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 Magna Carta (June 15, 1215)

    The Great Charter Of English Liberty Decreed By King John at Runnymede

 JOHN, by the grace of God, King of England, lord of Ireland, Duke of
 Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjuo: To the archbishops, bishops,
 abbots, earls, barons, justices, foresters, sheriffs, prevosts, serving men,
 and to all his bailiffs and faithful subjects, Greeting. Know that we, by
 the will of God and for the safety of our soul, and of the souls of all our
 predecessors and our heirs, to the honor of God and for the exaltation of
 the holy Church, and the bettering of our realm:  by the counsel of our
 venerable fathers Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England
 and cardinal of the holy Roman church; of Henry archbishop of Dublin; of
 the bishops William of London, Peter of Winchester, Jocelin of Bath and
 Glastonbury, Hugo of Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of Coventry and
 Benedict of Rochester; of master Pandulf, subdeacon and of the household of
 the lord pope; of brother Aymeric, master of the knights of the Temple in
 England; and of the nobel men, William Marshall earl of Pembroke, William
 earl of Salisbury, William earl of Warren, William earl of Arundel, Alan de
 Galway constable of Scotland, Warin son of Gerold, Peter son of Herbert,
 Hubert de Burgh seneschal of Poictiers, Hugo de Neville,  Matthew son of
 Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip d'Aubigni, Robert de Roppelay,
 John Marshall, John son of Hugo, and others of our faithful subjects:

      1.  First of all have granted to God, and, for us and for our
      heirs forever, have confirmed, by this our present charter, that
      the English church shall be free and  shall have its rights intact
      and its liberties uninfringed upon. And thus we will that it be
      observed.  As is apparent from the fact that we, spontaneously and
      of our own free will, before discord broke out between ourselves and
      our barons, did grant and by our charter confirm--and did cause the
      lord pope Innocent III, to confirm--freedom of elections, which is
      considered most important and most necessary to the church of England.
      Which charter both we ourselves shall observe, and we  will that it be
      observed with good faith by our heirs forever.  We have also granted to
      all free men of our realm, on  the part of ourselves and our heirs
      forever, all the subjoined liberties, to have and to hold, to them and
      to their heirs, from us and from our heirs:

      2.  If any one of our earls or barons, or of others holding from us in
      chief through military service,  shall die; and if, at the time of his
      death, his heir be of full age and owe a relief: he shall have his
      inheritance by paying the old relief;--the heir, namely, or the heirs
      of an earl, by paying one hundred pounds for the whole barony of an
      earl; the heir or heirs of a baron, by paying one hundred pounds for
      the whole barony; the heir or heirs of a knight, by paying one hundred
      shillings at most for a whole knight's fee;  and he who shall owe less
      shall give less, according to the ancient custom of fees.

      3.  But if the heir of any of the above persons shall be under age and
      in wardship,--when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance
      without relief and without fine.

      4.  The administrator of the land of such heir who shall be under age
      shall take none but reasonable issues from the land of the heir, and
      reasonable customs and services; and this without destruction and waste
      of men or goods.  And if we shall have committed the custody of any
      such land to the sheriff or to any other man who ought to be
      responsible to us for the issues of it, and he cause destruction or
      waste to what is in his charge: we will fine him, and the land shall be
      handed over to two lawful and discreet  men of that fee who shall
      answer to us, or to him to whom we shall have referred them, regarding
      those issues.  And if we shall have given or sold to any one the
      custody of any such land, and he shall have caused destruction or waste
      to it,--he shall lose that custody, and it shall be given to two lawful
      and discreet men of that fee, who likewise shall answer to us, as has
      been explained.

      5.  The administrator, moreover, so long as he may have the custody of
      the land, shall keep in order, from the issues of that land, the houses,
      parks, warrens, lakes, mills, and other things pertaining to it. And he
      shall restore to the heir when he comes to full age, his  whole land
      stocked with ploughs and wainnages, according as the time  of the
      wainnage requires and the issues of the land will reasonably permit.

