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The Magna Carta
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 faithful subjects, greeting. Know that we, out of
reverence for God and for the salvation of our soul and those of all our
ancestors and heirs, for the honour of God and the exaltation of holy church,
and for the reform of our realm, on the 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 and Benedict of Rochester, bishops, of master
Pandulf, subdeacon and member of the household of the lord pope, of brother
Aymeric, master of the order of Knights Templar in England, and of the noble
men William Marshal earl of Pembroke, William earl of Salisbury, William earl
of Warenne, William earl of Arundel, Alan of Galloway constable of Scotland,
Warin fitz Gerold, Peter fitz Herbert, Hubert de Burgh seneschal of Poitou,
Hugh de Neville, Matthew fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset,
Philip de Aubeney, Robert of Ropsley, John Marshal, John fitz Hugh, and
others, our faithful subjects:
[1] In the first place 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 its rights undiminished and its liberties unimpaired;
and it is our will that it be thus observed; which is evident from the fact
that, before the quarrel between us and our barons began, we willingly and
spontaneously granted and by our charter confirmed the freedom of elections
which is reckoned most important and very essential to the English church,
and obtained confirmation of it from the lord pope Innocent III; the which we
will observe and we wish our heirs to observe it in good faith for ever.
We have also granted to all free men of our kingdom, for ourselves and our
heirs for ever, all the liberties written below, to be had and held by them
and their heirs of us and our heirs.
[2] If any of our earls or barons or others holding of us in chief by
knight service dies, and at his death his heir be of full age and owe relief
he shall have his inheritance on payment of the old relief, namely the heir
100 for a whole earl's barony, the heir of heirs of a
100 for a whole barony, the heir or heirs of a knight 100s, at most,
or a whole knight's fee; and he who owes less shall give less according to
the ancient usage of fiefs.
[3] If, however, the heir of any such be under age and a ward, he shall
have his inheritance when he comes of age without paying relief and without
making fine.
[4] The guardian of the land of such an heir who is under age shall take
from the land of the heir no more than reasonable revenues, reasonable
customary dues and reasonable services and that without destruction and waste
of men or goods; and if we commit the wardship of the land of any such to a
sheriff, or to any other who is answerable to us for its revenues, and he
destroys or wastes what he has wardship of, we will take compensation from
him and the land shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that
fief, who shall be answerable for the revenues to us or to him to whom we
have assigned them; and if we give or sell to anyone the wardship of any such
land and he causes destruction or waste therein, he shall lose that wardship,
and it shall be transferred to two lawful and discreet men of that fief, who
shall similarly be answerable to us as is aforesaid.
[5] Moreover, so long as he has the wardship of the land, the guardian
shall keep in repair the houses, parks, preserves, ponds, mills and other
things pertaining to the land out of the revenues from it; and he shall
restore to the heir when he comes of age his land fully stocked with ploughs
and the means of husbandry according to what the season of husbandry requires
and the revenues of the land can reasonably bear.
[6] Heirs shall be married without disparagement, yet so that before the
marriage is contracted those nearest in blood to the heir shall have notice.
[7] A widow shall have her marriage portion and inheritance forthwith
and without difficulty after the death of her husband; nor shall she pay
anything to have her dower or her marriage portion or the inheritance which
she and her husband held on the day of her husband's death; and she may
remain in her husband's house for forty days after his death, within which
time her dower shall be assigned to her.
[8] No widow shall be forced to marry so long as she wishes to live
without a husband, provided that she gives security not to marry without our
consent if she holds of us, or without the consent of her lord of whom she
holds, if she holds of another.
[9] Neither we nor our bailiffs will seize for any debt any land or
rent, so long as the chattles of the debtor are sufficient to repay the debt;
nor will those who have gone surety for the debtor be distrained so long as
the principal debtor is himself able to pay the debt; and if the principal
debtor fails to pay the debt, having nothing wherewith to pay it, then shall
the sureties answer for the debt; and they shall, if they wish, have the
lands and rents of the debtor until they are reimbursed for the debt which
they have paid for him, unless the principal debtor can show that he has
discharged his obligation in the matter to the said sureties.
[10] If anyone who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or small,
dies before it is repaid, the debt shall not bear interest as long as the
heir is under age, of whomsoever he holds; and if the debt falls into our
hands, we will not take anything except the principal mentioned in the bond.
[11] And if anyone dies indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her
dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if the dead man leaves children who
are under age, they shall be provided whith necessaries befitting the holding
of the deceased; and the debt shall be paid out of the residue, reserving,
however, service due to lords of the land; debts owing to others than Jews
shall be dealt with in like manner.
[12] No scutage or aid shall be imposed in 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
only a reasonable aid shall be levied. Be it done in like manner 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 will and grant
that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall have all their
liberties and free customs.
