Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

John, the only John who ever sat on the throne of England, and reputed to be one of the most detestable wretches that ever lived, will have his name associated to the end of time with one of the most memorable epochs of history.

In 1207, a few years after John came to the throne, he quarrelled with the pope over the appointment of an archbishop of Canterbury, which at last culminated in the whole country being placed under an interdict, the most terrible form of wholesale excommunication the Roman Catholic Church could impose, and in those times it was dreaded; it is indubitable, however, that personally John deserved all the punishment he received, and no historian has a word of pity for him.

About three years before this time the French provinces had been lost, and the barons, who held estates both in England and Normandy, had been obliged to choose the one or the other, so that the barons who wrested from John the great charter were English barons, and some of them were smarting over the loss of their continental possessions.

As the barons found that every promise that had been made at his coronation had been broken, and that nothing but force had any effect, they determined to bring the matter to a climax, and took up arms against the King.

The clergy, though John was the vassal of the pope, and specially under his protection, ranged themselves mostly on the side of the barons, and the freemen, many of whom had had their goods seized illegally, and some had suffered in person, were also on the same side. Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury, supported the barons and the people, and when it was seen that nothing but force would do, the barons set out, and gathering men as they went, came up with the King at the historic Runnymede, near Windsor, and he, seeing their forces, was constrained on June 15, 1215, to sign the great charter, the text of which is as follows:

Magna Charta

John, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou; to all archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons, sheriffs, officers, and to all bailiffs and other his faithful subjects, greeting.

Know ye, that we, in the presence of God, and for the health of our soul, and the souls of our ancestors and heirs, and to the honour 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 sub-deacon and familiar, Brother Aymerick master of the Knights Templars in England, and the noble persons, William the marshal, earl of Pembroke, William earl of Salisbury, William earl of Warren, William earl of Arundel, Alan de Galloway, constable of Scotland, Warin Fitzgerald, Peter Fitz-Herbert, and Hubert de Burgh, seneschal of Poictou, Hugo de Nevil, Matthew Fitz-Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, [147] Philip of Albiney, Robert de Ropele, John Marshall, 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 shall have her whole rights, and her liberties inviolable; and I will this to be observed in such a way that it may appear thence, that the freedom of elections, which is reckoned most necessary to the English Church, which we granted, and by our charter confirmed, and obtained the confirmation of it from Pope Innocent III before the discord between us and our barons, was of our own free will. Which charter we shall observe; and we will it to be observed faithfully 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 be held and enjoyed by them and their heirs, of us and our heirs. If any of our earls or barons, or others who hold of us in chief by military service, shall die, and at his death his heir shall be of full age, and shall owe a relief, he shall have his inheritance for the ancient relief, viz., the heir or heirs of an earl, a whole earl's estate for one hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a baron, a whole barony, for one hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a knight, a whole knight's fee, for one hundred shillings at most; and he who owes less, shall pay less, according to the ancient custom of fees.

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

IV. The guardian of an heir who is a minor, shall not take of the lands of the heir any but reasonable issues, and reasonable customs, and reasonable services, and that without destruction and waste of the men or goods; and if we commit the custody of any such lands to a sheriff, or to any other person who is bound to answer to us for the issues of them, and he shall make destruction or waste on the ward lands, we will take restitution from him, and the lands.shall be committed to two legal and discreet men of that fee, who shall answer for the issues to us, or to him to whom we shall assign them; and if we grant or sell to any one the custody of any such lands, and he shall make destruction or waste, he shall lose the custody; which shall be committed to two legal and discreet men of that fee, who shall answer to us, in like manner as aforesaid.

V. Besides, the guardian, so long as he hath the custody of the lands, shall keep in order the houses, parks, warrens, ponds, mills, and other things belonging to them, out of their issues; and shall deliver to the heir, when he is full age, his whole lands, provided with ploughs and other implements of husbandry, according to what the season requires, and the issues of the lands can reasonably bear.

