TRANSLATION of A.D. 1215 Magna Carta in English, 

 

YOU MUST READ SECTIONS 10 & 11

 

"MAGNA CARTA. A basic document that states the liberties guaranteed to the English people, the Magna Carta proclaims rights that have become a part of English law and are now the foundation of the constitution of every English-speaking nation. The Magna Carta, which means "great charter" in Latin, was drawn up by English barons and churchmen, who forced the tyrannical King John to set his seal to it on June 15, 1215 (see John of England).  

 

 

King John's cruelty and greed united against him all classes of his kingdom--the powerful feudal nobles, the churchmen, and the townspeople. While the king was waging a disastrous war in France, the leading barons of England met secretly and swore to compel him to respect the rights of his subjects, as provided by previous law and custom."   "When John returned, they presented him with a series of demands. John tried to gather support in order to avoid giving in to the demands, but almost all his followers deserted him. At last he met with the nobles and bishops along the south bank of the Thames in a meadow called Runnymede and affixed his seal to the Magna Carta.   In many of their demands the barons and bishops who forced the Magna Carta on King John quite naturally acted in their own best interests. Careful provision was made for limiting royal taxes and assessments, for reforming laws and judicial procedures, and for suppressing the misuse and extension of forest law. In addition, the Magna Carta provided certain guarantees for the people as a whole."   "The document has a total of 63 sections. Although much of it deals with feudal rights and duties, it also includes provisions that protect the rights of the church, merchants, and townspeople. One of the sections protecting merchants reads, translated from the original Latin: "All merchants shall be able to go out of and come into England safely and securely and stay and travel throughout England . . . for buying and selling . . . free from all evil tolls, except in time of war and if they are of the land at war with us.""       

 

(c) Compton's Encyclopedia

 

 

        TRANSLATION of Magna Carta in English

 

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, stewards, servants and all his  officials and faithful subjects greeting. Know that we, from reverence for God  and for the salvation of our soul and those of all our ancestors and heirs,  for the honour of God and the exaltation of Holy Church and the reform of our  realm, on 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 Glastonbury, Hugh of Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of  Coventry and Benedict of Rochester, bishops, Master Pandulf, sub-deacon and  member of the household of the lord pope, brother Aimeric, master of the  knighthood of the Temple in England, and the noble men, William Marshal, Earl  of Pembroke, William, Earl

 

of Salisbury, William, Earl of Warenne, William,  Earl of Arundel, Alan of Galloway, Constable of Scotland, Warin fitz Gerald,  Peter fitz Herbert, Hubert de Burgh, seneschal of Poitou, Hugh de Neville,  Matthew fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip de Albini, Robert of  Ropsley, John Marshal, John fitz Hugh and others, our faithful subjects:

 

1. In the first place have granted to God and by this our present Charter have  confirmed, for us and our heirs in perpetuity, that the English church shall  be free, and shall have its rights undiminished and its liberties unimpaired;  and we wish it thus observed, which is evident from the fact that of our own  free will before the quarrel between us and our barons began, we conceded and  confirmed by our charter, freedom of elections, which is thought to be of the  greatest necessity and importance to the English church, and obtained  confirmation of this from the lord pope Innocent III, which we shall observe  and wish our heirs to observe in good faith in perpetuity. We have also  granted to all the free men of our realm for ourselves and our heirs for ever,  all the liberties written below, to have and hold, them and their heirs from  us and our heirs.

 

2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding of us in chief by knight  service shall die, and at his death his heir be of full age and owe relief, he  shall have his inheritance on payment of the ancient relief, namely the heir  or heirs of an earl L100 for a whole earl's barony, the heir or heirs of a  baron L100 for a whole barony, the heir or heirs of a knight 100s. at most for  a whole knight's fee; and anyone who owes less shall give less according to  the ancient usage of fiefs.

 

3. If, however, the heir of any such person has been under age and in  wardship, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance without relief or  fine.

 

4. The guardian of the land of such an heir who is under age shall not take  from the land more than the reasonable revenues, customary duties and  services, and that without destruction and waste of men or goods. And if we  entrust the wardship of the land of such a one to a sheriff, or to any other  who is answerable to us for its revenues, and he destroys or wastes the land  in his charge, we will take amends of him, and the land shall be entrusted to  two lawful and prudent men of that fief who will be answerable to us for the  revenues or to him to whom we have assigned them. And if we give or sell to  anyone the wardship of any such land and he causes destruction or waste, he  shall lose the wardship and it shall be transferred to two lawful and prudent  men of the fief who shall be answerable to us as is aforesaid.

