The Assembly of the
University
of the Universe
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Magna
Carta (1215) The Great Charter ·
The Text of the Charter - History ·
Preamble ·
Articles 1. 17. 18. 19. 20. 22. 24. 30.
31. |
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John,
by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine,
count of Anjou, to the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons,
justiciars, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants and all his officials1
and faithful subjects' greeting. Know that we, out of reverence for God and
for the salvation of our soul and those of all our ancestors and heirs, for
the Honour of God and the advancement of Holy Church and the reform of our
Kingdom, on 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 of London, Peter of Winchester, Jocelyn
of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh of Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of
Coventry and Benedict of Rochester bishops, of Mater Pandulf subdeacon and
member of the household of the lord pope, of brother Aimeric master of the
Knights of the Temple in England and of the noblemen William the Marshal earl
of Pembroke, William earl of Salisbury, William earl of Warenne, William earl
of Arundle, Alan of Galloway constable of Scotland, Warin son of Gerild,
Peter son of Herbert, Hubert de Burgh seneschal of Poitou, Hugh de Neville,
Matthew son of Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip d'Aubigny, Robert
of Ropsley, John Marshal, John son of Hugh and others, our faithful subjects2.
1 Officials
(ballivi) A bellivus was a
minor local official responsible to the sheriff 2 Faithful
subjects (fideles) those bound
by an oath of loyalty, in this context Editors Note: Only those Articles pertaining to todays
constitutional guarantees under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,
1867 to 1997, the Constitution of the United States of America and other
relevant statutes are reproduced herein Ed. 1. In the first place we have granted to
God and by this our present charter have confirmed, for us and our heirs
forever, that the English Church shall be free,3 and shall have
its rights undiminished and its liberties unimpaired; and it is our will that
it be thus observed, which is evident from the fact that, before the quarrel
between us and our barons began, we willingly and spontaneously conceded and
confirmed by our charter, and got confirmed by the lord pope Innocent III,
freedom of elections, which is held most important and very essential to the
English Church; the which we shall observe and wish our heirs to observe in
good faith forever. We have also granted to all the freemen1 of
our kingdom, for ourselves and our heirs for ever, all the liberties written
below, to be had and held by them and their heirs from us and our
heirs.
17. Common pleas1 shall not follow our court but shall be
held in some fixed place. 1 Common
Pleas suits
between subject and subject regarding real property 18. Inquests2
of Novel Disseisin3 of Mort d'Ancestor,4 and of Darrein
Presentiment5 shall not be held elsewhere than in the court of the
county in which they arise, and in this manner: we, or, if we are out of the realm, our chief justiciar,6
shall send two judges through each county four times a year who, with four
knights of each county elected by the county [court] shall hold the said
assises8 in the county on the day and in the place of meeting of
[that] county court. 2 Inquests formal
inquiries made by the sheriff acting on a royal writ whereby a local jury was
summoned to testify as to the facts in a particular matter. In the three
particular types of problem now cited (see the three following notes) the
jury had to establish which party was previously in possession, not which had
the rightful title in the dispute. In all cases the plaintiff was given
possession if the verdict was in his favour. 3 Novel
Disseisin an
inquest into an alleged recent eviction of a tenant from his free tenement. 4 Mort
d'Ancestor an
inquest as to whether an heir had been prevented from taking possession of
some property he should have inherited. 5 Darrein
Presentiment an
inquest to establish who presented the incumbent to a benefice whose
patronage was in dispute, on the last occasion that it was vacant. 6 Justiciar here the chief (capitalis)
justiciar, an official who acted as regent during the frequent absences from
England of the early Angevin kings. 19. And if [all] the said assises cannot be taken
on the day of the county court, as many as may be necessary of the knights9
and freeholders present at the county court on that day shall remain, by whom
sufficient judgments shall be made, according to the amount of the business. 9 Knights originally
a mounted soldier, here a well-to-do landowner, below baronial rank. Article 20. 20. A freeman shall not
be amerced10 for a small offence, except in accordance with the
degree of the offence and for a grave offence he shall be amerced according
to its gravity, without imperilling his status; and a merchant, similarly,
without imperilling his stock-in-trade; and similarly, a villein shall be
amerced always without loss of wainage1 if their liability is to us. And none of
the aforesaid amercements shall be imposed except by the sworn evidence of
worthy men of the neighborhood. 10 Amercement
a fine imposed by a court of law. 1 Wainage
the chattels on which the
villein depended for his livelihood such as his farm implements, seed-corn and
stock. Article 22. 22. No clerk shall be
amerced in respect of his lay holding2, except in accordance with
the above mentioned rules and not in accordance with the amount of his
ecclesiastical benefice.
