Appendix IV.: Magna Charta of King John, fifteenth day of june, in the seventeenth year of the king's reign, a.d. 1215.

John, by the grace of God king of England, lord of Ireland duke of Normandy and Aquitain, and earl of Anjou: to the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries of the forests, sheriffs, governors, officers, and to all bailiffs and other of his faithful subjects, greeting. Know ye, that we, in the presence of God, and for the health of our soul, and of the souls of our ancestors and heirs, and to the “honor of God and the exaltation of holy church, and amendment of our kingdom, by 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, bishop of London, Peter, of Winchester, Jocelin, of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh, of Lincoln, Walter, of Worcester, William, of Coventry, Benedict, of Rochester, bishops; and master Pandulph, the pope's subdeacon and ancient servant, brother Aymerick, master of the temple in England, and the noble persons, William Marescall, earl of Pembroke, William, earl of Salisbury, William, earl of Warren, William, earl of Arundel, Alan de Galoway, constable of Scotland, Warin Fitz Gerald, Peter Fitz Herbert, and Hubert de Burghe, senechal of Poictou, Hugo de Nevill, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip de Albine, Robert de Roppele, John Marescall, John Fitz Hugh, and others our liegemen; have, in the first place, granted to God, and by this our present charter confirmed for us and our heirs forever:

I. That the church of England shall be free, and enjoy her whole rights and liberties inviolable. And we will have them so to be observed; which appears from hence that the freedom of elections, which was reckoned most necessary for the church of England, of our own free will and pleasure we have granted and confirmed by our charter, and obtained the confirmation of from Pope Innocent the Third, before the discord between us and our barons: which charter we shall observe, and do will it to be faithfully observed by our heirs forever.

II. We have also granted to all the freemen of our kingdom, for us and our heirs forever, all the underwritten liberties, to have and to hold to them and their heirs, of us and our heirs.

III. If any of our earls, or barons, or others who hold of us in chief, by military service, shall die, and at the time of his death his heir shall be of full age, and owe a relief, he shall have his inheritance by the ancient relief; that is to say, the heir or heirs of an earl, for a whole earl's barony, by a hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a baron, for a whole barony, by a hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a knight, for a whole knight's fee, by a hundred shillings at most; and he that oweth less shall give less, according to the ancient custom of fees.

IV. But if the heir of any such shall be under age, and shall be in ward, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance without relief or without fine.

V. The warden of the land of such heir, who shall be under age, shall take of the land of such heir only reasonable issues, reasonable customs, and reasonable services; and that without destruction or waste of the men or things; and if we shall commit the guardianship of those lands to the sheriff, or any other who is answerable to us for the issues of the land, and if he shall make destruction and waste upon the ward lands, we will compel him to give satisfaction, and the land shall be committed to two lawful and discreet tenants of that fee, who shall be answerable for the issues to us, or to him whom we shall assign. And if we shall give or sell the wardship of any such lands to any one, and he makes destruction or waste upon them, he shall lose the wardship, which shall be committed to two lawful and discreet tenants of that fee, who shall in like manner be answerable to us, as hath been said.

VI. But the warden, so long as he shall have the wardship of the land, shall keep up and maintain the houses, parks, warrens, ponds, mills and other things pertaining to the land, out of the issues of the same land; and shall restore to the heir, when he comes of full age, his whole land stocked with ploughs and carriages, according as the time of wainage shall require, and the issues of the land can reasonably bear.

VII. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, so as that before matrimony shall be contracted those who are nearest to the heir in blood shall be made acquainted with it.

VIII. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall forthwith, and without any difficulty, have her marriage and her inheritance; nor shall she give anything for her dower or her marriage, or her inheritance, which her husband and she held at the day of his death; and she may remain in the capital messuage or mansion house of her husband, forty days after his death, within which term her dower shall be assigned.

IX. No widow shall be distrained to marry herself, so long as she has a mind to live without a husband. But yet she shall give security that she will not marry without our assent, if she holds of us, or without the consent of the lord of whom she holds, if she holds of another.

X. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any land or rent for any debt, so long as there shall be chattels of the debtor's upon the premises, sufficient to pay the debt. Nor shall the sureties of the debtor be distrained, so long as the principal debtor is sufficient for the payment of the debt.