 

5. Moreover so long as the guardian has the wardship of the land, he shall  maintain the houses, parks, preserves, fishponds, mills and the other things  pertaining to the land from its revenues; and he shall restore to the heir  when he comes of age all his land stocked with ploughs and wainage such as the  agricultural season demands and the revenues of the estate can reasonably  bear.

 

6. Heirs shall be given in marriage without disparagement, yet so that before  marriage is contracted it shall be made known to the heir's next of kin.

 

7. After her husband's death, a widow shall have her marriage portion and her  inheritance at once and without any hindrance; nor shall she pay anything for  her dower, her marriage portion, or her inheritance which she and her husband  held on the day of her husband's death; and she may stay in her husband's  house for forty days after his death, within which period her dower shall be  assigned to her.

 

8. No widow shall be compelled to marry so long as she wishes to live without  a husband, provided that she gives security that she will not marry without  our consent if she holds of us, or without the consent of the lord of whom she  holds, if she holds of another.

 

9. Neither we nor our bailiffs will seize any land or rent in payment of a  debt so long as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient to repay the debt;  nor shall the sureties of the debtor be distrained so long as the debtor  himself is capable of paying the debt; and if the principal debtor defaults in  the payment of the debt, having nothing wherewith to pay it, the sureties  shall be answerable for the debt; and, if they wish, they may have the lands  and revenues of the debtor until they have received satisfaction for the debt  they paid on his behalf, unless the principal debtor shows that he has  discharged his obligations to the sureties.

 

10. If anyone who has borrowed from the Jews any amount, great or small, dies  before the debt is repaid, it shall not carry interest as long as the heir is  under age, of whomsoever he holds; and if that debt fall into our hands, we  will take nothing except the principal sum specified in the bond.

 

11. And if a man dies owing a debt to the Jews, his wife may have her dower  and pay nothing of that debt; and if he leaves children under age, their needs  shall be met in a manner in keeping with the holding of the deceased; and the  debt shall be paid out of the residue, saving the service due to the lords.  Debts owing to others than Jews shall be dealt with likewise.

 

12. No scutage or aid is to be levied in our realm except by the common  counsel of our realm, unless it is for the ransom of our person, the knighting  of our eldest son or the first marriage of our eldest daughter; and for these  only a reasonable aid is to be levied. Aids from the city of London are to be  treated likewise.

 

13. And the city of London is to have all its ancient liberties and free  customs both by land and water. Furthermore, we will and grant that all other  cities, boroughs, towns and ports shall have all their liberties and free  customs.

 

14. And to obtain the common counsel of the realm for the assessment of an aid  (except in the three cases aforesaid) or a scutage, we will have archbishops,  bishops, abbots, earls and greater barons summoned individually by our  letters; and we shall also have summoned generally through our sheriffs and  bailiffs all those who hold of us in chief for a fixed date, with

 

at least  forty days' notice, and at a fixed place; and in all letters of summons we  will state the reason for the summons. And when the summons has thus been  made, the business shall go forward on the day arranged according to the  counsel of those present, even if not an those summoned have come.

 

15. Henceforth we will not grant anyone that he may take an aid from his free  men, except to ransom his person, to make his eldest son a knight and to marry  his eldest daughter once; and for these purposes only a reasonable aid is to  be levied.

 

16. No man shall be compelled to perform more service for a knight's fee or  for any other free tenement than is due therefrom.

 

17. Common pleas shall not follow our court but shall be held in some fixed  place.

 

18. Recognizances of novel disseisin, mort d'ancestor, and darrein presentment  shall not be held elsewhere than in the court of the county in which they  occur, and in this manner: we, or if we are out of the realm our chief  justiciar, shall send two justices through each county four times a year who,  with four knights of each county chosen by the county, shall hold the said  assizes in the county court on the day and in the place of meeting of the  county court.

 

19. And if the said assizes cannot all be held on the day of the county court,  so many knights and freeholders of those present in the county court on that  day shall remain behind as will suffice to make judgements, according to the  amount of business to be done.

