A History and Defence of Magna Charta/Great Charter (Latin)
It has been judged proper to annex to this hiſtory, by way of appendix, for the ſatisfaction of the curious.
I. The Capitula or articles on which the Magna Charta of K. John was framed, the original of which in Latin, with K. John’s ſeal to it, was found in the ſtudy of Dr. Warner, biſhop of Rocheſter, and afterwards came into the hand of Dr. Burnet, late biſhop of Saliſbury. It appears that this is the inſtrument mentioned by Matt. Paris, p. 254. Archiepiſcopus ſchedulam illam, &c. “The archbiſhop with other brought that ſchedule to the King, and recited before him all the Capitula, &c.” which though the King then rejected, he ſhortly after agreed to, as may be gathered from the next page of that hiſtorian.
II. A copy in French, or old Norman, of the Magna Charta of K. John complete, which agrees with the Latin one printed in Matt. Paris; it being cuſtomary in old times to make three copies of public acts and charters, viz. in Latin, French, and Engliſh. This which is printed here was kept in the records of France, and thence publiſhed by Luke Dachery in his Spicelegium.
Both the Capitula and the charter at large are likewiſe here tranſlated for the benefit of common readers.
They who are curious to have a more particular account of theſe copies, may conſult the appendix to a pamphlet publiſhed about the year 1689 (and ſince reprinted in the firſt volume of State Tracts in K. William’s reign) intitled, Reflections upon the opinions of ſome modern Divines, &c.
THE
ARTICLES
Upon which the
GREAT CHARTER
OF
KING JOHN
WAS FRAMED.
These are the particulars which the barons demand, ſigned with K. John’s ſeal.
Heirs of full age ſhall have their inheritance after the deceaſe of their anceſtors, paying the antient relief to be expreſſed in the charter.
Heirs within age, and that have been in ward, ſhall have their inheritance, when they come at age, without paying relief or making fine.
The guardian of an heir’s land ſhall take the reaſonable iſſues, cuſtoms, and ſervices, without the deſtruction or waſte of his men or goods. And if ſuch guardian make deſtruction and waſte, he ſhall loſe the wardſhip, and the guardian ſhall keep in repair the houſes, parks, ponds, pools, mills, and other appurtenances to the eſtate, out of the profits of the land: and ſhall take care that the heirs be married without diſparagement, and by the advice of their dear kindred.
That a widow ſhall give nothing for her dower or marriage after the death of her huſband, but ſhall be ſuffered to dwell in her huſband’s houſe ninety days after his death; within which time her dower ſhall be aſſigned her, and ſhe ſhall immediately have her marriage and her inheritance. The King nor his bailiff ſhall not ſeize any land for debt, if the debtor’s goods be ſufficient; nor ſhall the debtor’s ſureties be diſtrained upon, when the debtor himſelf is able to pay the debt. But if the debtor fail of payment, the ſureties, if they will, may have the debtor’s lands till the debt be fully ſatisfied, unleſs the principal debtor can ſhew that he is quit againſt his ſureties.
The King ſhall not allow any baron to take aid of his free tenants, but for the redemption of his perſon, for the making his eldeſt ſon a knight, and towards the marriage of his eldeſt daughter once; and hereunto he ſhall have but a reaſonable aid.
That none ſhall do more ſervice for a knight’s fee, than is due for the ſame. That common pleas ſhall not follow the King’s court, but ſhall be holden in ſome certain place: and that recognitions be taken in their proper counties, and after this manner, viz. That the King ſhall ſend two juſtices four times a year, who, together with four knights of the ſame ſhire, choſen by the ſhire, ſhall take aſſizes of novel diſſeiſin, mordanceſter, and darrein preſentment: nor ſhall any be ſummoned hereunto, but the jurors and the two parties.
That a freeman ſhall be amerced for a ſmall fault after the manner of the fault, and for a great fault according to the greatneſs of the fault, ſaving his contentment. A villain alſo ſhall be amerced ſaving his wainage, and in like manner a merchant ſaving his merchandize, by the oath of good men of the vicinage; that a clerk ſhall be amerced according to his lay-fee in manner aforeſaid, and not according to his eccleſiaſtical benefice.
That no town be amerced for not making bridges nor banks, but where they have been of old time, and of right ought to be.
That the meaſure of wine, of corn, and the breadth of cloth, and the like, be rectified, and ſo of weights.
That aſſizes of novel diſſeiſin and mordanceſter be abbreviated, and ſo of other aſſizes.
That no ſheriff ſhall intermeddle with pleas of the crown without the coroners; and that counties and hundreds ſhall be at the antient farms without any increaſe, except the King’s own demeſne manors.
If any tenant of the King die, the ſheriff, or other the King’s bailiff, may ſeize and enroll his goods and chattels, by the view of lawfal men; but yet ſo as that nothing thereof be taken away, till it be fully known whether he owe any, clear debt to the King: and then the King’s debt ſhall be paid, and the reſidue ſhall remain to the executors to perform the teſtament of the dead. And if nothing be owing to the King, all the goods ſhall go to the uſe of the dead.
If any freeman die inteſtate, his goods ſhall be diſtributed by his neareſt kindred and friends, and by the view of the church.
