MAGNA CARTA of KING JOHN A.D. 1215 JOHN, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjuo: To his Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Earls, Barons, Justiciaries, Foresters, Sheriffs, Reeves, Ministers, and to all Bailiffs and faithful subjects, Greetings Know that in the presence of God, and for the health of Our soul, and the souls of Our ancestors and heirs to the honor of God, and the exaltation of the Holy Church, and amendments of Our kingdom, by 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, Jocelin of Bath and Glostonbury, Hugh of Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of Coventry, and Benedict of Rochester, Master Pandulf, the Pope's subdeacon; Brother Aymeric, Master of the Knights Templar in England; and the noble persons, William Marshall, 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 Bassett, Alan Bassett, Philip Daubeny, Robert de Roppelay, John Marshal, John Fitz-Hugh, and others, Our loyal subjects. ARTICLE 1 We have, in this first place, granted to God, and by this Our present Charter confirmed for Us and Our heirs forever--That the English Church shall be free, its rights undiminished, its liberties unimpaired. And that We wish this to be observed appears from the face that We of Our own free will, before the outbreak of the disputes between Us and Our barons, granted and confirmed, by Charter the freedom of elections, which is considered most important and necessary to the English Church. We have also granted to all free men of Our kingdom, for Us and Our heirs forever, all the liberties underwritten, to have and to hold to them and their heirs of Us and Our heirs. ARTICLE 2 If any of Our earls, barons, or others who hold lands of Us by knights service shall die, and at the time of his heir shall be of full age and owe a relief, he shall have his inheritance, on payment of ancient relief. ARTICLE 3 If any such heir shall be under age and a ward, he shall, when he comes of age, have his inheritance without relief or fine. ARTICLE 4 The guardian of the land of any such heir shall take therefrom only reasonable revenues, customs, and services, without destruction and waste of men or property; and if We shall have committed the wardship of any such to a sheriff, and he commits destruction, We will take amends from him, and the land shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, who shall be answerable for the issues to Us. ARTICLE 5 The guardian, so long as he shall have the wardship of the land, shall keep up and maintain the houses, parks, fishpondspools, mills, everything pertaining thereto, out of the issues of the same, and shall restore the whole to the heir when he comes of age; stocked with ploughs and grain as the season requires and the issues of the land can reasonably bear. ARTICLE 6 Heirs shall be married without loss of station, and the marriage shall be made known to the heirs next of kin before it be contracted. ARTICLE 7 A widow, on the death of her husband, shall immediately and without difficulty have her marriage portion and inheritance. She may remain in her husband's house for forty days after her husband's death, within which time her dower shall be assigned to her. ARTICLE 8 No widow shall be compelled to marry so long as she wishes to live without a husband, provided, however, that she give security that she will not marry without Our assent. ARTICLE 9 Neither We or Our bailiffs shall seize any land or rent for payment of debt so long as the debtor's chattels are sufficient to discharge the same; nor shall the debtor's sureties be distrained so long as the debtor is able to pay the debt. If the debtor fails to pay, then his sureties shall answer the debt. ARTICLE 10 If anyone who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or small, dies before the debt has been paid, the heir shall pay no interest on the debt so long as he is under age. If the debt shall fall into Our hands, We will only take the principal sum named in the bond. ARTICLE 11 If any man dies indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her dower and pay nothing of that debt; if the deceased leaves children under age, they shall have necessities provided for them in keeping with the estate of the deceased, and the debt shall be paid out of the residue, reserving the service due to the deceased's feudal lords. So shall it be done with regard to debts owed persons other than Jews. ARTICLE 12 No scutage or aid shall be imposed on Our kingdom unless by common counsel except to ransom Our person, make Our eldest son a knight, and once to marry Our eldest daughter, and for these only a reasonable aid shall be levied. So shall it be with regard to aids from the City of London. ARTICLE 13 The City of London shall have all her ancient liberties and free customs, both by land and water. Moreover, We decree and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall have all their liberties and free customs. ARTICLE 14 For obtaining the common counsel of the realm for the assessment of aids (other than the three cases aforesaid) or of scutage, We will cause to be summoned, severally, by Our letters, the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and great barons; We will also cause to be summoned, generally, by Our sheriffs and bailiffs, and all others who hold lands directly of Us, to meet on a fixed day, but with at least forty days notice, and at a fixed place. In all letters of such We will explain the cause thereof. The summons being thus made, the business shall proceed on the day appointed, according to the counsel of those who shall be present, although not all the persons summoned have come. ARTICLE 15 We will not in the future allow any man to levy an aid upon his free men, except to ransom his person, 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. ARTICLE 