XI. And if the principal debtor fail in the payment of the debt, not having wherewithal to discharge it, then the sureties shall answer the debt; and if they will, they shall have the lands and rents of the debtor, until they shall be satisfied for the debt which they paid him; unless the principal debtor can show himself acquitted thereof, against the said sureties.

XII. If any one have borrowed anything of the Jews, more or less, and dies before the debt be satisfied, there shall be no interest paid for that debt, so long as the heir is under age, of whomsoever he may hold. And if the debt falls into our hands, we will take only the chattel mentioned in the charter or instrument.

XIII. And if any one shall die indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her dower, and pay nothing of that debt; and if the deceased left children under age, they shall have necessaries provided for them according to the tenement (or real estate) of the deceased; and out of the residue the debt shall be paid; saving, however, the service of the lords. In like manner let it be with debts due to other persons than the Jews.

XIV. No scutage or aid shall be imposed in our kingdom, unless by the common council of our kingdom, except to redeem our person, and make our eldest son a knight, and once to marry our eldest daughter; and for this there shall only be paid a reasonable aid.

XV. In like manner it shall be concerning the aids of the city of London; and the city of London shall have all its ancient liberties and free customs, as well by land as by water.

XVL Furthermore, we will and grant that all other cities, and boroughs, and towns, and ports, shall have all their liberties and free customs; and shall have the common council of the kingdom, concerning the assessment of their aids, except in the three cases aforesaid.

XVII. And for the assessing of scutages we shall cause to be summoned the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and great barons of the realm, singly by our letters.

XVIII. And furthermore we shall cause to be summoned in general by our sheriffs and bailiffs, all others who hold of us in chief, at a certain day, that is to say, forty days before the meeting, at least, to a certain place; and in all letters of such summons we will declare the cause of the summons.

XIX. And summons being thus made, the business shall proceed on the day appointed, according to the advice of such as shall be present, although all that were summoned come not.

XX. We will not for the future grant to any one, that he may take aid from his own free tenants, unless to redeem his body, and to make his eldest son a knight and once to marry his eldest daughter; and for this there shall only be paid a reasonable aid.

XXI. No man shall be distrained to perform more service for a knight's fee, or other free tenement, than is due from thence.

XXII. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be holden in some certain place. Tryals upon the writs of novel disseisin, and of mort d'ancestor, and of darreine presentment, shall be taken but in their proper counties, and after this manner: We, or if we should be out of the realm, our chief justiciary, shall send two justiciaries through every county four times a year; who with the four knights chosen out of every shire by the people, shall hold the said assizes in the county, on the day and at the place appointed.

XXIII. And if any matters cannot be determined on the day appointed to hold the assizes in each county, so many of the knights and freeholders as have been at the assizes aforesaid shall be appointed to decide them, as is necessary, according as there is more or less business.

XXIV. A freeman shall not be amerced for a small fault, but according to the degree of the fault; and for a great crime in proportion to the heinousness of it; saving to him his con tenement, and after the same manner a merchant, saving to him his merchandise.

XXV. And a villain shall be amerced after the same manner, saving to him his wainage, if he falls under our mercy; and none of the aforesaid amerciaments shall be assessed but by the oath of honest men of the neighborhood.

XXVI. Earls and barons shall not be amerced but by their peers, and according to the quality of the offence.

XXVII. No ecclesiastical person shall be amerced, but according to the proportion aforesaid, and not according to the value of his ecclesiastical benefice.

XXVIII. Neither a town or any person, shall be distrained to make bridges over rivers, unless that anciently and of right they are bound to do it.

XXIX. No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other our bailiffs, shall hold pleas of the crown.

XXX. All counties, hundreds, wapentakes and trethings shall stand at the old ferm, without any increase, except in our demesne lands.

XXXI. If any one that holds of us a lay fee dies, and the sheriff or our bailiff show our letters patents of summons concerning the debt due to us from the deceased, it shall be lawful for the sheriff or our bailiff to attach and register the chattels of the deceased found upon his lay fee, to the value of the debt, by the view of lawful men, so as nothing be removed until our whole debt be paid; and the rest shall be left to the executors to fulfil the will of the deceased; and if there be nothing due from him to us, all the chattels shall remain to the deceased, saving to his wife and children their reasonable shares.

