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Magna Carta
1215
Jonh, King of England (1167-1216)
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
Knights 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. We have also
granted to all free men of our realm, 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 for
the entire earl's barony, the heir or heirs of a knight l00s. 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 not be amerced save through their peers, and only according to
the measure of the offence.
22. No
clerk shall be amerced for his lay tenement ecept according to the manner of
the other persons aforesaid; and not according to the amount of his
ecclesiastical benefice.
23. Neither
a town nor a man shall be forced to make bridges over the rivers, with the
exception of those who, from of old and of right ought to do it.
24. No
sheriff, constable, coroners, or other bailiffs of ours shall hold the pleas of
our crown.
25. All
counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and trithings -our demesne manors being
exccepted- shall continue according to the old farms, without any increase at
all.
26. If any
one holding from us a lay fee shall die, and our sheriff or bailiff can show
our letters patent containing our summons for the debt which the dead man owed
to us, our sheriff or bailiff may be allowed to attach and enroll the chattels
of the dead man to the value of that debt, through view of lawful men; in such
way, however, that nothing shall be removed thence until the debt is paid which
was plainly owed to us. And the residue shall be left to the executors that
they may carry out the will of the dead man. And if nothing is owed to us by
him, all the chattels shall go to the use prescribed by the deceased, saving
their reasonable portions to his wife and children.
27. If any
freeman shall have died intestate his chattels shall be distributed through the
hands of his near relatives and friends, by view of the church; saving to any
one the debts which the dead man owed him.
28. No
constable or other bailiff of ours shall take the corn or other chattels of any
one except he straightway give money for them, or can be allowed a respite in
that regard by the will of the seller.
29. No
constable shall force any knight to pay money for castleward if he be willing
to perform that ward in person, or -he for a reasonable cause not being able to
perform it himself- through another proper man. And if we shall have led or
sent him on a military expedition, he shall be quit of ward according to the
amount of time during which, through us, he shall have been in military
service.
30. No
sheriff nor bailiff of ours, nor any one else, shall take the horses or carts
of any freeman for transport, unless by the will of that freeman.
31. Neither
we nor our bailiffs shall take another's wood for castles or for other private
uses, unless by the will of him to whom the wood belongs.
32. We
shall not hold the lands of those convicted of felony longer than a year and a
day; and then the lands shall be restored to the lords of the fiefs.
33.
Henceforth all the weirs in the Thames and Medway, and throughout all England,
save on the sea-coast, shall be done away with entirely.
34.
Henceforth the writ which is called Praecipe shall not be to served on any one
for any holding so as to cause a free man to lose his court.
35. There
shall be one measure of wine throughout our whole realm, and one measure of ale
and one measure of corn -namely, the London quart-; and one width of dyed and
russet and hauberk cloths -namely, two ells below the selvage-. And with
weights, moreover, it shall be as with measures.
36.
Henceforth nothing shall be given or taken for a writ of inquest in a matter
concerning life or limb; but it shall be conceded gratis, and shall not be
denied.
37. If any
one hold of us in fee-farm, or in socage, or in burkage, and hold land of
another by military service, we shall not, by reason of that fee-farm, or
socage, or burkage, have the wardship of his heir or of his land which is held
in fee from another. Nor shall we have the wardship of that fee-farm, or
socage, or burkage unless that fee-farm owe military service. We shall not, by
reason of some petit-serjeanty which some one holds of us through the service
of giving us knives or arrows or the like, have the wardship of his heir or of
the land which he holds of another by military service.
38. No
bailiff, on his own simple assertion, shall henceforth any one to his law,
without producing faithful witnesses in evidence.
39. No
freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseized, or outlawed, or exiled, or
in any way harmed -nor will we go upon or send upon him- save by the lawful
judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
40. To
none will we sell, to none deny or delay, right or justice.
41. All
merchants may safely and securely go out of England, and come into England, and
delay and pass through England, as well by land as by water, for the purpose of
buying and selling, free from all evil taxes, subject to the ancient and right
customs -save in time of war-, and if they are of the land at war against us.
And if such be found in our land at the beginning of the war, they shall be
held, without harm to their bodies and goods, until it shall be known to us or
our chief justice how the merchants of our land are to be treated who shall, at
that time, be found in the land at war against us. And if ours shall be safe
there, the others shall be safe in our land.
42.
Henceforth any person, saving fealty to us, may go out of our realm and return
to it, safely and securely, by land and by water, except perhaps for a brief
period in time of war, for the common good of the realm. But prisoners and
outlaws are excepted according to the law of the realm; also people of a land
at war against us, and the merchants, with regard to whom shall be done as we
have said.
43. If any
one hold from any escheat -as from the honour of Walingford, Nottingham,
Boloin, Lancaster, or the other escheats which are in our hands and are
baronies- and shall die, his heir shall not give another relief, nor shall he
perform for us other service than he would perform for a baron if that barony
were in the hand of a baron; and we shall hold it in the same way in which the
baron has held it.