16 No man shall be compelled to perform more service for a knight's fee than is due therefrom. ARTICLE 17 Common Pleas shall not be held in Our Court, but shall be held in some fixed place. ARTICLE 18 Recognizances of "novel disseisin","mort d'ancestor" and "darrein presentment" shall be taken only in their proper counties, We, or if We be absent from the realm, Our Chief Justiciary shall send two justiciaries through each county four times a year, who with four knights elected out of each county by the people thereof, shall hold the said assizes in the county court, on the day and in the place where that court meets. ARTICLE 19 If the said assizes cannot be held on the day appointed, so many of the knights and freeholders as shall have been present on that day shall remain as will suffice for the administration of justice. ARTICLE 20 A free man shall not be fined for a small offence only according to the measure thereof, and for a grave crime according to its magnitude, saving his means of livlihood, and in like manner a merchant saving his merchandise and a husbandman saving his village. None of these fines shall be imposed except by the oath of honest men of the neighborhood. ARTICLE 21 Earls and barons shall be fined only by their equals, and only in proportion to the measure of the offence. ARTICLE 22 No fines shall be imposed upon a clerk's lay property, except after the manner of the other persons aforesaid, and without considering his ecclesiastical benefice. ARTICLE 23 No village or individual shall be compelled to build bridges over rivers except those bound by ancient custom and law to do so. ARTICLE 24 No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other of Our bailiffs shall hold the pleas of Our Crown. ARTICLE 25 All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and tithings (except Our demesne manors) shall remain at the old rents, without any increase. ARTICLE 26 If anyone holding a lay fee of Us shall die, and the sheriff or Our bailiff exhibit Our letters patent of summons for the debt due to Us from the deceased, it shall be lawful for such sheriff or bailiff to seize and catalogue the chattels of the deceased to the value of that debt as assessed by worthy men. ARTICLE 27 If any free man shall die intestate, his chattels are to be distributed by his nearest kinfolk and friends, under supervision of the church, saving each creditor the debts owed him by the deceased. ARTICLE 28 No constable or other of Our bailiffs shall take corn or other provisions from any man without immediate payment, unless the seller voluntarily consents to postponement of this. ARTICLE 29 No constable shall compel any knight to pay money in lieu of castle- guard when the knight is willing to perform it in person or has some other fit man to do it. ARTICLE 30 No sheriff or other of Our bailiffs, or any other man, shall take the horses or carts of any free man for transport without the owners consent. ARTICLE 31 Neither We nor Our bailiffs will take another man's wood for Our castles or for any other work without the owner's consent. ARTICLE 32 We will retain the lands of persons convicted of felony for only a year and a day, after which they shall be returned to the lords of the fees. ARTICLE 33 All fishweirs shall be entirely removed from the Thames and Medway, and throughout England, except upon the seashore. ARTICLE 34 The writ called "praecipe" shall not in the future be issued to anyone regarding any tenement if thereby a free man may not be tried in his lord's court. ARTICLE 35 There shall be one measure of wine throughout Our realm, and one of ale, and one measure of corn, namely the London quarter, and one width of dyed cloth, russets, and haberjets, namely two ells within the selvedges. As with measures so shall it also be with weights. ARTICLE 36 In future nothing shall be given or taken for a writ of inquisition upon life or limbs, but it shall be granted free and not be refused. ARTICLE 37 If anyone holds of Us by fee farm, socage or burgage, We will not have the wardship of his heir, or the land which belongs to another man's fee; or the land which he holds of another by knights service. ARTICLE 38 In the future no bailiff shall upon his own unsupported accusation place any man upon trial without producing credible witnesses to the truth of the accusation. ARTICLE 39 No free man shall be taken, imprisoned, outlawed, banished, or in any way destroyed, nor will We proceed against or prosecute him, except by lawful judgment of his equals and by the law of the land. ARTICLE 40 To no one will We sell to no one We deny or delay, right or justice. ARTICLE 41 All merchants shall have safe conduct to go and come out of and into England, and to stay in and travel through England by land and water for purposes of buying and selling, free of illegal tolls, in accordance with ancient and lawful customs, except in time of war. ARTICLE 42 In the future it shall be lawful for anyone to leave and return to Our kingdom safely and securely by land and water, except those who have been imprisoned or outlawed according to the law of the land, people of a country at war with Us, and merchants who shall be dealt with as aforesaid. ARTICLE 43 If anyone die holding of some escheat, such as the honour of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogue, Lancaster, or other escheats which are in Our hands and are baronies, his heir shall not give any relief or perform any service to Us other than he would owe to the baron. ARTICLE 44 Men dwelling outside the forest need not in the future appear before Our justiciaries of the forest in answer to a general summons. ARTICLE 45 We will appoint as justiciaries, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs only such men as know the law of the realm and