The Magna Carta was signed by King John of England in response
to the complaints of his barons, and thus its emphasis is on the limits of royal
authority and the proper relationship between king and subject. The reference to
“scutage” here means all monetary obligations of a vassal to his lord. Slight
variations of language appear in different printed editions of the Magna
Carta.
Principal Provisions of the Magna Carta
1215
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, reeves,
servants, and all bailiffs and to his faithful people, greeting:
Know that by the suggestion of God and for the good of
our soul and of those of all our predecessors and of our heirs, the honor of God
and the exaltation of holy Church, and for the improvement of our kingdom, by
the advice of our venerable 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 Master Pandulf, subdeacon and member of the household of
the lord pope, of Brother Aymeric, master of the Knights of the Temple in
England; and of the noblemen William Marshall, earl of Pembroke, William, earl
of Salisbury, William, earl of Warren, William, earl of Arundel, Alan of
Galloway, constable of Scotland, Warren Fitz-Gerald, Peter Fitz-Herbert, Hubert
de Burgh, steward of Poitou, Hugh de Nevil, Matthew Fitz-Herbert, Thomas
Bassett, Alan Bassett, Philip d'Albini, Robert de Roppelay, John Marshall, John
Fitz-Hugh, and others of our faithful.
1. In the first place, we have granted to God, and by
this our present charter confirmed for us and our heirs forever, that the
English church shall be free, and shall hold its rights entire and its liberties
uninjured; and that we will that it should thus be observed is shown by this:
that the freedom of elections, which is considered to be most important and
especially necessary to the English church, we, of our pure and spontaneous
will, granted, and by our charter confirmed, before the contest between us and
our barons had arisen, and we obtained a confirmation of it by the lord pope
Innocent III, which we will observe, and which we will shall be observed in good
faith by our heirs forever.
We have granted, moreover, to all free men of our
kingdom, for us and our heirs forever, all the liberties written below, to be
had and holden by themselves and their heirs from us and our heirs.
2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding from
us in chief by military service, shall have died, and when he has died his heir
shall be of full age and owe relief, he shall have his inheritance by the
ancient relief; that is to say, the heir or heirs of an earl, for the whole
barony of an earl a hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a baron, for a whole
barony, a hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a knight, for a whole knight's
fee, a hundred shillings at most; and who owes less, let him give less,
according to the ancient custom of fiefs....
5. The custodian [of the lands of a minor], moreover, so
long as he shall have the custody of the land, must keep up the houses, parks,
warrens, fish ponds, mills, and other things pertaining to the land, from the
proceeds of the land itself; and he must return to the heir, when he has come to
full age, all his land, furnished with plows and implements of husbandry,
according as the time of wainage requires and as the proceeds of the land are
able reasonably to sustain....
7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall have
her marriage portion and her inheritance immediately and without
obstruction....
8. No widow shall be compelled to marry so long as she
prefers to live without a husband, provided she gives security that she will not
marry without our consent, if she holds from us, or without the consent of her
lord from whom she holds, if she holds from another....
12. No scutage or aid shall be imposed in our kingdom
save by the common council of our kingdom, except for the ransoming of our body,
for the making of our oldest son a knight, and for once marrying our oldest
daughter; and for these purposes it shall be only a reasonable aid; in the same
way it shall be done concerning the aids of the city of London.
13. And the city of London shall have all its ancient
liberties and free customs, as well by land as by water. Moreover we will and
grant that all other cities and boroughs and villages and ports shall have all
their liberties and free customs.
14. And for holding a common council of the kingdom
concerning the assessment of an aid otherwise than in the three cases mentioned
above, or concerning the assessment of a scutage, we shall cause to be summoned
the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons by our letters under
seal; and, besides, we shall cause to be summoned generally, by our sheriffs and
bailiffs, all those who hold from us in chief, for a certain day, at the end of
at least forty days, and for a certain place; and in all the letters of that
summons we will state the cause of the summons, and when the summons has thus
been given the business shall proceed on the appointed day, on the advice of
those who shall be present, even if not all of those who were summoned have
come.
