mortgages there made, pleas shall be held at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
4. None of them shall plead outside the walls of the City of
Newcastle-on-Tyne on any plea, except pleas of tenures outside the city
and except the minters and my ministers.
5. That none of them be distrained by any without the said city for the
repayment of any debt to any person for which he is not capital debtor
or surety.
6. That the burgesses shall be quit of toll and lastage [duty on a
ship's cargo] and pontage [tax for repairing bridges] and have passage
back and forth.
7. Moreover, for the improvement of the city, I have granted them that
they shall be quit of year's gift and of scotale [pressure to buy ale at
the sheriff's tavern], so that my sheriff of Newcastle-on-Tyne or any
other minister shall not make a scotale.
8. And whosoever shall seek that city with his merchandise, whether
foreigners or others, of whatever place they may be, they may come
sojourn and depart in my safe peace, on paying the due customs and
debts, and any impediment to these rights is prohibited.
9. We have granted them also a merchant guild.
10. And that none of them [in the merchant guild] shall fight by combat.
The king no longer lives on his own from income from his own lands, but
takes money from the treasury. A tax of a percentage of 1/15 th of
personal property was levied in 1225 for a war, in return for which the
king signed the Magna Carta. It was to be paid by all tenants-in-chief,
men of the royal domain, burgesses of the boroughs and cities, clerical
tenants-in-chief, and religious houses. The percentage tax came to be
used frequently and ranged from about 1/40 th to 1/5 th. In 1294, this
tax was bifurcated into one percentage amount for the rural districts
and a higher one for urban districts, because the burgesses had greater
wealth and much of it was hard to uncover because it was in the
possession of customers and debtors. It was usually 1/10 th for towns
and royal domains and 1/15 th in the country. This amount of money
collected by this tax increased with the wealth of the country.
The king takes custody of lands of lunatics and idiots, as well as
escheats of land falling by descent to aliens. Henry III took 20s. from
his tenants-in-chief for the marriage of his daughter, and two pounds
for the knighting of his son.
By 1250, the king was hiring soldiers at 2s. per day for knights, and
9d. a day for less heavily armed soldiers, and 6d. a day for
crossbowmen. Some castle-guard was done by watchmen hired at 2d. a day.
Ships were impressed when needed. Sometimes private ships were
authorized to ravage the French coasts and take what spoil they could.
While King Henry III was underage, there was much controversy as to who
should be his ministers of state, such as justiciar, chancellor, and
treasurer. This led to the concept that they should not be chosen by the
king alone. After he came of age, elected men from the baronage fought
to have meetings and his small council in several conferences called
great councils or parliaments (from French "to speak the mind") to
discuss the levying of taxes and the solution of difficult legal cases,
the implementation of the Magna Carta, the appointment of the king's
ministers and sheriffs, and the receipt and consideration of petitions.
The barons paid 1/30 th tax on their moveable property to have three
barons of their choice added to the council. Statutes were enacted.
Landholders were given the duty of electing four of their members in
every county to ensure that the sheriff observed the law and to report
his misdemeanors to the justiciar. They were also given the duty of
electing four men from the county from whom the exchequer was to choose
the sheriff of the year. Earl Montfort and certain barons forced King
Henry III to summon a great council or parliament in 1265 in which the
common people were represented officially by two knights from every
county, two burgesses from every borough, and two representatives from
each major port. So the King's permanent small council became a separate
body from parliament and its members took a specific councilor's oath in
1257 to give faithful counsel, to keep secrecy, to prevent alienation of
ancient demesne, to procure justice for the rich and poor, to allow
justice to be done on themselves and their friends, to abstain from
gifts and misuse of patronage and influence, and to be faithful to the
queen and to the heir.
- The Law -
The barons forced successive Kings to sign the Magna Carta until it
became the law of the land. It became the first statute of the official
statute book. Its provisions express the principle that a king is bound
by the law and is not above it. However, there is no redress if the king
breaches the law.
