| |
John, by the
grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy
and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the archbishops, bishops,
abbots, earls,barons, justiciars, foresters, sheriffs, stewards,
servants, and to all hisbailiffs and liege subjects, greeting.
KNOW THAT BEFORE
GOD, for the health of our soul and those of our ancestors and heirs,
to the honour of God, the exaltation of the holy Church, and the
better ordering of our kingdom, at 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 bishop
of London, Peter bishop of Winchester, Jocelin bishop of Bath and
Glastonbury, Hugh bishop of Lincoln, Walter Bishop of Worcester,
William bishop of Coventry, Benedict bishop of Rochester, Master
Pandulf subdeacon and member of the papal household, Brother Aymeric
master of the knighthood of the Temple in England, William Marshal
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 seneschal
of Poitou, Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset,
Alan Basset, Philip Daubeny, Robert de Roppeley, John Marshal, John
Fitz Hugh, and other loyal subjects:
1. FIRST, THAT
WE HAVE GRANTED TO GOD, and by this present charter have confirmed
for us and our heirs in perpetuity, that the English Church shall
be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its liberties
unimpaired. That we wish this so to be observed, appears from the
fact that of our own free will, before the outbreak of the present
dispute between us and our barons, we granted and confirmed by charter
the freedom of the Church's elections - a right reckoned to be of
the greatest necessity and importance to it - and caused this to
be confirmed by Pope Innocent III. This freedom we shall observe
ourselves, and desire to be observed in good faith by our heirs
in perpetuity.
TO ALL FREE
MEN OF OUR KINGDOM we have also granted, for us and our heirs for
ever, all the liberties written out below, to have and to keep for
them and their heirs, of us and our heirs:
2. If any earl,
baron, or other person that holds lands directly of the Crown, for
military service, shall die, and at his death his heir shall be
of full age and owe a `relief', the heir shall have his inheritance
on payment of the ancient scale of `relief'. That is to say, the
heir or heirs of an earl shall pay £100 for the entire earl's barony,
the heir or heirs of a knight l00s. at most for the entire knight's
`fee', and any man that owes less shall pay less, in accordance
with the ancient usage of `fees'
3. But if the
heir of such a person is under age and a ward, when he comes of
age he shall have his inheritance without `relief' or fine.
4. The guardian
of the land of an heir who is under age shall take from it only
reasonable revenues, customary dues, and feudal services. He shall
do this without destruction or damage to men or property. If we
have given the guardianship of the land to a sheriff, or to any
person answerable to us for the revenues, and he commits destruction
or damage, we will exact compensation from him, and the land shall
be entrusted to two worthy and prudent men of the same `fee', who
shall be answerable to us for the revenues, or to the person to
whom we have assigned them. If we have given or sold to anyone the
guardianship of such land, and he causes destruction or damage,
he shall lose the guardianship of it, and it shall be handed over
to two worthy and prudent men of the same `fee', who shall be similarly
answerable to us.
5. For so long
as a guardian has guardianship of such land, he shall maintain the
houses, parks, fish preserves, ponds, mills, and everything else
pertaining to it, from the revenues of the land itself. When the
heir comes of age, he shall restore the whole land to him, stocked
with plough teams and such implements of husbandry as the season
demands and the revenues from the land can reasonably bear.
6. Heirs may
be given in marriage, but not to someone of lower social standing.
Before a marriage takes place, it shall be made known to the heir's
next-of-kin.
7. At her husband's
death, a widow may have her marriage portion and inheritance at
once and without trouble. She shall pay nothing for her dower, marriage
portion, or any inheritance that she and her husband held jointly
on the day of his death. She may remain in her husband's house for
forty days after his death, and within this period her dower shall
be assigned to her.
8. No widow
shall be compelled to marry, so long as she wishes to remain without
a husband. But she must give security that she will not marry without
royal consent, if she holds her lands of the Crown, or without the
consent of whatever other lord she may hold them of.
