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Title: The Magna Carta

Author: Anonymous

Release date: March 1, 2006 [eBook #10000]
                Most recently updated: October 28, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Michael Hart


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAGNA CARTA ***

The Magna Carta


Contents

 The Text of Magna Carta
 Magna Carta 1215
 The text of THE MAGNA CARTA




A note from Michael Hart, preparer of the 0.1 version.


This file contains a number of versions of the Magna Carta, some of
which were a little mangled in transit. I am sure our volunteers will
find and correct errors I didn’t catch, and that version 0.2 - 1.0 will
have significant improvements, as well as at least one more version in
Latin.


Version 1.0 may contain a dozen different versions.




The Text of Magna Carta


JOHN, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of
Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to his archbishops,
bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, foresters, sheriffs,
stewards, servants, and to all his officials and loyal subjects,
Greeting.

KNOW THAT BEFORE GOD, for the health of our soul and those of our
ancestors and heirs, to the honour of God, the exaltation of the holy
Church, and the better ordering of our kingdom, at the advice of our
reverend fathers Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all
England, and cardinal of the holy Roman Church, Henry archbishop of
Dublin, William bishop of London, Peter bishop of Winchester, Jocelin
bishop of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh bishop of Lincoln, Walter Bishop
of Worcester, William bishop of Coventry, Benedict bishop of Rochester,
Master Pandulf subdeacon and member of the papal household, Brother
Aymeric master of the knighthood of the Temple in England, William
Marshal earl of Pembroke, William earl of Salisbury, William earl of
Warren, William earl of Arundel, Alan de Galloway constable of
Scotland, Warin Fitz Gerald, Peter Fitz Herbert, Hubert de Burgh
seneschal of Poitou, Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas
Basset, Alan Basset, Philip Daubeny, Robert de Roppeley, John Marshal,
John Fitz Hugh, and other loyal subjects:

(1) FIRST, THAT WE HAVE GRANTED TO GOD, and by this present charter
have confirmed for us and our heirs in perpetuity, that the English
Church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its
liberties unimpaired. That we wish this so to be observed, appears from
the fact that of our own free will, before the outbreak of the present
dispute between us and our barons, we granted and confirmed by charter
the freedom of the Church’s elections - a right reckoned to be of the
greatest necessity and importance to it - and caused this to be
confirmed by Pope Innocent III. This freedom we shall observe
ourselves, and desire to be observed in good faith by our heirs in
perpetuity.

TO ALL FREE MEN OF OUR KINGDOM we have also granted, for us and our
heirs for ever, all the liberties written out below, to have and to
keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs:

(2) If any earl, baron, or other person that holds lands directly of
the Crown, for military service, shall die, and at his death his heir
shall be of full age and owe a ‘relief’, the heir shall have his
inheritance on payment of the ancient scale of ‘relief’. That is to
say, the heir or heirs of an earl shall pay 100 for the entire earl’s
barony, the heir or heirs of a knight 100s. at most for the entire
knight’s ‘fee’, and any man that owes less shall pay less, in
accordance with the ancient usage of ‘fees’

(3) But if the heir of such a person is under age and a ward, when he
comes of age he shall have his inheritance without ‘relief’ or fine.

(4) The guardian of the land of an heir who is under age shall take
from it only reasonable revenues, customary dues, and feudal services.
He shall do this without destruction or damage to men or property. If
we have given the guardianship of the land to a sheriff, or to any
person answerable to us for the revenues, and he commits destruction or
damage, we will exact compensation from him, and the land shall be
entrusted to two worthy and prudent men of the same ‘fee’, who shall be
answerable to us for the revenues, or to the person to whom we have
assigned them. If we have given or sold to anyone the guardianship of
such land, and he causes destruction or damage, he shall lose the
guardianship of it, and it shall be handed over to two worthy and
prudent men of the same ‘fee’, who shall be similarly answerable to us.

(5) For so long as a guardian has guardianship of such land, he shall
maintain the houses, parks, fish preserves, ponds, mills, and
everything else pertaining to it, from the revenues of the land itself.
When the heir comes of age, he shall restore the whole land to him,
stocked with plough teams and such implements of husbandry as the
season demands and the revenues from the land can reasonably bear.

(6) Heirs may be given in marriage, but not to someone of lower social
standing. Before a marriage takes place, it shall be’ made known to the
heir’s next-of-kin.

(7) At her husband’s death, a widow may have her marriage portion and
inheritance at once and without trouble. She shall pay nothing for her
dower, marriage portion, or any inheritance that she and her husband
held jointly on the day of his death. She may remain in her husband’s
house for forty days after his death, and within this period her dower
shall be assigned to her.

(8) No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as she wishes to
remain without a husband. But she must give security that she will not
marry without royal consent, if she holds her lands of the Crown, or
without the consent of whatever other lord she may hold them of.

(9) Neither we nor our officials will seize any land or rent in payment
of a debt, so long as the debtor has movable goods sufficient to
discharge the debt. A debtor’s sureties shall not be distrained upon so
long as the debtor himself can discharge his debt. If, for lack of
means, the debtor is unable to discharge his debt, his sureties shall
be answerable for it. If they so desire, they may have the debtor’s
lands and rents until they have received satisfaction for the debt that
they paid for him, unless the debtor can show that he has settled his
obligations to them.

(10) If anyone who has borrowed a sum of money from Jews dies before
the debt has been repaid, his heir shall pay no interest on the debt
for so long as he remains under age, irrespective of whom he holds his
lands. If such a debt falls into the hands of the Crown, it will take
nothing except the principal sum specified in the bond.

(11) If a man dies owing money to Jews, his wife may have her dower and
pay nothing towards the debt from it. If he leaves children that are
under age, their needs may also be provided for on a scale appropriate
to the size of his holding of lands. The debt is to be paid out of the
residue, reserving the service due to his feudal lords. Debts owed to
persons other than Jews are to be dealt with similarly.

(12) No ‘scutage’ or ‘aid’ may be levied in our kingdom without its
general consent, unless it is for the ransom of our person, to make our
eldest son a knight, and (once) to marry our eldest daughter. For these
purposes only a reasonable ‘aid’ may be levied. ‘Aids’ from the city of
London are to be treated similarly.

(13) The city of London shall enjoy all its ancient liberties and free
customs, both by land and by water. We also will and grant that all
other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall enjoy all their
liberties and free customs.

 (14) To obtain the general consent of the realm for the assessment of
 an ‘aid’ - except in the three cases specified above - or a ‘scutage’,
 we will cause the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater
 barons to be summoned individually by letter. To those who hold lands
 directly of us we will cause a general summons to be issued, through
 the sheriffs and other officials, to come together on a fixed day (of
 which at least forty days notice shall be given) and at a fixed place.
 In all letters of summons, the cause of the summons will be stated.
 When a summons has been issued, the business appointed for the day
 shall go forward in accordance with the resolution of those present,
 even if not all those who were summoned have appeared.

(15) In future we will allow no one to levy an ‘aid’ from his free men,
except to ransom his person, to make his eldest son a knight, and
(once) to marry his eldest daughter. For these purposes only a
reasonable ‘aid’ may be levied.

(16) No man shall be forced to perform more service for a knight’s
‘fee’, or other free holding of land, than is due from it.

(17) Ordinary lawsuits shall not follow the royal court around, but
shall be held in a fixed place.

(18) Inquests of novel disseisin, mort d’ancestor, and darrein
presentment shall be taken only in their proper county court. We
ourselves, or in our absence abroad our chief justice, will send two
justices to each county four times a year, and these justices, with
four knights of the county elected by the county itself, shall hold the
assizes in the county court, on the day and in the place where the
court meets.

(19) If any assizes cannot be taken on the day of the county court, as
many knights and freeholders shall afterwards remain behind, of those
who have attended the court, as will suffice for the administration of
justice, having regard to the volume of business to be done.

