and return safely and securely by land and water, except for a short
period in time of war, for the common benefit of the realm.}
[XXXI. TENURE OF A BARONY COMING INTO THE KING'S HANDS BY ESCHEAT]
If anyone dies holding of any escheat, such as the honor of Wallingford,
Nottingham, Boulogne, {Lancaster,} or other escheats which are in our
hands and are baronies, his heir shall not give any relief or do any
service to us other than he would owe to the baron, if such barony had
been in the baron's hands. And we will hold the escheat in the same
manner in which the baron held it. NOR SHALL WE HAVE, BY OCCASION OF ANY
BARONY OR ESCHEAT, ANY ESCHEAT OR KEEPING OF ANY OF OUR MEN, UNLESS HE
WHO HELD THE BARONY OR ESCHEAT ELSEWHERE HELD OF US IN CHIEF.
Persons dwelling outside the forest [in the county] need not in the
future come before our justiciaries of the forest in answer to a general
summons unless they are impleaded or are sureties for any person or
persons attached for breach of forest laws.
[XXXII. LANDS SHALL NOT BE ALIENED TO THE PREJUDICE OF THE LORD'S
SERVICE]
NO FREEMAN FROM HENCEFORTH SHALL GIVE OR SELL ANY MORE OF HIS LAND, BUT
SO THAT OF THE RESIDUE OF THE LANDS THE LORD OF THE FEE MAY HAVE THE
SERVICE DUE TO HIM WHICH BELONGS TO THE FEE.
{We will appoint as justiciaries, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs only
such men as know the law of the land and will keep it well.}
[XXXIII. PATRONS OF ABBEYS SHALL HAVE THE CUSTODY OF THEM WHEN VACANT]
All barons who had founded abbeys of which they have charters of English
Kings or old tenure, shall have the custody of the same when vacant, as
is their due.
All forests which have been created in our time shall forthwith be
disafforested. {So shall it be done with regard to river banks which
have been enclosed by fences in our time.}
{All evil customs concerning forests and warrens [livestock grounds in
forests], foresters and warreners, sheriffs and their officers, or
riverbanks and their conservators shall be immediately investigated in
each county by twelve sworn knights of such county, who are chosen by
honest men of that county, and shall within forty days after this
inquest be completely and irrevocably abolished, provided always that
the matter has first been brought to our knowledge, or that of our
justiciars, if we are not in England.}
{We will immediately return all hostages and charters delivered to us by
Englishmen as security for the peace or for the performance of loyal
service.}
{We will entirely remove from their offices the kinsmen of Gerald de
Athyes, so that henceforth they shall hold no office in England:
Engelard de Cigogne, Peter, Guy, and Andrew de Chanceaux, Guy de
Cigogne, Geoffrey de Martigny and his brothers, Philip Mark and his
brothers, and Geoffrey his nephew, and all their followers.}
{As soon as peace is restored, we will banish from our realm all foreign
knights, crossbowmen, sergeants, and mercenaries, who have come with
horses and arms, to the hurt of the realm.}
{If anyone has been disseised or deprived by us, without the legal
judgment of his peers, of lands, castles, liberties, or rights, we will
immediately restore the same, and if any disagreement arises on this,
the matter shall be decided by judgment of the twenty- five barons
mentioned below in the clause for securing the peace. With regard to all
those things, however, of which any man was disseised or deprived,
without the legal judgment of his peers, by King Henry [II] our Father
or our Brother King Richard, and which remain in our hands or are held
by others under our warranty, we shall have respite during the term
commonly allowed to the Crusaders, excepting those cases in which a plea
was begun or inquest made on our order before we took the cross; when,
however, we return from our pilgrimage, or if perhaps we do not
undertake it, we will at once do full justice in these matters.}
{Likewise, we shall have the same respite in rendering justice with
respect to the disafforestation or retention of those forests which
Henry [II] our Father or Richard our Brother afforested, and concerning
custodies of lands which are of the fee of another, which we hitherto
have held by reason of the fee which some person has held of us by
knight's service, and to abbeys founded on fees other than our own, in
which the lord of that fee asserts his right. When we return from our
pilgrimage, or if we do not undertake it, we will forthwith do full
justice to the complainants in these matters.}
[XXXIV. IN WHAT ONLY CASE A WOMAN SHALL HAVE AN APPEAL OF DEATH]
No one shall be arrested or imprisoned upon a woman's appeal for the
death of any person other than her husband [since no woman was expected
to personally engage in trial by combat].