9. Neither
we nor our officials will seize any land or rent in payment of a
debt, so long as the debtor has movable goods sufficient to discharge
the debt. A debtor's sureties shall not be distrained upon so long
as the debtor himself can discharge his debt. If, for lack of means,
the debtor is unable to discharge his debt, his sureties shall be
answerable for it. If they so desire, they may have the debtor's
lands and rents until they have received satisfaction for the debt
that they paid for him, unless the debtor can show that he has settled
his obligations to them.
10. If one
who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or small, die before
that loan can be repaid, the debt shall not bear interest while
the heir is under age, of whomsoever he may hold; and if the debt
fall into our hands, we will not take anything except the principal
sum contained in the bond.
11. And if
any one die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her dower
and pay nothing of that debt; and if any children of the deceased
are left underage, necessaries shall be provided for them in keeping
with the holding of the deceased; and out of the residue the debt
shall be paid, reserving, however, service due to feudal lords;
in like manner let it be done touching debts due to others than
Jews.
12. No scutage
nor aid shall be imposed on our kingdom, unless by common counsel
of our kingdom, except for ransoming our person, for making our
eldest son a knight, and for once marrying our eldest daughter;
and for these there shall not be levied more than a reasonable aid.
In like manner it shall be done concerning aids from the city of
London.
13. And the
city of London shall have all its ancient liberties and free customs,
as well by land as by water; furthermore, we decree and grant that
allother cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall have all their
liberties and free customs.
14. And for
obtaining the common counsel of the kingdom anent the assessing
of an aid (except in the three cases aforesaid) or of a scutage,
we will cause to be summoned the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls,
and greater barons, severally by our letters; and we will moreover
cause to be summoned generally, through our sheriffs and bailiffs,
all others who hold of us in chief, for a fixed date, namely, after
the expiry of at least forty days, and at a fixed place; and in
all letters of such summons we will specify the reason of the summons.
And when the summons has thus been made, the business shall proceed
on the day appointed, according to the counsel of such as are present,
although not all who were summoned have come.
15. We will
not for the future grant to any one license to take an aid from
his own free tenants, except to ransom his body, to make his eldest
son a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter; and on each
of these occasions there shall be levied only a reasonable aid.
16. No one
shall be distrained for performance of greater service for a knight's
fee, or for any other free tenement, than is due therefrom.
17. Common
pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be held in some fixed
place.
18. Inquests
of novel disseisin, of mort d'ancester,
and of darrein presentment, shall not be held elsewhere
than in their own county courts and that in manner following,--We,
or, if we should be out of the realm, our chief justiciar, will
send two justiciars through every county four times a year, who
shall, along with four knights of the county chosen by the county,
hold the said assize in the county court, on the day and in the
place of meeting of that court.
19. And if
any of the said assizes cannot be taken on the day of the county
court, let there remain of the knights and freeholders, who were
present at the county court on that day, as many as may be required
for the efficient making of judgments, according as the business
be more or less.
20. A freeman
shall not be fined for a trivial offense, except in accordance with
the degree of the offense; and for a grave offense he shall be fined
in accordance with the gravity of the offense, yet not so heavily
as to deprive him of his livelihood; and a merchant in the same
way, saving his "merchandise;" and a villein shall be fined in the
same way, saving his "wainage"-- if they have fallen into our mercy:
and none of the aforesaid fines shall be imposed except by the oath
of honest men of the neighborhood.
21. Earls and
barons shall not be fined except through their peers, and only in
accordance with the degree of the offense.
22. A clerk
shall not be fined in respect of his lay holding except after the
manner of the others aforesaid; further, he shall not be fined in
accordance with the extent of his ecclesiastical benefice.
23. No village
or individual shall be compelled to make bridges at river-banks,
except those who from of old were legally bound to do so.
24. No sheriff,
constable, coroners, or others of our bailiffs, shall hold pleas
of our Crown.
25. All counties,
hundreds, wapentakes, and tithings (except our demesne manors) shall
remain at old rents, and without any additional payment.
26. If at the
death of a man who holds a lay `fee' of the Crown, a sheriff or
royal official produces royal letters patent of summons for a debt
due to the Crown, it shall be lawful for them to seize and list
movable goods found in the lay `fee' of the dead man to the value
of the debt, as assessed by worthy men. Nothing shall be removed
until the whole debt is paid, when the residue shall be given over
to the executors to carry out the dead man s will. If no debt is
due to the Crown, all the movable goods shall be regarded as the
property of the dead man, except the reasonable shares of his wife
and children.