VI. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, and so that, before the marriage is contracted, notice shall be given to the relations of the heir by consanguinity.

VII. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall immediately, and without difficulty, have her marriage goods and her inheritance; nor shall she give anything for her dower, or her marriage goods, or her inheritance, which her husband and she held at the day of his death. And she may remain in the mansion house of her husband forty days after his death; within which time her dower shall be assigned, if it has not been assigned before, or unless the house shall be a castle, and if she leaves the castle, there shall forthwith be provided for her a suitable house, in which she may properly dwell, until her dower be to her assigned, as said above; and in the mean time she shall have her reasonable estover from the common income. And there shall be assigned to her for her dower the third part of all the lands, which were her husband's in his lifetime, unless a smaller amount was settled at the church door.

VIII. 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.

IX. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any land or rent for any debt, so long as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient to pay the debt, and the debtor [148] is prepared to give satisfaction. Nor shall the sureties of the debtor be distrained, so long as the principal debtor be sufficient for the payment of the debt. And if the principal debtor fail in the payment of the debt, not having wherewithal to discharge it, or will not discharge it when he is able, 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 for him; unless the principal debtor can show himself acquitted thereof against the said sureties.

X. If any one have borrowed anything of the Jews,¹ more or less, and dies before the debt is satisfied, there shall be no interest paid for that debt, so long as the heir is a minor, of whomsoever he may hold: and if the debt falls into our hands, we will take only the chattel mentioned in the deed.

XI. If any one shall die indebted to 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 of the deceased, and out of the residue the debt shall be paid; saving however the service of the lords. In like manner the debts due to other persons than Jews shall be paid.

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

XIII. In like manner it shall be concerning the aids of the City of London; the City of London shall have all its ancient liberties and free customs, as well by land as by water. Furthermore we will and grant that all other cities and boroughs, and towns and ports shall have all their liberties and free customs.

XIV. And for holding the common council of the kingdom concerning the assessment of aids, otherwise than in the three aforesaid cases, and for the assessment of scutages, we will cause to be summoned the archbishops, bishops, earls, and greater barons, singly, by our letters; and besides, we will cause to be summoned generally by our sheriffs and bailiffs, all those who hold of us in chief, for a certain day, that is to say, forty days before their meeting at least, and to a certain place; and in all the letters of summons, we will declare the cause of the summons; and the summons being thus made, the business shall go on at the day appointed, according to the advice of those who shall be present, although all who had been summoned have not come.

XV. We will not authorize any one, for the future, to take an aid of his freemen, except to ransom his body, to make his eldest son a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter; and for these only a reasonable aid.

XVI. No one shall be distrained to do more service for a knight's fee, nor for any other free tenement, than what is due from thence.

XVII. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be held in some certain place.

XVIII. Assizes upon the writs of Novel Disseisin, Mort d'ancestre and Darrein presentment,² shall not be taken but in their proper counties, and in this manner. —We, or our chief justiciary when we are out of the kingdom, shall send two justiciaries into each county four times a year, who, with four knights chosen out of every shire by the people, shall hold the said assizes at a stated time and place, within the county.

XIX. And if any matters cannot be determined on the day appointed for holding the assizes in each county, let as many knights and freeholders of those who were present remain behind, as may be necessary to decide them, according as there is more or less business.

XX. A freeman shall not be amerced for a small offence, but only according to the degree of the offence; and for a great crime, according to the heinousness of it, saving to him his contenement; and after the same manner a merchant, saving to him his merchandise; and a villein shall be amerced after the same manner, saving to him his wainage, if he falls under our [149] mercy; and none of the aforesaid amerciaments shall be assessed but by the oath of honest men in the neighbourhood.

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

XXII. No ecclesiastical person shall be amerced for his lay-tenement, but according to the proportion of the others aforesaid, and not according to the value of his ecclesiastical benefice.