44. Persons
dwelling without the forest shall not henceforth come before the forest
justices, through common summonses, unless they are impleaded or are the
sponsors of some person or persons attached for matters concerning the
forest.
45. We will
not make men justices, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs unless they are such
as know the law of the realm, and are minded to observe it rightly.
46. All
barons who have founded abbeys for which they have charters of the king of
England, or ancient right of tenure, shall have, as they ought to have, their
custody when vacant.
47. A11
forests constituted as such in our time shall straightway be annulled; and the
same shall be done for river banks made into places of defence by us in our
time.
48. A11
evil customs concerning forests and warrens, and concerning foresters and
warreners, sheriffs and their servants, river banks and their guardians, shall
straightway be inquired into each county, through twelve sworn knights from
that county, and shall be eradicated by them, entirely, so that they shall
never be renewed, within forty days after the inquest has been made; in such
manner that we shall first know about them, or our justice if we be not in
England.
49. We
shall straightway return all hostages and charters which were delivered to us
by Englishmen as a surety for peace or faithful service.
50. We
shall entirey remove from their bailwicks the relatives of Gerard de Athyes, so
that they shall henceforth have no bailwick in England: Engelard de Cygnes,
Andrew Peter and Gyon de Chanceles, Gyon de Cygnes, Geoffrey de Martin and his
brothers, Philip Mark and his brothers, and Geoffrey his nephew, and the whole
following of them.
51. And
straightway after peace is restored we shall remove from the realm all the
foreign soldiers, crossbowmen, servants, hirelings, who may have come with
horses and arms to the harm of the realm.
52. If any
one shall have been disseized by us, or removed, without a legal sentence of
his peers, from his lands, castles, liberties or lawful right, we shall
straightway restore them to him. And if a dispute shall arise concerning this
matter it shall be settled according to the judgment of the twenty-five barons
who are mentioned below as sureties for the peace. But with regard to all those
things of which any one was, by king Henry our father or king Richard our
brother, disseized or dispossessed without legal judgment of his peers, which
we have in our hand or which others hold, and for which we ought to give a
guarantee: We shall have respite until the common term for crusaders. Except
with regard to those concerning which a plea was moved, or an inquest made by
our order, before we took the cross. But when we return from our pilgrimage, or
if, by chance, we desist from our pilgrimage, we shall straightway then show
full justice regarding them.
53. We
shall have the same respite, moreover, and in the same manner, in the matter of
showing justice with regard to forests to be annulled and forests to remain,
which Henry our father or Richard our brother constituted; and in the matter of
wardships of lands which belong to the fee of another wardships of which kind
we have hitherto enjoyed by reason of the fee which some one held from us in
military service; -and in the matter of abbeys founded in the fee of another
than ourselves- in which the lord of the fee may say that he has jurisdiction.
And when we return, or if we desist from our pilgrimage, we shall straightway
exhibit full justice to those complaining with regard to these matters.
54. No one
shall be taken or imprisoned on account of the appeal of a woman concerning the
death of another than her husband.
55. All
fines imposed by us unjustly and contrary to the law of the land, and all
amerciaments made unjustly and contrary to the law of the land, shall be
altogether remitted, or it shall be done with regard to them according to the
judgment of the twenty five barons mentioned below as sureties for the peace,
or according to the judgment of the majority of them together with the
aforesaid Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and with
others whom he may wish to associate with himself for this purpose. And if he
can not be present, the affair shall nevertheless proceed without him; in such
way that, if one or more of the said twenty five barons shall be concerned in a
similar complaint, they shall be removed as to this particular decision, and,
in their place, for this purpose alone, others shall be subtituted who shall be
chosen and sworn by the remainder of those twenty five.
56. If we
have disseized or dispossessed Welshmen of their lands or liberties or other
things without legal judgment of their peers, in England or in Wales, -they
shall straightway be restored to them. And if a dispute shall arise concerning
this, then action shall be taken upon it in the March through judgment of their
peers- concerning English holdings according to the law of England, concerning
Welsh holdings according to the law of Wales, concerning holdings in the March
according to the law of the March. The Welsh shall do likewise with regard to
us and our subjects.
57. But
with regard to all those things of which any one of the Welsh by king Henry our
father or king Richard our brother, disseized or dispossessed without legal
judgment of his peers, which we have in our hand or which others hold, and for
which we ought to give a guarantee: we shall have respite until the common term
for crusaders. Except with regard to those concerning which a plea was moved,
or an inquest made by our order, before we took the cross. But when we return
from our pilgrimage, or if, by chance, we desist from our pilgrimage, we shall
straightway then show full justice regarding them, according to the laws of
Wales and the aforesaid districts.