[14] And to obtain the common counsel of the kingdom about 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, individually by our letters-and, in additon, we will cause to be
summoned generally through our sheriffs and bailiffs all those holding of us
in chief-for a fixed date, namely, after the expiry of at least forty day,
and to a fixed place; and in all letters of such summons we will specify the
reason for the summons. And when the summons has thus been made, the
business shall proceed on the day appointed, according to the counsel of
those present, though not all have come who were summoned.
[15] We will not in future grant anyone the right to take an aid from
his free men, except for ransoming his person, for making his eldest son a
knight and for once marrying his eldest daughter, and for these only a
resonable aid shall be levied.
[16] No one shall be compelled to do greater service for a knight's fee
or for any other free holding than is due form it.
[17] Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be held in some
fixed place.
[18] Recognitions of novel disseisin, of mort d'ancester, and of darrein
presentment, shall not be held elsewhere than in the counties to which they
relate, and in this manner-we, or, if we should be out of the realm, our
chief justiciar, will send two justices through each county four times a
year, who, with four knights of each county chosen by the county, shall hold
the said assizes in the county and on the day and in the place of meeting of
the county court.
[19] And if the said assizes cannot all be held on the day of the county
court, there shall stay behind as many of the knights and freeholders who
were present at the county court on that day as are necessary for the
sufficient making of judgments, according to the amount of business to be
done.
[20] A free man shall not be amerced for a trivial offence except in
accordance with the degree of the offence, and for a grave offence he shall
be amerced in accordance with its gravity, yet saving his way of living; and
a merchant in the same way, saving his stock-in-trade; and a villein shall be
amerced in the same way, saving his means of livelihood-if they have fallen
into our mercy: and none of the aforesaid amercements shall be imposed except
by the oath of good men of the neighbourhood.
[21] Earls and barons shall not be amerced except by their peers, and
only in accordance with the degree of the offence.
[22] No clerk shall be amerced in respect of his lay holding except
after the manner of the others aforesaid and not according to the amount of
his ecclesiastical benefice.
[23] No vill or individual shall be compelled to make bridges at river
banks, except those who from of old are 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 shall be at the
old rents without any additional payment, except our demesne manors.
[26] If anyone holding a lay fief of us dies and our sheriff or bailiff
shows our letters patent of summons for a debt that the deceased owed us, it
shall be lawful for our sheriff or bailiff to attach and make a list of
chattels of the deceased found upon the lay fief to the value of that debt
under the supervision of law-worthy men, provided that none of the chattels
shall be removed until the debt which is manifest has been paid to us in
full; and the residue shall be left to the executors for carrying out the
will of the deceased. And if nothing is owing to us from him, all the
chattels shall accrue to the deceased, saving to his wife and children their
reasonable shares.
[27] If any free man dies without leaving a will, his chattels shall be
distributed by his nearest kinsfolk and friends under the supervison of the
church, saving to every one the debts which the deceased owed him.
[28] No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take anyone's corn or
other chattels unless he pays on the spot in cash for them or can delay
payment by arrangment with the seller.
[29] No constable shall compel any knight to give money instead of
castle-guard if he is willing to do the guard himself or through another good
man, if for some good reason he cannot do it himself; and if we lead or send
him on military service, he shall be excused guard in proportion to the time
that because of us he has been on service.
[30] No sheriff, or bailiff of ours, or anyone else shall take the
horses or carts of any free man for transport work save with the agreement of
that freeman.
[31] Neither we nor our bailiffs will take, for castles or other works
of ours, timber which is not ours, except with the agreement of him whose
timber it is.
[32] We will not hold for more than a year and a day the lands of those
convicted of felony, and then the lands shall be handed over to the lords of
the fiefs.
[33] Henceforth all fish-weirs shall be cleared completely from the
Thames and the Medway and throughout all England, except along the sea coast.
[34] The writ called Praecipe shall not in future be issued to anyone in
respect of any holding whereby a free man may lose his court.
[35] Let there be one measure for wine throughout our kingdom, and one
measure for ale, and one measure for corn, namely "the London quarter"; and
one width for cloths whether dyed, russet or halberget, namely two ells
within the selvedges. Let it be the same with weights as with measures.
[36] Nothing shall be given or taken in future for the writ of
inquisition of life or limbs: instead it shall be granted free of charge and
not refused.
[37] If anyone holds of us by fee-farm, by socage, or by burgage, and
holds land of another by knight service, we will not, by reason of that
fee-farm, socage, or burgage, have the wardship of his heir or of land of
his that is of the fief of the other; nor will we have custody of the
fee-farm, socage, or burgage, unless such fee-farm owes kngiht service.
We will not have custody of anyone's heir or land which he holds of another
y knight service by reason of any petty serjeanty which he holds of us by
the service of rendering to us knives or arrows or the like.