XXXII. If any freeman dies intestate, his chattels shall be distributed by the hands of his nearest relations and friends, by the view of the church, saving to every one his debts which the deceased owed.

XXXIII. No constable or bailiff of ours shall take corn or other chattels of any man, unless he presently gives him money for it, or hath respite of payment from the seller.

XXXIV. No constable shall distrain any knight to give money for castle guard, if he himself shall do it in his own person, or by another able man, in case he shall be hindered by any reasonable cause.

XXXV. And if we shall lead him, or if we shall send him into the army, he shall be free from castle guard for the time he shall be in the army by our command.

XXXVI. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or any other, shall take horses or carts of any for carriage.

XXXVII. Neither shall we, or our officers, or others, take any man's timber for our castles, or other uses, unless by the consent of the owner of the timber.

XXXVIII. We will retain the lands of those that are convicted of felony but one year and a day, and then they shall be delivered to the lord of the fee.

XXXIX. All wears for the time to come shall be demolished in the rivers of Thames and Medway, and throughout all England, except upon the sea-coast.

XL. The writ which is called præcipe shall not for the future be granted to any one of any tenement whereby a free man may lose his cause.

XLI. There shall be one measure of wine and one of ale through our whole realm, and one measure of corn, that is to say, the London quarter; and one breadth of dyed cloth and russets and haberjects, that is to say, two ells within the list; and the weights shall be as the measures.

XLII. From henceforward nothing shall be given or taken for a writ of inquisition, from him that desires an inquisition of life or limb, but shall be granted gratis, and not denied.

XLIII. If any one holds of us by fee farm, or socage, or burgage, and holds lands of another by military service, we will not have the wardship of the heir or land, which belongs to another man's fee, by reason of what he holds of us by fee farm, socage, or burgage; nor will we have the wardship of the fee farm, socage, or burgage, unless the fee farm is bound to perform military service.

XLIV. We will not have the wardship of an heir, nor of any wand which he holds of another by military service, by reason of any petit-serjeanty he holds of us, as by the service of giving us arrows, daggers, or the like.

XLV. No bailiff for the future shall put any man to his law, upon his single accusation, without credible witnesses produced to prove it.

XLVL No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or banished, or any ways destroyed; nor will we pass upon him, or commit him to prison, unless by the legal judgment of his peers, or unless by the law of the land.

XLVII. We will sell to no man, we will deny no man, or defer right or justice.

XLVIII. All merchants shall have safe and secure conduct to go out of and to come into England, and to stay there, and to pass, as well by land as by water, to buy and sell by the ancient and allowed customs, without any evil toll, except in time of war, or when they shall be of any nation in war with us.

XLIX. And if there shall be found any such in our land in the beginning of a war, they shall be attached, without damage to their bodies or goods, until it may be known unto us, or our chief justiciary, how our merchants be treated in the nation at war with us; and if ours be safe there, theirs shall be safe in our lands.

L. It shall be lawful for the time to come, for any one to go out of our kingdom, and return safely and securely by land or by water, saving his allegiance to us; unless in time of war, by short space, for the benefit of the kingdom, except prisoners and outlaws, according to the law of the land, and people in war with us, and merchants who shall be in such condition as is above mentioned.

LI. If any man holds of any escheat, as of the honor of Wallingford, Nottingham, Bologne, Lancaster, or of other escheats which are in our hands, and are baronies, and dies, his heir shall not give any other relief, or perform any other service to us than he would to the baron, if the barony were in possession of the baron; we will hold it after the same manner the baron held it.

LII. Those men who dwell without the forest, from henceforth shall not come before our justiciaries of the forest upon summons, but such as are impleaded or are pledges for any that were attached for something concerning the forest.

LIII. We will not make any justiciaries, constables, bailiffs or sheriffs, but what are knowing in the laws of the realm, and are disposed duly to observe it.

LIV. All barons who are founders of abbies, and have charters of the kings of England for the advowson, or are entitled to it by ancient tenure, may have the custody of them, when void, as they ought to have.

LV. All woods that have been taken into the forests, in our own time, shall forthwith be laid out again, and the like shall be done with the rivers that have been taken or fenced in by us, during our reign.

