Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John With an Historical Introduction

Mr. Hallam[103] considers that “the rights, or feudal incidents, of wardship and marriage were nearly peculiar to England and Normandy,” and that the French kings[104] never “tu...

Quare volumus et firmiter precipimus quod Anglicana ecclesia libera sit et quod homines in regno nostro habeant et teneant omnes prefatas libertates, jura, et concessiones, bene...

The Great Charter is too often treated as the outcome of purely accidental causes. Students of its origin are sometimes content to explain it as a mere tangible product of the s...

The barons who had forced the Great Charter on King John were determined that its contents should be widely known and permanently preserved. It was not sufficient that the great...

However wide and scattered were the sources from which the substance of the Great Charter was derived, its descent, on its formal side, can readily be traced, through an unbroke...

In the early spring of 1214, John considered his home troubles ended, and that he was now free to use against France the coalition formed by his diplomacy. He went abroad early...

Nullus liber homo capiatur, vel imprisonetur, aut disseisiatur, aut utlagetur, aut exuletur, aut aliquo modo destruatur, nec super eum ibimus, nec super eum mittemus, nisi per l...

Many attempts have been made to explain why the storm, long brewing, broke at last in 1214, and culminated precisely in June of the following year. Sir William Blackstone[60] sh...

Cum autem pro Deo, et ad emendacionem regni nostri, et ad melius sopiendam discordiam inter nos et barones nostros ortam, hec omnia predicta concesserimus, volentes ea integra e...

monasteries of wealth in the form of landed estates, and begins the series of legislative measures which culminated in the Statute of Mortmain.[265] The times were not ripe in 1...

Recogniciones de nova dissaisina, de morte antecessoris, et de ultima presentacione, non capiantur nisi in suis comitatibus et hoc modo; nos, vel si extra regnum fuerimus, capit...

not to be protected from arbitrary disseisin or dispossession. The villein was left by the common law merely a tenant-at-will—subject to arbitrary ejectment by his lord—whatever...

Articles of the Barons, 39, 44-5, 143, 151, 171, 200-2, 223, 230, 232, 252, 277, 279, 292, 332, 350, 355, 363, 436, 438, 443, 444, 452, 524, 526, 531, 535-6, 549, 561; text of,...

The main object of this provision is beyond doubt: men accused of crimes must be tried before the king’s judges and not by local magistrates of whatsoever kind. The innocent loo...

Liber homo non amercietur pro parvo delicto, nisi secundum modum delicti; et pro magno delicto amercietur secundum magnitudinem delicti, salvo contenemento suo; et mercator eode...

Si quis comitum vel baronum nostrorum, sive aliorum tenencium de nobis in capite per servicium militare, mortuus fuerit, et cum decesserit heres suus plene etatis fuerit et rele...

year 1238, after which there were two provinces separated by the river Trent.[904] His appointment was permanent, and his duties, which continued between the eyres, were adminis...

Et ad habendum commune consilium regni, de auxilio assidendo aliter quam in tribus casibus predictis, vel de scutagio assidendo, summoneri faciemus archiepiscopos, episcopos, ab...

Omnes mercatores habeant salvum et securum exire de Anglia, et venire in Angliam, et morari et ire per Angliam, tam per terram quam per aquam, ad emendum et vendendum, sine omni...

In extorting from John a solemn promise to restrict the use of the particular writ here referred to, the barons gained something of infinitely greater value than a petty reform...

An attempt was here made to render royal justice cheaper and more accessible. Law-suits in which the Crown had no special interest, common pleas, were to be held in some one, fi...

Si quis mutuo ceperit aliquid a Judeis, plus vel minus, et moriatur antequam illud solvatur, debitum non usuret quamdiu heres fuerit infra etatem, de quocumque teneat; et si deb...

We will not retain beyond one year and one day, the lands of those who have been convicted of felony, and the lands shall thereafter be handed over to the lords of the fiefs.

through a forest to take one or two beasts at sight of the foresters, or, if these officials could not be found, then after blowing a horn to show that nothing underhand was bei...

Et civitas Londonie habeat omnes antiquas libertates et liberas consuetudines suas, tam per terras, quam per aquas. Preterea volumus et concedimus quod omnes alie civitates, et...

The object of this chapter is obvious; to compel the king to desist from his practice of illegally increasing the extent of an obligation—admitted as perfectly legal within the...

Vidua post mortem mariti sui statim et sine difficultate habeat maritagium et hereditatem suam, nec aliquid det pro dote sua, vel pro maritagio suo, vel hereditate sua quam here...

