Clauses marked (+) are still valid under the charter of 1225, but with a
few minor amendments. Clauses marked (*) were omitted in all later reissues of
the charter. In the charter itself the clauses are not numbered, and the text
reads continuously. The translation sets out to convey the sense rather than
the precise wording of the original Latin.
JOHN, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of
Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to his archbishops,
bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, foresters, sheriffs, stewards,
servants, and to all his officials and loyal subjects, Greeting.
KNOW THAT BEFORE GOD, for the health of our soul and
those of our ancestors and heirs, to the honour of God, the exaltation of the
holy Church, and the better ordering of our kingdom, at the advice of our
reverend fathers Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, and
cardinal of the holy Roman Church, Henry archbishop of Dublin, William bishop
of London, Peter bishop of Winchester, Jocelin bishop of Bath and Glastonbury,
Hugh bishop of Lincoln, Walter Bishop of Worcester, William bishop of Coventry,
Benedict bishop of Rochester, Master Pandulf subdeacon and member of the papal
household, Brother Aymeric master of the knighthood of the Temple in England,
William Marshal earl of Pembroke, William earl of Salisbury, William earl of
Warren, William earl of Arundel, Alan de Galloway constable of Scotland, Warin
Fitz Gerald, Peter Fitz Herbert, Hubert de Burgh seneschal of Poitou, Hugh de
Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip Daubeny,
Robert de Roppeley, John Marshal, John Fitz Hugh, and other loyal subjects:
+ (1) FIRST, THAT WE HAVE GRANTED TO GOD, and by this
present charter have confirmed for us and our heirs in perpetuity, that the
English Church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its
liberties unimpaired. That we wish this so to be observed, appears from the
fact that of our own free will, before the outbreak of the present dispute
between us and our barons, we granted and confirmed by charter the freedom of
the Church's elections - a right reckoned to be of the greatest necessity and
importance to it - and caused this to be confirmed by Pope Innocent III. This
freedom we shall observe ourselves, and desire to be observed in good faith by
our heirs in perpetuity.
TO ALL FREE MEN OF OUR KINGDOM we have also
granted, for us and our heirs for ever, all the liberties written out below, to
have and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs:
(2) If any earl, baron, or other person that holds
lands directly of the Crown, for military service, shall die, and at his death
his heir shall be of full age and owe a 'relief', the heir shall have his
inheritance on payment of the ancient scale of 'relief'. That is to say, the
heir or heirs of an earl shall pay £100 for the entire earl's barony, the heir
or heirs of a knight l00s. at most for the entire knight's 'fee', and any man
that owes less shall pay less, in accordance with the ancient usage of 'fees'
(3) But if the heir of such a person is under age and
a ward, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance without 'relief' or
fine.
(4) The guardian of the land of an heir who is under age
shall take from it only reasonable revenues, customary dues, and feudal
services. He shall do this without destruction or damage to men or property. If
we have given the guardianship of the land to a sheriff, or to any person
answerable to us for the revenues, and he commits destruction or damage, we
will exact compensation from him, and the land shall be entrusted to two worthy
and prudent men of the same 'fee', who shall be answerable to us for the
revenues, or to the person to whom we have assigned them. If we have given or
sold to anyone the guardianship of such land, and he causes destruction or
damage, he shall lose the guardianship of it, and it shall be handed over to
two worthy and prudent men of the same 'fee', who shall be similarly answerable
to us.
(5) For so long as a guardian has guardianship of such
land, he shall maintain the houses, parks, fish preserves, ponds, mills, and
everything else pertaining to it, from the revenues of the land itself. When
the heir comes of age, he shall restore the whole land to him, stocked with
plough teams and such implements of husbandry as the season demands and the
revenues from the land can reasonably bear.
(6) Heirs may be given in marriage, but not to someone
of lower social standing. Before a marriage takes place, it shall be' made
known to the heir's next-of-kin.
(7) At her husband's death, a widow may have her
marriage portion and inheritance at once and without trouble. She shall pay
nothing for her dower, marriage portion, or any inheritance that she and her
husband held jointly on the day of his death. She may remain in her husband's
house for forty days after his death, and within this period her dower shall be
assigned to her.
(8) No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as
she wishes to remain without a husband. But she must give security that she
will not marry without royal consent, if she holds her lands of the Crown, or
without the consent of whatever other lord she may hold them of.
(9) Neither we nor our officials will
seize any land or rent in payment of a debt, so long as the debtor has movable
goods sufficient to discharge the debt. A debtor's sureties shall not be
distrained upon so long as the debtor himself can discharge his debt. If, for
lack of means, the debtor is unable to discharge his debt, his sureties shall
be answerable for it. If they so desire, they may have the debtor's lands and
rents until they have received satisfaction for the debt that they paid for
him, unless the debtor can show that he has settled his obligations to them.
