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40
1215
MAGNA CARTA
OR
THE GREAT CHARTER OF KING
JOHN
GRANTED JUNE 15TH, A. D. 1215,
IN THE SEVENTEENTH
YEAR OF HIS REIGN.
John, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland,
Duke of
Normandy and Aquitaine, and Earl of Anjou, to his
Archbishops,
Bishops, Abbots, Earls, Barons, Justiciaries,
Foresters, Sheriffs,
Governors, Officers, and to all
Bailiffs, and his faithful subjects, -
Greeting.
Know ye, that We, in the presence of God, and for the
salvation of
our own soul, and of the souls of all our
ancestors, and of our heirs,
to the honor of God, and the
exaltation of the Holy Church and
amendment of our Kingdom,
by the counsel 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, Joceline of Bath and
Glastonbury, Hugh of
Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of
Coventry, and Benedict of
Rochester, Bishops; Master Pandulph
our Lord the Pope's Subdeacon
and familiar, Brother Almeric,
Master of the Knights-Templars in
England, and of these noble
persons, William Mareschal Earl of
Pembroke, William Earl of
Salisbury, William Earl of Warren, William
Earl of Arundel,
Alan de Galloway Constable of Scotland, Warin
Fitz-Gerald,
Hubert de Burgh Seneschal of Poictou, Peter Fitz-Herbert,
Hugh
de Nevil, Matthew Fitz-Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan
Basset,
Philip de Albiniac, Robert de Roppel, John Mareschal,
John
Fitz-Hugh, and others our liegemen; have in the First
place granted to
God, and by this our present Charter, have
confirmed, for us and our
heirs for ever:
(1) That the English Church shall be free, and shall have
her
whole rights and her liberties inviolable; and we will
this to be
observed in such a manner, that it may appear from
thence, that the
freedom of elections, which was reputed most
requisite to the
English Church, which we granted, and by our
Charter confirmed, and
obtained the Confirmation of the same,
from our Lord Pope Innocent the
Third, before the rupture
between us and our Barons, was of our own
free will: which
Charter we shall observe, and we will it to be
observed with
good faith, by our heirs for ever.
We have also granted to
all the Freemen of our Kingdom, for us and
our heirs for
ever, all the underwritten Liberties, to be enjoyed
and held
by them and by their heirs, from us and from our heirs.
(2) If any of our Earls or Barons, or others who hold of us
in chief
by military service, shall die, and at his death his
heir shall be
of full age, and shall owe a relief, he shall
have his inheritance
by the ancient relief; that is to say,
the heir or heirs of an Earl, a
whole Earl's Barony for one
hundred pounds: the heir or heirs of a
Baron for a whole
Barony, by one hundred pounds; the heir or heirs
of a Knight,
for a whole Knight's Fee, by one hundred shillings at
most:
and he who owes less, shall give less, according to the
ancient
custom of fees.
(3) But if the heir of any such be under age, and in
wardship,
when he comes to age he shall have his inheritance
without relief
and without fine.
(4) The warden of the land of such heir who shall be under
age,
shall not take from the lands of the heir any but
reasonable issues,
and reasonable customs, and reasonable
services, and the without
destruction and waste of the men or
goods, and if we commit the
custody of any such lands to a
Sheriff, or any other person who is
bound to us for the
issues of them and he shall make destruction or
waste upon
the ward- lands we will recover damages from him and the
lands
shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that
fee,
who shall answer for the issues to us, or to him to whom
we have
assigned them. And if we shall give or sell to any
one the custody of
any such lands, and he shall make
destruction or waste upon them, he
shall lose the custody;
and it shall be committed to two lawful and
discreet men of
that fee, who shall answer to us in like manner as
it is said
before.
(5) But the warden, as long as he hath the custody of the
lands,
shall keep up and maintain the houses, parks, warrens,
ponds, mills,
and other things belonging to them, our of
their issues; and shall
restore to the heir when he comes of
full age, his whole estate,
provided with ploughs and other
implements of husbandry, according
as the time of Wainage
shall require, and the issues of the lands
can reasonably
afford.