15. We will not grant to any one, moreover, that he
shall take an aid from his free men, except for ransoming his body, for making
his oldest son a knight, and for once marrying his oldest daughter; and for
these purposes only a reasonable aid shall be taken....
20. A free man shall not be fined for a small offense,
except in proportion to the gravity of the offense; and for a great offense he
shall be fined in proportion to the magnitude of the offense, saving his
freehold; and a merchant in the same way, saving his merchandise; and the
villein shall be fined in the same way, saving his wainage, if he shall be at
our mercy; and none of the above fines shall be imposed except by the oaths of
honest men of the neighborhood....
28. No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take any
one's grain or other chattels without immediately paying for them in money,
unless he is able to obtain a postponement at the good will of the seller.
29. No constable shall require any knight to give money
in place of his ward of a castle if he is willing to furnish that ward in his
own person, or through another honest man if he himself is not able to do it for
a reasonable cause; and if we shall lead or send him into the army he shall be
free from ward in proportion to the amount of time which he has been in the army
through us.
30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or any one else,
shall take horses or wagons of any free man, for carrying purposes except on the
permission of that free man.
31. Neither we nor our bailiffs will take the wood of
another man for castles, or for anything else which we are doing, except by the
permission of him to whom the wood belongs....
39. No free man shall be taken, or imprisoned, or
dispossessed, or outlawed, or banished, or in any way injured, nor will we go
upon him, nor send upon him, except by the legal judgment of his peers, or by
the law of the land.
40. To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or
delay, right or justice.
41. All merchants shall be safe and secure in going out
from England and coming into England, and in remaining and going through
England, as well by land as by water, for buying and selling, free from all evil
tolls, by the ancient and rightful customs, except in time of war, or if they
are of a land at war with us; and if such are found in our land at the beginning
of war, they shall be attached without injury to their bodies or goods, until it
shall be known from us, or from our principal justiciar, in what way the
merchants of our land are treated who shall be then found in the country which
is at war with us; and if ours are safe there, the others shall be safe in our
land....
47. All forests which have been afforested in our time
shall be disafforested immediately; and so it shall be concerning river banks
which in our time have been fenced in....
51. And immediately after the reëstablishment of peace
we will remove from the kingdom all foreign-born soldiers, crossbowmen,
servants, and mercenaries who have come with horses and arms for the injury of
the realm.
52. If any one shall have been dispossessed or removed
by us, without legal judgment of his peers, from his lands, castles, franchises,
or his right, we will restore them to him immediately; and if contention arises
about this, then it shall be done according to the judgment of the twenty-five
barons, of whom mention is made below concerning the security of the peace.
Concerning all those things, however, from which any one has been removed, or of
which he has been deprived, without legal judgment of his peers, by King Henry
our father, or by King Richard our brother, which we have in our hand, or which
others hold, and which it is our duty to guarantee, we shall have respite till
the usual term of crusaders; excepting those things about which the suit has
been begun or the inquisition made by our writ before our assumption of the
cross. When, however, we shall return from our journey, or if by chance we
desist from the journey, we will immediately show full justice in regard to
them....
61. Since, moreover, for the sake of God, and for the
improvement of our kingdom, and for the better quieting of the hostility sprung
up lately between us and our barons, we have made all these concessions; wishing
them to enjoy these in a complete and firm stability forever, we make and
concede to them the security described below; that is to say, that they shall
elect twenty-five barons of the kingdom, whomsoever they will, who ought with
all their power to observe, hold, and cause to be observed, the peace and
liberties which we have conceded to them, and by this our present charter
confirmed to them; ...
63.... It has been sworn, moreover, as well on our part
as on the part of the barons, that all these things spoken of above shall be
observed in good faith and without any evil intent. Witness the above-named and
many others. Given by our hand in the meadow which is called Runnymede, between
Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June, in the seventeenth year of
our reign.
Source: Robinson, James, ed. Readings in European
History. Vol. 1. Boston & New York: Ginn & Co., 1904.
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