English barons who were rebelling against him over unsuccessful foreign policies and rising taxes.

Written in Latin on sheepskin parchment, the charter limited King John’s hitherto arbitrary powers by asserting for the first time that English royalty was to be subject to the law.

The text became the foundation for the English system of common law. Its principles are also echoed in the US Constitution.