The Magna Carta was issued by John in 1215. A revised version was
issued by Henry III in 1225 with the forest clauses separated out into a
forest charter. The two versions are replicated together, with the
formatting of each indicated in the titles below.
{Magna Carta - 1215} Magna Carta - 1215 & 1225 MAGNA CARTA
- 1225
{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, Justiciaries, Foresters, Sheriffs, Reeves,
Ministers, and all Bailiffs and others, his faithful subjects, Greeting.
Know ye that in the presence of God, and for the health of our soul, and
the souls of our ancestors and heirs, to the honor of God, and the
exaltation of Holy Church, and amendment of our realm, by 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 of London, Peter of Winchester, Jocelin of Bath and
Glastonbury, Hugh of Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of Coventry,
and Benedict of Rochester, Bishops; Master Pandulph, the pope's
subdeacon and familiar; Brother Aymeric, Master of the Knights of the
Temple in England; and the noble persons, William Marshall, 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, Seneshal of Poitou,
Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz-Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset,
Philip Daubeny, Robert de Roppelay, John Marshall, John Fitz-Hugh, and
others, our liegemen:}
HENRY BY THE GRACE OF GOD, KING OF ENGLAND, LORD OF IRELAND, DUKE OF
NORMANDY AND GUYAN AND EARL OF ANJOU, TO ALL ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS,
ABBOTS, PRIORS, EARLS, BARONS, SHERIFFS, PROVOSTS, OFFICERS AND TO ALL
BAILIFFS AND OTHER OUR FAITHFUL SUBJECTS WHICH SHALL SEE THIS PRESENT
CHARTER, GREETING.
KNOW YE THAT WE, UNTO THE HONOR OF ALMIGHTY GOD, AND FOR THE SALVATION
OF THE SOULS OF OUR PROGENITORS AND SUCCESSORS KINGS OF ENGLAND, TO THE
ADVANCEMENT OF HOLY CHURCH AND AMENDMENT OF OUR REALM, OF OUR MERE AND
FREE WILL, HAVE GIVEN AND GRANTED TO ALL ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, ABBOTS,
PRIORS, EARLS, BARONS, AND TO ALL FREE MEN OF THIS OUR REALM, THESE
LIBERTIES FOLLOWING, TO BE KEPT IN OUR KINGDOM OF ENGLAND FOREVER.
[I. A CONFIRMATION OF LIBERTIES]
First, 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 enjoy her whole rights and her liberties inviolable. {And
that we will this so to be observed appears from the fact that we of our
own free will, before the outbreak of the dissensions between us and our
barons, granted, confirmed, and procured to be confirmed by Pope
Innocent III the freedom of elections, which is considered most
important and necessary to the English Church, which Charter we will
both keep ourself and will it to be kept with good faith by our heirs
forever.} We have also granted to all the free men of our realm, for us
and our heirs forever, all the liberties underwritten, to have and to
hold to them and their heirs of us and our heirs.
[II. THE RELIEF OF THE KING'S TENANT OF FULL AGE]
If any of our earls, barons, or others who hold of us in chief by
knight's service dies, and at the time of his death his heir is of full
age and owes to us a relief, he shall have his inheritance on payment of
[no more than] the old relief; to wit, the heir or heirs of an earl, for
an entire earldom, 100 pounds [2,000s.]; the heir or heirs of a baron of
an entire barony, {100 pounds} 100 MARKS [67 POUNDS OR 1340s.]; the heir
or heirs of an entire knight's fee, 100s. at the most [about 1/3 of a
knight's annual income]; and he who owes less shall give less, according
to the old custom of fees.
[III. THE WARDSHIP OF AN HEIR WITHIN AGE. THE HEIR A KNIGHT]
BUT IF THE HEIR OF SUCH BE UNDER AGE, HIS LORD SHALL NOT HAVE THE WARD
OF HIM, NOR OF HIS LAND, BEFORE THAT HE HAS TAKEN OF HIM HOMAGE. If,
however, any such heir is under age and in ward, he shall have his
inheritance without relief or fine when he comes of age, THAT IS,
TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF AGE. SO THAT IF SUCH AN HEIR NOT OF AGE IS MADE A
KNIGHT, YET NEVERTHELESS HIS LAND SHALL REMAIN IN THE KEEPING OF HIS
LORD UNTO THE AFORESAID TERM.
