The Times 1215-1272
Baron landholders' semi-fortified stone manor houses were
improved and extended. They were usually quadrangular around a
central courtyard. The central and largest room was the hall,
where people ate and slept. If the hall was on the first floor,
the fire might be at a hearth in the middle of the floor.
Sometimes the lord had his own parlor, with a sleeping loft
above it. Having a second floor necessitated a fireplace in the
wall so the smoke could go up two floors to the roof. Other
rooms each had a fireplace. Often the hall was on the second
floor and took up two stories. There was a fireplace on one wall
of the bottom story. There were small windows around the top
story. Windows of large houses were of opaque glass supplied by
a glass-making craft. The glass was thick, uneven, and greenish
in color. The walls were plastered. The floor was wood with some
carpets. Roofs were timbered with horizontal beams. Many roofs
had tiles supplied by the tile craft, which baked the tiles in
kilns or over an open fire. Because of the hazard of fire, the
kitchen was often a separate building, with a covered way
connecting it to the hall. It had one or two open fires in
fireplaces, and ovens. Sometimes there was a separate room for a
dairy.
Furniture included heavy wood armchairs for the lord and lady,
stools, benches, trestle tables, chests, and cupboards. Outside
was an enclosed garden with cabbages, peas, beans, beetroots,
onions, garlic, leeks, lettuce, watercress, hops, herbs, nut
trees for oil, some flowers, and a fish pond and well. Bees were
kept for their honey.
Nobles, doctors, and lawyers wore tunics to the ankle and an
over-tunic almost as long, which was lined with fur and had long
sleeves. A hood was attached to it. A man's hair was short and
curled, with bangs on the forehead. The tunic of merchants and
middle class men reached to the calf. The laborer wore a tunic
that reached to the knee, cloth stockings, and shoes of heavy
felt, cloth, or perhaps leather. Ladies wore a full length tunic
with moderate fullness in the skirt, and a low belt, and tight
sleeves. Her hair was concealed by a round hat tied on the top
of her head. Over her tunic, she wore a cloak. Monks and nuns
wore long black robes with hoods.
The barons now managed and developed their estates to be as
productive as possible, often using the successful management
techniques of church estates. They kept records of their fields,
tenants, services owed by each tenant, and duties of the manor
officers, such as supervision of the ploughing and harrowing.
Annually, the manor's profit or loss for the year was calculated.
Most manors were self-supporting except that iron for tools and
horseshoes and salt for curing usually had to be obtained
elsewhere. Wine, tar, canvas and millstones were imports from
other countries and bought at fairs, as was fish, furs, spices,
and silks. Sheep were kept in such large numbers that they were
susceptible to a new disease "scab".
Manors averaged about ten miles distance between each other, the
land in between being unused and called "wasteland". Statutes
after a civil war proscribing the retaking of land discouraged
the enclosure of waste land.
Some villeins bought out their servitude by paying a substitute
to do his service or paying his lord a firm (from hence, the
words farm and farmer) sum to hire an agricultural laborer in
his place. This made it possible for a farm laborer to till one
continuous piece of land instead of scattered strips.
Looms were now mounted with two bars. Women did embroidery. The
clothing of most people was made at home, even sandals. The
village tanner and bootmaker supplied long pieces of soft
leather for more protection than sandals. Tanning mills replaced
some hand labor. The professional hunter of wolves, lynx, or
otters supplied head coverings. Every village had a smith and
possibly a carpenter for construction of ploughs and carts. The
smith obtained coal from coal fields for heating the metal he
worked. Horse harnesses were home-made from hair and hemp. There
were water mills and/or wind mills for grinding grain, for malt,
and/or for fulling cloth.
Most men wore a knife because of the prevalence of murder and
robbery. It was an every day event for a murderer to flee to
sanctuary in a church, which would then be surrounded by his
pursuers while the coroner was summoned. Usually, the fugitive
would confess and agree to leave the nation and never return.
It had been long customary for the groom to endow his bride in
public at the church door. This was to keep her and her children
if he died first. If dower was not specified, it was understood
to be one-third of all lands and tenements.
The county offices were: sheriff, coroner, escheator, and
constable or bailiff. There were 28 sheriffs for 38 counties. No
longer did the sheriff buy his office and collect certain rents
for himself. The sheriff now was a salaried political appointee
of the King and employed a deputy or undersheriff, who was a
lawyer, and clerks. If there was civil commotion or contempt of
royal authority, the sheriff had power to raise a posse of armed
men to restore order [posse comitatus: power of the county].