(6) Heirs shall be married without disparagement, so that
before the
marriage be contracted, it shall be notified to
the relations of the
heir by consanguinity.
(7) A widow, after the death of her husband, shall
immediately,
and without difficulty have her marriage and her
inheritance; nor
shall she give any thing for her dower, or
for her marriage, or for
her inheritance, which her husband
and she held at the day of his
death: and she may remain in
her husband's house forty days after his
death, within which
time her dower shall be assigned.
(8) No widow shall be compelled to marry herself, while she
is
willing to live without a husband; but yet she shall give
security
that she will not marry herself without our consent,
if she hold of
us, or without the consent of the lord of whom
she does hold, if she
hold of another.
(9) Neither we nor our Bailiffs, will seize any land or rent
for any
debt, while the chattels of the debtor are sufficient
for the
payment of the debt; nor shall the sureties of the
debtor be
compelled, while the principal debtor is able to
pay the debt; and
if the principal debtor fail in payment of
the debt, not having
wherewith to discharge it, the sureties
shall answer for the debt; and
if they be willing, they shall
have the lands and rents of the debtor,
until satisfaction be
made to them for the debt which they had
before paid for him,
unless the principal debtor can shew himself
acquitted
thereof against the said sureties.
(10) If any one hath borrowed any thing from the Jews, more
or less,
and die before that debt be paid, the debt shall pay
no interest so
long as the heir shall be under age, of
whomsoever he may hold; and if
that debt shall fall into our
hands, we will not take any thing except
the chattel
contained in the bond,
(11) And if any one shall die indebted to the Jews, his wife
shall
have her dower and shall pay nothing of that debt; and
if children
of the deceased shall remain who are under age,
necessaries shall be
provided for them, according to the
tenement which belonged to the
deceased: and out of the
residue the debt shall be paid, saving the
rights of the
lords (of whom the lands are held.) In like manner
let it be
with debts owing to others than Jews.
(12) No scutage nor aid shall be imposed in our kingdom,
unless by
the common council of our kingdom; excepting to
redeem our person,
to make our eldest son a knight, and once
to marry our eldest
daughter, and not for these, unless a
reasonable aid shall be
demanded.
(13) In like manner let it be concerning the aids of the City
of
London.- And the City of London should have all it's
ancient
liberties, and it's free customs, as well by land as
by water.-
Furthermore, we will and grant that all other
Cities, and Burghs,
and Towns, and Ports, should have all
their liberties and free
customs.
(14) And also to have the common council of the kingdom, to
assess
and aid, otherwise than in the three cases aforesaid:
and for the
assessing of scutages, we will cause to be
summoned the Archbishops,
Bishops, Abbots, Earls, and great
Barons, individually, by our
letters.- And besides, we will
cause to be summoned in general by
our Sheriffs and Bailiffs,
all those who hold of us in chief, at a
certain day, that is
to say at the distance of forty days, (before
their meeting,)
at the least, and to a certain place; and in all the
letters
of summons, we will express the cause of the summons: and
the
summons being thus made, the business shall proceed on
the day
appointed, according to the counsel of those who
shall be present,
although all who had been summoned have not
come.
(15) We will not give leave to any one, for the future, to
take an
aid of his own free-men, except for redeeming his own
body, and for
making his eldest son a knight, and for
marrying once his eldest
daughter; and not that unless it be
a reasonable aid.
(16) None shall be compelled to do more service for
a
Knight's-Fee, nor for any other free tenement, than what is
due from
thence.
(17) Common Pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be
held in
any certain place.
(18) Trials upon the Writs of Novel Disseisin, Of Mort
d'Ancestre
(death of the ancestor), and Darrien Presentment
(last
presentation), shall not be taken but in their proper
counties, and in
this manner:- We, or our Chief Justiciary,
if we are out of the
kingdom, will send two Justiciaries into
each county, four times in
the year, who, with four knights
of each county, chosen by the county,
shall hold the
aforesaid assizes, within the county on the day, and at
the
place appointed.