 

20. A free man shall not be amerced for a trivial offence, except in  accordance with the degree of the offence; and for a serious offence he shall  be amerced according to its gravity, saving his livelihood; and a merchant  likewise, saving his merchandise; in the same way a villein shall be amerced  saving his wainage; if they fall into our mercy. And none of the aforesaid  amercements shall be imposed except by the testimony of reputable men of the  neighbourhood.

 

21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced except by their peers and only in  accordance with the nature of the offence.

 

22. No clerk shall be amerced on his lay tenement except in the manner of the  others aforesaid and without reference to the size of his ecclesiastical  benefice.

 

23. No vill or man shall be forced to build bridges at river banks, except  those who ought to do so by custom and law.

 

24. No sheriff, constable, coroner or other of our baliffs may hold pleas of  our Crown.

 

25. All shires, hundreds, wapentakes and ridings shall be at the ancient farm  without any increment, except our demesne manors.

 

26. If anyone holding a lay fief of us dies and our sheriff or bailiff shows  our letters patent of summons for a debt which the deceased owed us, it shall  be lawful for the sheriff or our bailiff to attach and list the chattels of  the deceased found in lay fee to the value of that debt, by the view of lawful  men, so that nothing is removed until the evident debt is paid to us, and the  residue shall be relinquished to the executors to carry out

 

the will of the  deceased. And if he owes us nothing, all the chattels shall be accounted as  the deceased's saving their reasonable shares to his wife and children.

 

27. If any free man dies intestate, his chattels are to be distributed by his  nearest relations and friends, under the supervision of the Church, saving to  everyone the debts which the deceased owed him.

 

28. No constable or any other of our bailiffs shan take any mans' corn or  other chattels unless he pays cash for them at once or can delay payment with  the agreement of the seller.

 

29. No constable is to compel any knight to give money for castle guard, if he  is willing to perform that guard in his own person or by another reliable man,  if for some good reason he is unable to do it himself, and if we take or send  him on military service, he shall be excused the guard in proportion to the  period of his service.

 

30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours or anyone else is to take horses or carts of  any free man for carting without his agreement.

 

31. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall take other men's timber for castles or  other work of ours, without the agreement of the owner.

 

32. We will not hold the lands of convicted felons for more than a year and a  day, when the lands shall be retumed to the lords of the fiefs.

 

33. Henceforth all fish-weirs shall be completely removed from the Thames and  the Medway and throughout all England, except on the sea coast.

 

34. The writ called praecipe shall not, in future, be issued to anyone in  respect of any holding whereby a free man may lose his court.

 

35. Let there be one measure of wine throughout our kingdom and one measure of  ale and one measure of corn, namely the London quarter, and one width of cloth  whether dyed, russet or halberjet, namely two ells within the selvedges. Let  it be the same with weights as with measures.

 

36. Henceforth nothing shall be given or taken for the writ of inquisition of  life or limb, but it shall be given freely and not refused.

 

37. If anyone holds of us by fee-farm, by socage or by burgage, and holds land  of someone else by knight service, we will not, by virtue of that fee-farm,  socage or burgage, have wardship of his heir or of land of his that belongs to  the fief of another; nor will we have custody of that fee-farm or socage or  burgage unless --such fee-farm owes knight service. We will not have custody  of the heir or land of anyone who holds of another by knight service, by  virtue of any petty sergeanty which he holds of us by the service of rendering  to us knives or arrows or the like.

 

38. Henceforth no bailiff shall put anyone on trial by his own unsupported  allegation, without bringing credible witnesses to the charge.

 

39. No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised

 

or outlawed or  exiled or in any way ruined, nor will we go or send against him, except by the  lawful judgement 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 are to be safe and secure in leaving and entering England,  and in staying and travelling in England, both by land and by water, to buy  and sell free from all maletotes by the ancient and rightful customs, except,  in time of war, such as come from an enemy country. And if such are found in  our land at the outbreak of war they shall be detained without damage to their  persons or goods, until we or our chief justiciar know how the merchants of  our land are treated in the enemy country; and if ours are safe there, the  others shall be safe in our land.

 

42. Henceforth anyone, saving his allegiance due to us, may leave our realm  and return safe and secure by land and water, save for a short period in time  of war on account of the general interest of the realm and excepting those  imprisoned and outlawed according to the law of the land, and natives of an  enemy country, and merchants, who shall be treated as aforesaid.

