Monster Media 1994 #1/monster.zip/monster/EDUCATE/USCON2.ZIP/MAGNA.DAT

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                    Magna Carta (June 15, 1215)

  The Magna Carta or General Charter was the first political
  reform program imposed on a English King or his subjects.
  The King had to result in a taxing and other forms of revenue
  to finance the government.  Unlike, sales tax the tax that they
  had to pay was held largely on those who held the grants of land
  from the king.  The barons held most of this land and they were
  the ones that imposed these limitations on the King.  These
  barons got together and forced the king to sign the Magna Carta
  to avoid civil war.

  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.