THE MAGNA CARTA
The Great Charter of English Liberty
Decreed by King John at Runnymede
15 June 1215 A.D.
this Document is presently:
We will be making the corrections (if any) when found.
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 his bailiffs and faithful subjects,
greeting. Know that we, out of reverence for God and for the
salvation of our soul and those of all our ancestors and heirs,
for the honour of God and the exaltation of holy church, and for
the reform of our realm, on the advice of our venerable fathers,
Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England and
cardinal of the holy Roman church, Henry archbishop of Dublin,
William of London, Peter of Winchester, Jocelyn of Bath and Glastonbury,
Hugh of Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of Coventry and
Benedict of Rochester, bishops, of master Pandulf, subdeacon and
member of the household of the lord pope, of brother Aymeric,
master of the order of Knights Templar in England, and of the
noble men William Marshal earl of Pembroke, William earl of Salisbury,
William earl of Warenne, William earl of Arundel, Alan of Galloway
constable of Scotland, Warin fitz Gerold, Peter fitz Herbert,
Hubert de Burgh seneschal of Poitou, Hugh de Neville, Matthew
fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip de Aubeney, Robert
of Ropsley, John Marshal, John fitz Hugh, and others, our faithful
subjects:
And let anyone in the land who wishes take an oath to obey the
orders of the said twenty-five barons for the execution of all
the aforesaid matters, and with them to distress us as much as
he can, and we publicly and freely give anyone leave to take the
oath who wishes to take it and we will never prohibit anyone from
taking it. Indeed, all those in the land who are unwilling of
themselves and of their own accord to take an oath to the twenty-five
barons to help them to distrain and distress us, we will make
them take the oath as aforesaid at our command. And if any of
the twenty-five barons dies or leaves the country or is in any
other way prevented from carrying out the things aforesaid, the
rest of the aforesaid twenty-five barons shall choose as they
think fit another one in his place, and he shall take the oath
like the rest. In all matters the execution of which is committed
to these twenty-five barons, if it should happen that these twenty-five
are present yet disagree among themselves about anything, or if
some of those summoned will not or cannot be present, that shall
be held as fixed and established which the majority of those present
ordained or commanded, exactly as if all the twenty-five had consented
to it; and the said twenty-five shall swear that they will faithfully
observe all the things aforesaid and will do all they can to get
them observed. And we will procure nothing from anyone, either
personally or through anyone else, whereby any of these concessions
and liberties might be revoked or diminished; and if any such
thing is procured, let it be void and null, and we will never
use it either personally or through another.
[1]
In the first place have granted to God, and by this our present
charter confirmed for us and our heirs for ever that the English
church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished and
its liberties unimpaired; and it is our will that it be thus observed;
which is evident from the fact that, before the quarrel between
us and our barons began, we willingly and spontaneously granted
and by our charter confirmed the freedom of elections which is
reckoned most important and very essential to the English church,
and obtained confirmation of it from the lord pope Innocent III;
the which we will observe and we wish our heirs to observe it
in good faith for ever. We have also granted to all free men
of our kingdom, for ourselves and our heirs for ever, all the
liberties written below, to be had and held by them and their
heirs of us and our heirs.
[2]
If any of our earls or barons or others holding of us in chief
by knight service dies, and at his death his heir be of full age
and owe relief he shall have his inheritance on payment of the
old relief, namely the heir or heirs of an earl by paying 100 pounds
for a whole earl's barony, the heir of heirs of a baron by paying 100
pounds for a whole barony, the heir or heirs of a knight by paying 100
shillings at most, for a whole knight's fee; and he who owes less shall
give less according to the ancient usage of fiefs.
[3]
If, however, the heir of any such be under age and a ward,
he shall have his inheritance when he comes of age without paying
relief and without making fine.