[XXXV. AT WHAT TIME SHALL BE KEPT A COUNTY COURT, SHERIFF'S TURN AND A
LEET COURT (COURT OF CRIMINAL JURISDICTION EXCEPTING FELONIES)]
NO COUNTY COURT FROM HENCEFORTH SHALL BE HELD, BUT FROM MONTH TO MONTH;
AND WHERE GREATER TIME HAS BEEN USED, THERE SHALL BE GREATER. NOR SHALL
ANY SHERIFF, OR HIS BAILIFF, KEEP HIS TURN IN THE HUNDRED BUT TWICE IN
THE YEAR; AND NO WHERE BUT IN DUE PLACE AND ACCUSTOMED TIME, THAT IS,
ONCE AFTER EASTER, AND AGAIN AFTER THE FEAST OF SAINT MICHAEL. AND THE
VIEW OF FRANKPLEDGE [THE RIGHT OF ASSEMBLING THE WHOLE MALE POPULATION
OVER 12 YEARS EXCEPT CLERGY, EARLS, BARONS, KNIGHTS, AND THE INFIRM, AT
THE LEET OR SOKE COURT FOR THE CAPITAL FRANKPLEDGES TO GIVE ACCOUNT OF
THE PEACE KEPT BY INDIVIDUALS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE TITHINGS] SHALL BE
LIKEWISE AT THE FEAST OF SAINT MICHAEL WITHOUT OCCASION, SO THAT EVERY
MAN MAY HAVE HIS LIBERTIES WHICH HE HAD, OR USED TO HAVE, IN THE TIME OF
KING HENRY [II] OUR GRANDFATHER, OR WHICH HE HAS SINCE PURCHASED. THE
VIEW OF FRANKPLEDGE SHALL BE SO DONE, THAT OUR PEACE MAY BE KEPT; AND
THAT THE TYTHING BE WHOLLY KEPT AS IT HAS BEEN ACCUSTOMED; AND THAT THE
SHERIFF SEEK NO OCCASIONS, AND THAT HE BE CONTENT WITH SO MUCH AS THE
SHERIFF WAS WONT TO HAVE FOR HIS VIEW-MAKING IN THE TIME OF KING HENRY
OUR GRANDFATHER.
[XXXVI. NO LAND SHALL BE GIVEN IN MORTMAIN]
IT SHALL NOT BE LAWFUL FROM HENCEFORTH TO ANY TO GIVE HIS LAND TO ANY
RELIGIOUS HOUSE, AND TO TAKE THE SAME LAND AGAIN TO HOLD OF THE SAME
HOUSE [THEREBY EXTINGUISHING THE FEUDAL RIGHTS OF THE TEMPORAL LORD].
NOR SHALL IT BE LAWFUL TO ANY HOUSE OF RELIGION TO TAKE THE LANDS OF
ANY, AND TO LEASE THE SAME TO HIM OF WHOM HE RECEIVED IT. IF ANY FROM
HENCEFORTH GIVE HIS LANDS TO ANY RELIGIOUS HOUSE, AND THEREUPON BE
CONVICTED, THE GIFT SHALL BE UTTERLY VOID, AND THE LAND SHALL ACCRUE TO
THE LORD OF THE FEE.