The evident intention of this provision was to prevent irregularities at the critical stage of a trial, when the _lex_ appointed by the court was attempted. This word _lex_, in...

had been wont to be taken in the time of Henry II. Now, the rates of scutage and the procedure for levying it in that reign had been quite specific, and could still be read amon...

could be applied only to civil pleas. (3) Attempts were made to discourage trial by combat in criminal pleas also by discouraging the exercise of the right of private “appeal,”...

Nos faciemus Alexandro regi Scottorum de sororibus suis, et obsidibus reddendis, et libertatibus suis, et jure suo, secundum formam in qua faciemus aliis baronibus nostris Angli...

probable that the framers of the present chapter relied on existing usage, which seems to have regarded the normal aid as one-fifth of the normal relief, _i.e._ as 20s. per knig...

Si aliquis tenens de nobis laicum feodum moriatur, et vicecomes vel ballivus noster ostendat litteras nostras patentes de summonicione nostra de debito quod defunctus nobis debu...

Custos terre hujusmodi heredis qui infra etatem fuerit, non capiat de terra heredis nisi racionabiles exitus, et racionabiles consuetudines, et racionabilia servicia, et hoc sin...

apparently thought unnecessary to make any mention of the Council, and this attitude may be explained partly on the ground that the framers of the new deed took for granted its...

This chapter, like the preceding one with which it is so closely connected, has had much read into it by commentators which would have astonished its original framers. The appli...

Liceat unicuique de cetero exire de regno nostro, et redire, salvo et secure, per terram et per aquam, salva fide nostra, nisi tempore gwerre per aliquod breve tempus, propter c...

No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take corn or other provisions from any one without immediately tendering money therefor, unless he can have postponement thereof by p...

I. _Points of difference between tenants-in-chief and under-tenants._ Tenants of mesne lords were in some respects better off than tenants of the king,[518] but in others their...

This provision also was directed against the sheriffs, and shows a praiseworthy determination to get to the root of the disease, instead of merely attacking the symptoms. The re...

is in reality of a reactionary nature, confining the right of attendance at the _commune concilium_ to the freeholders of the Crown and departing from the precedent of two years...

classes, the principle that questions of church patronage (assizes of darrein presentment)[343] should be settled before the King’s Justices, a concession to the civil power inc...

A feature of John’s system of government was the constant demand for hostages as guarantees of his subjects’ loyalty. Such an expedient was, indeed, naturally resorted to in the...

The object of this provision is open to no reasonable grounds of doubt; it was intended to remove from rivers all obstacles likely to interfere with navigation. The full importa...

If any freeman shall die intestate, his chattels shall be distributed by the hands of his nearest kinsfolk and friends, under the supervision of the church, saving to every one...

While King John had accepted the reforms contained in Magna Carta unwillingly and insincerely, the advisers of his son accepted them in good faith. Three re-issues of the Charte...

All forests that have been made such in our time shall forthwith be disafforested; and a similar course shall be followed with regard to river-banks that have been placed “in de...

Custos autem, quamdiu custodiam terre habuerit, sustentet domos, parcos, vivaria, stagna, molendina, et cetera ad terram illam pertinencia, de exitibus terre ejusdem; et reddat...

The object of this chapter was to find a remedy for what the barons evidently considered an unfair advantage enjoyed by women appellants, who were allowed to appoint some champi...

Homines qui manent extra forestam non veniant de cetero coram justiciariis nostris de foresta per communes summoniciones, nisi sint in placito, vel plegii alicujus vel aliquorum...

In primis concessisse Deo et hac presenti carta nostra confirmasse, pro nobis et heredibus nostris in perpetuum, quod Anglicana ecclesia libera sit, et habeat jura sua integra,...

The Crown’s right to regulate the marriages of wards had become an intolerable grievance. The origin of this feudal incident and its extension to male as well as female minors h...

trust under the Crown; the present chapter definitely excludes from bailiwicks (a comprehensive term embracing all grades of local magistracies) one particular group of royal fa...

Una mensura vini sit per totum regnum nostrum, et una mensura cervisie, et una mensura bladi, scilicet quarterium Londonie, et una latitudo pannorum tinctorum et russetorum et h...

liberties which John agrees to observe towards his vassals shall be also observed by mesne lords, whether prelates or laymen, towards their sub-vassals. This provision has met w...

Nec nos nec ballivi nostri seisiemus terram aliquam nec redditum pro debito aliquo, quamdiu catalla debitoris sufficiunt ad debitum reddendum; nec plegii ipsius debitoris distri...