24. No sheriff,
constable, coroner or other of our officials shall hold pleas of our Crown4. 4 Pleas
of our Crown grave criminal offences such as ambush, forcible
entry, 30. No sheriff or
bailiff of ours or any one else shall take the horses or carts of any free
man for transport work except with the agreement of the said freeman. 31. Neither we nor our bailiffs
shall take other people's wood for castles3 or doing other work of
ours, except with the agreement of the owner of that wood. 3 Castles before
the reign of Henry II even major castles were mostly built of wood as were
the less important buildings and auxiliary defences long after his time. 33. For the future, all fishweirs5
shall be completely removed from the Thames and the Medway and thought all
England, except those along the sea coast. 5 Fishweirs used in a
general sense to cover all large, static contrivances for catching fish; 35.
Let there be throughout our kingdom a
single measure for wine and a single measure for ale and a single measure for
corn, namely "the London quarter," and a single width of cloth
(whether dyed, russet7 or halberjet8) namely two ells9
within the selvedges10 and let it be the same with weights and
measures. 7 Russet- a coarse,
home-spun cloth much used by the peasantry. (Probably hemp-Ed.) 8 Halberjet- probably
a superior type of cloth. (Probably hemp-Ed.) 9 Ell- a standard
measure of length said to have been based on the length of the right arm of
king Henry 1. 10 Selvedges-
the borders which were usually of a
different weave from the body of the cloth. 36. In future
nothing shall be given or taken for the writ of inquiry concerning life and
limbs, but it shall be given freely and not withheld. 38. In future no
official shall put anyone to trial merely on his own testimony, without
reliable witnesses produced for this purpose. 39.
No freeman shall be arrested or imprisoned or
deprived of his freehold or outlawed or banished or in any way ruined, nor
will we take or order action against him, except by the lawful judgment of
his equals and according to the law of the land. 40.
To no one will we sell, to no one will we
refuse or delay right or justice. 61. Since, moreover, we
have conceded all the above things (from reverence) for God, for the reform
of our kingdom and the better quieting of the discord that has sprung up
between us and our barons, and since we wish these things to flourish
unimpaired and unshaken for ever, we constitute and concede to them the
following guarantee:- namely, that the barons shall choose any twenty-five
barons of the kingdom they wish, who with all their might are to observe,
maintain and secure the observance of the peace and rights which we have
conceded and confirmed to them by this present charter of ours; in this
manner, that if we or our chief Justiciar or our bailiffs or any of our
servants in any way do wrong to anyone, or transgress any of the articles of
peace or security, and the wrong doing has been demonstrated to four of the
aforesaid twenty-five barons, those four barons shall come to us or our chief
Justiciar, (if we are out of the kingdom), and laying before us the
grievance, shall ask that we will have it redressed without delay. And if we,
or our chief Justiciar (should we be out of the kingdom) do not redress the
grievance within forty days of the time when it was brought to the notice of
us or our chief Justiciar (should we be out of the kingdom), the aforesaid
four barons shall refer the case to the rest of the twenty-five barons and
those twenty-five barons with the whole community of the land shall distrain
and distress us in every way they can, namely by taking of castles, estates
and possessions, and in such other ways as they can, excepting (attack on)
our person and those of our queen and of our children until, in their
judgment, satisfaction has been secured; and when satisfaction has been
secured let them behave towards us as they did before. And let anyone in the
country who wishes to do so take an oath to obey the orders of the said
twenty-five barons in the execution of all the aforesaid matters and with
them to oppress us to the best of his ability, and we publicly and freely
give permission for the taking the oath to anyone who wishes to take it, and
we will never prohibit anyone from taking it. 63.
Wherefore we wish and firmly order that the
English Church shall be free, and the men in our kingdom shall have and hold
all the aforesaid privileges, rights and concessions well and peacefully,
freely and quietly, fully and completely for themselves and their heirs from
us and our heirs in all things and places for ever as is aforesaid. Moreover
an oath has been taken, as well on our part as on the part of the barons,
that all these things aforesaid shall be observed in good faith and without
any evil intention. As witness the above-mentioned and many others. Given
under our hand in the meadow which is called Runnymede (Ronimed) between
Windsor and Staines on the fifteenth day of June in the seventeenth year of
our reign. Legal Self
Defence lsd |