(20) For a trivial offence, a free man shall be fined only in
proportion to the degree of his offence, and for a serious offence
correspondingly, but not so heavily as to deprive him of his
livelihood. In the same way, a merchant shall be spared his
merchandise, and a husbandman the implements of his husbandry, if they
fall upon the mercy of a royal court. None of these fines shall be
imposed except by the assessment on oath of reputable men of the
neighbourhood.

(21) Earls and barons shall be fined only by their equals, and in
proportion to the gravity of their offence.

(22) A fine imposed upon the lay property of a clerk in holy orders
shall be assessed upon the same principles, without reference to the
value of his ecclesiastical benefice.

(23) No town or person shall be forced to build bridges over rivers
except those with an ancient obligation to do so.

(24) No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other royal officials are to
hold lawsuits that should be held by the royal justices.

(25) Every county, hundred, wapentake, and tithing shall remain at its
ancient rent, without increase, except the royal demesne manors.

(26) If at the death of a man who holds a lay ‘fee’ of the Crown, a
sheriff or royal official produces royal letters patent of summons for
a debt due to the Crown, it shall be lawful for them to seize and list
movable goods found in the lay ‘fee’ of the dead man to the value of
the debt, as assessed by worthy men. Nothing shall be removed until the
whole debt is paid, when the residue shall be given over to the
executors to carry out the dead man’s will. If no debt is due to the
Crown, all the movable goods shall be regarded as the property of the
dead man, except the reasonable shares of his wife and children.

(27) If a free man dies intestate, his movable goods are to be
distributed by his next-of-kin and friends, under the supervision of
the Church. The rights of his debtors are to be preserved.

(28) No constable or other royal official shall take corn or other
movable goods from any man without immediate payment, unless the seller
voluntarily offers postponement of this.

(29) No constable may compel a knight to pay money for castle-guard if
the knight is willing to undertake the guard in person, or with
reasonable excuse to supply some other fit man to do it. A knight taken
or sent on military service shall be excused from castle-guard for the
period of this service.

(30) No sheriff, royal official, or other person shall take horses or
carts for transport from any free man, without his consent.

(31) Neither we nor any royal official will take wood for our castle,
or for any other purpose, without the consent of the owner.

(32) We will not keep the lands of people convicted of felony in our
hand for longer than a year and a day, after which they shall be
returned to the lords of the ‘fees’ concerned.

(33) All fish-weirs shall be removed from the Thames, the Medway, and
throughout the whole of England, except on the sea coast.

(34) The writ called precipe shall not in future be issued to anyone in
respect of any holding of land, if a free man could thereby be deprived
of the right of trial in his own lord’s court.

(35) There shall be standard measures of wine, ale, and corn (the
London quarter), throughout the kingdom. There shall also be a standard
width of dyed cloth, russett, and haberject, namely two ells within the
selvedges. Weights are to be standardised similarly.

(36) In future nothing shall be paid or accepted for the issue of a
writ of inquisition of life or limbs. It shall be given gratis, and not
refused.

(37) If a man holds land of the Crown by ‘fee-farm’, ‘socage’, or
‘burgage’, and also holds land of someone else for knight’s service, we
will not have guardianship of his heir, nor of the land that belongs to
the other person’s ‘fee’, by virtue of the ‘fee-farm’, ‘socage’, or
‘burgage’, unless the ‘fee-farm’ owes knight’s service. We will not
have the guardianship of a man’s heir, or of land that he holds of
someone else, by reason of any small property that he may hold of the
Crown for a service of knives, arrows, or the like.

(38) In future no official shall place a man on trial upon his own
unsupported statement, without producing credible witnesses to the
truth of it.

(39) No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his
rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his
standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him,
or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals
or by the law of the land.

(40) To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.

(41) All merchants may enter or leave England unharmed and without
fear, and may stay or travel within it, by land or water, for purposes
of trade, free from all illegal exactions, in accordance with ancient
and lawful customs. This, however, does not apply in time of war to
merchants from a country that is at war with us. Any such merchants
found in our country at the outbreak of war shall be detained without
injury to their persons or property, until we or our chief justice have
discovered how our own merchants are being treated in the country at
war with us. If our own merchants are safe they shall be safe too.

(42) In future it shall be lawful for any man to leave and return to
our kingdom unharmed and without fear, by land or water, preserving his
allegiance to us, except in time of war, for some short period, for the
common benefit of the realm. People that have been imprisoned or
outlawed in accordance with the law of the land, people from a country
that is at war with us, and merchants - who shall be dealt with as
stated above - are excepted from this provision.

(43) If a man holds lands of any ‘escheat’ such as the ‘honour’ of
Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other ‘escheats’ in
our hand that are baronies, at his death his heir shall give us only
the ‘relief’ and service that he would have made to the baron, had the
barony been in the baron’s hand. We will hold the ‘escheat’ in the same
manner as the baron held it.

(44) People who live outside the forest need not in future appear
before the royal justices of the forest in answer to general summonses,
unless they are actually involved in proceedings or are sureties for
someone who has been seized for a forest offence.

(45) We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or other
officials, only men that know the law of the realm and are minded to
keep it well.

(46) All barons who have founded abbeys, and have charters of English
kings or ancient tenure as evidence of this, may have guardianship of
them when there is no abbot, as is their due.

(47) All forests that have been created in our reign shall at once be
disafforested. River-banks that have been enclosed in our reign shall
be treated similarly.

(48) All evil customs relating to forests and warrens, foresters,
warreners, sheriffs and their servants, or river-banks and their
wardens, are at once to be investigated in every county by twelve sworn
knights of the county, and within forty days of their enquiry the evil
customs are to be abolished completely and irrevocably. But we, or our
chief justice if we are not in England, are first to be informed.

(49) We will at once return all hostages and charters delivered up to
us by Englishmen as security for peace or for loyal service. ***here
were some strange characters, not completely removed

(50) We will remove completely from their offices the kinsmen of Gerard
de Ath, Peter, Guy, and Andrew de Chanceaux, Guy de Cigogne, and in
future they shall hold no offices in England. The people in question
are Engelard de Cigogn, Geoffrey de Martigny and his brothers, Philip
Marc and his brothers, with Geoffrey his nephew, and all their
followers.

* As soon as peace is restored, we will remove from the kingdom all the
foreign knights, bowmen, their attendants, and the mercenaries that
have come to it, to its harm, with horses and arms.

* To any man whom we have deprived or dispossessed of lands, castles,
liberties, or rights, without the lawful judgement of his equals, we
will at once restore these. In cases of dispute the matter shall be
resolved by the judgement of the twenty-five barons referred to below
in the clause for securing the peace. In cases, however, where a man
was deprived or dispossessed of something without the lawful judgement
of his equals by our father King Henry or our brother King Richard, and
it remains in our hands or is held by others under our warranty, we
shall have respite for the period commonly allowed to Crusaders, unless
a lawsuit had been begun, or an enquiry had been made at our order,
before we took the Cross as a Crusader. On our return from the Crusade,
or if we abandon it, we will at once render justice in full.

* We shall have similar respite in rendering justice in connexion with
forests that are to be disafforested, or to remain forests, when these
were first aforested by our father Henry or our brother Richard; with
the guardianship of lands in another persons fee, when we have hitherto
had this by virtue of a fee held of us for knights service by a third
party; and with abbeys founded in another persons fee, in which the
lord of the fee claims to own a right. On our return from the Crusade,
or if we abandon it, we will at once do full justice to complaints
about these matters.

* No one shall be arrested or imprisoned on the appeal of a woman for
the death of any person except her husband.