(19) And if the aforesaid assizes cannot be taken on the day
of
the county-court, let as many knights and freeholders, of
those who
were present at the county-court remain behind, as
shall be sufficient
to do justice, according to the great or
less importance of the
business.
(20) A free-man shall not be fined for a small offence, but
only
according to the degree of the offence; and for a great
delinquency,
according to the magnitude of the delinquency,
saving his contenement:
a Merchant shall be fined in the same
manner, saving his
merchandise, and a villain shall be fined
after the same manner,
saving to him his Wainage, if he shall
fall into our mercy; and none
of the aforesaid fines shall be
assessed, but by the oath of honest
men of the vicinage.
(21) Earls and Barons shall not be fined but by their Peers,
and
that only according to the degree of their delinquency.
(22) No Clerk shall be fined for his lay-tenement, but
according
to the manner of the others as aforesaid, and not
according to the
quantity of his ecclesiastical benefice.
(23) Neither a town nor any person shall be compelled to
build
bridges or embankments, excepting those which
anciently, and of right,
are bound to do it.
(24) No Sheriff, Constable, Coroners, nor other of our
Bailiffs,
shall hold pleas of our crown.
(25) All Counties, and Hundreds, Trethings, and Wapontakes,
shall be
at the ancient rent, without any increase, excepting
in our
Demesne-manors.
(26) If any one holding of us a lay-fee dies, and the Sheriff
or our
Bailiff, shall shew our letters- patent of summons
concerning the debt
which the defunct owed to us, it shall be
lawful for the Sheriff or
our Bailiff to attach and register
the chattels of the defunct found
on that lay-fee, to the
amount of that debt, by the view of lawful
men, so that
nothing shall be removed from thence until our debt be
paid
to us; and the rest shall be left to the executors to fulfil
the
will of the defunct; and if nothing be owing to us by him, all
the
chattels shall fall to the defunct, saving to his wife
and children
their reasonable shares.
(27) If any free-man shall die intestate, his chattels shall
be
distributed by the hands of his nearest relations and
friends, by
the view of the Church, saving to every one the
debts which the
defunct owed.
(28) No Constable nor other Bailiff of ours shall take the
corn or
other goods of any one, without instantly paying
money for them,
unless he can obtain respite from the free
will of the seller.
(29) No Constable (Governor of a Castle) shall compel any
Knight
to give money for castle-guard, if he be willing to
perform it in
his own person, or by another able man, if he
cannot perform it
himself, for a reasonable cause: and if we
have carried or sent him
into the army, he shall be excused
from castle-guard, according to the
time that he shall be in
the army by our command.
(30) No Sheriff nor Bailiff of ours, nor any other person
shall take
the horses or carts of any free-man, for the
purpose of carriage,
without the consent of the said
free-man.
(31) Neither we, nor our Bailiffs, will take another man's
wood, for
our castles or other uses, unless by the consent of
him to whom the
wood belongs.
(32) We will not retain the lands of those who have been
convicted
of felony, excepting for one year and one day, and
then they shall
be given up to the lord of the fee.
(33) All kydells (wears) for the future shall be quite
removed our
of the Thames, and the Medway, and through all
England, excepting upon
the sea-coast.
(34) The writ which is called Praecipe, for the future shall
not
be granted to any one of any tenement, by which a
free-man may lose
his court.
(35) There shall be one measure of wine throughout all
our
kingdom, and one measure of ale, and one measure of corn,
namely the
quarter of London; and one breadth of dyed cloth,
and of russets,
and of halberjects, namely, two ells within
the lists. Also it shall
be the same with weights as with
measures.
(36) Nothing shall be given or taken for the future for the
Writ
of Inquisition of life or limb; but it shall be given
without
charge, and not denied.
(37) If any hold of us by Fee-Farm or Socage, or Burgage, and
hold
land of another by Military Service, we will not have
the custody of
the heir, nor of his lands, which are of the
fee of another, on
account of that Fee-Farm, or Socage, or
Burgage; nor will we have
the custody of the Fee-Farm, Socage
or Burgage, unless the Fee-Farm
owe Military Service. We will
not have the custody of the heir, nor of
the lands of any
one, which he holds of another by Military Service,
on
account of any Petty-Sergeantry which he holds of us by the
service
of giving us daggers, or arrows, or the like.