* (10) If anyone who has borrowed a sum of money from
Jews dies before the debt has been repaid, his heir shall pay no interest on
the debt for so long as he remains under age, irrespective of whom he holds his
lands. If such a debt falls into the hands of the Crown, it will take nothing
except the principal sum specified in the bond.
* (11) If a man dies owing money to Jews, his wife may
have her dower and pay nothing towards the debt from it. If he leaves children
that are under age, their needs may also be provided for on a scale appropriate
to the size of his holding of lands. The debt is to be paid out of the residue,
reserving the service due to his feudal lords. Debts owed to persons other than
Jews are to be dealt with similarly.
* (12) No 'scutage' or 'aid' may be levied in our
kingdom without its general consent, unless it is for the ransom of our person,
to make our eldest son a knight, and (once) to marry our eldest daughter. For
these purposes only a reasonable 'aid' may be levied. 'Aids' from the city of
London are to be treated similarly.
+ (13) The city of London shall enjoy
all its ancient liberties and free customs, both by land and by water. We also
will and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall enjoy
all their liberties and free customs.
* (14) To obtain the general consent of the realm for
the assessment of an 'aid' - except in the three cases specified above - or a
'scutage', we will cause the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater
barons to be summoned individually by letter. To those who hold lands directly
of us we will cause a general summons to be issued, through the sheriffs and
other officials, to come together on a fixed day (of which at least forty days
notice shall be given) and at a fixed place. In all letters of summons, the
cause of the summons will be stated. When a summons has been issued, the
business appointed for the day shall go forward in accordance with the
resolution of those present, even if not all those who were summoned have
appeared.
* (15) In future we will allow no one to levy an 'aid'
from his free men, except to ransom his person, to make his eldest son a
knight, and (once) to marry his eldest daughter. For these purposes only a
reasonable 'aid' may be levied.
(16) No man shall be forced to perform more service
for a knight's 'fee', or other free holding of land, than is due from it.
(17) Ordinary lawsuits shall not follow the royal
court around, but shall be held in a fixed place.
(18) Inquests of novel disseisin, mort d'ancestor, and darrein
presentment shall be taken only in their proper
county court. We ourselves, or in our absence abroad our chief justice, will
send two justices to each county four times a year, and these justices, with
four knights of the county elected by the county itself, shall hold the assizes
in the county court, on the day and in the place where the court meets.
(19) If any assizes cannot be taken on the day of the
county court, as many knights and freeholders shall afterwards remain behind,
of those who have attended the court, as will suffice for the administration of
justice, having regard to the volume of business to be done.
(20) For a trivial offence, a free man shall be fined
only in proportion to the degree of his offence, and for a serious offence
correspondingly, but not so heavily as to deprive him of his livelihood. In the
same way, a merchant shall be spared his merchandise, and a husbandman the
implements of his husbandry, if they fall upon the mercy of a royal court. None
of these fines shall be imposed except by the assessment on oath of reputable
men of the neighbourhood.
(21) Earls and barons shall be fined only by their
equals, and in proportion to the gravity of their offence.
(22) A fine imposed upon the lay property of a clerk
in holy orders shall be assessed upon the same principles, without reference to
the value of his ecclesiastical benefice.
(23) No town or person shall be forced to build
bridges over rivers except those with an ancient obligation to do so.
(24) No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other royal
officials are to hold lawsuits that should be held by the royal justices.
* (25) Every county, hundred, wapentake, and tithing
shall remain at its ancient rent, without increase, except the royal demesne
manors.
(26) If at the death of a man who holds a lay 'fee' of
the Crown, a sheriff or royal official produces royal letters patent of summons
for a debt due to the Crown, it shall be lawful for them to seize and list
movable goods found in the lay 'fee' of the dead man to the value of the debt,
as assessed by worthy men. Nothing shall be removed until the whole debt is
paid, when the residue shall be given over to the executors to carry out the
dead man s will. If no debt is due to the Crown, all the movable goods shall be
regarded as the property of the dead man, except the reasonable shares of his
wife and children.
* (27) If a free man dies intestate, his movable goods
are to be distributed by his next-of-kin and friends, under the supervision of
the Church. The rights of his debtors are to be preserved.
(28) No constable or other royal official shall take
corn or other movable goods from any man without immediate payment, unless the
seller voluntarily offers postponement of this.
(29) No constable may compel a knight to pay money for
castle-guard if the knight is willing to undertake the guard in person, or with
reasonable excuse to supply some other fit man to do it. A knight taken or sent
on military service shall be excused from castle-guard for the period of this
servlce.