      6.  Heirs may marry without disparagement; so, nevertheless, that,
      before the marriage is contracted,  it shall be announced to the
      relations by blood of the heir himself.

      7.  A widow, after the death of her husband, shall straightway, and
      without difficulty,  have her marriage portion and her inheritance, nor
      shall she give any thing in return for her dowry, her marriage portion,
      or the inheritance which belonged to her, and which she and her husband
      held on the day of the death of that husband.  And she may remain in
      the house of her husband, after his death, for forty days; within which
      her dowry shall be paid over to her.

      8.  No widow shall be forced to marry when she  prefers to live without
      a husband;  so, however, that she gives security not to marry without
      our consent, if she hold from us, or the consent of the lord from whom
      she holds, if she hold from another.

      9.  Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any revenue for any debt,
      so long as the [chattels] of the debtor suffice to pay the debt; nor
      shall the sponsors of that debtor be distrained so long as the chief
      debtor has enough to pay the debt. But if the chief debtor fail in
      paying the debt, not having the wherewithal to pay it, the sponsors
      shall answer for the debt. And, if they shall wish, they may have the
      lands and revenues of the debtor until satisfaction shall have been
      given them for the debt previously paid for him; unless the chief
      debtor shall show that he is quit in that respect towards those same
      sponsors.

      10.  If any one shall have taken any sum, great or small, as a loan
      from the money-lenders, and shall die before that debt is paid,--that
      debt shall not bear interest so long as the heir, from whomever he may
      hold,  shall be under age. And if the debt fall into our hands, we
      shall take nothing save the chattel contained in the deed.

      11.  And if any one dies owing a debt to the money-lenders, his wife
      shall have her dowry,  and shall restore nothing of that debt. But if
      there shall remain children of that dead man, and they shall be under
      age, the necessaries shall be provided for them according to the nature
      of the dead man's holding; and from the residue, the debt shall be
      paid, saving  the service due to the lords.  In like manner shall be
      done concerning debts that are due to others besides money-lenders.

      12.  No [scutage] or aid shall be imposed in our realm unless by the
      common counsel of our realm; except for redeeming our body, and
      knighting our eldest son, and marrying once our eldest daughter.  And
      for these purposes there shall only be given a reasonable aid.  In like
      manner shall be done concerning the aids of the city of London.

      13.  And the city of London shall have all its old liberties and free
      customs as well by land as by water.  Moreover we will and grant that
      other cities and burroughs, and town and ports, shall have all their
      liberties and free customs.

      14.  And, in order to have the common counsel of the realm in the
      matter of assessing an aid otherwise than in the aforesaid cases, or
      of assessing a [scutage]--we shall cause, under seal through our
      letters, the archbishops,  bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons
      to be summoned for a fixed day--for a term, namely, at least forty days
      distant,--and for  a fixed place.  And, moreover, we shall cause to be
      summoned in general, through our sheriffs  and bailiffs, all those who
      hold of us in chief.  And in all those letters of summons we shall
      express the cause of  the summons.  And when a summons has thus been
      made, the business shall be proceeded with  on the day appointed
      according to the  counsel of those who  shall be present, even though
      not all shall come who were summoned.

      15.  We will not allow any one henceforth to take an aid from his
      [freemen] save for the redemption of his body,  and the knighting of
      his eldest son,  and the marrying, once, of his eldest daughter; and,
      for these purposes, there shall only be given a reasonable aid.

      16.  No one shall be forced to do more service for a knight's fee, or
      for another free holding, than is due from it.

      17.  Common pleas shall not follow our court but shall be held in a
      certain fixed place.

      18.  Assizes of novel disseisin, of mort d'ancestor, and of darrein
      presentment shall not be held save in their own counties, and in this
      way: We, or our chief justice, if we shall be absent from the kingdom,
      shall send two justices through each county four times a year; they,
      with four knights from each county, chosen by the county, shall hold
      the aforesaid assizes in the county, and on the day and at the place of
      the county court.