 

43. If anyone dies who holds of some escheat such as the honours of  Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne or Lancaster, or of other escheats which are  in our hands and are baronies, his heir shall not give any relief or do any  service to us other than what he would have done to the baron if that barony  had been in a baron's hands; and we shall hold it in the same manner as the  baron held it.

 

44. Henceforth men who live outside the forest shall not come before our  justices of the forest upon a general summons, unless they are impleaded or  are sureties for any person or persons who are attachcd for forest offences.

 

45. We will not make justices, constables, sheriffs or bailiffs who do not  know the law of the land and mean to observe it well.

 

46. All barons who have founded abbeys of which they have charters of the  kings of England, or ancient tenure, shall have custody thereof during  vacancies, as they ought to have.

 

47. All forests which have been afforested in our time shall be dis-afforested  at once; and river banks which we have enclosed in our time shall be treated  similarly.

 

48. All evil customs of forests and warrens, foresters and warreners, sheriffs  and their servants, river banks and their wardens are to be investigated at  once in every county by twelve sworn knights of the same county who are to be  chosen by worthy men of the county, and within forty days of the inquiry they  are to be abolished by them beyond recall, provided that we, or our justiciar,  if we are not in England, first know of it.

 

49. We will restore at once all hostages and charters delivered to us by  Englishmen as securities for peace or faithful service.

 

50. We will dismiss completely from their offices the relations of Gerard  d'Athee that henceforth they shall have no office in England, Engelard de  Cigogne, Peter and Guy and Andrew de Chanceux, Guy de Cigogne, Geoffrey de  Martigny with his brothers, Philip Marc with his brothers and his nephew, 

 

Geoffrey, and all their followers.

 

51. Immediately after concluding peace, we will remove from the kingdom all  alien knights, crossbowmen, sergeants and mercenary soldiers who have come  with horses and arms to the hurt of the realm.

 

52. If anyone has been disseised or deprived by us without lawful judgement of  his peers of lands, castles, liberties or his rights we will restore them to  him at once; and if any disagreement arises on this, then let it be settled by  the judgement of the Twenty-Five barons referred to below in the security  clause. But for all those things of which anyone was disseised or deprived  without lawful judgement of his peers by King Henry our father, or by King  Richard our brother, which we hold in our hand or which are held by others  under our warranty, we shall have respite for the usual crusader's term;  excepting those cases in which a plea was begun or inquest made on our order  before we took the cross; when, however, we retum from our pilgrimage, or if  perhaps we do not undertake it, we will at once do full justice in these  matters.

 

53. We shall have the same respite, and in the same manner, in doing justice  on disafforesting or retaining those forests which King Henry our father or  Richard our brother afforested, and concerning custody of lands which are of  the fee of another, the which wardships we have had hitherto by virtue of a  fee held of us by knight's service, and concerning abbeys founded on fees  other than our own, in which the lord of the fee claims to have a right. And  as soon as we retum, or if we do not undertake our pilgrimage, we will at once  do full justice to complainants in these matters.

 

54. No one shall be taken or imprisoned upon the appeal of a woman for the  death of anyone except her husband.

 

55. All fines which were made with us unjustly and contrary to the law of the  land, and all amercements imposed unjustly and contrary to the law of the  land, shall be completely remitted or else they shall be settled by the  judgement of the Twenty-Five barons mentioned below in the security clause, or  by the judgement of the majority of the same, along with the aforesaid  Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and others whom he  wishes to summon with him for this purpose. And if he cannot be present the  business shall nevertheless proceed without him, provided that if any one or  more of the aforesaid Twenty-Five barons are in such a suit they shall stand  down in this particular judgemcnt, and shall be replaced by others chosen and  sworn in by the rest of the same Twenty-Five, for this case only.

 

56. If we have disseised or deprived Welshmen of lands, liberties or other  things without lawful judgement of their peers, in England or in Wales, they  are to be returned to them at once; and if a dispute arises over this it shall  be settled in the March by judgement 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 March according to the law of the March. The  Welsh are to do the same to us and ours.

 

57. For all those things, however, of which any Welshman has been disseised or  deprived without lawful judgement of his peers by King Henry our father, or  King Richard our brother, which we have in our possession or which others hold  under our legal warranty, we shall have respite for the usual crusader's term;  excepting those cases in which a plea was begun or inquest made on our order  before we took the cross. However, when we retum, or if perhaps we do not go  on our pilgrimage, we will at once give them full justice in accordance with  the laws of the Welsh and the aforesaid regions.