{All fines unjustly and unlawfully given to us, and all amercements
levied unjustly and against the law of the land, shall be entirely
remitted or the matter decided by judgment of the twenty-five barons
mentioned below in the clause for securing the peace, or the majority of
them, together with the aforesaid Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, if
he himself can be present, and any others whom he may wish to bring with
him for the purpose; if he cannot be present, the business shall
nevertheless proceed without him. If any one or more of the said
twenty-five barons has an interest in a suit of this kind, he or they
shall step down for this particular judgment, and be replaced by another
or others, elected and sworn by the rest of the said barons, for this
occasion only.}
{If we have disseised or deprived the Welsh of lands, liberties, or
other things, without legal judgment of their peers, in England or
Wales, they shall immediately be restored to them, and if a disagreement
arises thereon, the question shall be determined in the Marches by
judgment of their peers according to the law of England as to English
tenements, the law of Wales as to Welsh tenements, the law of the
Marches as to tenements in the Marches. The same shall the Welsh do to
us and ours.}
{But with regard to all those things of which any Welshman was disseised
or deprived, without legal judgment of his peers, by King Henry [II] our
Father or our Brother King Richard, and which we hold in our hands or
others hold under our warranty, we shall have respite during the term
commonly allowed to the Crusaders, except as to those matters whereon a
suit had arisen or an inquisition had been taken by our command prior to
our taking the cross. Immediately after our return from our pilgrimage,
or if by chance we do not undertake it, we will do full justice
according to the laws of the Welsh and the aforesaid regions.}
{We will immediately return the son of Llywelyn, all the Welsh hostages,
and the charters which were delivered to us as security for the peace.}
{With regard to the return of the sisters and hostages of Alexander,
King of the Scots, and of his liberties and rights, we will do the same
as we would with regard to our other barons of England, unless it
appears by the charters which we hold of William his father, late King
of the Scots, that it ought to be otherwise; this shall be determined by
judgment of his peers in our court.}
[XXXVII. SUBSIDY IN RESPECT OF THIS CHARTER, AND THE CHARTER OF THE
FOREST, GRANTED TO THE KING.]
ESCUAGE [SERVICE OF THE SHIELD, A TENURE IN KNIGHTS' SERVICE] FROM
HENCEFORTH SHALL BE TAKEN AS IT WAS WONT TO BE IN THE TIME OF KING HENRY
[II] OUR GRANDFATHER; RESERVING TO ALL ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, ABBOTS,
PRIORS, TEMPLERS, HOSPITALLERS, EARLS, BARONS, AND ALL PERSONS AS WELL
SPIRITUAL AS TEMPORAL; ALL THEIR FREE LIBERTIES AND FREE CUSTOMS, WHICH
THEY HAVE HAD IN TIME PASSED. AND ALL THESE CUSTOMS AND LIBERTIES
AFORESAID, WHICH WE HAVE GRANTED TO BE HELD WITHIN THIS OUR REALM, AS
MUCH AS PERTAINS TO US AND OUR HEIRS, WE SHALL OBSERVE.
{All the customs and liberties aforesaid, which we have granted to be
enjoyed, as far as it pertains to us towards our people throughout our
realm, let all our subjects, whether clerics or laymen, observe, as far
as it pertains toward their dependents.}
AND ALL MEN OF THIS OUR REALM, AS WELL SPIRITUAL AS TEMPORAL (AS MUCH AS
IN THEM IS) SHALL OBSERVE THE SAME AGAINST ALL PERSONS IN LIKE WISE. AND
FOR THIS OUR GIFT AND GRANT OF THESE LIBERTIES, AND OF OTHER CONSTRAINED
IN OUR CHARTER OF LIBERTIES OF OUR FOREST, THE ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS,
ABBOTS, PRIORS, EARLS, BARONS, KNIGHTS, FREEHOLDERS, AND OUR OTHER
SUBJECTS, HAVE GIVEN UNTO US THE FIFTEENTH PART OF ALL THEIR MOVABLES.
AND WE HAVE GRANTED UNTO THEM ON THE OTHER PART, THAT NEITHER WE, NOR
OUR HEIRS, SHALL PROCURE OR DO ANY THING WHEREBY THE LIBERTIES IN THIS
CHARTER CONTAINED SHALL BE INFRINGED OR BROKEN. AND IF ANY THING BE
PROCURED BY ANY PERSON CONTRARY TO THE PREMISES, IT SHALL BE HAD OF NO
FORCE NOR EFFECT.