      19.  And if on the day of the county court the aforesaid assizes can
      not be held,  a sufficient number of knights and free tenants, from
      those who were present at the county court on that day, shall remain,
      so that through them  the judgments may be suitably given, according
      as the matter may have been great or small.

      20.  A freeman shall only be [amerced] for a small offence according to
      the measure of that offence.  And for a great offence he shall be
      [amerced] according to the magnitude of the offence, saving his
      contenement; and  a merchant,  in the same way, saving his merchandize.
      And a  [villein], in the same way, if he fall under  our mercy, shall
      be [amerced] saving his wainnage.  And none of the aforesaid fines
      shall be imposed save upon oath of upright men from the neighbourhood.

      21.  Earls and barons shall not be [amerced] save through their peers,
      and only according to the measure of the offence.

      22.  No clerk shall be [amerced] for his lay tenement except according
      to the manner of the other persons aforesaid; and not according to the
      amount of his ecclesiastical benefice.

      23.  Neither a town nor a man shall be forced to make bridges over the
      rivers, with the exception of those who, from  of old and of right
      ought to do it.

      24.  No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other bailiffs of ours shall
      hold the pleas of our crown.

      25.  All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and trithings--our demensne
      manors being excepted--shall continue according to the old farms,
      without any increase at all.

      26.  If any one holding from us a lay fee shall die, and our sheriff or
      bailiff can show our letters patent containing our summons for the debt
      which the dead man owed to us,--our sheriff or bailiff may be allowed
      to attach and enroll the chattels of the dead man to the value of that
      debt, through view of lawful men; in such way, however, that nothing
      shall be removed thence until the debt is paid which was plainly owed
      to us.  And the residue shall be left to the executors that they may
      carry out the will of the dead man.  And if nothing is owed to us by
      him, all the chattels shall go to the use prescribed by the deceased,
      saving their reasonable portions to his wife and children.

      27.  If any freeman shall have died intestate his chattels shall be
      distributed through the hands of his near relatives and friends, by
      view of the church; saving to any one the debts which the dead man owed
      him.

      28.  No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take the corn or other
      chattels of any one except he straightway give money for them, or can
      be allowed a respite in that regard by the will of the seller.

      29.  No constable shall force any knight to pay money for castleward if
      he be willing to perform that ward in person, or--he for a reasonable
      cause not being able to perform it himself--through another proper man.
      And if we shall have led or sent him on a military expedition, he shall
      be quit of ward according to the amount of time during which, through
      us, he shall have been in military service.

      30.  No sheriff nor bailiff of ours, no any one else, shall take the
      horses or carts of any freeman for transport, unless by the will of
      that freeman.

      31.  Neither we nor our bailiffs shall take another's wood for castles
      or for other private uses,  unless by the will of him to whom the wood
      belongs.

      32.  We shall not hold the lands of those convicted of felony longer
      than a year and a day;  and then the lands shall be restored to the
      lords of the fiefs.

      33.  Henceforth all the weirs in the Thames and  Medway, and throughout
      all England, save on the sea-coasts, shall be done away with entirely.

      34.  Henceforth the writ which is called Praecipe shall not be served
      on any one for any holding so as to cause a free man to lose his court.

      35.  There shall  be one measure of wine throughout our whole realm,
      and one measure of ale and one measure of corn--namely, the London
      quart;--and one width of dyed and resset and hauberk cloths--namely,
      two ells below the  selvage.  And with weights, moreover, it shall be
      as with measures.

      36.  Henceforth nothing shall be given or taken for a writ of inquest in
      a matter concerning life or limb;  but it shall be conceded gratis, and
      shall not be denied.

      37.  If any one hold of us in fee-farm,  or in socage, or in burkage,
      and hold land of another by military service, we shall not, by reason
      of that fee-farm, or socage, or burkage, have the wardship of his heir
      or of his land which is held in fee from another.  Nor shall we have
      the wardship of that fee-farm, or socage, or burkage unless that
      fee-farm owe military service.  We shall not, by reason of some
      petit-serjeanty which some one holds of us through the service of
      giving us knives or arrows or the like, have the wardship of his heir
      or of the land which he holds of another by military service.