(30) No sheriff, royal official, or other person shall
take horses or carts for transport from any free man, without his consent.
(31) Neither we nor any royal official will take wood
for our castle, or for any other purpose, without the consent of the owner.
(32) We will not keep the lands of people convicted of
felony in our hand for longer than a year and a day, after which they shall be
returned to the lords of the 'fees' concerned.
(33) All fish-weirs shall be removed
from the Thames, the Medway, and throughout the whole of England, except on the
sea coast.
(34) The writ called precipe shall not in future be issued to anyone in respect of any
holding of land, if a free man could thereby be deprived of the right of trial
in his own lord's court.
(35) There shall be standard measures of wine, ale,
and corn (the London quarter), throughout the kingdom. There shall also be a
standard width of dyed cloth, russett, and haberject, namely two ells within
the selvedges. Weights are to be standardised similarly.
(36) In future nothing shall be paid or accepted for
the issue of a writ of inquisition of life or limbs. It shall be given gratis,
and not refused.
(37) If a man holds land of the Crown by 'fee-farm',
'socage', or 'burgage', and also holds land of someone else for knight's
service, we will not have guardianship of his heir, nor of the land that
belongs to the other person's 'fee', by virtue of the 'fee-farm', 'socage', or
'burgage', unless the 'fee-farm' owes knight's service. We will not have the
guardianship of a man's heir, or of land that he holds of someone else, by
reason of any small property that he may hold of the Crown for a service of
knives, arrows, or the like.
(38) In future no official shall place a man on trial
upon his own unsupported statement, without producing credible witnesses to the
truth of it.
+ (39) No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or
stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of
his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or
send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the
law of the land.
+ (40) To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay
right or justice.
(41) All merchants may enter or leave
England unharmed and without fear, and may stay or travel within it, by land or
water, for purposes of trade, free from all illegal exactions, in accordance
with ancient and lawful customs. This, however, does not apply in time of war
to merchants from a country that is at war with us. Any such merchants found in
our country at the outbreak of war shall be detained without injury to their
persons or property, until we or our chief justice have discovered how our own
merchants are being treated in the country at war with us. If our own merchants
are safe they shall be safe too.
* (42) In future it shall be lawful for any man to
leave and return to our kingdom unharmed and without fear, by land or water,
preserving his allegiance to us, except in time of war, for some short period,
for the common benefit of the realm. People that have been imprisoned or
outlawed in accordance with the law of the land, people from a country that is
at war with us, and merchants - who shall be dealt with as stated above - are
excepted from this provision.
(43) If a man holds lands of any 'escheat' such as the
'honour' of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancast
eHistory at OSU | Primary Sources
Clauses marked (+) are still valid under the charter of 1225, but with a
few minor amendments. Clauses marked (*) were omitted in all later reissues of
the charter. In the charter itself the clauses are not numbered, and the text
reads continuously. The translation sets out to convey the sense rather than
the precise wording of the original Latin.
JOHN, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of
Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to his archbishops,
bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, foresters, sheriffs, stewards,
servants, and to all his officials and loyal subjects, Greeting.
KNOW THAT BEFORE GOD, for the health of our soul and
those of our ancestors and heirs, to the honour of God, the exaltation of the
holy Church, and the better ordering of our kingdom, at the advice of our
reverend fathers Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, and
cardinal of the holy Roman Church, Henry archbishop of Dublin, William bishop
of London, Peter bishop of Winchester, Jocelin bishop of Bath and Glastonbury,
Hugh bishop of Lincoln, Walter Bishop of Worcester, William bishop of Coventry,
Benedict bishop of Rochester, Master Pandulf subdeacon and member of the papal
household, Brother Aymeric master of the knighthood of the Temple in England,
William Marshal earl of Pembroke, William earl of Salisbury, William earl of
Warren, William earl of Arundel, Alan de Galloway constable of Scotland, Warin
Fitz Gerald, Peter Fitz Herbert, Hubert de Burgh seneschal of Poitou, Hugh de
Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip Daubeny,
Robert de Roppeley, John Marshal, John Fitz Hugh, and other loyal subjects:
+ (1) FIRST, THAT WE HAVE GRANTED TO GOD, and by this
present charter have confirmed for us and our heirs in perpetuity, that the
English Church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its
liberties unimpaired. That we wish this so to be observed, appears from the
fact that of our own free will, before the outbreak of the present dispute
between us and our barons, we granted and confirmed by charter the freedom of
the Church's elections - a right reckoned to be of the greatest necessity and
importance to it - and caused this to be confirmed by Pope Innocent III. This
freedom we shall observe ourselves, and desire to be observed in good faith by
our heirs in perpetuity.