There were about five coroners in each county and they served
for a number of years. They were chosen locally under the
sheriff's supervision. The escheator was appointed annually by
the Treasurer to administer the Crown's rights in feudal land in
the county. The constables and bailiffs operated at the hundred
and parish level to detect crime and keep the peace. They
assisted sheriffs and Justices of the Peace, organized "watches"
for criminals and vagrants at the village level, and raised the
"hue and cry" along the highway and from village to village in
pursuit of offenders who had committed felony or robbery in
their districts.
Shire knights performed a number of duties. They served a
sheriffs, escheators, coroners, and justices on special royal
commissions of gaol-delivery. They sat in judgment in the shire
court at its monthly meetings, attended the two great annual
assemblies when the lord, knights and freeholders of the shire
gathered to meet the justices on eyre, who came escorted by the
sheriff and weapon bearers. They served on the committees which
reviewed the presentments of the hundreds and village, and
carried the record of the shire court to Westminster when
summoned there by the kings' judges. They served on the grand
assize. As elected representatives of their fellow knights of
the shire, they assessed any taxes due from each hundred. They
investigated and reported on local abuses and grievances. The
king's judges and council often called on them to answer
questions put to them on oath. In the villages, humbler
freeholders and sokemen were elected to assess the village
taxes. Six villeins answered for the village's offenses at the
royal eyre.
Everyone was taught to read and write in English. Even obscure
villages gathered children together for this schooling. Boys of
noblemen were taught reading, writing, Latin, a musical
instrument, athletics, riding, and gentlemanly conduct. Girls
were taught reading, writing, music, dancing, and perhaps
household nursing and first aid, spinning, embroidery, and
gardening. Girls of high social position were also taught riding
and hawking. Grammar schools taught, in Latin, grammar, logic
[dialectic], and rhetoric [art of public speaking and debate].
The teacher possessed the only complete copy of the Latin text,
and most of the school work was done orally. Though books were
few and precious, the students read several Latin works. Girls
and boys of high social position usually had private teachers
for grammar school, while boys of lower classes were sponsored
at grammar schools such as those at Oxford. Discipline was
maintained by the birch or rod.
There was no examination for admission as an undergraduate to
Oxford, but a knowledge of Latin with some skill in speaking
Latin was a necessary background. The students came from all
backgrounds. Some had their expenses paid by their parents,
while others had the patronage of a churchman, a religious house,
or a wealthy layman.
A student at Oxford would become a master after graduating from a
seven year course of study of the seven liberal arts: [grammar,
rhetoric (the source of law), Aristotelian logic (which
differentiates the true from the false), arithmetic, including
fractions and ratios, (the foundation of order), geometry,
including methods of finding the length of lines, the area of
surfaces, and thevolume of solids, (the science of measurement),
astronomy (the most noble of the sciences because it is
connected with divinity and theology), music, and Aristotle's
philosophy of physics, metaphysics, and ethics; and then
lecturing and leading disputations for two years. He also had to
write a thesis on some chosen subject and defend it against the
faculty. A Master's degree gave one the right to teach. Further
study for four years led to a doctorate in one of the
professions: theology and canon or civil law.
There were about 1,500 students in Oxford. They drank, played
dice, quarreled a lot and begged at street corners. There were
mob fights between students from the north and students from the
south and between students and townsmen. But when the mayor of
Oxford hanged two students accused of being involved in the
killing of a townswoman, many masters and students left for
Cambridge. In 1214, a charter created the office of Chancellor
of the university at Oxford. He was responsible for law and
order and, through his court, could fine, imprison, and
excommunicate offenders and expel undesirables such as
prostitutes from the town. He had authority over all crimes
involving scholars, except murder and mayhem. The Chancellor
summoned and presided over meetings of the masters and came to
be elected by indirect vote by the masters who had schools,
usually no more than a room or hall with a central hearth which
was hired for lectures. Students paid for meals there. Corners
of the room were often partitioned off for private study. At
night, some students slept on the straw on the floor. Six hours
of sleep were considered sufficient.
In 1221 the Friars established their chief school at Oxford. They
were bound by oaths of poverty, obedience, and chastity, but
were not confined within the walls of a monastery. They walked
barefoot from place to lace preaching. They begged for their
food and lodgings. They replaced monks, who had become self-
indulgent, as the most vital spiritual force among the people. In
1231, the King ordered that every student must have his name on
the roll of a master and the masters had to keep a list of those
attending his lectures.