[4]
The guardian of the land of such an heir who is under age
shall take from the land of the heir no more than reasonable revenues,
reasonable customary dues and reasonable services and that without
destruction and waste of men or goods; and if we commit the wardship
of the land of any such to a sheriff, or to any other who is answerable
to us for its revenues, and he destroys or wastes what he has
wardship of, we will take compensation from him and the land shall
be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fief, who
shall be answerable for the revenues to us or to him to whom we
have assigned them; and if we give or sell to anyone the wardship
of any such land and he causes destruction or waste therein, he
shall lose that wardship, and it shall be transferred to two lawful
and discreet men of that fief, who shall similarly be answerable
to us as is aforesaid.
[5]
Moreover, so long as he has the wardship of the land, the
guardian shall keep in repair the houses, parks, preserves, ponds,
mills and other things pertaining to the land out of the revenues
from it; and he shall restore to the heir when he comes of age
his land fully stocked with ploughs and the means of husbandry
according to what the season of husbandry requires and the revenues
of the land can reasonably bear.
[6]
Heirs shall be married without disparagement, yet so that
before the marriage is contracted those nearest in blood to the
heir shall have notice.
[7]
A widow shall have her marriage portion and inheritance forthwith
and without difficulty after the death of her husband; nor shall
she pay anything to have her dower or her marriage portion or
the inheritance which she and her husband held on the day of her
husband's 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.
[8]
No widow shall be forced to marry so long as she wishes to
live without a husband, provided that she gives security not to
marry without our consent if she holds of us, or without the consent
of her lord of whom she holds, if she holds of another.
[9]
Neither we nor our bailiffs will seize for any debt any land
or rent, so long as the chattles of the debtor are sufficient
to repay the debt; nor will those who have gone surety for the
debtor be distrained so long as the principal debtor is himself
able to pay the debt; and if the principal debtor fails to pay
the debt, having nothing wherewith to pay it, then shall the sureties
answer for the debt; and they shall, if they wish, have the lands
and rents of the debtor until they are reimbursed for the debt
which they have paid for him, unless the principal debtor can
show that he has discharged his obligation in the matter to the
said sureties.
[10]
If anyone who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or
small, dies before it is repaid, the debt shall not bear interest
as long as the heir is under age, of whomsoever he holds; and
if the debt falls into our hands, we will not take anything except
the principal mentioned in the bond.
[11]
And if anyone dies indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have
her dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if the dead man leaves
children who are under age, they shall be provided whith necessaries
befitting the holding of the deceased; and the debt shall be paid
out of the residue, reserving, however, service due to lords of
the land; debts owing to others than Jews shall be dealt with
in like manner.
[12]
No scutage or aid shall be imposed in 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 only a reasonable aid shall be
levied. Be it done in like manner oncerning 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
will and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports
shall have all their liberties and free customs.
[14]
And to obtain the common counsel of the kingdom about 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, individually by our letters-and,
in additon, we will cause to be summoned generally through our
sheriffs and bailiffs all those holding of us in chief-for a fixed
date, namely, after the expiry of at least forty day, and to a
fixed place; and in all letters of such summons we will specify
the reason for the summons. And when the summons has thus been
made, the business shall proceed on the day appointed, according
to the counsel of those present, though not all have come who
were summoned.
[15]
We will not in future grant any one the right to take an
aid from his free men, except for ransoming his person, for making
his eldest son a knight and for once marrying his eldest daughter,
and for these only a resonable aid shall be levied.
[16]
No one shall be compelled to do greater service for a kngiht's
fee or for any other free holding than is due form it.
[17]
Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be held
in some fixed place.
[18]
Recognitions of novel disseisin, of mort d'ancester, and
of darrein presentment, shall not be held elsewhere than in the
counties to which they relate, and in this manner-we, or, if we
should be out of the realm, our chief justiciar, will send two
justices through each county four times a year, who, with four
knights of each county chosen by the county, shall hold the said
assizes in the county and on the day and in the place of meeting
of the county court.
[19]
And if the said assizes cannot all be held on the day of
the county court, there shall stay behind as many of the kngihts
and freeholders who were present at the county court on that day
as are necessary for the sufficient making of judgments, according
to the amount of business to be done.