[ENFORCEMENT]
{Whereas we, for the honor of God and the reform of our realm, and in
order the better to allay the discord arisen between us and our barons,
have granted all these things aforesaid. We, willing that they be
forever enjoyed wholly and in lasting strength, do give and grant to our
subjects the following security, to wit, that the barons shall elect any
twenty-five barons of the realm they wish, who shall, with their utmost
power, keep, hold, and cause to be kept the peace and liberties which we
have granted unto them and by this our present Charter have confirmed,
so that if we, our Justiciary, bailiffs, or any of our ministers offends
in any respect against any man, or transgresses any of these articles of
peace or security, and the offense is brought before four of the said
twenty-five barons, those four barons shall come before us, or our Chief
Justiciary if we are out of the realm, declaring the offense, and shall
demand speedy amends for the same. If we or, in case of our being out of
the realm, our Chief Justiciary fails to afford redress within forty
days from the time the case was brought before us or, in the event of
our having been out of the realm, our Chief Justiciary, the aforesaid
four barons shall refer the matter to the rest of the twenty-five
barons, who, together with the commonalty of the whole country, shall
distrain and distress us to the utmost of their power, to wit, by
capture of our castles, lands, and possessions and by all other possible
means, until compensation is made according to their decision, saving
our person and that of our Queen and children; as soon as redress has
been had, they shall return to their former allegiance. Anyone in the
realm may take oath that, for the accomplishment of all the aforesaid
matters, he will obey the orders of the said twenty-five barons and
distress us to the utmost of his power; and we give public and free
leave to everyone wishing to take oath to do so, and to none will we
deny the same. Moreover, all such of our subjects who do not of their
own free will and accord agree to swear to the said twenty-five barons,
to distrain and distress us together with them, we will compel to do so
by our command in the aforesaid manner. If any one of the twenty-five
barons dies or leaves the country or is in any way hindered from
executing the said office, the rest of the said twenty-five barons shall
choose another in his stead, at their discretion, who shall be sworn in
like manner as the others. In all cases which are referred to the said
twenty-five barons to execute, and in which a difference arises among
them, supposing them all to be present, or in which not all who have
been summoned are willing or able to appear, the verdict of the majority
shall be considered as firm and binding as if the whole number had been
of one mind. The aforesaid twenty-five shall swear to keep faithfully
all the aforesaid articles and, to the best of their power, to cause
them to be kept by others. We will not procure, either by ourself or any
other, anything from any man whereby any of these concessions or
liberties may be revoked or abated. If any such procurement is made, let
it be null and void; it shall never be made use of either by us or by
any other.}
[AMNESTY]
{We have also fully forgiven and pardoned all ill-will, wrath, and
malice which has arisen between us and our subjects, both clergy and
laymen, during the disputes, to and with all men. Moreover, we have
fully forgiven and, as far as it pertains to us, wholly pardoned to and
with all, clergy and laymen, all offenses made in consequence of the
said disputes from Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign until the
restoration of peace. Over and above this, we have caused letters patent
to be made for Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry, Archbishop of
Dublin, the above-mentioned Bishops, and Master Pandulph, for the
aforesaid security and concessions.}
{Wherefore we will that, and firmly command that, the English Church
shall be free and all men in our realm shall have and hold all the
aforesaid liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably,
freely, quietly, fully, and wholly, to them and their heirs, of us and
our heirs, in all things and places forever, as is aforesaid. It is
moreover sworn, as will on our part as on the part of the barons, that
all these matters aforesaid shall be kept in good faith and without
deceit. Witness the above-named 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.}
THESE BEING WITNESSES: LORD S. ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, E. BISHOP OF
LONDON, F. BISHOP OF BATHE, G. OF WINCESTER, H. OF LINCOLN, R. OF
SALISBURY, W. OF ROCHESTER, X. OF WORCESTER, F. OF ELY, H. OF HEREFORD,
R. OF CHICHESTER, W. OF EXETER, BISHOPS; THE ABBOT OF ST. EDMONDS, THE
ABBOT OF ST. ALBANS, THE ABBOT OF BELLO, THE ABBOT OF ST. AUGUSTINES IN
CANTERBURY, THE ABBOT OF EVESHAM, THE ABBOT OF WESTMINSTER, THE ABBOT OF
BOURGH ST. PETER, THE ABBOT OF REDING, THE ABBOT OF ABINDON, THE ABBOT
OF MALMBURY, THE ABBOT OF WINCHCOMB, THE ABBOT OF HYDE, THE ABBOT OF
CERTESEY, THE ABBOT OF SHERBURN, THE ABBOT OF CERNE, THE ABBOT OF
ABBOREBIR, THE ABBOT OF MIDDLETON, THE ABBOT OF SELEBY, THE ABBOT OF
CIRENCESTER, H. DE BURGH JUSTICE, H. EARL OF CHESTER AND LINCOLN, W.