Widows ſhall not be diſtraimed to marry, if they are minded to live unmarried, provided they find ſureties they will not marry without the King’s aſſent, if they hold of the King, or without the conſent of their lords of whom they hold.
No conſtable or other bailiff ſhall take any man’s corn or other chattels, but he ſhall forthwith pay for the ſame, unleſs he may have reſpite by conſent of the ſeller.
That no conſtable ſhall diſtrain any knight to give money for the keeping of his caſtle, if he himſelf will do it in his own proper perſon, or by another ſufficient man, if he may not do it himſelf for a reaſonable cauſe. And if the King lead him in his army, he ſhall be diſcharged of caſtleward for the time.
No ſheriff or bailiff of the King, nor any other perſon, ſhall take the horſes or carts of any freeman to make carriage without his leave.
The Kings nor his bailiffs, ſhall not take any man’s wood for caſtles or other occaſions, but by licence of him whoſe the wood is.
That the King do not hold the lands of them that be convicted of felony, longer than a year and a day; after which they ſhall be delivered to the lord of the fee.
That all wears from henceforth be utterly put down in Thames and Medway, and throughout all England.
That the writ called Precipe be not, from henceforth, granted to any perſon of any freehold, whereby a freeman may loſe his court.
If any be diſſeized or delayed by the King, without judgment, of lands, liberties, or other his right, he ſhall forthwith have reſtitution; and if any diſpute ariſe upon it, it ſhall be determined by the judgment of the five and twenty barons. And ſuch as have been diſſeized by the King’s father, or his brother, ſhall have right immediately by the judgment of their peers in the King’s court. And if the King muſt have the term of others that had taken upon them the croſs for the holy land, the archbiſhop and biſhops ſhall give judgment therein, at a certain day to be prefixed, without appeal.
That nothing be given for a writ of inquiſition of life or member, but that it be freely granted without price, and be not denied.
If any hold of the King by feefarm, by ſoccage, or burgage, and of any other by knights-ſervice, the King ſhall not have the cuſtody of the heir, nor of his lands that are holden of the fee of another, by reaſon of ſuch burgage, ſoccage, of fee-farm; nor ought the King to have the cuſtody of ſuch burgage, ſoccage, or fee-farm: and no freeman ſhall loſe his degree of knighthood by reaſon of petty ſerjeanties, as when a man holds lands, rendering therefore a knife, an arrow, or the like.
No bailiff ſhall put any man to his law upon his own bare ſaying, without faithful witneſſes.
That the body of freeman be not taken, or impriſoned, nor that he be diſſeized, nor outlawed, nor exiled, nor any way deſtroyed.
Nor that the King paſs upon him, or impriſon him by force, but only by the judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land.
That right be not ſold, nor delayed, nor denied.
That merchants have liberty to go and come ſafely to buy and ſell, without any manner of evil tolls, by the old and lawful cuſtoms.
That no eſcuage or aid be laid upon the kingdom, but by the common-council of the kingdom; unleſs it be to redeem the king’s perſon, or to make his eldeſt ſon a knight, or to marry his eldeſt daughter once; and for theſe a reaſonable aid ſhall be given. That it be in like manner with reſpect to tallages and aids from the city of London, and other cities that have privileges therein; and that the city of London may fully enjoy her antient liberties, and free cuſtoms, as well by water as by land.
That it ſhall be lawful for any man to go out of the kingdom, and to return, ſaving his allegiance to the King, unleſs it be in time of war for a ſhort time, for the common profit of the realm.
If any borrow money of a Jew, be it more or leſs, and die before the debt be paid, no intereft ſhall be paid for the ſame, ſo long as the heir is under age of whomſoever he hold. And if the debt became due to the King, the King ſhall take no more than what is contained in the charter.
If any man die and owe money to the Jews, his wife ſhall have her dowry; and if he left children, neceſſaries ſhall be provided them according to the quantity of the freehold, and the reſidue ſhall go to pay off the debt, ſaving the ſervices due to the lords. The like ſhall be obſerved in the caſe of other debts; and when the heir comes of age, his guardian ſhall reſtore him his land as well ſtocked as he could reaſonably afford out of the profits of the land, coming in by the plough and the cart.
If any man hold of any eſcheat, as of the honour of Wallingford and Nottingham, Bonon and Lancatſter, or of other eſcheats; which are in the King’s hand and are baronies, and die, his heir ſhall pay no other relief, nor perform any other ſervice than he ſhould have paid and performed to the baron; and that the King ſhall hold ſuch eſcheats as the barons held them.
That fines made for dowers, marriages, inheritances and amerciaments, wrongfully and contrary to the law of the land, be freely remitted, or ordered by the judgment of the five and twenty barons, or of the major part of them, together with the archbiſhop and ſuch as he ſhall call to him; provided that if one or more of the five and twenty have themſelves any like complaint, that then he or they ſhall be removed, and others put in their rooms by the reſidue of the five and twenty.
That the hoſtages and deeds be reſtored, which were delivered to the King for his ſecurity.