* All fines that have been given to us unjustly and against the law of
the land, and all fines that we have exacted unjustly, shall be
entirely remitted or the matter decided by a majority judgement of the
twenty-five barons referred to below in the clause for securing the
peace together with Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be
present, and such others as he wishes to bring with him. If the
archbishop cannot be present, proceedings shall continue without him,
provided that if any of the twenty-five barons has been involved in a
similar suit himself, his judgement shall be set aside, and someone
else chosen and sworn in his place, as a substitute for the single
occasion, by the rest of the twenty-five.

* If we have deprived or dispossessed any Welshmen of lands, liberties,
or anything else in England or in Wales, without the lawful judgement
of their equals, these are at once to be returned to them. A dispute on
this point shall be determined in the Marches by the judgement of
equals. English law shall apply to holdings of land in England, Welsh
law to those in Wales, and the law of the Marches to those in the
Marches. The Welsh shall treat us and ours in the same way.

* In cases where a Welshman was deprived or dispossessed of anything,
without the lawful judgement of his equals, by our father King Henry or
our brother King Richard, and it remains in our hands or is held by
others under our warranty, we shall have respite for the period
commonly allowed to Crusaders, unless a lawsuit had been begun, or an
enquiry had been made at our order, before we took the Cross as a
Crusader. But on our return from the Crusade, or if we abandon it, we
will at once do full justice according to the laws of Wales and the
said regions.

* We will at once return the son of Llywelyn, all Welsh hostages, and
the charters delivered to us as security for the peace.

* With regard to the return of the sisters and hostages of Alexander,
king of Scotland, his liberties and his rights, we will treat him in
the same way as our other barons of England, unless it appears from the
charters that we hold from his father William, formerly king of
Scotland, that he should be treated otherwise. This matter shall be
resolved by the judgement of his equals in our court.

* All these customs and liberties that we have granted shall be
observed in our kingdom in so far as concerns our own relations with
our subjects. Let all men of our kingdom, whether clergy or laymen,
observe them similarly in their relations with their own men.

***Strange characters may have ended here.

SINCE WE HAVE GRANTED ALL THESE THINGS for God, for the better ordering
of our kingdom, and to allay the discord that has arisen between us and
our barons, and since we desire that they shall be enjoyed in their
entirety, with lasting strength, for ever, we give and grant to the
barons the following security:

* The barons shall elect twenty-five of their number to keep, and cause
to be observed with all their might, the peace and liberties granted
and confirmed to them by this charter.

* If we, our chief justice, our officials, or any of our servants
offend in any respect against any man, or transgress any of the
articles of the peace or of this security, and the offence is made
known to four of the said twenty-five barons, they shall come to us -
or in our absence from the kingdom to the chief justice - to declare it
and claim immediate redress. If we, or in our absence abroad the chief
justice, make no redress within forty days, reckoning from the day on
which the offence was declared to us or to him, the four barons shall
refer the matter to the rest of the twenty-five barons, who may
distrain upon and assail us in every way possible, with the support of
the whole community of the land, by seizing our castles, lands,
possessions, or anything else saving only our own person and those of
the queen and our children, until they have secured such redress as
they have determined upon. Having secured the redress, they may then
resume their normal obedience to us.

* Any man who so desires may take an oath to obey the commands of the
twenty-five barons for the achievement of these ends, and to join with
them in assailing us to the utmost of his power. We give public and
free permission to take this oath to any man who so desires, and at no
time will we prohibit any man from taking it. Indeed, we will compel
any of our subjects who are unwilling to take it to swear it at our
command.

* If one of the twenty-five barons dies or leaves the country, or is
prevented in any other way from discharging his duties, the rest of
them shall choose another baron in his place, at their discretion, who
shall be duly sworn in as they were.

* In the event of disagreement among the twenty-five barons on any
matter referred to them for decision, the verdict of the majority
present shall have the same validity as a unanimous verdict of the
whole twenty-five, whether these were all present or some of those
summoned were unwilling or unable to appear.

* The twenty-five barons shall swear to obey all the above articles
faithfully, and shall cause them to be obeyed by others to the best of
their power.

* We will not seek to procure from anyone, either by our own efforts or
those of a third party, anything by which any part of these concessions
or liberties might be revoked or diminished. Should such a thing be
procured, it shall be null and void and we will at no time make use of
it, either ourselves or through a third party.

We have remitted and pardoned fully to all men any ill-will, hurt, or
grudges that have arisen between us and our subjects, whether clergy or
laymen, since the beginning of the dispute. We have in addition
remitted fully, and for our own part have also pardoned, to all clergy
and laymen any offences committed as a result of the said dispute
between Easter 1215 AD and the restoration of peace.

In addition we have caused letters patent to be made for the barons,
bearing witness to this security and to the concessions set out above,
over the seals of Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, Henry archbishop of
Dublin, the other bishops named above, and Master Pandulf.

IT IS ACCORDINGLY OUR WISH AND COMMAND that the English Church shall be
free, and that men in our kingdom shall have and keep all these
liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably in their fulness
and entirety for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs, in all
things and all places for ever.

Both we and the barons have sworn that all this shall be observed in
good faith and without deceit. Witness the above mentioned people and
many others.

Given by our hand in the meadow that is called Runnymede, between
Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June in the seventeenth
year of our reign.

***

[There were many missing spaces in this one, not sure I got them all]




Magna Carta 1215


John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of
Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the archbishops,
bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciars, foresters, sheriffs,
stewards, servants, and to all his bailiffs and liege subjects,
greeting. Know that, having regard to God and for the salvation of our
soul, and those of all our ancestors and heirs, and unto the honor of
God and the advancement of holy church, and for the reform of our
realm, by advice of our venerable fathers, Stephen archbishop of
Canterbury, primate of all England and cardinal of the holy Roman
Church, Henry archbishop of Dublin, William of London, Peter of
Winchester, Jocelyn of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh of Lincoln, Walter of
Worcester, William of Coventry, Benedict of Rochester, bishops; of
master Pandulf, subdeacon and member of the household of our lord the
Pope, of brother Aymeric (master of the Knights of the Temple in
England), and of the illustrious men William Marshall earl of Pembroke,
William earl of Salisbury, William earl of Warenne, William earl of
Arundel, Alan of Galloway (constable of Scotland), Waren Fitz Gerald,
Peter Fits Herbert, Hubert de Burgh (seneschal of Poitou), Hugh de
Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip
d’Aubigny, Robert of Roppesley, John Marshall, John Fitz Hugh, and
others, our liegemen.

1. In the first place we have granted to God, and by this our present
charter confirmed for us and our heirs for ever that the English church
shall be free, and shall have her rights entire, and her liberties
inviolate; and we will that it be thus observed; which is apparent from
this that the freedom of elections, which is reckoned most important
and very essential to the English church, we, of our pure and
unconstrained will, did grant, and did by our charter confirm and did
obtain the ratification of the same from our lord, Pope Innocent III.,
before the quarrel arose between us and our barons: and this we will
observe, and our will is that it be observed in good faith by our heirs
for ever. We have also granted to all freemen of our kingdom, for us
and our heirs for ever, all the underwritten liberties, to be had and
held by them and their heirs, of us and our heirs for ever.

2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding of us in chief by
military service shall have died, and at the time of his death his heir
shall be of full age and owe “relief” he shall have his inheritance on
payment of the ancient relief, namely the heir or heirs of an earl, 100
pounds for a whole earl’s barony; the heir or heirs of a baron, 100
pounds for a whole barony; the heir or heirs of a knight, 100 shillings
at most for a whole knight’s fee; and whoever owes less let him give
less, according to the ancient custom officers.

3. If, however, the heir of any of the aforesaid has been under age and
in wardship, let him have his inheritance without relief and without
fine when he comes of age.