[38] No bailiff shall in future put anyone to trial upon his own bare
word, without reliable witnesses produced for this purpose.
[39] No free man shall be arrested or imprisoned or disseised or
outlawed or exiled or in any way victimised, neither will we attack him or
send anyone to attack 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 be able to go out of and come into England
safely and securely and stay and travel throughout England, as well by land
as by water, for buying and selling by the ancient and right customs free
from all evil tolls, except in time of war and if they are of the land that
is at war with us. And if such are found in our land at the beginning of a
war, they shall be attached, without injury to their persons or goods, until
we, or our chief justiciar, know how merchants of our land are treated who
were found in the land at war with us when war broke out, and if ours are
safe there, the others shall be safe in our land.
[42] It shall be lawful in future for anyone, without prejudicing the
allegiance due to us, to leave our kingdom and return safely and securely by
land and water, save, in the public interest, for a short period in time of
war-except for those imprisoned or outlawed in accordance with the law of the
kingdom and natives of a land that is at war with us and merchants (who shall
be treated as aforesaid).
[43] If anyone who holds of some escheat such as the honour of
Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats which are
in our hands and are baronies dies, his heir shall give no other relief and
do no other service to us than he would have done to the baron if that barony
had been in the baron's hands; and we will hold it in the same manner in
which the baron held it.
[44] Men who live outside the forest need not henceforth come before our
justices of the forest upon a general summons, unless they are impleaded or
are sureties for any person or persons who are attached for forest offences.
[45] We will not make justices, constables, sheriffs or bailiffs save of
such as know the law of the kingdom and mean to observe it well.
[46] All barons who have founded abbeys for which they have charters of
the kings of England or ancient tenure shall have the custody of them during
vacancies, as they ought to have.
[47] All forests that have been make forest in our time shall be
immediately disafforested; and so be it done with river banks that have been
made preserves by us in our time.
[48] All evil customs connected with forests and warrens, foresters and
warreners, sheriffs and their officials, riverbanks and their wardens shall
immediately be inquired into in each county by twelve sworn knights of the
same county, and within forty days of the completion of the inquiry shall be
utterly abolished by them so as never to be restored, provided that we, or
our justiciar if we are not in England, know of it first.
[49] We will immediately return all hostages and charters given to us by
Englishmen, as security for peace or faithful service.
[50] We will remove completely from office the relations of
Gerard de Athee so that in future they shall have no office in England,
namely Engelard de Cigogne, Peter and Guy and Andrew de Chanceaux,
Guy de cigogne, Geoffrey de Maartigny and his brothers, Philip Marc and his
brothers and his nephew Geoffrey, and all their following.
[51] As soon as peace is restored, we will remove from the kingdom all
foreign knights, cross-bowmen, serjeants, and mercenaries, who have come with
horses and arms to the detriment of the kingdom.
[52] If anyone has been disseised of or kept out of his lands, castles,
franchises or his right by us without the legal judgment of his peers, we
will immediately restore them to him: and if a dispute arises over this,
then let it be decided by the judgment of the twenty-five barons who are
mentioned below in the clause for securing the peace: for all the things,
however, which anyone has been disseised or kept out of without the lawful
judgment of his peers by king Henry, our father, or by king Richard, our
brother, which we have in our hand or are held by others, to whom we are
bound to warrant them, we will have the usual period of respite of crusaders,
excepting those things about which a plea was started or an inquest made by
our command before we took the cross; when however we return from our
pilgrimage, or if by any chance we do not go on it, we will at once do full
justice therein.
[53] We will have the same respite, and in the same manner, in the doing
of justice in the matter of the disafforesting or retaining of the forests
which Henry our father or Richard our brother afforested, and in the matter
of the wardship of lands which are of the fief of another, wardships of which
sort we have hitherto had by reason of a fief which anyone held of us by
knight service, and in the matter of abbeys founded on the fief of another,
not on a fief of our own, in which the lord of the fief claims he has a
right; and when we have returned, or if we do not set out on our pilgrimage,
we will at once do full justice to those who complain of these things.
[54] No one shall be arrested or imprisoned upon the appeal of a woman
for the death of anyone except 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 let them be settled by the judgment of the
twenty-five barons who are mentioned below in the clause for securing the
peace, or by 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 associate with himself for this purpose, and if he
cannot be present the business shall nevertheless proceed without him,
provided that if any one or more of of the aforesaid twenty-five barons are
in a like suit, they shall be removed from the judgment of the case in
question, and others chosen, sworn and put in their place by the rest of the
same twenty-five for this case only.
[56] If we have disseised or kept out 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 arises
over this, then let it be decided in the March by the judgment of their
peers-for holdings in England according to the law of England, for holdings
in Wales according to the law of Wales, and for holdings in the March
according to the law of the March. Welshmen shall do the same to us and ours.
