his faithful subjects, greeting. Know ye, that we, in the presence of God, and for the salvation of our soul, and the souls of all our ancestors and heirs, and unto the honour of God and the advancement of Holy Church, and amendment of our Realm, 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, of London; Peter, of Winchester; Jocelin, of Bath and Glastonbury; Hugh, of Lincoln; Walter, of Worcester; William, of Coventry; Benedict, of Rochester Bishops: of Master Pandulph, Sub-Deacon and Familiar of our Lord the Pope; Brother Aymeric, Master of the Note the Knights-Templars in England; and of the noble great inPersons, William Marescall, Earl of Pembroke; crease of the baronage William, Earl of Salisbury; William, Earl of between 1101 Warren; William, Earl of Arundel; Alan de Galloway, Constable of Scotland; Warin FitzGerald, Peter Fitz Herbert, and Hubert de Burgh, Seneschal of Poitou; Hugh de Neville, Matthew FitzHerbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip of Albiney, Robert de Roppell, John Mareschal, John FitzHugh, and others, our liegemen, have, in the first place, granted to God, and by this our present Charter confirmed, for us and our heirs for

and 1215.

The Church:
see Henry
I.'s Charter,
Art. I.

ever:

1. That the Church of England shall be free, and have her whole rights, and her liberties inviolable; and we will have them so observed that it may appear thence that the freedom of elections, which is reckoned chief and indispensable to the English Church, and which we granted and confirmed by our Charter, and obtained the confirmation of the same from our Lord the Pope Innocent III., before the discord between us and our barons, was granted of mere free will; which Charter we shall observe, and we do will it to be faithfully observed by our heirs for ever.

2. We also have granted to all the freemen of Reliefs: see our kingdom, for us and for our heirs for ever, all Henry I.'s Charter, Art. the underwritten liberties, to be had and holden by II. them and their heirs, of us and our heirs for ever: 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 Earl's or of an earl, for a whole earldom, by a hundred relief, £100. pounds; the heir or heirs of a baron, for a whole Knight's barony, by a hundred pounds; the heir or heirs of a relief, £5. knight, for a whole knight's fee, by a hundred shillings at most; and whoever oweth less shall give less, according to the ancient custom of fees.

Baron's

3. But if the heir of any such shall be under age, Wardship: and shall be in ward, when he comes of age he shall see Henry I.'s Charter, have his inheritance without relief and without fine. Art. III.

4. The keeper of the land of such an heir being under age, shall take of the land of the heir none but reasonable issues, reasonable customs, and reasonable services, and that without destruction and waste of his men and his goods; and if he commit the custody of any such lands to the sheriff, or any other who is answerable to us for the issues of the land, and he shall make destruction and waste of the lands which he hath in custody, we will take of him amends, and the land shall be committed to two lawful 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 sell or give to any one the custody of any such lands, and he therein make destruction or waste, he shall lose the same custody, which shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, who shall in like manner answer to us as aforesaid.

5. But the keeper, so long as he shall have the custody of the land, shall keep up the houses, parks, warrens, ponds, mills, and other things pertaining

See Henry
I.'s Charter,
Art. III.

The Jews were the king's bondsmen: this is

to the land, out of the issues of the same land; and shall deliver 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.

6. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, and so that before matrimony shall be contracted, those who are near in blood to the heir shall have notice.

7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall forthwith and without difficulty have her marriage and 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 mansion house of her husband forty days after his death, within which time her dower shall be assigned.

8. 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 hold of us; or without the consent of the lord of whom she holds, if she hold 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 pay the debt; nor shall the sureties of the debtor be distrained so long as the principal debtor has sufficient to pay the debt; and if the principal debtor shall fail in the payment of the debt, not having wherewithal to pay 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 for him, unless the principal debtor can show himself acquitted thereof against the said sureties.

10. If any one have borrowed anything of the Jews, more or less, and die before the debt be satisfied, there shall be no interest paid for that

debt, so long as the heir is under age, of whomso- the beginning of ever he may hold; and if the debt falls into our hands, we will only take the chattel mentioned in against Jews. the deed.

11. 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 of the deceased; and out of the residue the debt shall be paid, saving, however, the service due to the lords, and in like manner shall it be done touching debts due to others than the Jews.

12. No scUTAGE OR AID SHALL BE IMPOSED IN OUR KINGDOM, UNLESS BY THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF

legislation

OUR KINGDOM; except for ransoming our person, making our eldest son a knight, and once for marrying our eldest daughter; and for these there shall be paid no more than a reasonable aid. In Note the like manner it shall be concerning the aids of the liberty given 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 will and grant that all other cities and boroughs, and towns and ports, shall have all their liberties and free customs.

to London.

14. AND For holding THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF The aids

THE KINGDOM CONCERNING THE ASSESSMENT OF AIDS, given by citi

zens at this

EXCEPT IN THE THREE CASES AFORESAID, AND FOR time to the
THE ASSESSING OF SCUTAGES, WE SHALL CAUSE TO Barons
gained them
BE SUMMONED THE ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, ABBOTS, this clause,
EARLS, AND GREATER BARONS OF THE REALM, SIN- and became
GLY
the germ of
BY OUR LETTERS. AND FURTHERMORE, WE Parliament-
SHALL CAUSE TO BE SUMMONED GENERALLY, BY OUR ary represen-
tation in
SHERIFFS AND BAILIFFS, ALL OTHERS WHO HOLD
House of
OF US IN CHIEF, FOR A CERTAIN DAY, THAT IS TO Commons.
SAY, FORTY DAYS BEFORE THEIR MEETING AT LEAST,
AND TO A CERTAIN PLACE; AND IN ALL LETTERS OF
SUCH SUMMONS WE WILL DECLARE THE CAUSE OF

Note the principle of the government:

SUCH SUMMONS. 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 ereign,bound SUMMONED COME NOT.

An hereditary sov

to summon and consult a parliament of the whole realm.

Services.

The Ct. of Com. Pleas met at Westminster from this time on. Novel disseisin dispossession.

Mort d'ances

tor=

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

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

17. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be holden in some place certain.

18. Trials upon the Writs of Novel Disseisin, and of Mort d'ancestor, and of Darrein Presentment, shall not be taken but in their proper coundeath ties, and after this manner: We, or if we should of the ances- be out of the realm, our chief justiciary, will send tor; that is, two justiciaries through every county four times disputed suc- a year, who, with four knights of each county, chosen by the county, shall hold the said assizes Darrein Pre- in the county, on the day, and at the place ap

in cases of

cession to

land.

pointed.

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