4. The guardian of the land of an heir who is thus under age, shall
take from the land of the heir nothing but reasonably produce,
reasonable customs, and reasonable services, and that without
destruction or waste of men or goods; and if we have committed the
wardship of the lands of any such minor to the sheriff, or to any other
who is responsible to us for its issues, and he has made destruction or
waste of what he holds in wardship, we will take of him amends, and the
land shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, who
shall be responsible for the issues to us or to him to whom we shall
assign them; and if we have given or sold the wardship of any such land
to anyone and he has there in made destruction or waste, he shall lose
that wardship, and it shall be transferred to two lawful and discreet
men of that fief, who shall be responsible to us in like manner as
aforesaid.

5. The guardian, moreover, so long as he has the wardship of the land,
shall keep up the houses, parks, fishponds, stanks, mills, and other
things pertaining to the land, out of the issues of the same land; and
he shall restore to the heir, when he has come to full age, all his
land, stocked with ploughs and “waynage,” according as the season of
husbandry shall require, and the issues of the land can reasonably
bear.

6. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, yet so that before the
marriage takes place the nearest in blood to that heir shall have
notice.

7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall forthwith and without
difficulty have her marriage portion and inheritance; nor shall she
give anything for her dower, or for her marriage portion, or for the
inheritance which her husband and she held on the day of the death of
that husband; and she may remain in the house of her husband for fourty
days after his death, within which time her dower shall be assigned to
her.

8. No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as she prefers to live
without a husband; provided always that she gives security not to marry
without our consent, if she holds of us, or without the consent of the
lord of whom she holds, if she holds of another.

9. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any land or rent for any
debt, so long as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient to repay the
debt; nor shall the sureties of the debtor be distrained so long as the
principal debtor is able to satisfy the debt; and if the principal
debtor shall fail to pay the debt, having nothing wherewith to pay it,
then the sureties shall answer for the debt; and let them have the
lands and rents of the debtor, if they desire them, until they are
indemnified for the debt which they have paid for him, unless the
principal debtor can show proof that he is discharged thereof as
against the said sureties.

10. If one who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or small, die
before that loan can be repaid, the debt shall not bear interest while
the heir is under age, of whomsoever he may hold; and if the debt fall
into our hands, we will not take anything except the principal sum
contained in the bond.

11. And if any one die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her
dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if any children of the deceased
are left underage, necessaries shall be provided for them in keeping
with the holding of the deceased; and out of the residue the debt shall
be paid, reserving, however, service due to feudal lords; in like
manner let it be done touching debts due to others than Jews.

12. No scutage nor aid shall be imposed on our kingdom, unless by
common counsel of our kingdom, except for ransoming our person, for
making our eldest son a knight, and for once marrying our eldest
daughter; and for these there shall not be levied more than a
reasonable aid. In like manner it shall be done concerning aids from
the city of London.

13. And the city of London shall have all its ancient liberties and
free customs, as well by land as by water; furthermore, we decree and
grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall have all
their liberties and free customs.

14. And for obtaining the common counsel of the kingdom anent the
assessing of an aid (except in the three cases aforesaid) or of a
scutage, we will cause to be summoned the archbishops, bishops, abbots,
earls, and greater barons, severally by our letters; and we will
moreover cause to be summoned generally, through our sheriffs and
bailiffs, all others who hold of us in chief, for a fixed date, namely,
after the expiry of at least forty days, and at a fixed place; and in
all letters of such summons we will specify the reason of the summons.
And when the summons has thus been made, the business shall proceed on
the day appointed, according to the counsel of such as are present,
although not all who were summoned have come.

15. We will not for the future grant to any one license to take an aid
from his own free tenants, except to ransom his body, to make his
eldest son a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter; and on each
of these occasions there shall be levied only a reasonable aid.

16. No one shall be distrained for performance of greater service for a
knight’s fee, or for any other free tenement, than is due therefrom.

17. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be held in some
fixed place.

18. Inquests of novel disseisin, of mort d’ancester, and of darrein
presentment, shall not be held elsewhere than in their own county
courts and that in manner following,—We, or, if we should be out of the
realm, our chief justiciar, will send two justiciars through every
county four times a year, who shall, along with four knights of the
county chosen by the county, hold the said assize in the county court,
on the day and in the place of meeting of that court.

19. And if any of the said assizes cannot be taken on the day of the
county court, let there remain of the knights and freeholders, who were
present at the county court on that day, as many as may be required for
the efficient making of judgments, according as the business be more or
less.

20. A freeman shall not be amerced for a slight offense, except in
accordance with the degree of the offense; and for a grave offense he
shall be amerced in accordance with the gravity of the offense, yet
saving always his “contentment;” and a merchant in the same way, saving
his “merchandise;” and a villein shall be amerced in the same way,
saving his “wainage”—if they have fallen into our mercy: and none of
the aforesaid amercements shall be impsed except by the oath of honest
men of the neighborhood.

21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced except through their peers,
and only in accordance with the degree of the offense.

22. A clerk shall not be amerced in respect of his lay holding except
after the manner of the others aforesaid; further, he shall not be
amerced in accordance with the extent of his ecclesiastical benefice.

23. No village or individual shall be compelled to make bridges at
river-banks, except those who from of old were legally bound to do so.

24. No sheriff, constable, coroners, or others of our bailiffs, shall
hold pleas of our Crown.

25. All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and trithings (except our
demesne manors) shall remain at old rents, and without any additional
payment.***here may be an error

26. If any one holding of us a lay fief shall die, and our sheriff or
bailiff shall exhibit our letters patent of summons for a debt which
the deceased owed to us, it shall be lawful for our sheriff or bailiff
to attach and catalogue chattels of the deceased, found upon the lay
fief, to the value of that debt, at the sight of law-worthy men,
provided always that nothing whatever be then be removed until the debt
which is evident shall be fully paid to us; and the residue shall be
left to the executors to fulfil the will of the deceased; and if there
be nothing due from him to us, all the chattels shall go to the
deceased, saving to his wife and children their reasonable shares.

27. If any freeman shall die intestate, his chattels shall be
distributed by the hands of his nearest kinsfolk and friends, under
supervision of the church, saving to every one the debts which the
deceased owed to him.

28. No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take corn or other
provisions from any one without immediately tendering money therefor,
unless he can have postponement thereof by permission of the seller.

29. No constable shall compel any knight to give money in lieu of
castle-guard, when he is willing to perform it in his own person, or
(if he cannot do it from any reasonable cause) then by another
responsible man. Further, if we have led or sent him upon military
service, he shall be relieved from guard in proportion to the time
during which he has been on service because of us.

30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or other person, shall take the
horses or carts of any freeman for transport duty, against the will of
the said freeman.

31. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall take, for our castles or for any
other work of ours, wood which is not ours, against the will of the
owner of that wood.

32. We will not retain beyond one year and one day, the lands of those
who have been convicted of felony, and the lands shall thereafter be
handed over to the lords of the fiefs.

33. All kiddles for the future shall be removed altogether from Thames
and Medway, and throughout all England, except upon the seashore.

34. The writ which is called praecipe shall not for the future be
issued to any one, regarding any tenement whereby a freeman may lose
his court.

35. Let there be one measure of wine throughout our whole realm; and
one measure of ale; and one measure of corn, to wit, “the London
quarter;” and one width of cloth (whether dyed, or russet, or
“halberget”), to wit, two ells within the selvages; of weights also let
it be as of measures.

36. Nothing in future shall be given or taken for a writ of inquisition
of life or limbs, but freely it shall be granted, and never denied.

37. If any one holds of us by fee-farm, by socage, or by burgage, and
holds also land of another lord by knight’s service, we will not (by
reason of that fee-farm, socage, or burgage) have the wardship of the
heir, or of such land of his as is of the fief of that other; nor shall
we have wardship of that fee-farm, socage, or burgage, unless such
fee-farm owes knight’s service. We will not by reason of any small
serjeanty which any one may hold of us by the service of rendering to
us knives, arrows, or the like, have wardship of his heir of the land
which he holds of another lord by knight’s service.