      38.  No bailiff, on his own simple assertion, shall henceforth put any
      one to his law, without producing faithful witnesses in evidence.

      39.  No freeman shall be  taken, or imprisoned, or disseized, or
      outlawed, or exiled,  or in any way harmed--nor  will we go upon or
      send upon him--save by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law
      of the land.

      40.  To none will we sell, to none deny or delay,  right or justice.

      41.  All merchants may safely and securely go out of England, and come
      into England, and delay and pass through England, as well by land as by
      water, for the purpose of buying and selling, free from all evil taxes,
      subject to the ancient and right customs--save in time of war, and if
      they are of the land at war against us.  And if such be found in our
      land at the beginning of the war, they shall be held, without harm to
      their bodies and goods, until it shall be known to us or our chief
      justice how the merchants of  our land are to be treated  who shall, at
      that time, be found in the land at  war against us. And if ours shall
      be safe there, the others shall be safe in our land.

      42.  Henceforth any person, saving fealty to us, may go out of our
      realm and return to it, safely and securely, by land and by water,
      except perhaps for a brief period in time of war, for the common good
      of the realm. But prisoners and outlaws are excepted according to the
      law of the realm;  also people of a land at war against us, and the
      merchants, with regard to whom shall be done as we have said.

      43.  If any one hold from any escheat--as from the honour of
      Wallingford,  Nottingham,  Boloin,  Lancaster,  or the other escheats
      which are in our hands and are baronies--and shall die, his heir shall
      not give another relief, nor shall he perform for us other service than
      he would perform for a baron if that barony were in the hand of a baron;
      and we shall hold it in the same way in which the baron has held it.

      44.  Persons dwelling without the forest shall not henceforth come
      before the forest justices, through common summonses, unless they are
      impleaded or are the sponsors of some person or persons attached for
      matters concerning the forest.

      45.  We will not make men justices,  constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs,
      unless they are such as know the law of the realm, and are minded to
      observe it rightly.

      46.  All barons who have founded abbeys for which they have charters of
      the kings of England, or ancient right of tenure, shall have, as they
      ought to have, their custody when vacant.

      47.  All forests constituted as such in our time shall straightway be
      annulled; and the  same shall be  done for river banks made into places
      of defense by us in our time.

      48.  All evil customs concerning forests and warrens, and concerning
      foresters and warreners, sheriffs and their servants, river banks and
      their guardians, shall straightway be inquired into in each county,
      through twelve sworn knights from that county, and shall be eradicated
      by them, entirely, so that they shall never be renewed, within forty
      days after the inquest has been made; in such manner that we shall
      first know about them, or our justice if we be not in England.

      49.  We shall straightway return all hostages and charters which were
      delivered to us by Englishmen as a surety for peace or faithful service.

      50.  We shall entirely remove from their bailiwicks the relatives of
      Gerard de Athyes, so that they shall henceforth have no bailwick in
      England: Engelard de Cygnes,  Andrew Peter and Gyon de Chanceles, Gyon
      de  Cygnes, Geoffrey de Martin and his brothers, Philip Mark and his
      brothers, and Geoffrey his nephew, and the whole following of them.

      51.  And straightway after peace is restored we shall remove from the
      realm all the foreign soldiers, crossbowmen, servants, hirelings, who
      may have come with horses and arms to the harm of the realm.

      52.  If anyone shall have been disseized by us,  or removed, without a
      legal sentence of his peers, from his lands, castles, liberties or
      lawful right, we shall straightway restore them to him.  And if a
      dispute shall arise concerning this matter it shall be settled
      according to the judgment of the twenty-five barons who are mentioned
      below as sureties for the peace.  But with regard to all those things
      of which any one was, by king Henry our father or king Richard our
      brother, disseized or dispossessed without legal judgement of his
      peers, which we have in our hand or which others hold, and for which we
      ought to give a guarantee:  We shall have respite until the common term
      for crusaders.  Except with regard to those concerning which a plea was
      moved, or an inquest made by our order,  before we took the cross.  But
      when we return from our pilgrimage, or if, by chance, we desist from
      our pilgrimage, we shall straightway then show full justice regarding
      them.