[IV. NO WASTE SHALL BE MADE BY A GUARDIAN IN WARD'S LANDS]
The guardian of the land of any heir thus under age shall take therefrom
only reasonable issues, customs, and services, without destruction or
waste of men or goods. And if we commit the custody of any such land to
the sheriff or any other person answerable to us for the issues of the
same land, and he commits destruction or waste, we will take an amends
from him and recompense therefore. And the land shall be committed to
two lawful and discreet men of that fee, who shall be answerable for the
issues of the same land to us or to whomsoever we shall have assigned
them. And if we give or sell the custody of any such land to any man,
and he commits destruction or waste, he shall lose the custody, which
shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, who
shall, in like manner, be answerable to us as has been aforesaid.
[V. GUARDIANS SHALL MAINTAIN THE INHERITANCE OF THEIR WARDS AND OF
BISHOPRICKS, ETC.]
The guardian, so long as he shall have the custody of the land, shall
keep up and maintain the houses, parks, fishponds, pools, mills, and
other things pertaining thereto, out of the issues of the same, and
shall restore to the heir when he comes of age, all his land stocked
with {ploughs and tillage, according as the season may require and the
issues of the land can reasonably bear} PLOUGHS AND ALL OTHER THINGS, AT
THE LEAST AS HE RECEIVED IT. ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE OBSERVED IN THE
CUSTODIES OF VACANT ARCHBISHOPRICKS, BISHOPRICKS, ABBEYS, PRIORIES,
CHURCHES, AND DIGNITIES, WHICH APPERTAIN TO US; EXCEPT THIS, THAT SUCH
CUSTODY SHALL NOT BE SOLD.
[VI. HEIRS SHALL BE MARRIED WITHOUT DISPARAGEMENT]
Heirs shall be married without loss of station. {And the marriage shall
be made known to the heir's nearest of kin before it is agreed.}
[VII. A WIDOW SHALL HAVE HER MARRIAGE, INHERITANCE, AND QUERENTINE
(period of forty days during which the widow has a privilege of
remaining in the mansion house of which her husband died seized). THE
KING'S WIDOW, ETC.]
A widow, after the death of her husband, shall immediately and without
difficulty have her marriage portion [property given to her by her
father] and inheritance. She shall not give anything for her marriage
portion, dower, or inheritance which she and her husband held on the day
of his 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.
IF THAT HOUSE IS A CASTLE AND SHE LEAVES THE CASTLE, THEN A COMPETENT
HOUSE SHALL FORTHWITH BE PROVIDED FOR HER, IN WHICH SHE MAY HONESTLY
DWELL UNTIL HER DOWER IS ASSIGNED TO HER AS AFORESAID; AND IN THE
MEANTIME HER REASONABLE ESTOVERS OF THE COMMON [NECESSARIES OR SUPPLIES
SUCH AS WOOD], ETC.
No widow shall be compelled [by penalty of fine] to marry so long as she
has a mind to live without a husband, provided, however, that she gives
security that she will not marry without our assent, if she holds of us,
or that of the lord of whom she holds, if she holds of another.
[VIII. HOW SURETIES SHALL BE CHARGED TO THE KING]
Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any land or rent for any debt as
long as the debtor's goods and chattels suffice to pay the debt AND THE
DEBTOR HIMSELF IS READY TO SATISFY THEREFORE. Nor shall the debtor's
sureties be distrained as long as the debtor is able to pay the debt. If
the debtor fails to pay, not having the means to pay, OR WILL NOT PAY
ALTHOUGH ABLE TO PAY, then the sureties shall answer the debt. And, if
they desire, they shall hold the debtor's lands and rents until they
have received satisfaction of that which they had paid for him, unless
the debtor can show that he has discharged his obligation to them.
