John, by the grace of God, king of England,
lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the
archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciars, foresters, sheriffs,
stewards, servants, and to all his bailiffs and liege subjects, greeting. Know
that, having regard to God and for the salvation of our soul, and those of all
our ancestors and heirs, and unto the honor of God and the advancement of holy
church, and for the reform of our realm, by advice of our venerable fathers . .
.
1. In the first place we have granted to God,
and by this our present charter confirmed for us and our heirs for ever that
the English church shall be free, and shall have her rights entire, and her
liberties inviolate; and we will that it be thus observed; which is apparent
from this that the freedom of elections, which is reckoned most important and
very essential to the English church, we, of our pure and unconstrained will,
did grant, and did by our charter confirm and did obtain the ratification of
the same from our lord, Pope Innocent III., before the quarrel arose between us
and our barons: and this we will observe, and our will is that it be observed
in good faith by our heirs for ever. We have also granted to all freemen of our
kingdom, for us and our heirs forever, all the underwritten liberties, to be
had and held by them and their heirs, of us and our heirs for ever.
2. If any of our earls or barons, or others
holding of us in chief by military service shall have died, and at the time of
his death his heir shall 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, 100 pounds for a whole earl's barony; the heir or heirs of a baron,
100 pounds for a whole barony; the heir or heirs of a knight, 100 shillings at
most for a whole knight's fee; and whoever owes less let him give less,
according to the ancient custom of fiefs.
3. If, however, the heir of any of the
aforesaid has been under age and in wardship, let him have his inheritance
without relief and without fine when he comes of age.
4. The guardian of the land of an heir who is
thus under age, shall take from the land of the heir nothing but reasonably
produce, reasonable customs, and reasonable services, and that without destruction
or waste of men or goods; and if we have committed the wardship of the lands of
any such minor to the sheriff, or to any other who is responsible to us for its
issues, and he hasmade destruction or waste of what he holds in wardship, we
will take of him amends, and the land shall be committed to two lawful and
discreet men of thatfee, who shall be responsible for the issues to us or to
him to whom we shall assign them; and if we have given or sold the wardship of
any such land to anyone and he has therein made destruction or waste, he shall
lose that wardship, and it shall be transferred to two lawful and discreet men
of that fief, who shall be responsible to us in like manner as aforesaid.
5. The guardian, moreover, so long as he has
the wardship of the land, shall keep up the houses, parks, fishponds, stanks,
mills, and other things pertaining to the land, out of the issues of the same
land; and he shall restore to the heir, when he has come to full age, all his
land, stocked with ploughs and "waynage," according as the season of
husbandry shall require, and the issues of the land can reasonably bear.
6. Heirs shall be married without
disparagement, yet so that before the marriage takes place the nearest in blood
to that heir shall have notice.
7. A widow, after the death of her husband,
shall forthwith and without difficulty have her marriage portion and
inheritance; nor shall she give anything for her dower, or for her marriage
portion, or for the inheritance which her husband and she held on the day of
the death of that husband; and she may remain in the house of her husband for
forty days after his death, within which time her dower shall be assigned to
her.
8. No widow shall be compelled to marry, so
long as she prefers to live without a husband; provided always that she gives
security not to 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 shall seize
any land or rent for any 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 principal debtor is able to satisfy the debt; and if
the principal debtor shall fail to pay the debt, having nothing wherewith to
pay it, then the sureties shall answer for the debt; and let them have the
lands and rents of the debtor, if they desire them, until they are indemnified
for the debt which they have paid for him, unless the principal debtor can show
proof that he is discharged thereof as against the said sureties.
12. No scutage (tax) nor aid shall be imposed
on our kingdom, unless by common counsel of our kingdom, except for ransoming
our person [the king], for making our eldest son a knight, and for once
marrying our eldest daughter; and for these there shall not be levied more than
a reasonable aid. In like manner it shall be done concerning aids from 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; furthermore,
we decree and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall
have all their liberties and free customs.
14. And for obtaining the common counsel of
the kingdom anent the assessing of an aid (except in the three cases aforesaid)
or of a scutage, we will cause to be summoned the archbishops, bishops, abbots,
earls, and greater barons, severally by our letters; and we will moreover cause
to be summoned generally ,through our sheriffs and bailiffs, all others who
hold of us in chief, for a fixed date, namely, after the expiry of at least
forty days, and at a fixedplace; and in all letters of such summons we will
specify the reason of the summons. And when the summons has thus been made, the
business shall proceedon the day appointed, according to the counsel of such as
are present, although not all who were summoned have come.
15. We will not for the future grant to any
one license to take an aid from his own free tenants, except to ransom his
body, to make his eldest son a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter;
and on each of these occasions there shall be levied only a reasonable aid.
Text prepared by Seth Seyfried of the University of
Utah.
This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book.
The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts
related to medieval and Byzantine history.
Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is
copyright. Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print
form for educational purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the
document, indicate the source. No permission is granted for commercial use.
(c)Paul Halsall Feb 1996
halsall@murray.fordham.edu