(38) No Bailiff, for the future, shall put any man to his
law,
upon his own simple affirmation, without credible
witnesses produced
for the purpose.
(39) No freeman
shall be seized, or imprisoned, or dispossessed,
or outlawed,
or in any way destroyed; nor will we condemn him, nor
will we
commit him to prison, excepting by the legal judgement of
his
peers, or by the laws of the land.
(40) To none will
we sell, to none will we deny, to none will we
delay right or
justice.
(41) All Merchants shall have safety and security in coming
into
England, and going out of England, and in staying and in
travelling
through England, as well by lands as by water, to
buy and sell,
without any unjust exactions, according to
ancient and right
customs, excepting the time of war, and if
they be of a country at war
against us: and if such are found
in our land at the beginning of a
war, they shall be
apprehended without injury of their bodies and
goods, until
it be known to us, or to our Chief Justiciary, how the
Merchants
of our country are treated who are found in the country at
war
against us; and if ours be in safety there, the others shall be
in
safety in our land.
(42) It shall be lawful to any person, for the future, to go
out
of our kingdom, and to return, safely and securely, by
land or by
water, saving his allegiance to us, unless it be
in time of war, for
some short space, for the common good of
the kingdom: excepting
prisoners and outlaws, according to
the laws of the land, and of the
people of the nation at war
against us, and Merchants who shall be
treated as it is said
above.
(43) If any hold of any escheat, as of the Honor of
Wallingford,
Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other
escheats which are in our
hand, and are Baronies, and shall
die, his heir shall not give any
other relief, nor do any
other service to us, than he should have done
to the Baron,
if that Barony had been in the hands of the Baron; and
we
will hold it in the same manner that the Baron held it.
(44) Men who dwell without the Forest, shall not come, for
the
future, before our Justiciaries of the Forest on a common
summons;
unless they be parties in a plea, or sureties for
some person or
persons who are attached for the Forest.
(45) We will not make Justiciaries, Constables, Sheriffs,
or
Bailiffs, excepting of such as know the laws of the land,
and are well
disposed to observe them.
(46) All Barons who have founded Abbies, which they hold by
charters
from the Kings of England, or by ancient tenure,
shall have the
custody of them when they become vacant, as
they ought to have.
(47) All Forests which have been made in our time, shall
be
immediately disafforested; and it shall be so done with
Water-banks,
which have been taken or fenced in by us during
our reign.
(48) All evil customs of Forests and Warrens, and of
Foresters and
Warreners, Sheriffs and their officers,
Water-banks and their keepers,
shall immediately be inquired
into by twelve Knights of the same
county, upon oath, who
shall be elected by good men of the same
county; and within
forty days after the inquisition is made, they
shall be
altogether destroyed by them never to be restored; provided
that
this be notified to us before it be done, or to our
Justiciary,
if we be not in England.
(49) We will immediately restore all hostages and charters,
which
have been delivered to us by the English, in security
of the peace and
of their faithful service.
(50) We will remove from their bailiwicks the relations of
Gerard de
Athyes, so that, for the future they shall have no
bailiwick in
England; Engelard de Cygony, Andrew, Peter, and
Gyone de Chancell,
Gyone de Cygony, Geoffrey de Martin, and
his brothers, Philip Mark,
and his brothers, and Geoffrey his
nephew, and all their followers.
(51) And immediately after the conclusion of the peace, we
will
remove out of the kingdom all foreign knights,
crossbow-men, and
stipendiary soldiers, who have come with
horses and arms to the
molestation of the kingdom.