{If anyone who has borrowed from the Jews any sum of money, great or
small, dies before the debt has been paid, the heir shall pay no
interest on the debt as long as he remains under age, of whomsoever he
may hold. If the debt falls into our hands, we will take only the
principal sum named in the bond.}
{And if any man dies indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her dower
and pay nothing of that debt; if the deceased leaves children under age,
they shall have necessaries provided for them in keeping with the estate
of the deceased, and the debt shall be paid out of the residue, saving
the service due to the deceased's feudal lords. So shall it be done with
regard to debts owed persons other than Jews.}
[IX. THE LIBERTIES OF LONDON AND OTHER CITIES AND TOWNS CONFIRMED]
The City of London shall have all her old liberties and free customs,
both by land and water. Moreover, we will and grant that all other
cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall have all their liberties and
free customs.
{No scutage or aid shall be imposed in our realm unless by common
counsel thereof, except to ransom our person, make our eldest son a
knight, and once to marry our eldest daughter, and for these only a
reasonable aid shall be levied. So shall it be with regard to aids from
the City of London.}
{To obtain the common counsel of the realm concerning the assessment of
aids (other than in the three aforesaid cases) or of scutage, we will
have the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and great barons
individually summoned by our letters; we will also have our sheriffs and
bailiffs summon generally all those who hold lands directly of us, to
meet on a fixed day, but with at least forty days' notice, and at a
fixed place. In all such letters of summons, we will explain the reason
therefor. After summons has thus been made, the business shall proceed
on the day appointed, according to the advice of those who are present,
even though not all the persons summoned have come.}
{We will not in the future grant permission to any man to levy an aid
upon his free men, except to ransom his person, make his eldest son a
knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter, and on each of these
occasions only a reasonable aid shall be levied.}
[X. NONE SHALL DISTRAIN FOR MORE SERVICE THAN IS DUE.]
No man shall be compelled to perform more service for a knight's fee nor
any freehold than is due therefrom.
[XI. COMMON PLEAS SHALL NOT FOLLOW THE KING'S COURT]
People who have Common Pleas shall not follow our Court traveling about
the realm, but shall be heard in some certain place.
[XII. WHERE AND BEFORE WHOM ASSIZES SHALL BE TAKEN. ADJOURNMENT FOR
DIFFICULTY]
{Land assizes of novel disseisin, mort d'ancestor and darrein
presentment shall be heard only in the county where the property is
situated, and in this manner: We or, if we are not in the realm, our
Chief Justiciary, shall send two justiciaries through each county four
times a year [to clear and prevent backlog], and they, together with
four knights elected out of each county by the people thereof, shall
hold the said assizes in the county court, on the day and in the place
where that court meets.}
ASSIZES OF NOVEL DISSEISIN, MORT D'ANCESTOR SHALL BE HEARD ONLY IN THE
COUNTY WHERE THE PROPERTY IS SITUATED, AND IN THIS MANNER: WE, OR IF WE
ARE NOT IN THE REALM, OUR CHIEF JUSTICIARY, SHALL SEND JUSTICIARIES
THROUGH EACH COUNTY ONCE A YEAR, AND THEY TOGETHER WITH KNIGHTS OF THAT
COUNTY SHALL HOLD THE SAID ASSIZES IN THE COUNTY.
{If the said assizes cannot be held on the day appointed, so many of the
knights and freeholders as were present on that day shall remain as will
be sufficient for the administration of justice, according to the amount
of business to be done.}
AND THOSE THINGS THAT AT THE COMING OF OUR FORESAID JUSTICIARIES, BEING
SENT TO TAKE THOSE ASSIZES IN THE COUNTIES, CANNOT BE DETERMINED, SHALL
BE ENDED BY THEM IN SOME OTHER PLACE IN THEIR CIRCUIT; AND THOSE THINGS
WHICH FOR DIFFICULTY OF SOME ARTICLES CANNOT BE DETERMINED BY THEM,
SHALL BE REFERRED TO OUR JUSTICES OF THE BENCH AND THERE SHALL BE ENDED.