 

58. We will restore at once the son of Llywelyn and all the hostages from  Wales and the charters delivered to us as security for peace.

 

59. We will treat Alexander, King of the Scots, concerning the return of his  sisters and hostages and his liberties and rights in the same manner in which  we will act towards our other barons of England, unless it ought to be  otherwise because of the charters which we have from William his father,  formerly King of the Scots; and this shall be determined by the judgement of  his peers in our court.

 

60. All these aforesaid customs and liberties which we have granted to be held  in our realm as far as it pertains to us towards our men, shall be observed by  all men of our realm, both clerk and lay, as far as it pertains to them,  towards their own men.

 

61. Since, moreover, we have granted all the aforesaid things for God, for the  reform of our realm and the better settling of the quarrel which has arisen  between us and our barons, and since we wish these things to be enjoyed fully  and undisturbed, we give and grant them the following security: namely, that  the barons shall choose any twenty-five barons of the realm they wish, who  with an their might are to observe, maintain and cause to be observed the  peace and liberties which we have granted and confirmed to them by this our  present charter; so that if we or our justiciar or our bailiffs or any of our  servants offend against anyone in any way, or transgress any of the articlcs  of peace or security, and the offence is indicated to four of the aforesaid  twenty-five barons, those four barons shall come to us or our justiciar, if we  are out of the kingdom, and shall bring it to our notice and ask that we will  have it redressed without delay. And if we, or our justiciar, should we be out  of the kingdom, do not redress the offence within forty days from the time  when it was brought to the notice of us or our justiciar, should we be out of  the kingdom, the aforesaid four barons shall refer the case to the rest of the  twenty-five barons and those twenty-five barons with the commune of all the  land shall distrain and distress us in every way they can, namely by seizing  castles, lands and possessions, and in such other ways as they can, saving our  person and those of our queen and of our children until, in their judgement,  amends have been made; and when it has been redressed they are to obey us as  they did before. And anyone in the land who wishes may take an oath to obey  the orders of the said twenty-five barons in the execution of all the  aforesaid matters, and to join with them in

 

distressing us to the best of his  ability, and we publicly and freely permit anyone who wishes to take the oath,  and we will never forbid anyone to take it. Moreover we shall compel and order  all those in the land who of themselves and of their own free will are  unwilling to take an oath to the twenty-five barons to distrain and distress  us with them, to take the oath as aforesaid. And if any of the twenty-five  barons dies or leaves the country or is otherwise prevented from discharging  these aforesaid duties, the rest of the aforesaid barons shall on their own  decision choose another in his place, who shall take the oath in the same way  as the others. In all matters the execution of which is committed to those  twenty-five barons, if it should happen that the twenty-five are present and  disagree among themselves on anything, or if any of them who has been summoned  will not or cannot come, whatever the majority of those present shall provide  or order is to be taken as fixed and settled as if the whole twenty-five had  agreed to it; and the aforesaid twenty-five are to swear that they will  faithfully observe all the aforesaid and will do all they can to secure its  observance. And we will procure nothing from anyone, either personally or  through another, by which any of these concessions and liberties shall be  revoked or diminished; and if any such thing is procured, it shall be null and  void, and we will never use it either ourselves or through another.

 

62. And we have completely remitted and pardoned to all any ill will, grudge  and rancour that have arisen between us and our subjects, clerk and lay, from  the time of the quarrel. Moreover we have fully forgiven and completely  condoned to all, clerk and lay as far as pertains to us, all offences  occasioned by the said quarrel from Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign  to the conclusion of peace. And more-over we have caused letters patent of the  Lord Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Henry, Archbishop of Dublin,  the aforesaid bishops and Master Pandulf to be made for them on this security  and the aforesaid concessions.

 

63. Wherefore we wish and firmly command that the English Church shall be  free, and the men in our realm shall have and hold all the aforesaid  liberties, rights and concessions well and peacefully, freely and quietly,  fully and completely for them and their heirs of us and our heirs in all  things and places for ever, as is aforesaid. Moreover an oath has been sworn,  both on our part and on the part of the barons, that all these things  aforesaid shall be observed in good faith and without evil intent. Witness the  above-mentioned and many others. Given under 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.

 

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