[57] For all the things, however, which any Welshman was disseised of or
kept out of without the lawful judgment of his peers by king Henry, our
father, or king Richard, our brother, which we have in our hand or which are
held by others, to whom we are bound to warrent them, we will have the usual
period of respite of crusaders, excepting those things about which a plea was
started or an inquest made by our command before we took the cross; when
however we return, or if by any chance we do not set out on our pilgrimage,
we will at once do full justice to them in accordance with the laws of the
Welsh and the foresaid regions.
[58] We will give back at once the son of Llywelyn and all the hostages
from Wales and the charters that were handed over to us as security for
peace.
[59] We will act toward Alexander, king of the Scots, concerning the
return of his sisters and hostages and concerning his franchises and his
right in the same manner in which we act towards our other barons of England,
unless it ought to be otherwise by the charters which we have from William
his father, formerly king of the Scots, and this shall be determined by the
judgment of his peers in our court.
[60] All these aforesaid customs and liberties which we have granted to
be observed in our kingdom as far as it pertains to us towards our men, all
of our kingdom, clerks as well as laymen, shall observe as far as it pertains
to them towards their men.
[61] Since, moreover, for God and the betterment of our kingdom and for
the better allaying of the discord that has arisen between us and our barons
we have granted all these things aforesaid, wishing them to enjoy the use of
them unimpaired and unshaken for ever, we give and grant them the
under-written security, namely, that the barons shall choose any twenty-five
barons of the kingdom they wish, who must with all their might observe, hold
and cause to be observed, the peace and liberties which we have granted and
confirmed to them by this present charter of ours, so that if we, or our
justiciar, or our bailiffs or any one of our servants offend in any way
against anyone or transgress any of the articles of the peace or the security
and the offence be notified to four of the aforesaid twenty-five barons,
those four barons shall come to us, or to our justiciar if we are out of the
kingdom, and, laying the transgression before us, shall petition us to have
that transgression corrected without delay. And if we do not correct the
transgression, or if we are out of the kingdom, if our justiciar does not
correct it, within forty days, reckoning from the time it was brought to our
notice or to that of our justiciar if we were out of the kingdom, the
aforesaid four barons shall refer that case to the rest of the twenty-five
barons and those twenty-five barons together with the community of the whole
land shall distrain and distress us in every way they can, namely, by seizing
castles, lands, possessions, and in such other ways as they can, saving our
person and the persons of our queen and our children, until, in their
opinion, amends have been made; and when amends have been made, they shall
obey us as they did before. And let anyone in the land who wishes take an
oath to obey the orders of the said twenty-five barons for the execution of
all the aforesaid matters, and with them to distress us as much as he can,
and we publicly and freely give anyone leave to take the oath who wishes to
take it and we will never prohibit anyone from taking it. Indeed, all those
in the land who are unwilling of themselves and of their own accord to take
an oath to the twenty-five barons to help them to distrain and distress us,
we will make them take the oath as aforesaid at our command. And if any of
the twenty-five barons dies or leaves the country or is in any other way
prevented from carying out the things aforesaid, the rest of the aforesaid
twenty-five barons shall choose as they think fit another one in his place,
and he shall take the oath like the rest. In all matters the execution of
which is committed to these twenty-five barons, if it should happen that
these twenty-five are present yet disagree among themselves about anything,
or if some of those summoned will not or cannot be present, that shall be
held as fixed and established which the majority of those present ordained or
commanded, exactly as if all the twenty-five had consented to it; and the
said twenty-five shall swear that they will faithfully observe all the things
aforesaid and will do all they can to get them observed. And we will procure
nothing from anyone, either personally or through anyone else, whereby any of
these concessions and liberties might be revoked or diminished; and if any
such thing is procured, let it be void and null, and we will never use it
either personally or through another.
[62] And we have fully remitted and pardoned to everyone all the
ill-will, indignation and rancour that have arisen between us and our men,
clergy and laity, from the time of the quarrel. Furthermore, we have fully
remitted to all, clergy and laity, and as far as pertains to us have
completely forgiven, all trespasses occasioned by the same quarrel between
Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign and the restoration of peace.
And, besides, 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 and of the aforementioned bishops and of master Pandulf about this
security and the aforementioned concessions.
[63] Wherefore we wish and firmly enjoin that the English church shall
be free, and that the men in our kingdom shall have and hold all the
aforesaid liberties, rights and concessions well and peacefully, freely and
quietly, fully and completely, for themselves and their heirs from us and our
heirs, in all matters 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 things aforesaid shall be observed in good faith and without
evil disposition. Witness the above-mentioned and many others.
Given by our hand 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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