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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, having regard to God and for the salvation of our soul, and those
of all our ancestors and heirs, and unto the honour of God and the advancement
of the holy Church, and for the reform of our realm, by 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, Benedict of Rochester, bishops; of master
Pandulf, subdeacon and member of the household of our lord the Pope, of brother
Aymeric (master of the Knights of the Temple in England), and of the illustrious
men William Marshall earl of Pembroke, William earl of Salisbury, William
earl of Warenne, William earl of Arundel, Alan of Galloway (constable of Scotland),
Waren Fitz Gerald, Peter Fits Herbert, Hubert de Burgh (seneschal of Poitou),
Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip
d’Aubigny, Robert of Roppesley, John Marshall, John Fitz Hugh, and of
other faithful subjects.
- In the first
place we have conceded 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 her rights entire, and her liberties
inviolate; and we wish that it be thus observed. This
is apparent from the fact that we, of our pure and unconstrained
will, did grant the freedom of elections, which is reckoned
most important and very essential to the English church,
and did by our charter confirm and did obtain the ratification
of the same from our lord, Pope Innocent III., before
the quarrel arose between us and our barons. This freedom
we will observe, and our will is that it be observed
in good faith by our heirs for ever.
We have also granted to all freemen
of our kingdom, for us and our heirs for ever, all the
underwritten liberties, to be had and held by them and
their heirs, of us and our heirs for ever:
- If any of our earls or barons, or others holding
of us in chief
by military service shall have died, and at the time of his death his heir
shall be of full age and owe relief
he shall have his inheritance on payment of the ancient relief, namely the
heir or heirs of an earl, 100 pounds for a whole earl’s barony; the
heir or heirs of a baron, 100 pounds for a whole barony; the heir or heirs
of a knight, 100
shillings at most for a whole knight’s
fee; and whoever owes less let him give less, according to the ancient
custom of fiefs.
- If, however, the heir of any of the aforesaid has
been under age and in wardship, let him have his inheritance without relief
and without fine when he comes of age.
- The guardian of the land of an heir who is thus
under age, shall take from the land of the heir nothing but reasonable produce,
reasonable customs, and reasonable services, and that without destruction
or waste of men or goods; and if we have committed the wardship of the lands
of any such minor to the sheriff, or to any other who is responsible to
us for its issues, and he has made destruction or waste of what he holds
in wardship, we will take of him amends, and the land shall be committed
to two lawful and discreet men of that fief,
who shall be responsible for the issues to us or to him to whom we shall
assign them; and if we have given or sold the wardship of any such land
to anyone and he has therein made destruction or waste, he shall lose that
wardship, and it shall be transferred to two lawful and discreet men of
that fief, who shall be responsible to us in like manner as aforesaid.
- The guardian moreover, so long as he has the wardship
of the land, shall maintain the houses, parks, fish ponds, stanks,
mills, and other things pertaining to the land, out of the revenues of that
land; and he shall restore to the heir, when he has come to full age, all
his land, stocked with ploughs and waynage,
according as the season of husbandry requires, and the revenues from the
land can reasonably support.
- Heirs shall be married without disparagement.
However, before a marriage takes place, it shall be made known to the heir’s
next-of-kin.
- A widow, after the death of her husband, shall
forthwith and without difficulty have her marriage portion and inheritance.
She shall not give anything for her dower, or for her marriage portion,
or for the inheritance which her husband and she held on the day of the
death of that husband. She may remain in the house of her husband for forty
days after his death, within which time her dower shall be assigned to her.
- No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as
she prefers to remain without a husband, always provided that she gives
assurance not to marry without our consent, if she holds her lands from
us, or else without the consent of whatever other lord she from whom she
holds her lands.
- Neither we nor our bailiffs
shall seize for any debt any land or rent, so long as
the chattels
of the debtor are sufficient to repay the debt. Nor
shall those that pledged sureties for the debtor be
distrained
so long as the principal debtor himself is able to satisfy
the debt. If the principal debtor fails to pay the debt,
having nothing wherewith to pay it, then the sureties
shall answer for the debt.They shall have the lands
and rents of the debtor, if they desire them, until
they are reimbursed for the debt which they have paid
for him, unless the principal debtor can show proof
that he has discharged his obligations to them.