[20]
A free man shall not be amerced for a trivial offence except
in accordance with the degree of the offence, and for a grave
offence he shall be amerced in accordance with its gravity, yet
saving his way of living; and a merchant in the same way, saving
his stock-in-trade; and a villein shall be amerced in the same
way, saving his means of livelihood-if they have fallen into our
mercy: and none of the aforesaid amercements shall be imposed
except by the oath of good men of the neighbourhood.
[21]
Earls and barons shall not be amerced except by their peers,
and only in accordance with the degree of the offence.
[22]
No clerk shall be amerced in respect of his lay holding except
after the manner of the others aforesaid and not according to
the amount of his ecclesiastical benefice.
[23]
No vill or individual shall be compelled to make bridges
at river banks, except those who from of old are 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 trithings shall be
at the old rents without any additional payment, except our demesne
manors.
[26]
If anyone holding a lay fief of us dies and our sheriff or
bailiff shows our letters patent of summons for a debt that the
deceased owed us, it shall be lawful for our sheriff or bailiff
to attach and make a list of chattels of the deceased found upon
the lay fief to the value of that debt under the supervision of
law-worthy men, provided that none of the chattels shall be removed
until the debt which is manifest has been paid to us in full;
and the residue shall be left to the executors for carrying out
the will of the deceased. And if nothing is owing to us from
him, all the chattels shall accrue to the deceased, saving to
his wife and children their reasonable shares.
[27]
If any free man dies without leaving a will, his chattels
shall be distributed by his nearest kinsfolk and friends under
the supervison of the church, saving to every one the debts which
the deceased owed him.
[28]
No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take anyone's
corn or other chattels unless he pays on the spot in cash for
them or can delay payment by arrangment with the seller.
[29]
No constable shall compel any knight to give money instead
of castle-guard if he is willing to do the guard himself or through
another good man, if for some good reason he cannot do it himself;
and if we lead or send him on military service, he shall be excused
guard in proportion to the time that because of us he has been
on service.
[30]
No sheriff, or bailiff of ours, or anyone else shall take
the horses or carts of any free man for transport work save with
the agreement of that freeman.
[31]
Neither we nor our bailiffs will take, for castles or other
works of ours, timber which is not ours, except with the agreement
of him whose timber it is.
[32]
We will not hold for more than a year and a day the lands
of those convicted of felony, and then the lands shall be handed
over to the lords of the fiefs.
[33]
Henceforth all fish-weirs shall be cleared completely from
the Thames and the Medway and throughout all England, except along
the sea coast.
[34]
The writ called Praecipe shall not in future be issued to
anyone in respect of any holding whereby a free man may lose his
court.
[35]
Let there be one measure for wine throughout our kingdom,
and one measure for ale, and one measure for corn, namely "the
London quarter"; and one width for cloths whether dyed, russet
or halberget, namely two ells within the selvedges. Let it be
the same with weights as with measures.
[36]
Nothing shall be given or taken in future for the writ of
inquisition of life or limbs: instead it shall be granted free
of charge and not refused.
[37]
If anyone holds of us by fee-farm, by socage, or by burgage,
and holds land of another by knight service, we will not, by reason
of that fee-farm, socage, or burgage, have the wardship of his
heir or of land of land of his that is of the fief of the other;
nor will we have custody of the fee-farm, socage, or burgage,
unless such fee-farm owes kngiht service. We will not have custody
of anyone's heir or land which he holds of another by knight service
by reason of any petty serjeanty which he holds of us by the service
of rendering to us knives or arrows or the like.
[38]
No bailiff shall in future put anyone to trial upon his own
bare word, without reliable witnesses produced for this purpose.
[39]
No free man shall be arrested or imprisoned or disseised
or outlawed or exiled or in any way victimised, neither will we
attack him or send anyone to attack him, except by the lawful
judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
[40]
To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay
right or justice.
[41]
All merchants shall be able to go out of and come into England
safely and securely and stay and travel throughout England, as
well by land as by water, for buying and selling by the ancient
and right customs free from all evil tolls, except in time of
war and if they are of the land that is at war with us. And if
such are found in our land at the beginning of a war, they shall
be attached, without injury to their persons or goods, until we,
or our chief justiciar, know how merchants of our land are treated
who were found in the land at war with us when war broke out,
and if ours are safe there, the others shall be safe in our land.