will observe it well. ARTICLE 46 All barons who have founded abbeys, evidenced by charters of English kings or ancient tenure, shall have the wardship of them when vacant. ARTICLE 47 All forests which have been made in Our time shall forthwith be disafforested. So shall it be done with regard to river banks which have been enclosed in Our time. ARTICLE 48 All evil customs connected with forests and warrens, foresters and warreners, sheriffs and their officers, or riverbanks and their wardens shall be immediately investigated in each county by twelve sworn knights of such county, chosen by honest men of that county, and shall within forty days after the inquest be completely and irrevocably abolished. ARTICLE 49 We will immediately restore all hostages and charters delivered to Us by Englishmen as security for the peace or for the performance of loyal service. ARTICLE 50 We will entirely remove from their ballwicks the kinsmen of Gerald de Athyes, so that henceforth they shall hold no offices in England. ARTICLE 51 As soon as peace is restored, We will banish from Our kingdom all foreign knights, crossbowmen, attendants, and mercenaries who have come with horses and arms to the harm of the kingdom. ARTICLE 52 If anyone has been dispossessed or deprived by Us, without the legal judgment of his peers, of lands, castles, liberties, or rights, We will immediately restore them to him, and if any dispute shall arise thereupon, the matter shall be decided by judgment of the twenty-five barons. ARTICLE 53 Likewise, We shall have similar respite in rendering justice with respect to the disafforestation or retention of those forests which Henry Our father or Richard Our Brother afforested, and to wardships of lands belonging to another's fee, and to abbeys founded in another's fee than Our own, whereto the lord of that fee asserts his rights. When We return from Our crusades, or if We remain behind from it, We will immediately grant full justice to the complainants in these matters. ARTICLE 54 No one shall be arrested or imprisoned upon a woman's appeal for the death of any other person than her husband. ARTICLE 55 All fines unjustly and unlawfully given to Us, and all fines levied unjustly and against the law of the land shall be entirely remitted or the matter settled by judgment of the twenty-five barons, together with the aforesaid Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, if he himself can be present. ARTICLE 56 If We have dispossessed or deprived the Welsh of lands, liberties, or other things, without legal judgment of their peers, in England or Wales, they shall immediately be restored to them. The same shall the Welsh do Us and Ours. ARTICLE 57 But with regard to all those things of which any Welchman was dispossessed or deprived, without legal judgment of his peers, by King Henry Our father or Our Brother King Richard, and which We hold in Our hands or others hold under Our warranty. Immediately after Our return from Our crusade, or if by chance We should remain behind from it, We will do full justice according to the laws of the Welsh and the aforesaid regions. ARTICLE 58 We will immediately restore the son of Llywelyn, all the Welsh hostages, and the charters which were delivered to Us as security for peace. ARTICLE 59 With regard to the return of the sisters and hostages of Alexander, King of the Scots, and of his liberties and rights, We will do the same as We would with regard to Our other barons of England. ARTICLE 60 All the customs and liberties aforesaid, which We have granted to be enjoyed, by Our people throughout Our kingdom, let all Our subjects, whether clerks or laymen, observe, toward their dependents. ARTICLE 61 Whereas We, for the honor of God and the amendment of Our kingdom, and in order the better to allay the discord arisen between Us and Our barons, have granted all these concessions aforesaid, We, willing that they be forever enjoyed wholly and in lasting strength, do give and grant to Our subjects the following security, to wit, that the barons shall elect any twenty-five barons of the realm, who shall, with their utmost power, observe, hold, and cause to be observed the peace and liberties which We have granted unto them and by this Our present Charter have confirmed, so that if We, Our Justiciary, bailiffs, or any of Our ministers offend in any respect against any man, or shall transgress any of these articles of peace or security, and the offence be brought before four of the said twenty-five barons, those four barons shall come before Us, or Our Chief Justiciary if We are out of the kingdom, declaring the offence, and shall demand speedy amends for the same. ARTICLE 62 We have also wholly remitted and pardoned all ill-will, wrath, and malice which has arisen between Us and Our subjects, both clergy and laity. Moreover, We have fully remitted and, as far as in Us lies, wholly pardoned to and with all, clergy and laity, all trespasses made in consequence of the said disputes from Easter in the sixteenth year of Our reign till the restoration of peace. Over and above this, We have caused to be made in their behalf letters patent by testimony of Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry, Archbishop of Dublin, the Bishops above-mentioned, and Master Pandulf, for the security and concessions aforesaid. ARTICLE 63 Wherefore, We will, and firmly command that the English Church shall be free, and that all men in Our kingdom shall have and keep all the aforesaid liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably, freely, quietly, fully, and wholly, to them and their heirs, of Us and Our heirs, in all things and places forever. Given by Our hand in the meadow which is called Runnymeade, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June in the seventeenth year of Our reign.