The Great Charter
The Original Version of this Text was
Rendered into HTML by Jon Roland
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Converted to PDF by Danny Stone
as a Community Service to the Constitution Society Abus by King John caud a revolt by nobles
who compelled him to execute this recognition of
rights for both noblemen and ordinary
Englishmen. It established the principle that no
one, including the king or a lawmaker, is above
the law.
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The Great Charter
Preamble: John, by the grace of God, king of
England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and
Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the archbishop,
bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, rvants, and to all his bailiffs and liege subjects, greetings. Know that,
having regard to God and for the salvation of our
soul, and tho of all our ancestors and heirs, and
unto the honor of God and the advancement of his
holy Church and for the rectifying of our realm, we have granted as underwritten by advice of our
venerable fathers, Stephen, archbishop of
Canterbury, primate of all England and cardinal of
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the holy Roman Church, Henry, archbishop of
Dublin, William of London, Peter of Winchester,
Jocelyn of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh of Lincoln,
Walter of Worcester, William of Coventry,
Benedict of Rochester, bishops; of Master Pandulf,
subdeacon and member of the houhold of our
lord the Pope, of brother Aymeric (master of the
Knights of the Temple in England), and of the
illustrious men William Marshal, earl of
Pembroke, William, earl of Salisbury, William,
earl of Warenne, William, earl of Arundel, Alan of Galloway (constable of Scotland), Waren Fitz
Gerold, Peter Fitz Herbert, Hubert De Burgh
大国大城The Magna Carta 2
(neschal of Poitou), Hugh de Neville, Matthew
Fitz Herbert, Thomas Bast, Alan Bast, Philip
d'Aubigny, Robert of Roppesley, John Marshal, John Fitz Hugh, and others, our liegemen.
1. In the first place we have granted to God, and by
this our prent charter confirmed for us and our
heirs forever that the English Church shall be free, and shall have her rights entire, and her liberties
inviolate; and we will that it be thus obrved;
古代时间的叫法which is apparent from this that the freedom of
elections, which is reckoned most important and
very esntial 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 aro between us and our barons: and this we will obrve, and our will is
that it be obrved in good faith by our heirs forever. 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 forever.
2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding of
us in chief by military rvice shall have died, and
at the time of his death his heir shall be full of age and owe "relief", he shall have his inheritance by
the old relief, to wit, the heir or heirs of an earl, for the whole barony of an earl by ￡100; the heir or
heirs of a baron, ￡100 for a whole barony; the heir
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or heirs of a knight, 100s, at most, and whoever
owes less let him give less, according to the
ancient custom of fees.
3. If, however, the heir of any one 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 reasonable produce, reasonable
customs, and reasonable rvices, 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 has made destruction or waster 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 that fee, 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 lo 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 hous,
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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 wainage, according as the ason of husbandry shall require, and the issues of the land can
reasonable 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 hou 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 curity not to marry without our connt, if she holds of us, or without the connt of the lord of whom she holds, if she holds
of another.
9. Neither we nor our bailiffs will ize any land or
rent for any debt, as long as the chattels of the
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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.
10. If one who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or small, die before that loan be repaid, the debt shall not bear interest while the heir is under age, of whomsoever he may hold; and if the debt fall into our hands, we will not take anything except the principal sum contained in the bond.
11. And if anyone die indebted to the Jews, his
wife shall have her dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if any children of the decead are left under age, necessaries shall be provided for them
in keeping with the holding of the decead; and out of the residue the debt shall be paid, rerving,
however, rvice due to feudal lords; in like manner let it be done touching debts due to others
wealth的形容词than Jews.人多的成语>遇见你是我的幸福
12. No scutage not aid shall be impod on our
弟子规图片kingdom, unless by common counl of our
The Magna Carta 6
kingdom, except for ransoming our person, for
making our eldest son a knight, and for once marrying our eldest daughter; and for the 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 it 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 counl of the
kingdom anent the asssing of an aid (except in the three cas aforesaid) or of a scutage, we will cau to be summoned the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons, verally by our letters; and we will moveover cau to be
summoned generally, through our sheriffs and bailiffs, and others who hold of us in chief, for a fixed date, namely, after the expiry of at least forty days, and at a fixed place; 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 proceed on the day appointed, according to the counl of such as are prent, although not all who were summoned
have come.
15. We will not for the future grant to anyone
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licen to take an aid from his own free tenants, except to ransom his person, to make his eldest son
a knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter; and on each of the occasions there shall be levied
only a reasonable aid.
16. No one shall be distrained for performance of greater rvice 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. Inquests of novel disisin, of mort d'ancestor,
and of darrein prentment shall not be held elwhere than in their own county courts, and that in manner following; We, or, if we should be out
of the realm, our chief justiciar, will nd two justiciaries through every county four times a year, who shall alone with four knights of the county
chon by the county, hold the said assizes in the county court, on the day and in the place of
meeting of that court.
19. And if any of the said assizes cannot be taken on the day of the county court, let there remain of the knights and freeholders, who were prent at
the county court on that day, as many as may be
required for the efficient making of judgments, according as the business be more or less.
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