LVI. All evil customs concerning forests, warrens, and foresters, warreners, sheriffs and their officers, rivers and their keepers, shall forthwith be inquired into in each county, by twelve knights of the same shire, chosen by the most creditable persons in the same county, and upon oath; and within forty days after the said inquest be utterly abolished, so as never to be restored.

LVII. We will immediately give up all hostages and engagements, delivered unto us by our English subjects as securities for their keeping the peace, and yielding us faithful service.

LVIII. We will entirely remove from our bailiwicks the relations of Gerard de Athyes, so as that for the future they shall have no bailiwick in England. We will also remove Engelard de Cygony, Andrew, Peter, and Gyon de Canceles, Gyon de Cygony, Geoffrey de Martyn and his brothers, Philip Mark and his brothers, and his nephew Geoffrey, and their whole retinue.

LIX. And as soon as peace is restored, we will send out of the kingdom all foreign soldiers, crossbowmen and stipendiaries, who are come with horses and arms, to the injury of our people.

LX. If any one hath been dispossessed or deprived by us without the legal judgment of his peers, of his lands, castles, liberties or right, we will forthwith restore them to him; and if any dispute arises upon this head, let the matter be decided by the five and twenty barons hereafter mentioned, for the preservation of the peace.

LXI. As for all those things of which any person has without the legal judgment of his peers been dispossessed or deprived, either by king Henry, our father, or our brother, king Richard, and which we have in our hands, or are possessed by others, and we are bound to warrant and make good, we shall have a respite till the term usually allowed the Croises; excepting those things about which there is a suit depending, or whereof an inquest hath been made by our order, before we undertook the crusade. But when we return from our pilgrimage, or if we do not perform it, we will immediately cause full justice to be administered therein.

LXII. The same respite we shall have for disafforesting the forests, which Henry, our father, or our brother, Richard, have afforested; and for the wardship of lands which are in another's fee, in the same manner as we have hitherto enjoyed these wardships, by reason of a fee held of us by knight's service, and for the abbies founded in any other fee than our own, in which the lord of the fee claims a right; and when we return from our pilgrimage, or if we should not perform it, we will immediately do full justice to all the complainants in this behalf.

LXIII. No man shall be taken or imprisoned upon the appeal of a woman, for the death of any other man than her husband.

LXIV. All unjust and illegal fines, and all amerciaments, imposed unjustly and contrary to the law of the land, shall be entirely forgiven, or else left to the decision of the five and twenty barons hereafter mentioned for the preservation of the peace, or of the major part of them, together with the foresaid Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and others whom he shall think fit to take along with him; and if he cannot be present, the business shall nevertheless go on without him; but so that if one or mare of the five and twenty barons aforesaid be plaintiffs in the same cause, they shall be set aside as to what concerns this particular affair, and others be chosen in their room out of the said five and twenty, and sworn by the rest to decide that matter.

LXV. If we have disseised or dispossessed the Welsh of any lands, liberties, or other things, without the legal judgment of their peers, they shall be immediately restored to them. And if any dispute arises upon this head, the matter shall be determined in the Marches, by the judgment of their peers ‘, for tenements in England, according to the law of England; for tenements in Wales, according to the law of Wales; for tenements in the Marches, according to the law of the Marches; the same shall the Welsh do to us and our subjects.

LXVI. As for all those things of which any Welshman hath, without the legal judgment of his peers, been disseised or deprived, by king Henry, our father, or our brother, king Richard, and which we either have in our hands, or others are possessed of, and we are obliged to warrant it, we shall have a respite till the time generally allowed the Croisaders; excepting those things, about which a suit is pending, or whereof an inquest has been made by our order, before we undertook the crusade. But when we return, or if we stay at home, and do not perform our pilgrimage, we will immediately do them full justice, according to the laws of the Welsh, and of the parts aforementioned.

LXVII. We will without delay dismiss the son of Lewelin, and all the Welsh hostages, and release them from the engagements they entered into with us for the preservation of the peace.

LXVIII. We shall treat with Alexander, king of Scots, concerning the restoring of his sisters, and hostages, and rights and liberties, in the same form and manner as we shall do to the rest of our barons of England; unless by the engagements which his father William, late king of Scots, hath entered into with us, it ought to be otherwise; and this shall be left to the determination of his peers in our court.