[42]
It shall be lawful in future for anyone, without prejudicing
the allegiance due to us, to leave our kingdom and return safely
and securely by land and water, save, in the public interest,
for a short period in time of war-except for those imprisoned
or outlawed in accordance with the law of the kingdom and natives
of a land that is at war with us and merchants (who shall be treated
as aforesaid).
[43]
If anyone who holds of some escheat such as the honour of
Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats
which are in our hands and are baronies dies, his heir shall give
no other relief and do no other service to us than he would have
done to the baron if that barony had been in the baron's hands;
and we will hold it in the same manner in which the baron held
it.
[44]
Men who live outside the forest need not henceforth come
before our justices of the forest upon a general summons, unless
they are impleaded or are sureties for any person or persons who
are attached for forest offences.
[45]
We will not make justices, constables, sheriffs or bailiffs
save of such as know the law of the kingdom and mean to observe
it well.
[46]
All barons who have founded abbeys for which they have charters
of the kings of England or ancient tenure shall have the custody
of them during vacancies, as they ought to have.
[47]
All forests that have been make forest in our time shall
be immediately disafforested; and so be it done with river banks
that have been made preserves by us in our time.
[48]
All evil customs connected with forests and warrens, foresters
and warreners, sheriffs and their officials, riverbanks and their
wardens shall immediately be inquired into in each county by twelve
sworn kngihts of the same county, and within forty days of the
completion of the inquiry shall be utterly abolished by them so
as never to be restored, provided that we, or our justiciar if
we are not in England, know of it first.
[49]
We will immediately return all hostages and charters given
to us by Englishmen, as security for peace or faithful service.
[50]
We will remove completely from office the relations of Gerard
de Athee so that in future they shall have no office in England,
namely Engelard de Cigogne, Peter and Guy and Andrew de Chanceaux,
Guy de cigogne, Geoffrey de Maartigny and his brothers, Philip
Marc and his brothers and his nephew Geoffrey, and all their following.
[51]
As soon as peace is restored, we will remove from the kingdom
all foreign knights, cross-bowmen, serjeants, and mercenaries,
who have come with horses and arms to the detriment of the kingdom.
[52]
If anyone has been disseised of or kept out of his lands,
castles, franchises or his right by us without the legal judgment
of his peers, we will immediately restore them to him: and if
a dispute arises over this, then let it be decided by the judgment
of the twenty-five barons who are mentioned below in the clause
for securing the peace: for all the things, however, which anyone
has been disseised or kept out of without the lawful judgment
of his peers by king Henry, our father, or by king Richard, our
brother, which we have in our hand or are held by others, to whom
we are bound to warrant them, we will have the usual period of
respite of crusaders, excepting those things about which a plea
was started or an inquest made by our command before we took the
cross; when however we return from our pilgrimage, or if by any
chance we do not go on it, we will at once do full justice therein.
[53]
We will have the same respite, and in the same manner, in
the doing of justice in the matter of the disafforesting or retaining
of the forests which Henry our father or Richard our brother afforested,
and in the matter of the wardship of lands which are of the fief
of another, wardships of which sort we have hitherto had by reason
of a fief which anyone held of us by knight service, and in the
matter of abbeys founded on the fief of another, not on a fief
of our own, in which the lord of the fief claims he has a right;
and when we have returned, or if we do not set out on our pilgrimage,
we will at once do full justice to those who complain of these
things.
[54]
No one shall be arrested or imprisoned upon the appeal of
a woman for the death of anyone except her husband.
[55]
All fines made with us unjustly and against the law of the
land, and all amercements imposed unjustly and against the law
of the land, shall be entirely remitted, or else let them be settled
by the judgment of the twenty-five barons who are mentioned below
in the clause for securing the peace, or by 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 associate with himself for this purpose, and if he cannot
be present the business shall nevertheless proceed without him,
provided that if any one or more of of the aforesaid twenty-five
barons are in a like suit, they shall be removed from the judgment
of the case in question, and others chosen, sworn and put in their
place by the rest of the same twenty-five for this case only.