TO ALL FREE MEN OF OUR KINGDOM we have also
granted, for us and our heirs for ever, all the liberties written out below, to
have and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs:
(2) If any earl, baron, or other person that holds
lands directly of the Crown, for military service, shall die, and at his death
his heir shall be of full age and owe a 'relief', the heir shall have his
inheritance on payment of the ancient scale of 'relief'. That is to say, the
heir or heirs of an earl shall pay £100 for the entire earl's barony, the heir
or heirs of a knight l00s. at most for the entire knight's 'fee', and any man
that owes less shall pay less, in accordance with the ancient usage of 'fees'
(3) But if the heir of such a person is under age and
a ward, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance without 'relief' or
fine.
(4) The guardian of the land of an heir who is under age
shall take from it only reasonable revenues, customary dues, and feudal
services. He shall do this without destruction or damage to men or property. If
we have given the guardianship of the land to a sheriff, or to any person
answerable to us for the revenues, and he commits destruction or damage, we
will exact compensation from him, and the land shall be entrusted to two worthy
and prudent men of the same 'fee', who shall be answerable to us for the
revenues, or to the person to whom we have assigned them. If we have given or
sold to anyone the guardianship of such land, and he causes destruction or
damage, he shall lose the guardianship of it, and it shall be handed over to
two worthy and prudent men of the same 'fee', who shall be similarly answerable
to us.
(5) For so long as a guardian has guardianship of such
land, he shall maintain the houses, parks, fish preserves, ponds, mills, and
everything else pertaining to it, from the revenues of the land itself. When
the heir comes of age, he shall restore the whole land to him, stocked with
plough teams and such implements of husbandry as the season demands and the
revenues from the land can reasonably bear.
(6) Heirs may be given in marriage, but not to someone
of lower social standing. Before a marriage takes place, it shall be' made
known to the heir's next-of-kin.
(7) At her husband's death, a widow may have her
marriage portion and inheritance at once and without trouble. She shall pay
nothing for her dower, marriage portion, or any inheritance that she and her
husband held jointly on the day of his death. She may remain in her husband's
house for forty days after his death, and within this period her dower shall be
assigned to her.
(8) No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as
she wishes to remain without a husband. But she must give security that she
will not marry without royal consent, if she holds her lands of the Crown, or
without the consent of whatever other lord she may hold them of.
(9) Neither we nor our officials will
seize any land or rent in payment of a debt, so long as the debtor has movable
goods sufficient to discharge the debt. A debtor's sureties shall not be
distrained upon so long as the debtor himself can discharge his debt. If, for
lack of means, the debtor is unable to discharge his debt, his sureties shall
be answerable for it. If they so desire, they may have the debtor's lands and
rents until they have received satisfaction for the debt that they paid for
him, unless the debtor can show that he has settled his obligations to them.
* (10) If anyone who has borrowed a sum of money from
Jews dies before the debt has been repaid, his heir shall pay no interest on
the debt for so long as he remains under age, irrespective of whom he holds his
lands. If such a debt falls into the hands of the Crown, it will take nothing
except the principal sum specified in the bond.
* (11) If a man dies owing money to Jews, his wife may
have her dower and pay nothing towards the debt from it. If he leaves children
that are under age, their needs may also be provided for on a scale appropriate
to the size of his holding of lands. The debt is to be paid out of the residue,
reserving the service due to his feudal lords. Debts owed to persons other than
Jews are to be dealt with similarly.
* (12) No 'scutage' or 'aid' may be levied in our
kingdom without its general consent, unless it is for the ransom of our person,
to make our eldest son a knight, and (once) to marry our eldest daughter. For
these purposes only a reasonable 'aid' may be levied. 'Aids' from the city of
London are to be treated similarly.
+ (13) The city of London shall enjoy
all its ancient liberties and free customs, both by land and by water. We also
will and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall enjoy
all their liberties and free customs.
* (14) To obtain the general consent of the realm for
the assessment of an 'aid' - except in the three cases specified above - or a
'scutage', we will cause the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater
barons to be summoned individually by letter. To those who hold lands directly
of us we will cause a general summons to be issued, through the sheriffs and
other officials, to come together on a fixed day (of which at least forty days
notice shall be given) and at a fixed place. In all letters of summons, the
cause of the summons will be stated. When a summons has been issued, the
business appointed for the day shall go forward in accordance with the
resolution of those present, even if not all those who were summoned have
appeared.
* (15) In future we will allow no one to levy an 'aid'
from his free men, except to ransom his person, to make his eldest son a
knight, and (once) to marry his eldest daughter. For these purposes only a