LXIX. All the aforesaid customs and liberties which we have granted to be holden in our kingdom, as much as it belongs to us towards our people, all our subjects, as well clergy as laity, shall observe, as far as they are concerned, towards their dependents.

LXX. And whereas, for the honor of God and the amendment of our kingdom, and for quieting the discord that has arisen between us and our barons, we have granted all the things aforesaid; willing to render them firm and lasting, we do give and grant our subjects the following security, namely: that the barons may choose five and twenty barons of the kingdom, whom they shall think convenient, who shall take care with all their might to hold and ob: serve, and cause to be observed, the peace and liberties we have granted them, and by this our present charter confirmed. So as that if we, our justiciary, our bailiffs, or any of our officers, shall in any case fail in the performance of them towards any person, or shall break through any of these articles of peace and security, and the offence is notified to four barons, chosen out of the five and twenty aforementioned, the said four barons shall repair to us, or to our justiciary, if we are out of the realm, and laying open the grievance, shall petition to have it redressed without delay: and if it is not redressed by us, or, if we should chance to be out of the realm, if it is not redressed by our justiciary within forty days, reckoning from the time it has been notified to us, or to our justiciary, if we should be out of the realm, the four barons aforesaid shall lay the cause before the rest of the five and twenty barons, and the said five and twenty barons, together with the community of the whole kingdom, shall distrein and distress us in all the ways possible; namely, by seising our castles, lands, possessions, and in any other manner they can, till the grievance is redressed to their pleasure, saving harmless our own person, and the persons of our queen and children; and when it is redressed, they shall obey us as before.

LXXI. And any person whatsoever in the kingdom may swear that he will obey the orders of the five and twenty barons aforesaid, in the execution of the premises, and that he will distress us jointly with them, to the utmost of his power; and we give public and free liberty to any one that will swear to them, and never shall hinder any person from taking the same oath.

LXXII. As for all those of our subjects, who will not of their own accord swear to join the five and twenty barons in distreining and distressing us, we will issue our order to make them take the same oath as aforesaid.

LXXIII. And if any one of the five and twenty barons dies, or goes out of the kingdom, or is hindered any other way from putting the things aforesaid in execution, the rest of the said five and twenty barons may choose another in his room, at their discretion, who shall be sworn in like manner as the rest.

LXXIV. In all things that are committed to the charge of these five and twenty barons, if, when they are all assembled together, they should happen to disagree about any matter, or some of them summoned will not, or cannot come, whatever is agreed upon or enjoyned by the major part of those who are present shall be reputed as firm and valid as if all the five and twenty had given their consent; and the foresaid five and twenty shall swear that all the premises they shall faithfully observe, and cause with all their power to be observed.

LXXV. And we will not, by ourselves or others, procure anything whereby any of these concessions and liberties be revoked or lessened; and if any such thing be obtained, let it be null and void; neither shall we ever make use of it, either by ourselves or any other.

LXXVI. And all the ill-will, anger and malice that hath arisen between us and our subjects of the clergy and laity, from the first breaking out of the dissension between us, we do fully remit and forgive. Moreover, all trespasses occasioned by the said dissensions, from Easter, in the sixteenth year of our reign, till the restoration of peace and tranquillity, we hereby entirely remit to all, clergy as well as laity, and as far as in us lies, do fully forgive.

LXXVII. We have moreover granted them our letters patents testimonial of Stephen, lord-archbishop of Canterbury, of Henry, lord-archbishop of Dublin, and the bishops aforesaid, as also of master Pandulph, for the security and concessions aforesaid.

LXXVIII. Wherefore we will, and firmly enjoin, that the church of England be free, and that all men in our kingdom have and hold all the aforesaid liberties, rights and concessions, truly and peaceably, freely and quietly, fully and wholly, to themselves and their heirs, of us and our heirs, in all things and places forever, as is aforesaid.

LXXIX. It is also sworn, as well on our part as upon the part of the barons, that all the things aforesaid shall faithfully and sincerely be observed.

Given under our hand, in the presence of the witnesses above named, and many others, in the meadow called Runningmede, between Windelsore and Staines, the 17th day of June, in the 17th year of our reign.

[The Great Charter has been repeatedly amended and confirmed. I take the liberty of copying the following, down to the end of page 477, from Mr. Creasy's Text-Book of the Constitution.]