[56]
If we have disseised or kept out Welshmen from lands or liberties
or other things without the legal judgment of their peers in England
or in Wales, they shall be immediately restored to them; and if
a dispute arises over this, then let it be decided in the March
by the judgment of their peers-for holdings in England according
to the law of England, for holdings in Wales according to the
law of Wales, and for holdings in the March according to the law
of the March. Welshmen shall do the same to us and ours.
[57]
For all the things, however, which any Welshman was disseised
of or kept out of without the lawful judgment of his peers by
king Henry, our father, or king Richard, our brother, which we
have in our hand or which are held by others, to whom we are bound
to warrent them, we will have the usual period of respite of crusaders,
excepting those things about which a plea was started or an inquest
made by our command before we took the cross; when however we
return, or if by any chance we do not set out on our pilgrimage,
we will at once do full justice to them in accordance with the
laws of the Welsh and the foresaid regions.
[58]
We will give back at once the son of Llywelyn and all the
hostages from Wales and the charters that were handed over to
us as security for peace.
[59]
We will act toward Alexander, king of the Scots, concerning
the return of his sisters and hostages and concerning his franchises
and his right in the same manner in which we act towards our other
barons of England, unless it ought to be otherwise by the charters
which we have from William his father, formerly king of the Scots,
and this shall be determined by the judgment of his peers in our
court.
[60]
All these aforesaid customs and liberties which we have granted
to be observed in our kingdom as far as it pertains to us towards
our men, all of our kingdom, clerks as well as laymen, shall observe
as far as it pertains to them towards their men.
[61]
Since, moreover, for God and the betterment of our kingdom
and for the better allaying of the discord that has arisen between
us and our barons we have granted all these things aforesaid,
wishing them to enjoy the use of them unimpaired and unshaken
for ever, we give and grant them the under-written security, namely,
that the barons shall choose any twenty-five barons of the kingdom
they wish, who must with all their might observe, hold and cause
to be observed, the peace and liberties which we have granted
and confirmed to them by this present charter of ours, so that
if we, or our justiciar, or our bailiffs or any one of our servants
offend in any way against anyone or transgress any of the articles
of the peace or the security and the offence be notified to four
of the aforesaid twenty-five barons, those four barons shall come
to us, or to our justiciar if we are out of the kingdom, and,
laying the transgression before us, shall petition us to have
that transgression corrected without delay. And if we do not
correct the transgression, or if we are out of the kingdom, if
our justiciar does not correct it, within forty days, reckoning
from the time it was brought to our notice or to that of our justiciar
if we were out of the kingdom, the aforesaid four barons shall
refer that case to the rest of the twenty-five barons and those
twenty-five barons together with the community of the whole land
shall distrain and distress us in every way they can, namely,
by seizing castles, lands, possessions, and in such other ways
as they can, saving our person and the persons of our queen and
our children, until, in their opinion, amends have been made;
and when amends have been made, they shall obey us as they did
before. --
[62]
And we have fully remitted and pardoned to everyone all the
ill-will, indignation and rancour that have arisen between us
and our men, clergy and laity, from the time of the quarrel.
Furthermore, we have fully remitted to all, clergy and laity,
and as far as pertains to us have completely forgiven, all trespasses
occasioned by the same quarrel between Easter in the sixteenth
year of our reign and the restoration of peace. And, besides,
we have caused to be made for them letters testimonial patent
of the lord Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, of the lord Henry
archbishop of Dublin and of the aforementioned bishops and of
master Pandulf about this security and the aforementioned concessions.
[63]
Wherefore we wish and firmly enjoin that the English church
shall be free, and that the men in our kingdom shall have and
hold all the aforesaid liberties, rights and concessions well
and peacefully, freely and quietly, fully and completely, for
themselves and their heirs from us and our heirs, in all matters
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 these things aforesaid shall be observed in good faith
and without evil disposition. Witness the above-mentioned 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.
Magna Carta: Written in 1215 A.D.
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