[XIII. ASSIZES OF DARREIN PRESENTMENT]
ASSIZES OF DARREIN PRESENTMENT SHALL ALWAYS BE TAKEN BEFORE OUR JUSTICES
OF THE BENCH AND THERE SHALL BE DETERMINED.
[XIV. HOW MEN OF ALL SORTS SHALL BE AMERCED AND BY WHOM]
A freeman shall be amerced [made to pay a fine to the King] for a small
offense only according to the degree thereof, and for a serious offense
according to its magnitude, saving his position and livelihood; and in
like manner a merchant, saving his trade and merchandise, and a villein
saving his tillage, if they should fall under our mercy. None of these
amercements shall be imposed except by the oath of honest men of the
neighborhood.
Earls and barons shall be amerced only by their peers, and only in
accordance with the seriousness of the offense.
{No amercement shall be imposed upon a cleric's lay tenement, except in
the manner of the other persons aforesaid, and without regard to the
value of his ecclesiastical benefice.}
NO MAN OF THE CHURCH SHALL BE AMERCED EXCEPT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
SERIOUSNESS OF THE OFFENSE AND AFTER HIS LAY TENEMENT, BUT NOT AFTER THE
QUANTITY OF HIS SPIRITUAL BENEFICE.
[XV. MAKING OF BRIDGES AND BANKS]
No town or freeman shall be compelled to build bridges over rivers OR
BANKS except those bound by old custom and law to do so.
[XVI. DEFENDING OF BANKS]
NO BANKS [LAND NEAR A RIVER] SHALL BE DEFENDED [USED BY THE KING ALONE,
E.G. FOR HUNTING], FROM HENCEFORTH, BUT SUCH AS WERE IN DEFENSE IN THE
TIME OF KING HENRY [II] OUR GRANDFATHER, BY THE SAME PLACES AND IN THE
SAME BOUNDS AS IN HIS TIME.
[XVII. HOLDING PLEAS OF THE CROWN]
No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other of our bailiffs shall hold
pleas of our Crown [but only justiciars, to prevent disparity of
punishments and corruption].
{All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and tithings (except our demesne
manors) shall remain at the old rents, without any increase.}
[XVIII. THE KING'S DEBTOR DYING, THE KING SHALL BE FIRST PAID]
If anyone holding a lay fee of us dies, and our sheriff or our bailiff
show our letters patent [public letter from a sovereign or one in
authority] of summons for a debt due to us from the deceased, it shall
be lawful for such sheriff or bailiff to attach and list the goods and
chattels of the deceased found in the lay fee to the value of that debt,
by the sight and testimony of lawful men [to prevent taking too much],
so that nothing thereof shall be removed therefrom until our whole debt
is paid; then the residue shall be given up to the executors to carry
out the will of the deceased. If there is no debt due from him to us,
all his chattels shall remain the property of the deceased, saving to
his wife and children their reasonable shares.
{If any freeman dies intestate, his chattels shall be distributed by his
nearest kinfolk and friends, under supervision of the Church, saving to
each creditor the debts owed him by the deceased.}
[XIX. PURVEYANCE FOR A CASTLE]
No constable or other of our bailiffs shall take grain or other chattels
of any man without immediate payment, unless the seller voluntarily
consents to postponement of payment. THIS APPLIES IF THE MAN IS NOT OF
THE TOWN WHERE THE CASTLE IS. BUT IF THE MAN IS OF THE SAME TOWN AS
WHERE THE CASTLE IS, THE PRICE SHALL BE PAID TO HIM WITHIN 40 DAYS.
[XX. DOING OF CASTLE-GUARD]
No constable shall compel any knight to give money for keeping of his
castle in lieu of castle-guard when the knight is willing to perform it
in person or, if reasonable cause prevents him from performing it
himself, by some other fit man. Further, if we lead or send him into
military service, he shall be excused from castle-guard for the time he
remains in service by our command.