XXIII. Neither a town nor any tenant shall be distrained to make bridges or banks, unless that anciently and of right they are bound to do it. No river for the future shall be imbanked but what was imbanked in the time of King Henry I., our grandfather.

XXIV. No sheriff, constable, coroner, or other our bailiffs, shall hold pleas of the crown.

XXV. All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and tithings shall stand at the old rents, without any increase, except in our demesne manors.

XXVI. If any one holding of us a layfee, dies, and the sheriff or our bailiff show our letters patent of summons for debt which the deceased did owe to us, 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.

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

XXVIII. No constable or bailiff of ours shall take the corn or other chattels of any man, without instantly paying money for them, unless he can obtain respite by the good — will of the seller.

XXIX. No constable shall distrain any knight to give money for castle-guard, if he is willing to perform it in his own person, or by another able man if he cannot perform it himself through a reasonable cause. And if we have carried or sent him into the army, he shall be excused from castle-guard for the time he shall be in the army at our command.

XXX. No sheriff or bailiff of ours or any other person shall take the horses or carts of any freeman to perform carriages, without the assent of the said freeman.

XXXI. Neither we, nor our bailiffs, shall take another man's timber for our castles or other uses, without the consent of the owner of the timber.

XXXII. We will not retain the lands of those who have been convicted of felony above one year and one day, and then they shall be given up to the lord of the fee.

XXXIII. All kydells³ for the future shall be removed out of the Thames, the Medway, and throughout all England, except upon the sea-coast.

XXXIV. The writ which is called Praelig;cipe, for the future, shall not be made out to any one concerning any tenement by which any freeman may lose his court.

XXXV. There shall be one measure of wine and one of ale through our whole realm; and one measure of corn, viz., the London quarter; also one breadth of dyed cloth and of russets, and of halberjects,⁴ viz., two ells within the lists. It shall be the same with weights as with measures.

XXXVI. Nothing shall be given or taken for the future for the writ of inquisition of life or limb, but it shall be granted freely, and not denied.

XXXVII. If any one hold of us by feefarm, or socage, or burgage, and holds lands of another by military service, we shall not have the custody of the heir, or of his land, which is held of the fee of another, through that fee-farm, or socage, or burgage; nor will we have the wardship of the fee-farm, socage, or burgage, unless the fee-farm is bound to perform knight's service to us. We will not have the custody of an heir, nor of any land which he holds of another by military service, by reason of any petit-sergeantry he holds of us, as by the service of paying a knife, an arrow, or such like.

XXXVIII. No bailiff from henceforth shall put any man to his law upon his [150] own saying, without credible witnesses to prove it.

XXXIX. No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseized, or outlawed, or banished, or any ways destroyed, nor will we pass upon him, nor will we send upon him, unless by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land.

XL. We will sell to no man, we will not deny to any man, either justice or right.

XLI. 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, for buying and selling by the ancient and allowed customs, without any evil tolls; except in time of war, or when they are of any nation at war with us. And if there be found any such in our land in the beginning of the war, they shall be attached, without damage to their bodies or goods, until it be known unto us or our chief justiciary how our merchants be treated in the country at war with us; and if ours be safe there, the others shall be safe in our dominions.

XLII. 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 some short space, for the common benefit of the realm, 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.

XLIII. If any man hold of any escheat, as of the honour of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats which are in our hands, and are baronies, and shall die, his heir shall give no other relief, and perform no other service to us, than he should have done to the baron if it had been in the hands of the baron; and we will hold it in the same manner that the baron held it.

XLIV. Men who dwell without the forest shall not come, for the future, before our justiciary of the forest on a common summons, unless they be parties in a plea, or sureties for some person who is attached for something concerning the forest.

XLV. We will not make any justiciaries, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs, but from those who understand the law of the realm, and are well-disposed to observe it.

XLVI. All barons who have founded abbeys, which they hold by charters of the kings of England, or by ancient tenure, shall have the custody of them when they become vacant, as they ought to have.