27. If any
freeman shall die intestate, his chattels shall be distributed by
the hands of his nearest kinsfolk and friends, under supervision
of the church, saving to every one the debts which the deceased
owed to him.
28. No constable
or other bailiff of ours shall take corn or other provisions from
any one without immediately tendering money therefor, unless he
can have postponement thereof by permission of the seller.
29. No constable
shall compel any knight to give money in lieu of castle-guard, when
he is willing to perform it in his own person, or (if he cannot
do it from any reasonable cause) then by another responsible man.
Further, if we have led or sent him upon military service, he shall
be relieved from guard in proportion to the time during which he
has been on service because of us.
30. No sheriff
or bailiff of ours, or other person, shall take the horses or carts
of any freeman for transport duty, against the will of the said
freeman.
31. Neither
we nor our bailiffs shall take, for our castles or for any other
work of ours, wood which is not ours, against the will of the owner
of that wood.
32. We will
not retain beyond one year and one day, the lands of those who have
been convicted of felony, and the lands shall thereafter be handed
over to the lords of the fiefs.
33. All fish-weirs
shall be removed from the Thames, the Medway, and throughout the
whole of England, except on the sea coast.
34. The writ
called precipe shall not in future be issued to anyone in respect
of any holding of land, if a free man could thereby be deprived
of the right of trial in his own lord's court.
35. There shall
be standard measures of wine, ale, and corn (the London quarter),
throughout the kingdom. There shall also be a standard width of
dyed cloth, russett, and haberject, namely two ells within the selvedges.
Weights are to be standardised similarly.
36. In future
nothing shall be paid or accepted for the issue of a writ of inquisition
of life or limbs. It shall be given gratis, and not refused.
37. If a man
holds land of the Crown by `fee-farm', `socage', or `burgage', and
also holds land of someone else for knight's service, we will not
have guardianship of his heir, nor of the land that belongs to the
other person's `fee', by virtue of the `fee-farm', `socage', or
`burgage', unless the `fee-farm' owes knight's service. We will
not have the guardianship of a man's heir, or of land that he holds
of someone else, by reason of any small property that he may hold
of the Crown for a service of knives, arrows, or the like.
38. In future
no official shall place a man on trial upon his own unsupported
statement, without producing credible witnesses to the truth of
it.
39. No free
man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or
possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing
in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or
send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals
or by the law of the land.
40. To no one
will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.
41. All merchants
may enter or leave England unharmed and without fear, and may stay
or travel within it, by land or water, for purposes of trade, free
from all illegal exactions, in accordance with ancient and lawful
customs. This, however, does not apply in time of war to merchants
from a country that is at war with us. Any such merchants found
in our country at the outbreak of war shall be detained without
injury to their persons or property, until we or our chief justice
have discovered how our own merchants are being treated in the country
at war with us. If our own merchants are safe they shall be safe
too.
42. In future
it shall be lawful for any man to leave and return to our kingdom
unharmed and without fear, by land or water, preserving his allegiance
to us, except in time of war, for some short period, for the common
benefit of the realm. People that have been imprisoned or outlawed
in accordance with the law of the land, people from a country that
is at war with us, and merchants - who shall be dealt with as stated
above - are excepted from this provision.
43. If a man
holds lands of any `escheat' such as the `honour' of Wallingford,
Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other `escheats' in our hand
that are baronies, at his death his heir shall give us only the
`relief' and service that he would have made to the baron, had the
barony been in the baron's hand. We will hold the `escheat' in the
same manner as the baron held it.
44. People
who live outside the forest need not in future appear before the
royal justices of the forest in answer to general summonses, unless
they are actually involved in proceedings or are sureties for someone
who has been seized for a forest offence.
45. We will
appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or other officials, only
men that know the law of the realm and are minded to keep it well.
46. All barons
who have founded abbeys, concerning which they hold charters from
the kings of England, or of which they have long-continued possession,
shall have the wardship of them, when vacant, as they ought to have.