EARL OF SALISBURY, W. EARL OF WARREN, G. DE CLARE EARL OF GLOUCESTER AND
HEREFORD, W. DE FERRARS EARL OF DERBY, W. DE MANDEVILLE EARL OF ESSEX,
H. DE BYGOD EARL OF NORFOLK, W. EARL OF ALBEMARLE, H. EARL OF HEREFORD,
F. CONSTABLE OF CHESTER, G. DE TOS, H. FITZWALTER, R. DE BYPONTE, W. DE
BRUER, R. DE MONTEFICHET, P. FITZHERBERT, W. DE AUBENIE, F. GRESLY, F.
DE BREUS, F. DE MONEMUE, F. FITZALLEN, H. DE MORTIMER, W. DE BEUCHAMP,
W. DE ST. JOHN, P. DE MAULI, BRIAN DE LISLE, THOMAS DE MULTON, R. DE
ARGENTEYN, G. DE NEVIL, W. DE MAUDUIT, F. DE BALUN, AND OTHERS. GIVEN AT
WESTMINSTER THE 11TH DAY OF FEBRUARY THE 9TH YEAR OF OUR REIGN.
WE, RATIFYING AND APPROVING THESE GIFTS AND GRANTS AFORESAID, CONFIRM
AND MAKE STRONG ALL THE SAME FOR US AND OUR HEIRS PERPETUALLY, AND BY
THE TENOUR OF THESE PRESENTS, DO RENEW THE SAME; WILLING AND GRANTING
FOR US AND OUR HEIRS, THAT THIS CHARTER, AND ALL SINGULAR HIS ARTICLES,
FOREVER SHALL BE STEADFASTLY, FIRMLY, AND INVIOLABLY OBSERVED; AND IF
ANY ARTICLE IN THE SAME CHARTER CONTAINED, YET HITHERTO PERADVENTURE HAS
NOT BEEN KEPT, WE WILL, AND BY ROYAL AUTHORITY, COMMAND, FROM HENCEFORTH
FIRMLY THEY BE OBSERVED.
Statutes which were enacted after the Magna Carta follow:
Nuisance is recognized by this statute: "Every freeman, without danger,
shall make in his own wood, or in his land, or in his water, which he
has within our Forest, mills, springs, pools, clay pits, dikes, or
arable ground, so that it does not annoy any of his neighbors."
Anyone taking a widow's dower after her husband's death must not only
return the dower, but pay damages in the amount of the value of the
dower from the time of death of the husband until her recovery of
seisin.
Widows may bequeath the crop of their ground as well of their dowers as
of their other lands and tenements.
Freeholders of tenements on manors shall have sufficient ingress and
egress from their tenements to the common pasture and as much pasture as
suffices for their tenements.
"Grain shall not be taken under the pretense of borrowing or the
promise of after-payment without the permission of the owner."
"A parent or other who forcefully leads away and withholds, or marries
off, an heir who is a minor (under 14), shall yield the value of the
marriage and be imprisoned until he has satisfied the king for the
trespass. If an heir 14 years or older marries without his Lord's
permission to defraud him of the marriage and the Lord offers him
reasonable and convenient marriage, without disparagement, then the Lord
shall hold his land beyond the term of his age, that, of twenty one
years, so long that he may receive double the value of the marriage as
estimated by lawful men, or after as it has been offered before without
fraud or collusion, and after as it may be proved in the King's Court.
Any Lord who marries off a ward of his who is a minor and cannot consent
to marriage, to a villain or other, such as a burgess, whereby the ward
is disparaged, shall lose the wardship and all its profits if the ward's
friends complain of the Lord. The wardship and profit shall be converted
to the use of the heir, for the shame done to him, after the disposition
and provision of his friends." (The "marriage" could be annulled by the
church.)