(52) If any have been disseised or dispossessed by us,
without a
legal verdict of their peers, of their lands,
castles, liberties, or
rights, we will immediately restore
these things to them; and if any
dispute shall arise on this
head, then it shall be determined by the
verdict of the
twenty-five Barons, of whom mention is made below,
for the
security of the peace.- Concerning all those things of which
any
one hath been disseised or dispossessed, without the legal
verdict
of his peers by King Henry our father, or King
Richard our brother,
which we have in our hand, or others
hold with our warrants, we
shall have respite, until the
common term of the Crusaders,
excepting those concerning
which a plea had been moved, or an
inquisition taken, by our
precept, before our taking the Cross; but as
soon as we shall
return from our expedition, or if, by chance, we
should not
go upon our expedition, we will immediately do complete
justice
therein.
(53) The same respite will we have, and the same justice
shall be
done, concerning the disafforestation of the
forests, or the forests
which remain to be disafforested,
which Henry our father, or Richard
our brother, have
afforested; and the same concerning the wardship
of lands
which are in another's fee, but the wardship of which we
have
hitherto had, occasioned by any of our fees held by
Military
Service; and for Abbies founded in any other fee
than our own, in
which the Lord of the fee hath claimed a
right; and when we shall have
returned, or if we shall stay
from our expedition, we shall
immediately do complete justice
in all these pleas.
(54) No man shall be apprehended or imprisoned on the appeal
of a
woman, for the death of any other man than her husband.
(55) All fines that have been made by us unjustly, or
contrary to
the laws of the land; and all fines that have
been imposed unjustly,
or contrary to the laws of the land,
shall be wholly remitted, or
ordered by the verdict of the
twenty-five Barons, of whom mention is
made below, for the
security of the peace, or by the verdict of the
greater part
of them, together with the aforesaid Stephen,
Archbishop of
Canterbury, if he can be present, and others whom he may
think
fit to bring with him: and if he cannot be present, the
business
shall proceed, notwithstanding, without him; but so, that
if
any one or more of the aforesaid twenty-five Barons have
a
similar plea, let them be removed from that particular
trial, and
others elected and sworn by the residue of the
same twenty-five, be
substituted in their room, only for that
trial.
(56) If we have disseised or dispossessed any Welshmen of
their
lands, or liberties, or other things, without a legal
verdict of their
peers, in England or in Wales, they shall be
immediately restored to
them; and if any dispute shall arise
upon this head then let it be
determined in the Marches by
the verdict of their peers: for a
tenement of England,
according to the law of England; for a tenement
of Wales,
according to the law of Wales; for tenement of the
Marches,
according to the law of the Marches. The Welsh shall do the
same
to us and to our subjects.
(57) Also concerning those things of which any Welshman hath
been
disseised or dispossessed without the legal verdict of
his peers, by
King Henry our father, or King Richard our
brother, which we have in
our hand, or others hold with our
warrant, we shall have respite,
until the common term of the
Crusaders, excepting for those concerning
which a plea had
been moved, or an inquisition made, by our precept,
before
our taking the cross. But as soon as we shall return from
our
expedition, or if, by chance, we should not go upon our
expedition, we
shall immediately do complete justice therein,
according to the laws
of Wales, and the parts aforesaid.
(58) We will immediately deliver up the son of Llewelin, and
all the
hostages of Wales, and release them from their
engagements which
were made with us, for the security of the
peace.
(59) We shall do to Alexander King of Scotland, concerning
the
restoration of his sisters and hostages, and his
liberties and rights,
according to the form in which we act
to our other Barons of
England, unless it ought to be
otherwise by the charters which we have
from his father
William, the late King of Scotland; and this shall
be by the
verdict of his peers in our court.
(60) Also all these customs and liberties aforesaid, which we
have
granted to be held in our kingdom, for so much of it as
belongs to us,
all our subjects, as well clergy as laity,
shall observe towards their
tenants as far as concerns them.