47. All forests
that have been created in our reign shall at once be disafforested.
River-banks that have been enclosed in our reign shall be treated
similarly.
48. All evil
customs relating to forests and warrens, foresters, warreners, sheriffs
and their servants, or river-banks and their wardens, are at once
to be investigated in every county by twelve sworn knights of the
county, and within forty days of their enquiry the evil customs
are to be abolished completely and irrevocably. But we, or our chief
justice if we are not in England, are first to be informed.
49. We will
at once return all hostages and charters delivered up to us by Englishmen
as security for peace or for loyal service.
50. We will
remove completely from their offices the kinsmen of Gerard de Athée,
and in future they shall hold no offices in England. The people
in question are Engelard de Cigogné', Peter, Guy, and Andrew de
Chanceaux, Guy de Cigogné, Geoffrey de Martigny and his brothers,
Philip Marc and his brothers, with Geoffrey his nephew, and all
their followers.
51. As soon
as peace is restored, we will banish from the kingdom al lforeign-born
knights, cross-bowmen, serjeants, and mercenary soldiers, who have
come with horses and arms to the kingdom's hurt.
52. If any
one has been dispossessed or removed by us, without the legal judgment
of his peers, from his lands, castles, franchises, or from his right,we
will immediately restore them to him; and if a dispute arise over
this, then let it be decided by the five-and-twenty barons of whom
mention is made below in the clause for securing the peace. Moreover,
for all those possessions, from which any one has, without the lawful
judgment of his peers, been disseised or removed, by our father,
King Henry, or by our brother, King Richard, and which we retain
in our hand (or which are possessed by others, to whom we are bound
to warrant them) we shall have respite until the usual term of Crusaders;
excepting those things about which a plea has been raised, or an
inquest made by our order, before our taking of the cross; but as
soon as we return from our expedition (or if perchance we desist
from the expedition) we will immediately grant full justice therein.
53. We shall
have similar respite in rendering justice in connexion with forests
that are to be disafforested, or to remain forests, when these were
first a-forested by our father Henry or our brother Richard; with
the guardianship of lands in another person's `fee', when we have
hitherto had this by virtue of a `fee' held of us for knight's service
by a third party; and with abbeys founded in another person's `fee',
in which the lord of the `fee' claims to own a right. On our return
from the Crusade, or if we abandon it, we will at once do full justice
to complaints about these matters.
54. No one
shall be arrested or imprisoned on the appeal of a woman for the
death of any person except her husband.
55. All fines
made with us unjustly and against the law of the land, and all fines
imposed unjustly and against the law of the land, shall be entirely
remitted, or else it shall be done concerning them according to
the decision of the five-and-twenty barons of whom mention is made
below in the clause for securing the peace, or according to the
judgment of the majority of the same, along with the aforesaid Stephen,
archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and such others
as he may wish to bring with him for this purpose, and if he cannot
be present the business shall nevertheless proceed without him,
provided always that if any one or more of the aforesaid five-and-twenty
barons are in a similar suit, they shall be removed as far as concerns
this particular judgment, others being substituted in their places
after having been selected by the rest of the same five-and-twenty
for this purpose only, and after having been sworn.
56. If we have
deprived or dispossessed any Welshmen of lands, liberties, or anything
else in England or in Wales, without the lawful judgement of their
equals, these are at once to be returned to them. A dispute on this
point shall be determined in the Marches by the judgement of equals.
English law shall apply to holdings of land in England, Welsh law
to those in Wales, and the law of the Marches to those in the Marches.
The Welsh shall treat us and ours in the same way.
57. In cases
where a Welshman was deprived or dispossessed of anything, without
the lawful judgement of his equals, by our father King Henry or
our brother King Richard, and it remains in our hands or is held
by others under our warranty, we shall have respite for the period
commonly allowed to Crusaders, unless a lawsuit had been begun,
or an enquiry had been made at our order, before we took the Cross
as a Crusader. But on our return from the Crusade, or if we abandon
it, we will at once do full justice according to the laws of Wales
and the said regions.