- If one who has
borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or small, dies
before that loan can be repaid, his heir shall pay no
interest on the debt for so long as he remains under
age, irrespective from whom he holds his lands. If such
a debt falls into our hands, we will take nothing except
the principal
sum mentioned in the bond.
- 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. The debt shall be paid out of the residue
, save the service due to feudal
lords. Let debts due to others than Jews be dealt with
in similar manner.
- 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 marrying our eldest
daughter one time. For these, only a reasonable aid
should be levied. In like manner it shall be done concerning
aids from the city of London.
- And the
city of London shall have all its ancient liberties
and free customs, by land as well as by water. Furthermore,
we decree and grant that all other cities, boroughs,
towns, and ports shall have all their liberties and
free customs.
- And for
obtaining the common consent of the kingdom concerning
the assessment of an aid (other than in the three cases
specified above) or of a scutage,
we will cause to be summoned the archbishops, bishops,
abbots, earls, and greater barons, individually through
our letters. Moreover, all others who are our direct
tenants, we will cause a general summons to be made
by our sheriffs and bailiffs, for a fixed date (namely,
after the expiry of at least forty days) and at a fixed
place. In all such letters of 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.
- In future,
we not grant to anyone license to take an aid from his
own free men, unless to ransom his person, to make his
eldest son a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter.
And on each of these occasions, only a reasonable aid
shall be levied.
- No man shall be compelled to do more service for
a knight’s fee, or for any other land free-holding, than is due from
it.
- Common pleas
shall not follow our court about, but shall be held in some fixed place.
- Inquests
of novel disseisin,
mort d’ancestor,
and darrein
presentiment shall only be held in their own county courts, in the following
manner. We or, should we be out of the kingdom, our chief justice will send
two justices to each county four times a year who, along with four knights
of each county chosen by that county, shall hold the assize
in the county, and on the day and in the meeting place of the county court.
- If any of the said assizes cannot be held on the
day of the county court, let there remain as many of the knights and freeholders,
who were present at the county court on that day, as are necessary for the
efficient making of judgments, according to whether the business is more
or less.
- A freeman shall only be amerced
for a trivial offence in accordance with the seriousness of the offence.
For a grave offence, he shall be fined correspondingly, leaving him his
contenement.
A merchant will be fined similarly, leaving him his “merchandise”;
and a villein shall be amerced in
the same way, leaving him his wainage—if
they have fallen into our mercy. These amercements
shall only be imposed by the assessment on oath
of reputable local men.
- Earls and barons shall be amerced only by their peers,
and only in proportion with the degree of the offence.
- A clerk
in holy orders shall not be amerced in respect of his lay
holding except as peviously described; further, his ecclesiastical benefice
shall not be taken into account.
- No vill
or person shall be compelled to make bridges at river-banks, except those
who from of old were legally bound to do so.
- No sheriff, constable,
coroner, or other royal bailiff, shall hold lawsuits meant be held by the
royal justices.
- All counties,
hundreds,
wapentakes,
and trithings
shall remain at old rents, and without any increase,
except our demesne
manors.
- If any one holding
a lay fief from
the Crown dies, and our sheriff or bailiff produces
royal letters
patent of summons for a debt owed to the Crown, it shall be lawful for
our sheriff or bailiff to seize and catalogue chattels found in the lay
fief of the deceased, to the value of that debt, as assessed by law-worthy
men. Nothing at all shall be removed from there until the debt is fully
paid. The residue shall be left to the executors to fulfil the will of the
deceased. If there is no debt due to the Crown, all the chattels shall go
to the estate of the deceased, except reasonable shares for his wife and
children.
- If any
freeman dies intestate,
his chattels shall be distributed by his nearest kinsfolk
and his friends, under supervision of the church, except
that the rights of his debtors shall be maintained.
- No constable or other royal bailiff shall take
corn or other provisions from any man without an immediate cash payment,
unless the seller permits postponement of this.
- No constable shall compel any knight to give
money instead of castle-guard,
if the knight is willing to undertake the guard himself, or to supply another
responsible man to do it, if he cannot do it himself for any reasonable
cause. Further, a knight taken or sent on military service shall be excused
castle-guard in proportion to the time he was on this service.
- No sheriff or royal bailiff, or other person,
shall take the horses or carts of any freeman for transport duty, except
with agreement from the said freeman.
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