That they that live out of the foreſt be not obliged to come before the juſtice of the foreſt by common ſummons, unleſs they be parties or pledges; and that the evil cuſtoms of the foreſts and foreſters, warrens and ſheriffs, and ponds, be redreſſed by twelve knights of each county, who ſhall be choſen by the good men of the county.
That the King remove wholly from the bailiffwick the kindred and whole dependance of Gerard d’ Aties, that hereafter they have no bailiffwick, to wit, Engelwald, Andrew, Peter, and Gigo de Cances, Gigo de Cygon, Matthew de Martino and his brethren, and Gelfrid his nephew, and Philip de Mark.
And that the King put away the foreign ſoldiers, ſtipendiaries, ſlingers, and troopers and their ſervants, who came with horſes and arms to the nuiſance of the realm.
That the King make juſticiaries, conſtables, ſheriffs and bailiffs, of men that know the law of the land, and will cauſe it to be well obſerved.
That barons who have founded abbies, for which they have charters of Kings, or antient tenures, ſhall have the cuſtody of them when they are vacant.
If the King has diſſeized the Welchmen, or eſloined them from lands or liberties, or of other things in England or Wales, let them preſently be reſtored to them without plea; and if they have been diſſeized or eſloined from their Engliſh tenements by the King’s father or his brother, without the judgment of their peers, the King ſhall without delay do them juſtice, as he does juſtice to Engliſhmen of their Engliſh tenements according to the law of England, and of Welch tenements according to the law of Wales, and of tenements in the marches according to the law of the marches. In like manner the Welchmen ſhall do to the King and his ſubjects.
That the King reſtore Lewelin’s ſon, and all the Welch hoſtages, and the deeds that were delivered to him for the ſecurity of the peace.
That the King do right to the King of Scotland, concerning reſtoring of hoſtages, and his liberties and right, according to the form of the agreement with his barons of England, unleſs it ought to be otherwiſe by virtue of ſome deeds which the King has, by the judgment of the archbiſhop and others, whom he ſhall think fit to call to him.
That all foreſts that have been afforeſted by the King in his own time, be diſafforeſted; and ſo of banks, which by the King himſelf have been put in defence.
All theſe cuſtoms and liberties which the King has granted to the kingdom, to hold and keep for his own part towards his men, all clerks and laymen of the kingdom ſhall obſerve and keep their parts towards their men.
This is the form of the ſecurity for keeping peace and the liberties betwixt the King and the kingdom. The barons ſhall chuſe five and twenty barons of the realm, whom they will themſelves, upon whom it ſhall be incumbent, that with all their might they obſerve and keep, and cauſe to be obſerved and kept, the peace and liberties which the King has granted to them, and confirmed by his charter; to wit, “That if the King, or his juſtices, or bailiffs, or any of his miniſters, offend any perſon contrary to any of the ſaid articles, or tranſgreſs any article of this peace and ſecurity, and that ſuch offence be made known to four of the ſaid five and twenty barons; thoſe four barons ſhall go to the King, or to his juſticiary, if the King be out of the realm, declaring to him that ſuch an abuſe is committed, and ſhall deſire him to cauſe it ſpeedily to be redreſſed. And if the King, or (if he be out of the realm) his juſticiary, do not redreſs it, thoſe four barons ſhall within a reaſonable time, to be limited in the charter, refer the matter to the reſidue of the five and twenty barons. And thoſe five and twenty, with the commonalty of all the land, ſhall diſtreſs the King all the ways they can, to wit, by ſeizing his caſtles, be lands and poſſeſſions, and by what other means they can, till it be redreſſed according to their good liking, ſaving the perſon of our lord the King, and of the Queen and of their children. And when it is redreſſed, they ſhall be ſubject to the King as before.” And whoever will may ſwear to put theſe things in execution, viz. To obey the commands of the ſaid five and twenty barons, and to diſtreſs the King to the utmoſt of his power with them. And the King ſhall give public and free liberty for any man to ſwear that will, and ſhall never prohibit any to ſwear. And all thoſe of the nation, who will voluntarily of their own accord ſwear to the five and twenty barons to diſtreſs the King with them, the King himſelf ſhall iſſue his precept, commanding them to ſwear as aforeſaid.
Item, if any of the ſaid five and twenty barons die, or go out of the realm, or be any other way hindered from performing theſe things, the reſidue of the five and twenty hall chuſe another, whom they think beſt, in his place, who ſhall be ſworn as the reſt are. And in all matters referred to thoſe five and twenty barons, if they happen to be all preſent, and differ amongſt themſelves; or if any of them being thereto appointed, will not or cannot come, what the major part of them ſhall agree upon and enjoin ſhall be valid, as if all the five and twenty had agreed in it. And the ſaid five and twenty ſhall ſwear, that they will faithfully obſerve and keep the articles aforeſaid, and with all their might cauſe them to be obſerved. Moreover the king ſhall give them the ſecurities of the archbiſhop and biſhops, and maſter Pandulphus, that he will not obtain any thing from the pope, whereby any of theſe articles of agreement may be revoked or diminiſhed. And if any ſuch thing be obtained, that it be reputed void and of none effect, nor ſhall ever be made uſe of.
- ↑ Anno 1710.