38. No bailiff for the future shall, upon his own unsupported
complaint, put any one to his “law,” without credible witnesses brought
for this purpose.

39. No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or exiled or
in anyway destroyed, nor will we go upon him nor send upon him, except
by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

40. To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or
justice.

41. All merchants shall have safe and secure exit from England, and
entry to England, with the right to tarry there and to move about as
well by land as by water, for buying and selling by the ancient and
right customs, quit from all evil tolls, except (in time of war) such
merchants as are of the land at war with us. And if such are found in
our land at the beginning of the war, they shall be detained, without
injury to their bodies or goods, until information be received by us,
or by our chief justiciar, how the merchants of our land found in the
land at war with us are treated; and if our men are safe there, the
others shall be safe in our land.

42. It shall be lawful in future for any one (excepting always those
imprisoned or outlawed in accordance with the law of the kingdom, and
natives of any country at war with us, and merchants, who shall be
treated as is above provided) to leave our kingdom and to return, safe
and secure by land and water, except for a short period in time of war,
on grounds of public policy—reserving always the allegiance due to us.

43. If any one holding of some escheat (such as the honor of
Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats
which are in our hands and are baronies) shall die, his heir shall give
no other relief, and perform no other service to us than he would have
done to the baron, if that barony had been in the baron’s hand; and we
shall hold it in the same manner in which the baron held it.

44. Men who dwell without the forest need not henceforth come before
our justiciars of the forest upon a general summons, except those who
are impleaded, or who have become sureties for any person or persons
attached for forest offenses.

45. We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs only
such as know the law of the realm and mean to observe it well.

46. All barons who have founded abbeys, concerning which they hold
charters from the kings of England, or of which they have
long-continued possession, shall have the wardship of them, when
vacant, as they ought to have.

47. All forests that have been made such in our time shall forthwith be
disafforested; and a similar course shall be followed with regard to
river-banks that have been placed “in defense” by us in our time.

48. All evil customs connected with forests and warrens, foresters and
warreners, sheriffs and their officers, river-banks and their wardens,
shall immediately be inquired into in each county by twelve sworn
knights of the same county chosen by the honest men of the same county,
and shall, within forty days of the said inquest, be utterly abolished,
so as never to be restored, provided always that we previously have
intimation thereof, or our justiciar, if we should not be in England.

49. We will immediately restore all hostages and charters delivered to
us by Englishmen, as sureties of the peace or of faithful service.

50. We will entirely remove from their bailiwicks, the relations of
Gerard Athee (so that in future they shall have no bailiwick in
England); namely, Engelard of Cigogne, Peter, Guy, and Andrew of
Chanceaux, Guy of Cigogne, Geofrrey of Martigny with his brothers,
Philip Mark with his brothers and his nephew Geoffrey, and the whole
brood of the same.

51. As soon as peace is restored, we will banish from the kingdom all
foreign-born knights, cross-bowmen, serjeants, and mercenary soldiers,
who have come with horses and arms to the kingdom’s hurt.

52. If any one has been dispossessed or removed by us, without the
legal judgment of his peers, from his lands, castles, franchises, or
from his right, we will immediately restore them to him; and if a
dispute arise over this, then let it be decided by the five-and-twenty
barons of whom mention is made below in the clause for securing the
peace. Moreover, for all those possessions, from which any one has,
without the lawful judgment of his peers, be endisseised or removed, by
our father, King Henry, or by our brother, King Richard, and which we
retain in our hand (or which are possessed by others, to whom we are
bound to warrant them) we shall have respite until the usual term of
crusaders; excepting those things about which a plea has been raised,
or an inquest made by our order, before our taking of the cross; but as
soon as were turn from our expedition (or if perchance we desist from
the expedition) we will immediately grant full justice therein.

53. We shall have, moreover, the same respite and in the same manner in
rendering justice concerning the disafforestation or retention of those
forests which Henry our father and Richard our brother afforested, and
concerning wardship of lands which are of the fief of another (namely,
such wardships as we have hitherto had by reason of a fief which any
one held of us by knight’s service), and concerning abbeys founded on
other fiefs than our own, in which the lord of the fief claims to have
right; and when we have returned, or if we desist from our expedition,
we will immediately grant full justice to all who complain of such
things.

54. No one shall be arrested or imprisoned upon the appeal of a woman,
for the death of any other than her husband.

55. All fines made with us unjustly and against the law of the land,
and all amercements imposed unjustly and against the law of the land,
shall be entirely remitted, or else it shall be done concerning them
according to the decision of the five-and-twenty barons of whom mention
is made below in the clause for securing the peace, or according to the
judgment of the majority of the same, along with the aforesaid Stephen,
archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and such others as he
may wish to bring with him for this purpose, and if he cannot be
present the business shall nevertheless proceed without him, provided
always that if any one or more of the aforesaid five-and-twenty barons
are in a similar suit, they shall be removed as far as concerns this
particular judgment, others being substituted in their places after
having been selected by the rest of the same five-and-twenty for this
purpose only, and after having been sworn.

56. If we have disseised or removed Welshmen from lands or liberties,
or other things, without the legal judgment of their peers in England
or in Wales, they shall be immediately restored to them; and if a
dispute arise over this, then let it be decided in the marches by the
judgment of their peers; for tenements in England according to the law
of England, for tenements in Wales according to the law of Wales, and
for tenements in the marches according to the law of the marches.
Welshmen shall do the same to us and ours.

57. Further, for all those possessions from which any Welshman has,
without the lawful judgment of his peers, been disseised or removed by
King Henry our father or King Richard our brother, and which we retain
in our hand (or which are possessed by others, to whom we are bound to
warrant them) we shall have respite until the usual term of crusaders;
excepting those things about which a plea has been raised or an inquest
made by our order before we took the cross; but as soon as we return
(or if perchance we desist from our expedition), we will immediately
grant full justice in accordance with the laws of the Welsh and in
relation to the foresaid regions.

58. We will immediately give up the son of Llywelyn and all the
hostages of Wales, and the charters delivered to us as security for the
peace.

59. We will do toward Alexander, King of Scots, concerning the return
of his sisters and his hostages, and concerning his franchises, and his
right, in the same manner as we shall do toward our other barons of
England, unless it ought to be otherwise according to the charters
which we hold from William his father, formerly King of Scots; and this
shall be according to the judgment of his peers in our court.

60. Moreover, all these aforesaid customs and liberties, the observance
of which we have granted in our kingdom as far as pertains to us toward
our men, shall be observed by all of our kingdom, as well clergy as
laymen, as far as pertains to them toward their men.