"If an heir of whatever age will not marry at the request of his Lord,
he shall not be compelled thereunto; but when he comes of age, he shall
pay to his Lord the value of the marriage before receiving his land,
whether or not he himself marries."
"Interest shall not run against any minor, from the time of death of
his ancestor until his lawful age; so nevertheless, that the payment of
the principal debt, with the interest that was before the death of his
ancestor shall not remain."
The value of debts to be repaid to the king or to any man shall be
reasonably determined by the debtor's neighbors and not by strangers. A
debtors' plough cattle or sheep cannot be taken to satisfy a debt.
The wards and escheats of the king shall be surveyed yearly by three
people assigned by the King. The sheriffs, by their counsel, shall
approve and let to farm such wards and escheats as they think most
profitable for the King. The Sheriffs shall be answerable for the issues
thereof in the Exchequer at designated times. The collectors of the
customs on wool exports shall pay this money at the two designated times
and shall make yearly accounts of all parcels in ports and all ships.
By statute leap year was standardized throughout the nation, "the day
increasing in the leap year shall be accounted in that year", "but it
shall be taken and reckoned in the same month wherein it grew and that
day and the preceding day shall be counted as one day."
"An English penny [1 d.], called a sterling, round and without any
clipping, shall weigh 32 wheat grains dry in the middle of the ear."
Measurements of distance were standardized to twelve inches to a foot,
three feet to a yard, and so forth up to an acre of land.
Goods which could only be sold by the standard weights and measures
(such as ounces, pounds, gallons, bushels) included sacks of wool,
leather, skins, ropes, glass, iron, lead, canvas, linen cloth, tallow,
spices, confections cheese, herrings, sugar, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg,
wheat, barley, oats, bread, and ale. The prices required for bread and
ale were based on the market price for the wheat, barley, and oats from
which they were made.
The punishment for repeated violations of required measures, weights,
or prices of bread and ale by a baker or brewer; selling of spoiled or
unwholesome wine, meat, fish by brewers, butchers, or cooks; or a
steward or bailiff receiving a bribe was reduced to placement in a
pillory with a shaven head so that these men would still be fit for
military service and not overcrowd the gaols.
Forest penalties were changed so that "No man shall lose either life or
member [limb] for killing of our deer. But if any man be taken and
convicted for taking our venison, he shall make a grievous fine, if he
has anything. And if he has nothing to lose, he shall be imprisoned for
a year and a day. And after that, if he can find sufficient sureties, he
shall be delivered, and, if not, he shall abjure the realm of England."
The Forest Charter provided that: Every freeman may allow his pigs to
eat in his own wood in the King's forest. He may also drive his pigs
through the King's forest and tarry one night within the forest without
losing any of his pigs. But people having greyhounds must keep them out
of the forest so they don't maim the deer.
The Forest Charter also allowed magnates traveling through the King's
forest on the King's command to come to him, to kill one or two deer as
long as it was in view of the forester if he was present, or while
having a horn blown, so it did not seem to be theft.
After a period of civil war, the following statutes were enacted:
"All persons, as well of high as of low estate, shall receive justice in
the King's Court; and none shall take any such revenge or distress by
his own authority, without award of our court, although he is damaged or
injured, whereby he would have amends of his neighbor either higher or
lower." The penalty is a fine according to the trespass.
A fraudulent conveyance to a minor or lease for a term of years made to
defraud a Lord of a wardship shall be void. A Lord who maliciously and
wrongfully alleges this to a court shall pay damages and costs.
If a Lord will not render unto an heir his land when he comes of age or
takes possession away from an heir of age or removes anything from the
land, he shall pay damages. (The king retained the right to take
possession of an heir's land for a year or, in lieu of this, to take one
year's profit from the land in addition to the relief.)
Kinsmen of a minor heir who have custody of his land held in socage
shall make no waste, sale, nor destruction of the inheritance and shall
answer to the heir when he comes of age for the issues of the land,
except for the reasonable costs of these guardians.
No lord may distrain any of his tenants. No one may drive animals taken
by distraint out of the county where they have been taken.
"Farmers during their terms, shall not make waste, sale, nor exile of
house, woods, and men, nor of any thing else belonging to the tenements
which they have to farm".