The first college was founded in 1264 by Walter de Merton, former
Chancellor to the King, at Oxford. A college had the living
arrangements of a Hall, with the addition of monastic-type
rules. A warden and about 30 scholars lived and ate meals
together in the college buildings. Merton College's founding
documents provided that: "The house shall be called the House of
the Scholars of Merton, and it shall be the residence of the
Scholars forever. . . There shall be a constant succession of
scholars devoted to the study of letters, who shall be bound to
employ themselves in the study of Arts or Philosophy, the Canons
or Theology. Let there also be one member of the collegiate
body, who shall be a grammarian, and must entirely devote
himself to the study of grammar; let him have the care of the
students in grammar, and to him also let the more advanced have
recourse without a blush, when doubts arise in their faculty. . .
There is to be one person in every chamber, where Scholars are
resident, of more mature age than the others, who is to make his
report of their morals and advancement in learning to the
Warden. . . The Scholars who are appointed to the duty of
studying in the House are to have a common table, and a dress as
nearly alike as possible. . . The members of the College must
all be present together, as far as their leisure serves, at the
canonical hours and celebration of masses on holy and other
days. . . The Scholars are to have a reader at meals, and in
eating together they are to observe silence, and to listen to
what is read. In their chambers, they must abstain from noise
and interruption of their fellows; and when they speak they must
use the Latin language. . . A Scrutiny shall be held in the
House by the Warden and the Seniors, and all the Scholars there
present, three times a year; a diligent enquiry is to be
instituted into the life, conduct, morals, and progress in
learning, of each and all; and what requires correction then is
to be corrected, and excesses are to be visited with condign
punishment. . ."
Issues frequently argued concerned the newly discovered
philosophies of Aristotle vis a vis the accepted Christian
philosophy. Aristotle emphasized the intellectual use of reason
as a road to understanding whereas the church had always taught
that understanding came from revelation by God.
Roger Bacon, an Oxford master, applied mathematical knowledge to
natural phenomena such as metal work, mineral work, the making
of weapons, agriculture, and the remedies and charms of wizards
and magicians. He studied angles of reflection in plane,
spherical, cylindrical, and conical mirrors, in both their
concave and convex aspects. He did experiments in refraction in
different media, e.g. air, water, and glass, and knew that the
human cornea refracted light and that the human eye lens was
doubly convex. (However it was another 400 years before the
discovery of the image on the retina.) He comprehended the
magnifying power of convex lenses and conceptualized the
combination of lenses which would increase the power of vision
by magnification. Soon afterwards, eyeglasses were available to
correct farsightedness.
Bacon studied gravity and the propagation of force, specifically
illustrated by the radiation of light and heat. He realized that
rays of light pass so much faster than those of sound or smell
that the time is imperceptible to humans. He knew that rays of
heat and sound penetrate all matter without our awareness and
that opaque bodies offered resistance to passage of light rays.
This was the beginning of the science of physics.
He took the empirical knowledge as to a few metals and their
oxides and some of the principal alkalis, acids, and salts to
the abstract level of metals as compound bodies the elements of
which might be separated and recomposed and the general concept
of generation of liquids, gases, and solids, which was the
beginning of the science of chemistry. He made experiments that
led the way to saltpeter being made to explode, which led the
way to the formulation of gunpowder. He believed that the
principle of explosive energy would one day carry ships across
the seas without sails and propel carriages down the streets,
and flying machines. He knew the power of parabolic concave
mirrors to cause parallel rays to converge after reflection to a
focus and was familiar with work done to produce a mirror that
would induce combustion at a fixed distance.
He studied man's physical nature, health, and disease, the
beginning of the science of biology and medicine. He opined that
the use of a talisman was not to bring about a change, but to
bring the patient into a frame of mind more conducive to
physical healing.
Bacon studied different kinds of plants and the differences
between arable land, forest land, pasture land, and garden land.