Si quis tenuerit de aliqua eskaeta, sicut de honore Wallingfordie, Notingeham, Bolonie, Lancastrie vel de aliis eskaetis, que sunt in manu nostra, et sunt baronie, et obierit, h...

Si aliquis teneat de nobis per feodifirmam, vel per sokagium, vel per burgagium, et de alio terram teneat per servicium militare, nos non habebimus custodiam heredis nec terre s...

Omnes male consuetudines de forestis et warennis, et de forestariis et warennariis, vicecomitibus et eorum ministris, ripariis et earum custodibus, statim inquirantur in quolibe...

_The amercement of earls and barons._ The _barones majores_, as matter of course, intended to secure for themselves privileges at least equal with those of the ordinary freehold...

(2) By insisting that the ordeal was the only adequate test of an accused man’s guilt or innocence, Henry unconsciously prepared the way for a second form of jury. When the four...

This chapter has an important bearing upon trial by combat, and none at all upon _habeas corpus_, to which it is often supposed to be closely related. The particular writ upon w...

The object of this plainly worded clause was to prevent the appointment of unsuitable men to responsible offices under the Crown. The list of officers given is a comprehensive o...

Si quis fuerit disseisitus vel elongatus per nos sine legali judicio parium suorum, de terris, castellis, libertatibus, vel jure suo, statim ea ei restituemus; et si contencio s...

Et si in die comitatus assise predicte capi non possint, tot milites et libere tenentes remaneant de illis qui interfuerint comitatui die illo, per quos possint judicia sufficie...

Omnes fines qui injuste et contra legem terre facti sunt nobiscum, et omnia amerciamenta facta injuste et contra legem terre, omnino condonentur, vel fiat inde per judicium vigi...

Nullum scutagium vel auxilium ponatur in regno nostro, nisi per commune consilium regni nostri, nisi ad corpus nostrum redimendum, et primogenitum filium nostrum militem faciend...

to infer that the Great Charter never spoke of “freemen” when it meant to include the ordinary peasantry or villagers. In chapter 39 of the re-issue of 1217, _liber homo_ is cle...

For military tenants, the transition from scutage to service was a natural one; since it was not enough to protect themselves from exactions in money, if they were still exposed...

A clerk shall not be amerced in respect of his lay holding except after the manner of the others aforesaid; further, he shall not be amerced in accordance with the extent of his...

Omnes autem istas consuetudines predictas et libertates quas nos concessimus in regno nostro tenendas quantum ad nos pertinet erga nostros, omnes de regno nostro, tam clerici qu...

All barons who have founded abbeys, concerning which they hold charters from the kings of England, or of which they have long-continued possession, shall have the wardship of th...

If, however, the heir of any one 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.

fellow barons, and in the normal case, by the _duellum_. They would have scorned to submit to the verdict of “twelve good men” of their own locality. Their inferiors must have n...

words clearly tell us that the liberties were confirmed “to all freemen of my kingdom and their heirs for ever.” This opens up the crucial question—who were _freemen_ in 1215?

Nulla vidua distringatur ad se maritandum dum voluerit vivere sine marito; ita tamen quod securitatem faciat quod se non maritabit sine assensu nostro, si de nobis tenuerit, vel...

Nullus constabularius distringat aliquem militem ad dandum denarios pro custodia castri, si facere voluerit custodiam illam in propria persona sua, vel per alium probum hominem,...

Si nos disseisivimus vel elongavimus Walenses de terris vel libertatibus vel rebus aliis, sine legali judicio parium suorum, in Anglia vel in Wallia,[1040] eis statim reddantur;...

The Charter here returned to the subject of purveyance, one branch of which it practically abolished, except as affecting villeins. No carts or horses belonging to a freeman wer...

tried before the constable and marshal, and although they might be “old and weak, maimed or infirm,” yet compelled to fight against appellants “young, strong, and hearty.” See _...

Et omnes malas voluntates, indignaciones, et rancores ortos inter nos et homines nostros, clericos et laicos, a tempore discordie, plene omnibus remisimus et condonavimus. Prete...

against the claims of the king. The Charter affected not national “taxation,” but merely feudal dues. (3) The scant measure of protection afforded did not extend even to all Cro...

Eundem autem respectum habebimus, et eodem modo, de justicia exhibenda de forestis deafforestandis vel remansuris forestis, quas Henricus pater noster vel Ricardus frater noster...

The treatment of hostages in general and Welsh hostages in particular has already been fully illustrated.[1042] The patent and close rolls of the reign show a constant coming an...

of the escheated barony as holder of a new barony of his own, and therefore liable to a baron’s relief of £100 instead of the £25 he ought to pay for his five fees, or £50 for h...