[XXI. TAKING OF HORSES, CARTS, AND WOOD]
No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or any other man, shall take horses or
carts of any freeman for carriage without the owner's consent. HE SHALL
PAY THE OLD PRICE, THAT IS, FOR CARRIAGE WITH TWO HORSES, 10d. A DAY;
FOR THREE HORSES, 14d. A DAY. NO DEMESNE CART OF ANY SPIRITUAL PERSON OR
KNIGHT OR ANY LORD SHALL BE TAKEN BY OUR BAILIFFS.
Neither we nor our bailiffs will take another man's wood for our castles
or for other of our necessaries without the owner's consent.
[XXII. HOW LONG FELONS' LANDS SHALL BE HELD BY THE KING]
We will hold the lands of persons convicted of felony for only a year
and a day [to remove the chattels and movables], after which they shall
be restored to the lords of the fees.
[XXIII. IN WHAT PLACE WEIRS SHALL BE REMOVED]
All fishweirs [obstructing navigation] shall be entirely removed by the
Thames and Medway rivers, and throughout England, except upon the
seacoast.
[XXIV. IN WHAT CASE A PRAECIPE IN CAPITE IS NOT GRANTABLE]
The [royal] writ called "praecipe in capite" [for tenements held in
chief of the Crown] shall not in the future be granted to anyone
respecting any freehold if thereby a freeman [who has a mesne lord] may
not be tried in his lord's court.
[XXV. THERE SHALL BE BUT ONE MEASURE THROUGHOUT THE REALM]
There shall be one measure of wine throughout our realm, one measure of
ale, and one measure of grain, to wit, the London quarter, and one
breadth of dyed cloth, russets, and haberjets, to wit, two {ells} YARDS
within the selvages. As with measures so shall it also be with weights.
[XXVI. INQUISITION OF LIFE AND LIMB]
Henceforth nothing shall be given or taken for a writ of inquisition
upon life or limb, but it shall be granted freely and not denied.
[XXVII. TENURE OF THE KING IN SOCAGE AND OF ANOTHER BY KNIGHT'S SERVICE.
PETIT SERJEANTY.]
If anyone holds of us by fee farm, socage, or burgage, and also holds
land of another by knight's service, we will not by reason of that fee
farm, socage, or burgage have the wardship of his heir, or the land
which belongs to another man's fee. Nor will we have the custody of such
fee farm, socage, or burgage unless such fee farm owe knight's service.
We will not have the wardship of any man's heir, or the land which he
holds of another by knight's service, by reason of any petty serjeanty
which he holds of us by service of rendering us knives, arrows, or the
like.
[XXVIII. WAGES OF LAW SHALL NOT BE WITHOUT WITNESS]
In the future no [royal] bailiff shall upon his own unsupported
accusation put any man to trial or oath without producing credible
witnesses to the truth of the accusation.
[XXIX. NONE SHALL BE CONDEMNED WITHOUT TRIAL. JUSTICE SHALL NOT BE SOLD
OR DELAYED.]
No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned, disseised OF HIS FREEHOLD OR
LIBERTIES OR FREE CUSTOMS, OR BE outlawed, banished, or in any way
ruined, nor will we prosecute or condemn him, except by the lawful
judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
To no one will we sell [by bribery], to none will we deny or delay,
right or justice.
[XXX. MERCHANT STRANGERS COMING INTO THIS REALM SHALL BE WELL USED]
All merchants shall have safe conduct to go and come out of and into
England, and to stay in and travel through England by land and water, to
buy and sell, without evil tolls, in accordance with old and just
customs, except, in time of war, such merchants as are of a country at
war with us. If any such be found in our realm at the outbreak of war,
they shall be detained, without harm to their bodies or goods, until it
be known to us or our Chief Justiciary how our merchants are being
treated in the country at war with us. And if our merchants are safe
there, then theirs shall be safe with us.