(61) But since we have granted all these things aforesaid,
for
GOD, and for the amendment of our kingdom, and for the
better
extinguishing the discord which has arisen between us
and our
Barons, we being desirous that these things should
possess entire
and unshaken stability for ever, give and
grant to them the security
underwritten; namely, that the
Barons may elect twenty-five Barons
of the kingdom, whom they
please, who shall with their whole power,
observe, keep, and
cause to be observed, the peace and liberties which
we have
granted to them, and have confirmed by this our present
charter,
in this manner: that is to say, if we, or our Justiciary, or
our
bailiffs, or any of our officers, shall have injured any one
in
any thing, or shall have violated any article of the peace
or
security, and the injury shall have been shown to four of
the
aforesaid twenty-five Barons, the said four Barons shall
come to us,
or to our Justiciary if we be out of the kingdom,
and making known
to us the excess committed, petition that we
cause that excess to be
redressed without delay. And if we
shall not have redressed the
excess, or, if we have been out
of the kingdom, our Justiciary shall
not have redressed it
within the term of forty days, computing from
the time when
it shall have been made known to us, or to our
Justiciary if
we have been out of the kingdom, the aforesaid four
Barons,
shall lay that cause before the residue of the
twenty-five
Barons; and they, the twenty-five Barons, with
the community of the
whole land, shall distress and harass us
by all the ways in which they
are able; that is to say, by
the taking of our castles, lands, and
possessions, and by any
other means in their power, until the excess
shall have been
redressed, according to their verdict; saving harmless
our
person, and the persons of our Queen and children; and when
it
hath been redressed, they shall behave to us as they have
done before.
And whoever of our land pleaseth, may swear,
that he will obey the
commands of the aforesaid twenty-five
Barons, in accomplishing all the
things aforesaid, and that
with them he will harass us to the utmost
of his power: and
we publicly and freely give leave to every one to
swear who
is willing to swear; and we will never forbid any to
swear.
But all those of our land, who, of themselves, and of their
own
accord, are unwilling to swear to the twenty-five Barons,
to
distress and harass us together with them, we will compel
them by
our command, to swear as aforesaid.
And if any one
of the twenty-five Barons shall die, or remove out of
the
land, or in any other way shall be prevented from executing
the
things above said, they who remain of the twenty-five
Barons shall
elect another in his place, according to their
own pleasure, who shall
be sworn in the same manner as the
rest.
In all those things which are appointed to be done by
these
twenty-five Barons, if it happen that all the
twenty-five have been
present, and have differed in their
opinions about any thing, or if
some of them who had been
summoned, would not, or could not be
present, that which the
greater part of those who were present shall
have provided
and decreed, shall be held as firm and as valid, as if
all
the twenty-five had agreed in it: and the aforesaid
twenty-five
shall swear, that they will faithfully observe,
and, with all their
power, cause to be observed, all the
things mentioned above.
And we will obtain nothing from any
one, by ourselves, nor by
another, by which any of these
concessions and liberties may be
revoked or diminished. And
if any such thing shall have been obtained,
let it be void
and null: and we will never use it, neither by
ourselves nor
by another.
(62) And we have fully remitted and pardoned to all men, all
the
ill-will, rancor, and resentments, which have arisen
between us and
our subjects, both clergy and laity, from the
commencement of the
discord. Moreover, we have fully remitted
to all the clergy and laity,
and as far as belongs to us,
have fully pardoned all transgressions
committed by occasion
of the said discord, from Easter, in the
sixteenth year of
our reign [i.e., 1215], until the conclusion of
the
peace.
And, moreover, we have caused to be made to them
testimonial
letters-patent of the Lord Stephen, Archbishop of
Canterbury, the Lord
Henry, Archbishop of Dublin, and of the
aforesaid Bishops, and of
Master Pandulph concerning this
security, and the aforesaid
concessions.
(63) Wherefore, our will is and we firmly command that the
Church of
England be free, and that the men in our kingdom
have and hold the
aforesaid liberties, rights, and
concessions, well and in peace,
freely and quietly, fully and
entirely, to them and their heirs, of us
and our heirs, in
all things and places, for ever as is aforesaid.
It is also
sworn, both on our part, and on that of the Barons,
that all
the aforesaid shall be observed in good faith, and without
any
evil intention. Witnessed by the above, and many others.
Given by our hand in the Meadow which is called Runningmead,
between
Windsor and Staines, this 15th day of June, in the
17th year of our
reign [i.e., 1215: the new year began on May
28th].
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