As soon as peace is restored, we will banish from the kingdom all foreign-born knights, cross-bowmen, serjeants, and mercenary soldiers, who have come with horses and arms to th...

Et si quis moriatur, et debitum debeat Judeis, uxor ejus habeat dotem suam, et nichil reddat de debito illo; et si liberi ipsius defuncti qui fuerint infra etatem remanserint, p...

27 Edward III. Stat. 2, c. 8, 440 28 Edward III. c. 13, 440 37 Edward III. c. 18, 441 38 Edward III. c. 3, 441-2 n. 42 Edward III. c. 1, 185, 424 n. c. 3, 442 n. 2 Richard II. S...

Neither we nor our bailiffs shall take, for our castles or for any other work of ours, wood which is not ours, against the will of the owner of that wood.

De omnibus autem illis de quibus aliquis Walensium disseisitus fuerit vel elongatus sine legali judicio parium suorum per Henricum regem patrem nostrum vel Ricardum regem fratre...

Nos non concedemus de cetero alicui quod capiat auxilium de liberis hominibus suis, nisi ad corpus suum redimendum, et ad faciendum primogenitum filium suum militem, et ad primo...

accordance with the laws of the Welsh in relation to the aforesaid districts,” indicating the three systems of law referred to in the previous chapter. No machinery is here spec...

Nos amovebimus penitus de balliis parentes Gerardi de Athyes, quod de cetero nullam habeant balliam in Anglia; Engelardum de Cygony, Petrum et Gionem et Andream, de Cancellis, G...

c. 17, 364 n. 2 Edward III. c. 2, 330 c. 9, 465 n., 472 c. 11, 310 n. 4 Edward III. c. 15, 376 n. 5 Edward III. c. 9, 441 n. 9 Edward III. c. 1, 472 14 Edward III. Stat. 1, c. 9...

The _Forma Securitatis_ or Legal Sanction of the 545 Charter. I. Nature of the Security. II. Minor Details of the Scheme: (1) Twenty-five Executors; (2) A quorum may act; (3) Su...

I. Its Main Object: (1) Judgment must precede Execution; 436 (2) _Per judicium parium_; (3) _Per legem terrae_; (4) Meaning of "_vel_." II. The scope of the Protection afforded....

abbots, priors, templars, hospitallers, earls, barons, and all other persons, cleric and lay, the liberties and free customs which they previously had. The vagueness of this pro...

Common Pleas. I. The Curia Regis as a Court of Law. II. 308 Common Pleas and Royal Pleas. III. Effects of Magna Carta on the Genesis of the three Courts of Common Law. IV. Evolu...

Method of obtaining the Common Council of the Kingdom. 291 I. Nature of the Summons. II. Composition of the Council. III. Position of the “Minor Barons.” IV. Representation. V....

Amercement. I. Three Stages of Criminal Law: (1) The 334 blood-feud; (2) Fixed money-payments; (3) Amercements. II. Magna Carta and Amercements: (1) Of the Freeholder; (2) Of th...

I. Pleas of the Crown. II. Keeping and Trying Criminal 358 Pleas. III. The Intention of Magna Carta. IV. An Erroneous View. V. Local Magistrates under John: (1) The Sheriff; (2)...

Petty Assizes. I. The Curia Regis and the Travelling 317 Justices. II. The Nature and Origin of the three Petty Assizes. III. The Assizes in 1215. IV. An Erroneous View. V. Late...

c. 11, 247 n., 492 n. 52 Henry III. c. 15, 264 n. c. 16, 78 n., 248 n., 324 n. c. 29, 412, 413 n. 3 Edward I. c. 1, 247 n., 366

I. The Royal Forests. II. Their Origin. III. Forest 482 Officials. IV. Forest Courts. V. Chases, Parks, and Warrens. VI. Forest Rights and Forest Grievances. VII. Later History...

I. Protection of Crown Tenants from Arbitrary Exactions: 274 (1) Scutage; (2) Feudal Aids. II. Protection of Citizens of London: Aids and Tallages. III. Magna Carta and the Theo...

I. The Widow’s Share of Real Estate: (1) Dower; (2) 253 _Maritagium_; (3) _Hereditas._ II. Her Share of Personal Estate. III. Provision for her Immediate Needs: (1) Quarantine;...

Writ _de Odio et Atia_. I. Trial by Combat prior to 417 John’s Reign. II. The Writ of Life and Limbs. III. Its Subsidiary Uses. IV. Later History of Appeal and Battle,