61. Since, moreover, for God and the amendment of our kingdom and for
the better allaying of the quarrel that has arisen between us and our
barons, we have granted all these concessions, desirous that they
should enjoy them in complete and firm endurance for ever, we give and
grant to them the underwritten security, namely, that the barons choose
five-and-twenty barons of the kingdom, whomsoever they will, who shall
be bound with all their might, to observe and hold, and cause to be
observed, the peace and liberties we have granted and confirmed to them
by this our present Charter, so that if we, or our justiciar, or our
bailiffs or any one of our officers, shall in anything be at fault
toward any one, or shall have broken any one of the articles of the
peace or of this security, and the offense be notified to four barons
of the foresaid five-and-twenty, the said four barons shall repair to
us (or our justiciar, if we are out of the realm) and, laying the
transgression before us, petition to have that transgression redressed
without delay. And if we shall not have corrected the transgression
(or, in the event of our being out of the realm, if our justiciar shall
not have corrected it) within forty days, reckoning from the time it
has been intimated to us (or to our justiciar, if we should be out of
the realm), the four barons aforesaid shall refer that matter to the
rest of the five-and-twenty barons, and those five-and-twenty barons
shall, together with the community of the whole land, distrain and
distress us in all possible ways, namely, by seizing our castles,
lands, possessions, and in any other way they can, until redress has
been obtained as they deem fit, saving harmless our own person, and the
persons of our queen and children; and when redress has been obtained,
they shall resume their old relations toward us. And let whoever in the
country desires it, swear to obey the orders of the said
five-and-twenty barons for the execution of all the aforesaid matters,
and along with them, to molest us to the utmost of his power; and we
publicly and freely grant leave to every one who wishes to swear, and
we shall never forbid any one to swear. All those, moreover, in the
land who of themselves and of their own accord are unwilling to swear
to the twenty-five to help them in constraining and molesting us, we
shall by our command compel the same to swear to the effect aforesaid.
And if any one of the five-and-twenty barons shall have died or
departed from the land, or be incapacitated in any other manner which
would prevent the foresaid provisions being carried out, those of the
said twenty-five barons who are left shall choose another in his place
according to their own judgment, and he shall be sworn in the same way
as the others. Further, in all matters, the execution of which is
intrusted to these twenty-five barons, if perchance these twenty-five
are present, that which the majority of those present ordain or command
shall be held as fixed and established, exactly as if the whole
twenty-five had concurred in this; and the said twenty-five shall swear
that they will faithfully observe all that is aforesaid, and cause it
to be observed with all their might. And we shall procure nothing from
any one, directly or indirectly, whereby any part of these concessions
and liberties might be revoked or diminished; and if any such thing has
been procured, let it be void and null, and we shall never use it
personally or by another.

62. And all the ill-will, hatreds, and bitterness that have arisen
between us and our men, clergy and lay, from the date of the quarrel,
we have completely remitted and pardoned every one. Moreover, all
trespasses occasioned by the said quarrel, from Easter in the sixteenth
year of our reign till the restoration of peace, we have fully remitted
to all, both clergy and laymen, and completely forgiven, as far as
pertains to us. And, on this head, we have caused to be made for them
letters testimonial patent of the lord Stephen, archbishop of
Canterbury, of the lord Henry, archbishop of Dublin, of the bishops
aforesaid, and of Master Pandulf as touching this security and the
concessions aforesaid.

63. Wherefore it is our will, and we firmly enjoin, that the English
Church be free, and that the men in our kingdom have and hold all the
aforesaid liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably,
freely and quietly, fully and wholly, for themselves and their heirs,
of us and our heirs, in all respects and in all places for ever, as is
aforesaid. An oath, moreover, has been taken, as well on our part as on
the part of the barons, that all these conditions aforesaid shall be
kept in good faith and without evil intent. Given under our hand—the
above-named and many others being witnesses—in the meadow which is
called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of
June, in the seventeenth year of our reign.




The text of THE MAGNA CARTA


The Magna Carta (The Great Charter):

Preamble:

John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of
Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the archbishop, bishops,
abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries, foresters, sheriffs, stewards,
servants, and to all his bailiffs and liege subjects, greetings. Know
that, having regard to God and for the salvation of our soul, and those
of all our ancestors and heirs, and unto the honor of God and the
advancement of his holy Church and for the rectifying of our realm, we
have granted as underwritten by advice of our venerable fathers,
Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England and cardinal
of the holy Roman Church, Henry, archbishop of Dublin, William of
London, Peter of Winchester, Jocelyn of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh of
Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of Coventry, Benedict of
Rochester, bishops; of Master Pandulf, subdeacon and member of the
household of our lord the Pope, of brother Aymeric (master of the
Knights of the Temple in England), and of the illustrious men William
Marshal, earl of Pembroke, William, earl of Salisbury, William, earl of
Warenne, William, earl of Arundel, Alan of Galloway (constable of
Scotland), Waren Fitz Gerold, Peter Fitz Herbert, Hubert De Burgh
(seneschal of Poitou), Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas
Basset, Alan Basset, Philip d’Aubigny, Robert of Roppesley, John
Marshal, John Fitz Hugh, and others, our liegemen.

1. In the first place we have granted to God, and by this our present
charter confirmed for us and our heirs forever that the English Church
shall be free, and shall have her rights entire, and her liberties
inviolate; and we will that it be thus observed; which is apparent from
this that the freedom of elections, which is reckoned most important
and very essential to the English Church, we, of our pure and
unconstrained will, did grant, and did by our charter confirm and did
obtain the ratification of the same from our lord, Pope Innocent III,
before the quarrel arose between us and our barons: and this we will
observe, and our will is that it be observed in good faith by our heirs
forever. We have also granted to all freemen of our kingdom, for us and
our heirs forever, all the underwritten liberties, to be had and held
by them and their heirs, of us and our heirs forever.

2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding of us in chief by
military service shall have died, and at the time of his death his heir
shall be full of age and owe “relief”, he shall have his inheritance by
the old relief, to wit, the heir or heirs of an earl, for the whole
baroncy of an earl by L100; the heir or heirs of a baron, L100 for a
whole barony; the heir or heirs of a knight, 100s, at most, and whoever
owes less let him give less, according to the ancient custom of fees.

3. If, however, the heir of any one of the aforesaid has been under age
and in wardship, let him have his inheritance without relief and
without fine when he comes of age.

4. The guardian of the land of an heir who is thus under age, shall
take from the land of the heir nothing but reasonable produce,
reasonable customs, and reasonable services, and that without
destruction or waste of men or goods; and if we have committed the
wardship of the lands of any such minor to the sheriff, or to any other
who is responsible to us for its issues, and he has made destruction or
waster of what he holds in wardship, we will take of him amends, and
the land shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fee,
who shall be responsible for the issues to us or to him to whom we
shall assign them; and if we have given or sold the wardship of any
such land to anyone and he has therein made destruction or waste, he
shall lose that wardship, and it shall be transferred to two lawful and
discreet men of that fief, who shall be responsible to us in like
manner as aforesaid.

5. The guardian, moreover, so long as he has the wardship of the land,
shall keep up the houses, parks, fishponds, stanks, mills, and other
things pertaining to the land, out of the issues of the same land; and
he shall restore to the heir, when he has come to full age, all his
land, stocked with ploughs and wainage, according as the season of
husbandry shall require, and the issues of the land can reasonable
bear.

6. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, yet so that before the
marriage takes place the nearest in blood to that heir shall have
notice.

7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall forthwith and without
difficulty have her marriage portion and inheritance; nor shall she
give anything for her dower, or for her marriage portion, or for the
inheritance which her husband and she held on the day of the death of
that husband; and she may remain in the house of her husband for forty
days after his death, within which time her dower shall be assigned to
her.

8. No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as she prefers to live
without a husband; provided always that she gives security not to marry
without our consent, if she holds of us, or without the consent of the
lord of whom she holds, if she holds of another.

9. Neither we nor our bailiffs will seize any land or rent for any
debt, as long as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient to repay the
debt; nor shall the sureties of the debtor be distrained so long as the
principal debtor is able to satisfy the debt; and if the principal
debtor shall fail to pay the debt, having nothing wherewith to pay it,
then the sureties shall answer for the debt; and let them have the
lands and rents of the debtor, if they desire them, until they are
indemnified for the debt which they have paid for him, unless the
principal debtor can show proof that he is discharged thereof as
against the said sureties.

10. If one who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or small, die
before that loan be repaid, the debt shall not bear interest while the
heir is under age, of whomsoever he may hold; and if the debt fall into
our hands, we will not take anything except the principal sum contained
in the bond.

11. And if anyone die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her
dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if any children of the deceased
are left under age, necessaries shall be provided for them in keeping
with the holding of the deceased; and out of the residue the debt shall
be paid, reserving, however, service due to feudal lords; in like
manner let it be done touching debts due to others than Jews.

12. No scutage not aid shall be imposed on our kingdom, unless by
common counsel of our kingdom, except for ransoming our person, for
making our eldest son a knight, and for once marrying our eldest
daughter; and for these there shall not be levied more than a
reasonable aid. In like manner it shall be done concerning aids from
the city of London.