      53.  We shall have the same respite, moreover, and in the same manner,
      in the matter of showing justice with regard to forests to be annulled
      and forests to remain, which Henry our father or Richard our brother
      constituted; and  in the matter of wardships of lands which belong to
      the fee of another--wardships of which kind we have hitherto enjoyed by
      reason of the fee which some one held from us in military service;--and
      in the matter of abbeys founded in the fee of another than ourselves-in
      which the lord of  the fee may say that he  has jurisdiction. And when
      we return,  or  if we desist from our pilgrimage, we shall straightway
      exhibit full justice to those complaining with regard to these matters.

      54.  No one shall be taken or imprisoned on account of the appeal of a
      woman concerning the death of another than her husband.

      55.  All fines imposed by us unjustly and contrary to the law of the
      land, and all amerciaments made unjustly and contrary to the law of the
      land, shall be  altogether remitted, or it shall be done with regard to
      them according to the judgment of the twenty five barons mentioned
      below as sureties for the peace, or according to the judgment of the
      majority of them together with the aforesaid Stephen archbishop of
      Canterbury, if  he can be present,  and with others whom he may wish to
      associate with himself for this purpose.  And if he can not be present,
      the affair shall nevertheless proceed without him; in such way that, if
      one or more of the said twenty five barons shall be concerned in a
      similar complaint, they shall be removed as to this particular
      decision, and in their place, for this purpose alone, others shall be
      substituted who shall be chosen and sworn by the remainder of those
      twenty five.

      56.  If we have disseized or dispossessed Welshmen of their lands or
      liberties or other things without legal judgment of their peers, in
      England or in  Wales,--they shall straightway be restored to them.  And
      if a dispute shall arise concerning this, then action shall be taken
      upon it in the March through judgment of their peers--concerning
      English holdings according to the law of England,  concerning Welsh
      holdings according to the law of Wales, concerning holdings in the
      March according to the law of the March.  The Welsh shall do likewise
      with regard to us and our subjects.

      57.  But with regard to all those things of which any one of the Welsh
      was, by king Henry our father or king Richard our brother, disseized or
      dispossessed without legal judgment of his peers, which we have in our
      hand or which others hold, and for which we ought to give a guarantee:
      we shall have respite until the common term for crusaders.  Except with
      regard to those concerning which a plea was moved, or an inquest made
      by our order, before we took the cross.  But when we return from our
      pilgrimage, or if, by chance,  we desist from our pilgrimage, we shall
      straightway then show full justice regarding them, according to the
      laws of Wales and the aforesaid districts.

      58.  We shall straightway return the son of Llewelin and all the Welsh
      hostages, and the charters delivered to us as surety for the peace.

      59.  We shall act towards Alexander king of the Scots regarding the
      restoration of his sisters, and his hostages, and his liberties and his
      lawful right,  as we shall act towards our other barons of England;
      unless it ought to be otherwise according to the charters which we hold
      from William, his father, the former king of the Scots.  And this shall
      be done through judgment of his peers in our court.

      60.  Moreover all the subjects of our realm, clergy as well as laity,
      shall, as far as pertains to them,  observe, with regard to their
      vassals, all these aforesaid customs and liberties which we have
      decreed shall, as far as pertains to us, be observed in our realm with
      regard to our own.