58. We
shall straightway return the son of Llewelin and all the Welsh hostages, and
the charters delivered to us as surety for the peace.
59. We
shall act towards Alexander king of the Scots regarding the restoration of his
sisters, and his hostages, and his liberties and his lawful right, as we shall
act towards our other barons of England; unless it ought to be otherwise
according to the charters which we hold from William, his father, the former
king of the Scots. And this shall be done through judgment of his peers in our
court.
60.
Moreover all the subjects of our realm, clergy as well as laity, shall, as far
as pertains to them, observe, with regard to their vassals, all these aforesaid
customs and liberties which we have decreed shall, as far as pertains to us, be
observed in our realm with regard to our own.
61.
Inasmuch as, for the sake of God, and for the bettering of our realm, and for
the more ready healing of the discord which has arisen between us and our
barons, we have made all these aforesaid concessions, wishing them to enjoy for
ever entire and firm stability, we make and grant to them the following
security: that the baron, namely, may elect at their pleaure twenty five barons
from the realm, who ought, with all their strength, to observe, maintain and
cause to be observed, the peace and privileges which we have granted to them
and confirmed by this our present charter. In such wise, namely, that if we, or
our justice, or our bailiffs, or any one of our servants shall have
transgressed against any one in any respect, or shall have broken one of the
articles of peace or security, and our transgression shall have been shown to
four barons of the aforesaid twenty five: those four barons shall come to us,
or, if we are abroad, to our justice, showing to us our error; and they shall
ask us to cause that error to be amended without delay. And if we do not amend
that error, or, we being abroad, if our justice do not amend it within a term
of forty days from the time when it was shown to us or, we being abroad, to our
justice: the aforesaid four barons shall refer the matter to the remainder of
the twenty five barons, and those twenty five barons, with the whole land in
common, shall distrain and oppress us in every way in their power, namely, by
taking our castles, lands and possessions, and in every other way that they
can, until amends shall have been made according to their judnnent. Saving the
persons of ourselves, our queen and our children. And when amends shall have
been made they shall be in accord with us as they had been previously. And
whoever of the land wishes to do so, shall swear that in carrying out all the
aforesaid measures he will obey the mandates of the aforesaid twenty five
barons, and that, with them, he will oppress us to the extent of his power.
And, to any one who wishes to do so, we publicly and freely give permission to
swear; and we will never prevent any one from swearing. Moreover, all those in
the land who shall be unwilling, themselves and of their own accord, to swear
to the twenty five barons as to distraining and oppressing us with them: such
ones we shall make to wear by our mandate, as has been said. And if any one of
the twenty five barons shall die, or leave the country, or in any other way be
prevented from carrying out the aforesaid measures, the remainder of the
aforesaid twenty five barons shall choose another in his place, according to
their judgment, who shall be sworn in the same way as the others. Moreover, in
all things entrusted to those twenty five barons to be carried out, if those
twenty five shall be present and chance to disagree among themselves with
regard to some matter, or if some of them, having been summoned, shall be
unwilling or unable to be present: that which the majority of those present
shall decide or decree shall be considered binding and valid, just as if all
the twenty five had consented to it. And the aforesaid twenty five shall swear
that they will faithfully observe all the foregoing, and will cause them be
observed to the extent of their power. And we shall obtain nothing from any
one, either through ourselves or through another, by which any of those
concessions and liberties may be revoked or diminished. And if any such thing
shall have been obtained, it shall be vain and invalid, and we shall never make
use of it either through ourselves or through another.
62. And we
have fully remitted to all, and pardoned, all the ill- will, anger and rancour
which have arisen between us and our subjects, clergy and laity, from the time
of the struggle. Moreover have fully remitted to all, clergy and laity, and -as
far as pertains to us- have pardoned fully all the transgressions committed, on
the occasion of that same struggle, from Easter of the sixteenth year of our
reign until the re-establishment of peace. In witness of which, more-over, we
have caused to be drawn up for them letters patent of lord Stephen, archbishop
of Canterbury, lord Henry, archbishop of Dubland the aforesaid bishops and
master Pandulf, regarding that surety and the aforesaid concessions.
63.
Wherefore we will and firmly decree that the English church shall be free, and
that the subjects of our realm shall have and hold all the aforesaid liberties,
rights and concessions, duly and in peace, freely and quietly, fully and
entirely, for themselves and their heirs from us and our heirs, in all matters
and in all places, forever, as has been said. Moreover it has been sworn, on
our part as well as on the part of the barons, that all these above mentioned
provisions shall observed with good faith and without evil intent. The
witnesses being the above mentioned and many others. Given through our hand, in
the plain called Runnymede between Windsor and Stanes, on the fifteenth day of
June, in the seventeenth year of our reign.
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18 jun 2013
1215 Magna Carta. John King of England
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