58. We will
at once return the son of Llywelyn, all Welsh hostages, and the
charters delivered to us as security for the peace.
59. With regard
to the return of the sisters and hostages of Alexander, king of
Scotland, his liberties and his rights, we will treat him in the
same way as our other barons of England, unless it appears from
the charters that we hold from his father William, formerly king
of Scotland, that he should be treated otherwise. This matter shall
be resolved by the judgement of his equals in our court.
60. All these
customs and liberties that we have granted shall be observed in
our kingdom in so far as concerns our own relations with our subjects.
Let all men of our kingdom, whether clergy or laymen, observe them
similarly in their relations with their own men.
61. SINCE WE
HAVE GRANTED ALL THESE THINGS for God, for the better ordering of
our kingdom, and to allay the discord that has arisen between us
and our barons, and since we desire that they shall be enjoyed in
their entirety, with lasting strength, for ever, we give and grant
to the barons the following security:
The barons
shall elect twenty-five of their number to keep, and cause to be
observed with all their might, the peace and liberties granted and
confirmed to them by this charter.
If we, our
chief justice, our officials, or any of our servants offend in any
respect against any man, or transgress any of the articles of the
peace or of this security, and the offence is made known to four
of the said twenty-five barons, they shall come to us - or in our
absence from the kingdom to the chief justice - to declare it and
claim immediate redress. If we, or in our absence abroad the chiefjustice,
make no redress within forty days, reckoning from the day on which
the offence was declared to us or to him, the four barons shall
refer the matter to the rest of the twenty-five barons, who may
distrain upon and assail us in every way possible, with the support
of the whole community of the land, by seizing our castles, lands,
possessions, or anything else saving only our own person and those
of the queen and our children, until they have secured such redress
as they have determined upon. Having secured the redress, they may
then resume their normal obedience to us.
Any man who
so desires may take an oath to obey the commands of the twenty-five
barons for the achievement of these ends, and to join with them
in assailing us to the utmost of his power. We give public and free
permission to take this oath to any man who so desires, and at no
time will we prohibit any man from taking it. Indeed, we will compel
any of our subjects who are unwilling to take it to swear it at
our command.
If-one of the
twenty-five barons dies or leaves the country, or is prevented in
any other way from discharging his duties, the rest of them shall
choose another baron in his place, at their discretion, who shall
be duly sworn in as they were.
In the event
of disagreement among the twenty-five barons on any matter referred
to them for decision, the verdict of the majority present shall
have the same validity as a unanimous verdict of the whole twenty-five,
whether these were all present or some of those summoned were unwilling
or unable to appear.
The twenty-five
barons shall swear to obey all the above articles faithfully, and
shall cause them to be obeyed by others to the best of their power.
We will not
seek to procure from anyone, either by our own efforts or those
of a third party, anything by which any part of these concessions
or liberties might be revoked or diminished. Should such a thing
be procured, it shall be null and void and we will at no time make
use of it, either ourselves or through a third party.
62. AWe have
remitted and pardoned fully to all men any ill-will, hurt, or grudges
that have arisen between us and our subjects, whether clergy or
laymen, since the beginning of the dispute. We have in addition
remitted fully, and for our own part have also pardoned, to all
clergy and laymen any offences committed as a result of the said
dispute between Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign [i.e.
1215] and the restoration of peace.
In addition
we have caused letters patent to be made for the barons, bearing
witness to this security and to the concessions set out above, over
the seals of Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, Henry archbishop
of Dublin, the other bishops named above, and Master Pandulf.
63. Wherefore
it is our will, and we firmly enjoin, that the English Church be
free, and that the men in our kingdom have and hold all the aforesaid
liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably, freely and
quietly, fully and wholly, for themselves and their heirs, of us
and our heirs, in all respects and in all places for ever, as is
aforesaid.
An oath, moreover,
has been taken, as well on our part as on the part of the barons,
that all theseconditions aforesaid shall be kept in good faith and
without evil intent. Given under our hand—the above-named and
many others being witnesses—in themeadow which is called Runnymede,
between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenthday of June, in the
seventeenth year of our reign.
|
|