      61.  Inasmuch as for the sake of God, and for the bettering of our
      realm, and for the more ready healing of the discord which has arisen
      between us and our barons, we have made all these aforesaid concessions,
      --wishing them to enjoy for ever entire and firm stability, we make and
      grant to them  the following security: that the barons, namely, may
      elect at their pleasure twenty five barons from the realm, who ought,
      with all their strength, to observe, maintain and cause to be observed,
      the peace and privileges which we have granted to them and confirmed by
      this our present charter in such wise, namely, that if we, our justice,
      or our bailiffs, or any one  of our servants shall have transgressed
      against any one in any respect, or shall have broken some one of the
      articles of peace or security, and our transgression shall have been
      shown to four barons of the aforesaid twenty five:  those four barons
      shall come to us, or, if we are abroad, to our justice, showing to us
      our error; and they shall ask us to cause that error to be amended
      without delay.  And if we do not amend that error, or, we being abroad,
      if our justice do not amend it  within a term of forty days from the
      time when it was  shown to us  or, we being abroad, to our justice: the
      aforesaid four barons shall refer the matter to the remainder of the
      twenty five barons, and those twenty five barons, with the whole land
      in common,  shall distrain and oppress us in every way in their power,
      --namely,  by taking our castles, lands and possessions, and in every
      other way that they can, until amends shall have been made according to
      their judgment.  Saving the persons of ourselves, our queen and our
      children. And when amends shall have  been made they shall be in accord
      with us as they had been previously.  And whoever of the land wishes to
      do so, shall swear that in carrying out all the aforesaid measures  he
      will obey the mandates of the aforesaid twenty five barons, and that,
      with them, he  will oppress us to the extent of his power.  And, to any
      one who wishes to do so, we publicly and freely give permission to
      swear; and we will never prevent any one from swearing.  Moreover, all
      those in the land who shall be unwilling, themselves and of their own
      accord, to swear to the twenty five barons as to distraining and
      oppressing us with them:  such ones we shall make to  swear by our
      mandate, as has been said. And if any one of the twenty five barons
      shall die, or leave the country, or in any other way be prevented from
      carrying out the aforesaid measures,--the  remainder of the aforesaid
      twenty five barons shall choose another in his place, according to
      their judgment, who shall be sworn in the same way as the others.
      Moreover, in all things entrusted to those twenty five barons to be
      carried out, if those twenty five shall be present and chance to
      disagree among themselves with regard to some matter, or if some of
      them, having been summoned, shall be unwilling or unable to be present:
      that which the majority of those present shall decide or decree shall
      be considered binding and valid, just as if all the twenty five had
      consented to it.  And the aforesaid twenty five shall swear that they
      will faithfully observe all the foregoing,  and will cause them to be
      observed to the extent of their power.  And we shall obtain nothing
      from any one, either through ourselves or through another, by which any
      of those concessions and liberties may be revoked or diminished.  And
      if any such thing shall have been obtained, it shall be vain and
      invalid, and we shall never make use of it either through ourselves or
      through another.

      62.  And we have fully remitted to all, and pardoned, all the ill-will,
      anger and rancour which have arisen between us and our subjects, clergy
      and laity, from the time of the struggle.  Moreover we have fully
      remitted to all, clergy and laity, and--as far as pertains to us--have
      pardoned fully all the transgressions committed, on the occasion of
      that same struggle, from Easter of the sixteenth year of our reign
      until the re-establishment of peace.  In witness of which moreover, we
      have caused to be drawn up for them letters patent of lord Stephen,
      archbishop of Canterbury, lord  Henry, archbishop of Dublin, and the
      aforesaid bishops and  master Pandulf, regarding that surety and the
      aforesaid concessions.

      63.  Wherefore we will and firmly decree that the English church shall
      be free, and that the subjects of our realm shall have and hold all the
      aforesaid liberties, rights  and concessions, duly and in peace, freely
      and quietly, fully and entirely, for themselves and their heirs, from
      us and our heirs, in all matters and in all places, forever, as has
      been said. Moreover it has been sworn, on our part as well as on the
      part of the barons, that all these above mentioned provisions shall be
      observed with good faith and  without evil intent. The witnesses being
      the above mentioned and many others.  Given through our hand, in the
      plain called  Runnimede between Windsor and Stanes, on the fifteenth
      day of June, in the  seventeenth year of our reign.