XLVII. All forests which have been made in our time, shall be immediately disforested; and the same shall be done with water banks which have been made in our time.

XLVIII. All evil customs connected with forests and warrens, foresters and warreners, sheriffs and their officers, water-banks and their keepers, shall at once be inquired into in each county by twelve sworn knights of the county who shall be chosen by creditable men of the same county; and within forty days after the inquiry is made, they shall be utterly abolished by them, never to be restored; provided notice be given to us before it is done, or to our justiciary, if we are not in England.

XLIX. We will at once give up all hostages and writings that have been given to us by our English subjects, as securities for their keeping the peace, and faithfully performing their services to us.

L. We will remove absolutely from their bailiwicks the relations of Gerard de Athyes, that henceforth they shall have no bailiwick in England; we will also remove Engelard de Cygony, Andrew, Peter, and Gyon from the Chancery; Gyon de Cygony, Geoffrey de Martyn, and his brothers: Philip Mark, and his brothers; his nephew, Geoffrey, and all their followers.

LI. As soon as peace is restored we will send out of the kingdom all foreign soldiers, crossbow-men, and stipendiaries, who are come with horses and arms, to the injury of our people.

LII. If any one has 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 arise upon this head, let the matter be decided by the five-and-twenty barons hereafter mentioned, for the preservation of the peace. As for all those things for 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 [151] 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 crusaders; excepting those things about which there is a plea 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 perchance we stay at home and do not make the pilgrimage, we will immediately cause full justice to be administered therein.

LIII. The same respite we shall have, and in the same manner, about administering justice, disafforesting or continuing the forests, which Henry our father and our brother Richard have afforested; and for the wardship of the lands which are in another's fee in the same manner as we have hitherto enjoyed those wardships, by reason of a fee held of us by knight's service; and for the abbeys founded in any other fee than our own, in which the lord of the fee says he has right; and when we return from our pilgrimage, or if we stay at home and do not make the pilgrimage, we will immediately do full justice to all the complainants in this behalf.

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

LV. All unjust and illegal fines made by us, and all amerciaments that have been imposed unjustly, or contrary to the law of the land, shall be remitted, or left to the decision of the five-and-twenty barons of whom mention is made below for the security of the peace, or the majority of them, together with the aforesaid Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and others whom he may think fit to bring with him; and if he cannot be present, the business shall proceed notwithstanding without him; but so, that if one or more of the aforesaid five-and-twenty barons be plaintiffs in the same cause, they must be removed from this particular trial, and others be chosen instead of them out of the said five-and-twenty, and sworn by the rest to decide the matter.

LVI. If we have disseized or dispossessed the Welsh of their lands, or other things, without the legal judgment of their peers, in England or in Wales, they shall be at once restored to them; and if a dispute shall arise about it, the matter shall be determined in the marches by the verdict 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 Welsh shall do the same to us and our subjects.

LVII. As for all those things of which any Welshman hath been disseized or deprived, without the legal judgment of his peers, by King Henry our father, or King Richard our brother, and which we have in our hands, or others hold with our warranty, we shall have respite, till the time usually allowed the crusaders, except those concerning which a suit is depending, or an inquisition has been taken by our order before undertaking the crusade. But when we return from our pilgrimage, or if we remain at home without performing the pilgrimage, we shall forthwith do them full justice therein, according to the laws of Wales, and the parts.

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

LIX. We will treat with Alexander, King of Scots, concerning the restoring his sisters and hostages, and his right and liberties, in the same form and manner as we shall do to the rest of our barons of England; unless by the charters which we have from his father, William, late King of Scots, it ought to be otherwise; and this shall be left to the determination of the peers in our court.

LX. 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 of our kingdom, both clergy and laity shall observe, as far as they are concerned, towards their dependents.