13. And the city of London shall have all it ancient liberties and free
customs, as well by land as by water; furthermore, we decree and grant
that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall have all their
liberties and free customs.

14. And for obtaining the common counsel of the kingdom anent the
assessing of an aid (except in the three cases aforesaid) or of a
scutage, we will cause to be summoned the archbishops, bishops, abbots,
earls, and greater barons, severally by our letters; and we will
moveover cause to be summoned generally, through our sheriffs and
bailiffs, and others who hold of us in chief, for a fixed date, namely,
after the expiry of at least forty days, and at a fixed place; and in
all letters of such summons we will specify the reason of the summons.
And when the summons has thus been made, the business shall proceed on
the day appointed, according to the counsel of such as are present,
although not all who were summoned have come.

15. We will not for the future grant to anyone license to take an aid
from his own free tenants, except to ransom his person, to make his
eldest son a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter; and on each
of these occasions there shall be levied only a reasonable aid.

16. No one shall be distrained for performance of greater service for a
knight’s fee, or for any other free tenement, than is due therefrom.

17. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be held in some
fixed place.

18. Inquests of novel disseisin, of mort d’ancestor, and of darrein
presentment shall not be held elsewhere than in their own county
courts, and that in manner following; We, or, if we should be out of
the realm, our chief justiciar, will send two justiciaries through
every county four times a year, who shall alone with four knights of
the county chosen by the county, hold the said assizes in the county
court, on the day and in the place of meeting of that court.

19. And if any of the said assizes cannot be taken on the day of the
county court, let there remain of the knights and freeholders, who were
present at the county court on that day, as many as may be required for
the efficient making of judgments, according as the business be more or
less.

20. A freeman shall not be amerced for a slight offense, except in
accordance with the degree of the offense; and for a grave offense he
shall be amerced in accordance with the gravity of the offense, yet
saving always his “contentment”; and a merchant in the same way, saving
his “merchandise”; and a villein shall be amerced in the same way,
saving his “wainage” if they have fallen into our mercy: and none of
the aforesaid amercements shall be imposed except by the oath of honest
men of the neighborhood.

21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced except through their peers,
and only in accordance with the degree of the offense.

22. A clerk shall not be amerced in respect of his lay holding except
after the manner of the others aforesaid; further, he shall not be
amerced in accordance with the extent of his ecclesiastical benefice.

23. No village or individual shall be compelled to make bridges at
river banks, except those who from of old were legally bound to do so.

24. No sheriff, constable, coroners, or others of our bailiffs, shall
hold pleas of our Crown.

25. All counties, hundred, wapentakes, and trithings (except our
demesne manors) shall remain at the old rents, and without any
additional payment.

26. If anyone holding of us a lay fief shall die, and our sheriff or
bailiff shall exhibit our letters patent of summons for a debt which
the deceased owed us, it shall be lawful for our sheriff or bailiff to
attach and enroll the chattels of the deceased, found upon the lay
fief, to the value of that debt, at the sight of law worthy men,
provided always that nothing whatever be thence removed until the debt
which is evident shall be fully paid to us; and the residue shall be
left to the executors to fulfill the will of the deceased; and if there
be nothing due from him to us, all the chattels shall go to the
deceased, saving to his wife and children their reasonable shares.

27. If any freeman shall die intestate, his chattels shall be
distributed by the hands of his nearest kinsfolk and friends, under
supervision of the Church, saving to every one the debts which the
deceased owed to him.

28. No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take corn or other
provisions from anyone without immediately tendering money therefor,
unless he can have postponement thereof by permission of the seller.

29. No constable shall compel any knight to give money in lieu of
castle-guard, when he is willing to perform it in his own person, or
(if he himself cannot do it from any reasonable cause) then by another
responsible man. Further, if we have led or sent him upon military
service, he shall be relieved from guard in proportion to the time
during which he has been on service because of us.

30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or other person, shall take the
horses or carts of any freeman for transport duty, against the will of
the said freeman.

31. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall take, for our castles or for any
other work of ours, wood which is not ours, against the will of the
owner of that wood.

32. We will not retain beyond one year and one day, the lands those who
have been convicted of felony, and the lands shall thereafter be handed
over to the lords of the fiefs.

33. All kydells for the future shall be removed altogether from Thames
and Medway, and throughout all England, except upon the seashore.

34. The writ which is called praecipe shall not for the future be
issued to anyone, regarding any tenement whereby a freeman may lose his
court.

35. Let there be one measure of wine throughout our whole realm; and
one measure of ale; and one measure of corn, to wit, “the London
quarter”; and one width of cloth (whether dyed, or russet, or
“halberget”), to wit, two ells within the selvedges; of weights also
let it be as of measures.

36. Nothing in future shall be given or taken for a writ of inquisition
of life or limbs, but freely it shall be granted, and never denied.

37. If anyone holds of us by fee-farm, either by socage or by burage,
or of any other land by knight’s service, we will not (by reason of
that fee-farm, socage, or burgage), have the wardship of the heir, or
of such land of his as if of the fief of that other; nor shall we have
wardship of that fee-farm, socage, or burgage, unless such fee-farm
owes knight’s service. We will not by reason of any small serjeancy
which anyone may hold of us by the service of rendering to us knives,
arrows, or the like, have wardship of his heir or of the land which he
holds of another lord by knight’s service.

38. No bailiff for the future shall, upon his own unsupported
complaint, put anyone to his “law”, without credible witnesses brought
for this purposes.

39. No freemen shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or exiled or
in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him nor send upon him, except
by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

40. To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or
justice.

41. All merchants shall have safe and secure exit from England, and
entry to England, with the right to tarry there and to move about as
well by land as by water, for buying and selling by the ancient and
right customs, quit from all evil tolls, except (in time of war) such
merchants as are of the land at war with us. And if such are found in
our land at the beginning of the war, they shall be detained, without
injury to their bodies or goods, until information be received by us,
or by our chief justiciar, how the merchants of our land found in the
land at war with us are treated; and if our men are safe there, the
others shall be safe in our land.

42. It shall be lawful in future for anyone (excepting always those
imprisoned or outlawed in accordance with the law of the kingdom, and
natives of any country at war with us, and merchants, who shall be
treated as if above provided) to leave our kingdom and to return, safe
and secure by land and water, except for a short period in time of war,
on grounds of public policy- reserving always the allegiance due to us.

43. If anyone holding of some escheat (such as the honor of
Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats
which are in our hands and are baronies) shall die, his heir shall give
no other relief, and perform no other service to us than he would have
done to the baron if that barony had been in the baron’s hand; and we
shall hold it in the same manner in which the baron held it.

44. Men who dwell without the forest need not henceforth come before
our justiciaries of the forest upon a general summons, unless they are
in plea, or sureties of one or more, who are attached for the forest.

45. We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs only
such as know the law of the realm and mean to observe it well.

46. All barons who have founded abbeys, concerning which they hold
charters from the kings of England, or of which they have long
continued possession, shall have the wardship of them, when vacant, as
they ought to have.

47. All forests that have been made such in our time shall forthwith be
disafforsted; and a similar course shall be followed with regard to
river banks that have been placed “in defense” by us in our time.

48. All evil customs connected with forests and warrens, foresters and
warreners, sheriffs and their officers, river banks and their wardens,
shall immediately by inquired into in each county by twelve sworn
knights of the same county chosen by the honest men of the same county,
and shall, within forty days of the said inquest, be utterly abolished,
so as never to be restored, provided always that we previously have
intimation thereof, or our justiciar, if we should not be in England.

49. We will immediately restore all hostages and charters delivered to
us by Englishmen, as sureties of the peace of faithful service.