Like other educated men of his day (and those of the 1200s
through the 1500s), he believed that the earth was the center of
the universe and in astrology, that is, that the position of the
stars and planets influenced man and other earthly things. For
instance, the position of the stars at a person's birth
determined his character. The angle and therefore potency of the
sun's rays influenced climate, temperament, and changes of
mortal life such as disease and revolutions. There was a
propitious time to have a marriage, go on a journey, make war,
and take herbal medicine or be bled by leeches, the latter of
which was accompanied by religious ceremony. Cure was by God,
with medical practitioners only relieving suffering. Pressure
and binding were applied to bleeding. Arrow and sword wounds to
the skin or to any protruding intestine were washed with warm
water and sewn up with needle and silk thread. Ribs were spread
apart by a wedge to remove arrow heads. Fractured bones were
splinted or encased in plaster. Dislocations were remedied.
Hernias were trussed. Bladder stones blocking urination were
pushed back into the bladder or removed through an artificial
opening in the bladder.
Bacon studied the planetary motions and astronomical tables to
forecast future events. He did calculations on days in a month
and days in a year which later contributed to the legal
definition of a leap year. He knew about magnetic poles
attracting if different and repelling if the same and the
relation of magnets' poles to those of the heavens and earth. He
calculated the circumference of the world and the latitude and
longitude of terrestrial positions, which was the beginning of
the study of geography. He foresaw sailing around the world and
pointed the way to the Copernican astronomy, which was founded on
the concept of the earth and planets revolving around the sun.
His contribution to the development of science was abstracting
the method of experiment from the concrete problem to see its
bearing and importance as a universal method of research. He
advocated changing education to include studies of the natural
world using observation, exact measurement, and experiments.
The making and selling of goods diverged e.g. as the cloth
merchant severed from the tailor and the leather merchant
severed from the butcher. These craftsmen formed themselves into
guilds. They sought charters to require all craftsmen to belong
to the guild of their craft, to have legal control of the craft
work, and be able to expel any craftsman for disobedience. These
guilds determined the wages and working conditions of the
craftsmen and petitioned the borough authorities for ordinances
restraining trade, for instance by controlling the admission of
outsiders to the craft, preventing foreigners from selling in the
town except at fairs, limiting purchases of raw materials to
suppliers within the town, forbidding night work, restricting
the number of apprentices to each master craftsmen, and
requiring a minimum number of years for apprenticeships. In
return, these guilds assured quality control. In some boroughs,
they did work for the town, such as maintaining certain
defensive towers or walls of the town near their respective
wards. In some boroughs, fines for infractions of these
regulations were split between the guild and the government.
This jurisdiction was sought from the towns governments, which
were controlled by the merchant guilds, with great difficulty.
In London, this power was broken in 1261 by the craftsmen
forcing their way into the town-mote. By this brute show of
strength, they set aside the opinion of the magnates and selected
their own candidate to be mayor.
The citizens of London had a common seal for the city. London
merchants traveled throughout the nation with goods to sell
exempt from tolls. Most of the London aldermen were woolmongers,
vintners, skinners, and grocers by turns or carried on all these
branches of commerce at once. There are three inns in London.
Care- giving hospitals such as "Bethleham Hospital" were
established in London. Only tiles were used for roofing in
London, because wood shingles were fire hazards and fires in
London had been frequent. Some areas near London are disclaimed
by the King to be royal forest land, so all citizens could hunt
there and till their land there without interference by the
royal foresters.
A gold penny was minted, which was worth 2s. of silver. Jews were
allowed to make loans with interest up to 2d. a week for 20s.
lent.
English ships had one mast with a square sail. The hulls were
made of planks overlapping each other. There was a high
forecastle on the bow, a top castle on the mast, and a high
stern castle from which to shoot arrows down on other ships.
There were no rowing oars, but steering was still by an oar on
the starboard side of the ship. The usual carrying capacity was
30 tuns [big casks of wine each with about 250 gallons]. On the
coasts there were lights and beacons. Harbors at river mouths
were kept from silting up. Ships were loaded from piers. The
construction of London Bridge had just been finished. Coal was
mined. Bricks began to be imported for building.
Churches had stained glass windows.
Newcastle-on-Tyne received these new rights:
1. And that they shall justly have their lands and tenures and
mortgages and debts, whoever owes them to them.
2. Concerning their lands and tenures within the town, right
shall be done to them according to the custom of the city
Winton.
3. And of all their debts which are lent in Newcastle-on-Tyne and
of 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 a
duel.
The King no longer lives on his own from income from his own
lands, but takes money from the treasury. Elected men from the
baronage met with the King and his council in several
conferences called Parliaments to discuss the levying of taxes
and the solution of difficult legal cases, and to receive
petitions. Statutes were enacted. Landholders were given the
duty of electing four of their members in every shire 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 shire from whom the exchequer was to
choose the sheriff of the year. Earl Montfort and certain barons
forced King Henry III to summon a Parliament in 1265 in which
the common people were represented officially by four knights
from every shire [county] and two burgesses from every borough.