LXI. And whereas for the honour of God and the amendment of our kingdom, and for the better quieting the strife that has arisen between us and our barons, we have granted all these things aforesaid; willing to render them firm and lasting, we do give and grant our subjects the underwritten security, namely, that the barons may choose five-and-twenty barons of the [152] kingdom whom they think convenient, who shall take care, with all their might, to hold and observe, and cause to be observed, the peace and liberties we have granted them, and by this our present charter confirmed; so that if we, our justiciary, our bailiffs, or any of our officers, shall in any circumstance fail in the performance of them towards any person, or shall break through any of these articles of peace and security, and the offence be notified to four barons chosen out of the five-and-twenty above mentioned, the said four barons shall repair to us, or our justiciary, if we are out of the kingdom, and laying open the grievance shall petition to have it redressed without delay; and if it not be redressed by us, or if we should chance to be out of the kingdom, if it should not be redressed by our justiciary within forty days, reckoning from the time it has been notified to us, or our justiciary (if we should be out of the kingdom), 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 distrain and distress us in all possible ways, by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, and in any other manner they can, till the grievance is redressed according 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. And any person whatsoever in the kingdom may swear that he will obey the orders of the five-andtwenty barons aforesaid, in the execution of the premises, and will distress us jointly with them, to the utmost of his power, and we will give public and free liberty to any one that shall please to swear to this, and never will hinder any person from taking the same oath.

LXII. As to all those of our people who of their own accord will not swear to the five-and-twenty barons, to join them in distressing and harassing us, we will issue orders to compel them to swear as aforesaid. And if any one of the five-andtwenty barons die, or remove out of the land, or in any way shall be hindered from executing the things aforesaid, the rest of the five-and-twenty barons shall elect another in his place, at their own free will, who shall be sworn in the same manner as the rest. But in all these things which are appointed to be done by these five-andtwenty barons, if it happens that the whole number have been present, and have differed in their opinions about anything, or if some of those summoned would not or could not be present, that which the majority of those present shall have resolved will be held to be as firm and valid, as if all the five-and-twenty had agreed. And the aforesaid five-and-twenty shall swear that they will faithfully observe, and, to the utmost of their power, cause to be observed, all the things mentioned above. And we will procure nothing from any one by ourselves, or by another, by which any of these concessions and liberties may be revoked or lessened. And if any such thing be obtained, let it be void and null; and we will neither use it by ourselves nor by another. And all the ill-will, indignations, and rancors, that have risen between us and our people, clergy and laity, from the first breaking out of the discord, we do fully remit and forgive; in addition all transgressions occasioned by the said discord from Easter, in the sixteenth year of our reign, till the restoration of peace and tranquillity, we do fully remit to all, both clergy and laity, and as far as lies in our power, forgive. Moreover, we have caused to be made to them letters patent testimonial of my lord Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, my lord Henry archbishop of Dublin, and the bishops aforesaid, as also of Master Pandulph, for the security and concessions aforesaid.

LXIII. 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. It is also sworn, as well on our part as on the part of the barons, that all the things aforesaid shall be observed bona fide and without evil subtlety. Given under our hand, in the presence of the witnesses above named and many others, in the meadow called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, the fifteenth day of June, in the seventeenth year of our reign. [153]

Coke points out the evils from which the charter is a protection, in their proper order.

1st. Loss of Liberty.

2d. Loss of Property.

3d. Loss of Citizen Rights.

Creasy remarks that a careful examination of the great charter will show that the following constitutional principles may be found in it, either in express terms or by logical inference:

The government of the country by a hereditary sovereign ruling with limited powers, and bound to summon and consult a parliament of the whole realm, comprising hereditary peers and elected representatives of the commons.

That without the sanction of Parliament no tax of any kind can be imposed, and no law can be made, repealed, or altered.

That no man be arbitrarily fined or imprisoned; that no man's properties or liberties be impaired; and that no man be in any way punished except after a lawful trial.

Trial by jury.

That justice shall not be sold or delayed.