50. We will entirely remove from their bailiwicks, the relations of
Gerard of Athee (so that in future they shall have no bailiwick in
England); namely, Engelard of Cigogne, Peter, Guy, and Andrew of
Chanceaux, Guy of Cigogne, Geoffrey of Martigny with his brothers,
Philip Mark with his brothers and his nephew Geoffrey, and the whole
brood of the same.

51. As soon as peace is restored, we will banish from the kingdom all
foreign born knights, crossbowmen, serjeants, and mercenary soldiers
who have come with horses and arms to the kingdom’s hurt.

52. If anyone has been dispossessed or removed by us, without the legal
judgment of his peers, from his lands, castles, franchises, or from his
right, we will immediately restore them to him; and if a dispute arise
over this, then let it be decided by the five and twenty barons of whom
mention is made below in the clause for securing the peace. Moreover,
for all those possessions, from which anyone has, without the lawful
judgment of his peers, been disseised or removed, by our father, King
Henry, or by our brother, King Richard, and which we retain in our hand
(or which as possessed by others, to whom we are bound to warrant them)
we shall have respite until the usual term of crusaders; excepting
those things about which a plea has been raised, or an inquest made by
our order, before our taking of the cross; but as soon as we return
from the expedition, we will immediately grant full justice therein.

53. We shall have, moreover, the same respite and in the same manner in
rendering justice concerning the disafforestation or retention of those
forests which Henry our father and Richard our brother afforested, and
concerning the wardship of lands which are of the fief of another
(namely, such wardships as we have hitherto had by reason of a fief
which anyone held of us by knight’s service), and concerning abbeys
founded on other fiefs than our own, in which the lord of the fee
claims to have right; and when we have returned, or if we desist from
our expedition, we will immediately grant full justice to all who
complain of such things.

54. No one shall be arrested or imprisoned upon the appeal of a woman,
for the death of any other than her husband.

55. All fines made with us unjustly and against the law of the land,
and all amercements, imposed unjustly and against the law of the land,
shall be entirely remitted, or else it shall be done concerning them
according to the decision of the five and twenty barons whom mention is
made below in the clause for securing the pease, or according to the
judgment of the majority of the same, along with the aforesaid Stephen,
archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and such others as he
may wish to bring with him for this purpose, and if he cannot be
present the business shall nevertheless proceed without him, provided
always that if any one or more of the aforesaid five and twenty barons
are in a similar suit, they shall be removed as far as concerns this
particular judgment, others being substituted in their places after
having been selected by the rest of the same five and twenty for this
purpose only, and after having been sworn.

56. If we have disseised or removed Welshmen from lands or liberties,
or other things, without the legal judgment of their peers in England
or in Wales, they shall be immediately restored to them; and if a
dispute arise over this, then let it be decided in the marches by the
judgment of their peers; for the tenements in England according to the
law of England, for tenements in Wales according to the law of Wales,
and for tenements in the marches according to the law of the marches.
Welshmen shall do the same to us and ours.

57. Further, for all those possessions from which any Welshman has,
without the lawful judgment of his peers, been disseised or removed by
King Henry our father, or King Richard our brother, and which we retain
in our hand (or which are possessed by others, and which we ought to
warrant), we will have respite until the usual term of crusaders;
excepting those things about which a plea has been raised or an inquest
made by our order before we took the cross; but as soon as we return
(or if perchance we desist from our expedition), we will immediately
grant full justice in accordance with the laws of the Welsh and in
relation to the foresaid regions.

58. We will immediately give up the son of Llywelyn and all the
hostages of Wales, and the charters delivered to us as security for the
peace.

59. We will do towards Alexander, king of Scots, concerning the return
of his sisters and his hostages, and concerning his franchises, and his
right, in the same manner as we shall do towards our other barons of
England, unless it ought to be otherwise according to the charters
which we hold from William his father, formerly king of Scots; and this
shall be according to the judgment of his peers in our court.

60. Moreover, all these aforesaid customs and liberties, the
observances of which we have granted in our kingdom as far as pertains
to us towards our men, shall be observed b all of our kingdom, as well
clergy as laymen, as far as pertains to them towards their men.

61. Since, moveover, for God and the amendment of our kingdom and for
the better allaying of the quarrel that has arisen between us and our
barons, we have granted all these concessions, desirous that they
should enjoy them in complete and firm endurance forever, we give and
grant to them the underwritten security, namely, that the barons choose
five and twenty barons of the kingdom, whomsoever they will, who shall
be bound with all their might, to observe and hold, and cause to be
observed, the peace and liberties we have granted and confirmed to them
by this our present Charter, so that if we, or our justiciar, or our
bailiffs or any one of our officers, shall in anything be at fault
towards anyone, or shall have broken any one of the articles of this
peace or of this security, and the offense be notified to four barons
of the foresaid five and twenty, the said four barons shall repair to
us (or our justiciar, if we are out of the realm) and, laying the
transgression before us, petition to have that transgression redressed
without delay. And if we shall not have corrected the transgression
(or, in the event of our being out of the realm, if our justiciar shall
not have corrected it) within forty days, reckoning from the time it
has been intimated to us (or to our justiciar, if we should be out of
the realm), the four barons aforesaid shall refer that matter to the
rest of the five and twenty barons, and those five and twenty barons
shall, together with the community of the whole realm, distrain and
distress us in all possible ways, namely, by seizing our castles,
lands, possessions, and in any other way they can, until redress has
been obtained as they deem fit, saving harmless our own person, and the
persons of our queen and children; and when redress has been obtained,
they shall resume their old relations towards us. And let whoever in
the country desires it, swear to obey the orders of the said five and
twenty barons for the execution of all the aforesaid matters, and along
with them, to molest us to the utmost of his power; and we publicly and
freely grant leave to everyone who wishes to swear, and we shall never
forbid anyone to swear.

All those, moveover, in the land who of themselves and of their own
accord are unwilling to swear to the twenty five to help them in
constraining and molesting us, we shall by our command compel the same
to swear to the effect foresaid. And if any one of the five and twenty
barons shall have died or departed from the land, or be incapacitated
in any other manner which would prevent the foresaid provisions being
carried out, those of the said twenty five barons who are left shall
choose another in his place according to their own judgment, and he
shall be sworn in the same way as the others. Further, in all matters,
the execution of which is entrusted to these twenty five barons, if
perchance these twenty five are present and disagree about anything, or
if some of them, after being summoned, are unwilling or unable to be
present, that which the majority of those present ordain or command
shall be held as fixed and established, exactly as if the whole twenty
five had concurred in this; and the said twenty five shall swear that
they will faithfully observe all that is aforesaid, and cause it to be
observed with all their might. And we shall procure nothing from
anyone, directly or indirectly, whereby any part of these concessions
and liberties might be revoked or diminished; and if any such things
has been procured, let it be void and null, and we shall never use it
personally or by another.

62. And all the will, hatreds, and bitterness that have arisen between
us and our men, clergy and lay, from the date of the quarrel, we have
completely remitted and pardoned to everyone. Moreover, all trespasses
occasioned by the said quarrel, from Easter in the sixteenth year of
our reign till the restoration of peace, we have fully remitted to all,
both clergy and laymen, and completely forgiven, as far as pertains to
us. And on this head, we have caused to be made for them letters
testimonial patent of the lord Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, of
the lord Henry, archbishop of Dublin, of the bishops aforesaid, and of
Master Pandulf as touching this security and the concessions aforesaid.

63. Wherefore we will and firmly order that the English Church be free,
and that the men in our kingdom have and hold all the aforesaid
liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably, freely and
quietly, fully and wholly, for themselves and their heirs, of us and
our heirs, in all respects and in all places forever, as is aforesaid.
An oath, moreover, has been taken, as well on our part as on the part
of the barons, that all these conditions aforesaid shall be kept in
good faith and without evil intent. Given under our hand - the above
named and many others being witnesses - in the meadow which is called
Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June,
in the seventeenth year of our reign.



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