also taken for the court, place, or time

at which the

size are

20. A freeman shall not be amerced for a small offence, but only according to the degree of the writs of Asoffence; and for a great crime according to the taken." heinousness of it, saving to him his contenement; These asand after the same manner a merchant, saving to sizes, though obsolete, him his merchandise. And a villein shall be were not anamerced after the same manner, saving to him his nulled until wainage, if he falls under our mercy; and none See Henry of the aforesaid amerciaments shall be assessed I.'s Charter, but by the oath of honest men in the neighbourhood.

about 1823.

Art. VIII. Contenement: "That by which a person subsists and which is essential to

his rank in life."

21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced Clauses 20but by their peers, and after the degree of the 21-22 were offence.

intended to prevent tyrannical

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

23. Neither a town nor any tenant shall be dis- Distrained = trained to make bridges or embankments, unless compelled. that anciently and of right they are bound to do it. 24. No sheriff, constable, coroner, or other our bailiffs, shall hold " Pleas of the Crown."

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

This article

marks an era in history of criminal law by securing trial of all serious

crimes before

King's
Justices.

Usually one third to the

wife and one third to the

VII.

26. If any one holding of us a lay fee die, and the sheriff, or our bailiffs, show our letters patent of summons for debt which the dead man did owe

heirs. See to us, it shall be lawful for the sheriff or our bailHenry I.'s Charter, Art. iff to attach and register the chattels of the dead, found upon his lay fee, to the amount of the debt, by the view of lawful men, so as nothing be removed until our whole clear debt be paid; and the rest shall be left to the executors to fulfil the testament of the dead; and if there be nothing due from him to us, all the chattels shall go to the use of the dead, saving to his wife and children their reasonable shares.

Confiscation

27. If any freeman shall die 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 to him.

28. No constable or bailiff of ours shall take corn or other chattels of any man unless he presently give him money for it, or hath respite of payment by the good-will of the seller.

29. No constable shall distrain any knight to give money for castle-guard, if he himself will do it in his person, or by another able man, in case he cannot do it through any reasonable cause. And if we have carried or sent him into the army, he shall be free from such guard for the time he shall be in the army by our command.

30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or any other, shall take horses or carts of any freeman for carriage, without the assent of the said freeman.

31. Neither shall we nor our bailiffs take any man's timber for our castles or other uses, unless by the consent of the owner of the timber.

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

of felons was

not wholly

abrogated until 1870.

33. All kydells (wears) for the time to come To prevent shall be put down in the rivers of Thames and private Medway, and throughout all England, except upon tion to fish

the sea-coast.

any tene

34. The writ which is called præcipe, for the future, shall not be made out to any one, of ment, whereby a freeman may lose his court. 35. 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 haberjeets, that is to say, two ells within the lists; and it shall be of weights as it is of measures.

appropria

36. NOTHING FROM HENCEFORTH SHALL BE GIVEN The basis of security for OR TAKEN FOR A WRIT OF INQUISITION OF LIFE OR Personal LIMB, BUT IT SHALL BE GRANTED FREELY, AND NOT Liberty and DENIED.

forerunner of Habeas Cor

pus, 1679.

by tenure of

37. If any do hold of us by fee-farm, or by socage, or by burgage, and he hold also lands of Socage= any other by knight's service, we will not have the lands held custody of the heir or land, which is holden of inferior another man's fee by reason of that fee-farm, office in husbandry. socage, or burgage; neither will we have the cusFormal tody of the fee-farm, or socage, or burgage, unless delivery of knight's service was due to us out of the same fee- some small farm. We will not have the custody of an heir, nor token of the weapon as a

of any land which he holds of another by knight's king's ownservice, by reason of any petty serjeanty by which ership of

land.

Law-i. e. his oath. See the Seal of the Supreme Court

he holds of us, by the service of paying a knife, an arrow, or the like.

38. No bailiff from henceforth shall put any man to his law upon his own bare saying, without credible witnesses to prove it.

39. No FREEMAN SHALL BE TAKEN OR IMPRISONED, OR DISSEISED, OR OUTLAWED, OR BANISHED, OR ANY of Massachu- 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.

setts.

This vital principle of personal liberty antedates Magna Charta, and was defined

more clearly

Called by Creasy the crowning

40. WE WILL SELL TO NO MAN, WE WILL NOT DENY TO ANY MAN, EITHER JUSTICE OR RIGHT.

41. All merchants shall have safe and secure in "Habeas conduct, to go out of, and to come into England, and Corpus," and to stay there and to pass as well by land as by Trial by Jury. water, for buying and selling by the ancient and allowed customs, without any unjust 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 nation at war with us; and if ours be safe there, the others shall be safe in our dominions.

glories of the Great Charter.

The trading class begins

to show

power at this time.

42. 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 alleSee Article giance 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 treated as is above mentioned.

41.

The return

of an estate to a lord, either on failure of

43. If any man hold of any escheat as of the honour of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats which be in our hands, and are baronies, and die, his heir shall give no other relief, and perform no other service to us than

issue or on

he would to the baron, if it were in the baron's tenant's hand; and we will hold it after the same manner as his committhe baron held it.

ting felony.

Charta, at

44. Those men who dwell without the forest from Before henceforth shall not come before our justiciaries of Magna the forest, upon common summons, but such as are tendance at impleaded, or as sureties for any that are attached the Forest for something concerning the forest.

45. We will not make any justices, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs, but of such as know the law of the realm and mean duly to observe it.

46. All barons who have founded abbeys, which they hold by charter from the kings of England, or by ancient tenure, shall have the keeping of them, when vacant, as they ought to have.

47. All forests that have been made forests in our time shall forthwith be disforested; and the same shall be done with the water-banks that have been fenced in by us in our time.

48. All evil customs concerning forests, warrens, foresters, and warreners, sheriffs and their officers, water-banks and their keepers, shall forthwith be inquired into in each county, by twelve sworn knights of the same county chosen by creditable persons of the same county; and within forty days after the said inquest be utterly abolished, so as never to be restored: so as we are first acquainted therewith, or our justiciary, if we should not be in England.

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

50. We will entirely remove from their bailiwicks the relations of Gerard de Atheyes, so that for the future 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;

Court was compulsory.