This seems to be the time that the legend of Robin Hood robbing
the rich to give to the poor arose.
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. It's 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 MEER 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 reasonable
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
contracted.}
[VII. A WIDOW SHALL HAVE HER MARRIAGE, INHERITANCE, AND
QUERENTINE. 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 [NECESSARIES OR SUPPLIES] OF THE
COMMON, 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 free man shall be amerced [made to pay a fine to the King] for
a small offence only according to the degree thereof, and for a
serious offence 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 OFFENCE 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
DEFENCE 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] 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 free man 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 free man 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 moveables], 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" shall not in the
future be granted to anyone respecting any freehold if thereby a
free man 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 free man 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.
{Henceforth anyone, saving his allegiance due to us, may leave
our realm 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 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 battle].
[XXXV. AT WHAT TIME SHALL BE KEPT A COUNTY COURT, SHERIFF'S TURN
AND A LEET (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 [SHIELD MILITARY 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 MOVEABLES. 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.
{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.}
{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
offences 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. FITXHERBERT, 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
STEDFASTLY, 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, 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 jails.
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 there 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.
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 shire 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".
Henry de Bracton, a royal judge and the last great ecclesiastical
lawyer, wrote an unfinished treatise: A Tract on the Laws and
Customs of England, systematizing and organizing the law of the
court rolls with definitions and general concepts and describing
court practice and procedure. It was influenced by his knowledge
of Roman legal concepts, such as res judicata, and by his own
opinions, such as that the law should go from precedent to
precedent. He also argued that the will and intent to injure was
the essence of murder, so that neither an infant nor a madman
should be held liable for such and that degrees of punishment
should vary with the level of moral guilt in a killing. He
thought the deodand to be unreasonable.
Bracton defines the requirements of a valid and effective gift
as: "It must be complete and absolute, free and uncoerced,
extorted neither by fear nor through force. Let money or service
play no part, lest it fall into the category of purchase and
sale, for if money is involved there will them be a sale, and if
service, the remuneration for it. If a gift is to be valid the
donor must be of full age, for if a minor makes a gift it will be
ineffective since (if he so wishes) it shall be returned to him
in its entirety when he reaches full age. Also let the donor
hold in his own name and not another's, otherwise his gift may
be revoked. And let him, at the least, be of sound mind and good
memory, though an invalid, ill and on his death bed, for a gift
make under such conditions will be good if all the other
[requirements] of a valid gift are met. For no one, provided he
is of good memory, ought to be kept from the administration or
disposition of his own property when affected by infirmity,
since it is only then that he must make provision for his
family, his household and relations, given stipends and settle
his bequests; otherwise such persons might suffer damage without
fault. But since charters are sometimes fraudulently drawn and
gifts falsely taken to be made when they are not, recourse must
therefore be had to the country and the neighborhood so that the
truth may be declared."
In Bracton's view, a villein could buy his own freedom and the
child of a mixed marriage was free unless he was born in the
tenement of his villein parent.
Judicial Procedure
The Royal Court split up into several courts with different
specialties and became more like departments of state than
offices of the King's household. The judges were career civil
servants knowledgeable in the civil and canon law. The Court of
Common Pleas heard civil cases brought by one subject against
another. Pursuant to the Magna Carta, it sat only at one place,
Westminster Hall in London. Its records were the de banco rolls.
The Court of the Exchequer with its subsidiary department of the
Treasury was in almost permanent session at Westminster,
collecting the Crown's revenue and enforcing the Crown's rights.
The Court of the King's Bench (a marble slab in Westminster upon
which the throne was placed) traveled with the King and heard
criminal cases and pleas of the Crown. Its records were the
coram rege rolls. The title of the Chief Justiciar of England
changed to the Chief Justice of England.
Appeals from these courts could be made to the King and his
council.
Crown pleas included issues of the King's property, fines due to
him, murder (a body found with no witnesses to a killing),
homicide (a killing for which there were witnesses), rape,
wounding, mayhem, consorting, larceny, robbery, burglary, arson,
poaching, unjust imprisonment, selling cloth by non-standard
widths, selling wine by non-standard weights.
Royal judges called justices in eyre traveled to the shires every
seven years. There, they gave interrogatories to local assizes
of twelve men to determine what had happened there since the
last eyre. Every crime, every invasion of royal rights, and
every neglect of police duties was to be presented and tried.
The assize ultimately evolved into the jury of verdict, which
replaced ordeal, compurgation, and battle as the method of
finding the truth. Suspects were failed until their cases could
be heard and jail breaks were common.
Royal coroners held inquests on all sudden deaths to determine
whether they were accidental or not. If not, royal justices held
trial. They also had duties in treasure troves and shipwreck
cases.
The hundred court decided cases of theft, viewing of boundaries
of land, claims for tenurial services, claims for homage,
relief, and for wardship; enfeoffments made, battery and brawls
not amounting to felony, wounding and maiming of beasts,
collection of debts, trespass, detinue and covenant, defamation,
and enquiries and presentments arising from the assizes of bread
and ale and measures.
Still in existence is the old self-help law of hamsocne, the
thief hand- habbende, the thief back-berend, the old summary
procedure where the thief is caught in the act, AEthelstan's
laws, Edward the Confessor's laws, and Kent's childwyte [fine
for begetting a bastard on a lord's female bond slave]. Under
the name of "actio furti" [appeal of larceny] is the old process
by which a thief can be pursued and goods vindicated. As before
and for centuries later, the deodand [any personal chattel which
was the immediate cause of death] was forfeited "to God". These
chattel were usually carts, cart teams, horses, boats, and
mill-wheels.
Five cases with short summaries are:
CASE: "John Croc was drowned from his horse and cart in the water
of Bickney. Judgment: misadventur. The price of the horse and
cart is 4s.6d. 4s.6d. deodand."
CASE: "Willam Ruffus was crushed to death by a certain trunk. The
price of the trunk is 4d., for which the sheriff is to answer.
4d. deodand."
CASE: "William le Hauck killed Edric le Poter and fled, so he is
to be exacted and outlawed. He was in the tithing of Reynold
Horloc in Clandon of the abbot of Chertsey (West Clandon), so it
is in mercy. His chattels were 4 s., for which the bailiff of
the abbot of Chertsey is to answer."
CASE: "Richard de Bregsells, accused of larceny, comes and denies
the whole and puts himself on the country for good or ill. The
twelve jurors and four vills say that he is not guilty, so he is
quit."
CASE: William le Wimpler and William Vintner sold wine contrary
to the statute, so they are in mercy.
Other cases dealt with issues of entry, i.e. whether land was
conveyed or just rented; issues of whether a man was free, for
which his lineage was examined; issues of to which lord a
villein belonged; issues of nuisance such as making or
destroying a bank, ditch, or hedge; diverting a watercourse or
damming it to make a pool; obstructing a road, and issues of
what grazing rights were conveyed in pasture land, waste, woods,
or arable fields between harvest and sowing. Grazing right
disputes usually arose from the ambiguous language in the grant
of land "with appurtances".
Courts awarded specific relief as well as money damages. If a
landlord broke his covenant to lease land for a term of years,
the court restored possession to the lessee. If a lord did not
perform the services due to his superior lord, the court ordered
him to perform the services. The courts also ordered repair by a
lessee.
Debts of country knights and freeholders were heard in the local
courts; debts of merchants and burgesses were heard in the
courts of the fairs and boroughs; debts due under wills and
testaments were heard in the ecclesiastical courts. The
ecclesiastical courts deemed marriage to legitimize bastard
children whose parents married, so they inherited chattels and
money of their parents. Proof was by compurgation, the ordeal
having been abolished by the Church.
Trial by battle is still available, although it is extremely rare
for the duel to actually take place.
The manor court imposed penalties on those who did not perform
their services to the manor and the lord wrote down the customs
of the manor for future use in other courts.
By statute, no fines could be taken of any man for fair pleading
in the Circuit of Justiciars, shire, hundred, or manor courts.
Various statutes relaxed the requirements for attendance at court
of those who were not involved in a case as long as there were
enough to make the inquests fully. And "every freeman who owes
suit to the county, tything, hundred, and wapentake, or to the
Court of his Lord, may freely make his attorney attend for him."
In Chancery, the court of the Chancellor, if there is a case with
no remedy specified in the law, that is similar to a situation
for which there is a writ, then a new writ may be made for that
case. (By this will later be expanded the action of trespass,
which even later has offshoots of misdemeanor and the tort of
trespass.)