Magna Carta

by Dan Jones

  61 Since we have granted all these things for God and for the correction of our kingdom, and for the better settlement of the discord that has arisen between us and our barons, wishing these things to be enjoyed with full and firm stability in perpetuity, we make and grant them the following security: namely, that the barons are to choose twenty-five barons of the realm, whoever they wish, who with all their strength should observe, uphold and cause to be observed the peace and liberties which we have granted to them and confirmed to them in this present charter, so that if we or our justiciar, or our bailiffs, or any other of our officers shall in any way offend against anyone, or transgress against any of the articles of peace or security, and the offence has been shown to four of the said twenty-five barons, those four are to go to us, or our justiciar if we are out of the kingdom, setting forth the offence and demand that it be set right without delay. And if within the space of forty days of being shown the offence, we do not set right or if we are out of the realm, our justiciar does not set it right, the said four barons are to refer the case to the rest of the twenty-five barons, and those twenty-five barons, with the community of the whole realm shall distrain and distress us in all ways possible, by taking castles, lands, possessions and in any other ways they can, until it has been put right in accordance with their judgment, saving our person and the persons of our queen and children. And once redress has been made let them obey us as they did before. And whoever of the land wishes may swear that he will obey the orders of the said twenty-five barons and with them distress us as much as he can, and we publicly and freely give permission to swear to whoever wishes to do so, and we will never prohibit anyone from swearing. Furthermore we will compel all those of the land who do not wish to swear with the twenty-five barons to distrain and distress us with them to swear as has been said. And if any of the twenty-five barons should die, or leave the land, or is in any other way prevented from doing his duties as previously mentioned, the remainder of the aforementioned twenty-five barons are to elect another in his place, by their own discretion, who will be sworn in the same manner as the rest. Furthermore, in everything that has been entrusted to the twenty-five barons to undertake, if it should happen that the twenty-five are present and disagree among themselves on anything, or if any of them, having been summoned, will not or cannot attend, whatever the majority of those present shall provide or command shall be considered as fixed and binding, as if all the twenty-five had agreed to it. And the aforementioned twenty-five swear that they will faithfully observe all the aforesaid and cause it to be observed to their fullest ability. And we will ask nothing of anyone, either ourselves or through anyone else, through which any of these grants and liberties shall be revoked or diminished. And if any such thing shall be obtained, let it be null and void and we will never make use of it, through ourselves or through anyone else.

  62 Et omnes malas voluntates, indignationes, et rancores, ortos inter nos et homines nostros, clericos et laicos, a tempore discordiae, plene omnibus remisimus et condonavimus. Praeterea omnes trangressiones factas occasione ejusdem discordiae, a Pascha anno regni nostri sextodecimo usque ad pacem reformatam, plene remisimus omnibus, clericis et laicis, et quantum ad nos pertinet plene condonavimus. Et insuper fecimus eis litteras testimoniales patentes domini Stephani Cantuariensis archiepiscopi, domini Henrici Dublinensis archiepiscopi, et episcoporum praedictorum et magistri Pandulfi, super securitate ista et concessionibus praefatis.

  62 And we have fully remitted and pardoned all ill-will, indignation and rancour that has arisen between us and our men, clergy and laity, during the time of discord. Moreover, we have fully remitted to all men, clergy and laity, all the trangressions committed as the result of that discord between Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign until the establishment of peace, and as far as we are concerned, they are completely forgiven. And in addition we have had letters patent made by Lord Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Henry, Archbishop of Dublin, and the aforesaid bishops, and Master Pandulf testifying to this security and the aforesaid grants.

  63 Quare volumus et firmiter praecipimus quod Anglicana ecclesia libera sit et quod homines in regno nostro habeant et teneant omnes praefatas libertates, jura, et concessiones, bene et in pace, libere et quiete, plene et integre, sibi et haeredibus suis, de nobis et haeredibus nostris, in omnibus rebus et locis, in perpetuum, sicut praedictum est. Juratum est autem tam ex parte nostra quam ex parte baronum, quod haec omnia supradicta bona fide et sine malo ingenio observabuntur. Testibus supradictis et multis aliis. Data per manum nostram in prato quod vocatur Ronimed, inter Windlesoram et Stanes, quinto decimo die Junii, anno regni nostri decimo septimo.

  63 Wherefore we wish and firmly command that the English Church shall be free and that men in our kingdom have and hold all the aforesaid liberties, rights and grants, well and in peace, freely and quietly, fully and completely, for themselves and their heirs of us and our heirs, in all things and in all places, in perpetuity as has been said. This has been sworn to both on our behalf and on behalf of the barons, that all the previously mentioned things shall be observed in good faith and without evil intent. Witnessed by the above-mentioned and many others. Given by our hand in the meadow called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June, in the seventeenth year of our reign.

  The global phenomenon of Magna Carta. This is a 1297 copy of Magna Carta, one of four surviving copies, which was bought by Australia’s government from an English school in 1952 (price: £12,500). It is now proudly displayed in Parliament House, Canberra. Certain clauses of the 1215 charter – principally 39 and 40 – have been used as the basis for constitutions in countries across the English-speaking world.

  The 1823 facsimile of the American Declaration of Independence of 4 July 1776, whereby the thirteen rebellious colonies threw down the gauntlet against what was perceived as the British monarch’s attempt to impose an ‘absolute Tyranny’. It is perhaps unsurprising that in the United States Magna Carta is considered a precursor to the Declaration. Yet there are more differences than similarities – and while the Declaration spoke in the collected voices of the rebels, who famously signed their names, Magna Carta was ostensibly the king’s singular voice, authorized under his seal.

  Magna Carta – a multimillion dollar legacy. In 2007 this rarity, one of the four surviving 1297 copies of Magna Carta, came up for sale. It was duly bought by American businessman David Rubenstein for $21.3 million and later loaned to the US National Archives for public display. If the modern understanding of Magna Carta is often at odds with its reality, and its relevance to modern laws and life is questionable, the continued reverence for its historical place in the relations between those who govern and those who are governed endures.

  *1 ‘Holding in chief’ – i.e. as tenant-in-chief, holding land directly from the Crown.

  *2 ‘Men of the fee’ – men connected to the land in question.

  *3 ‘Novel disseizin, mort d’ancestor and darrein presentment’ – common legal procedures initiated by writs of Chancery, all connected with ownership of property.

  *4 ‘(Chief) Justiciar’ – the principal royal servant in legal and political matters, effectively a chief minister, sometimes regent.

  *5 ‘Hundreds, wapentakes and ridings’ – administrative subdivisions of counties or shires, with their origins in Anglo-Saxon times; ‘farms’ – fixed sums of money due annually in taxation from an area of land.

  *6 ‘Fee-farm, socage or burgage’ – different forms of feudal tenure (where payments or military services are owed to the king in return for possession of land).

  *7 ‘Escheat’ – land that reverted to its lord if the tenant were to die without an heir.

  *8 This group represented the only people to be condemned specifically by name in Magna Carta: the foreign mercenary captain Gerard d’Athée and his relatives had been rewarded for their service to John with high office in England and favour at court.

  Appendix II

  T
he Men of Magna Carta

  When Magna Carta was issued in June 1215, twenty-seven men were named in the preamble as follows (and in this order), as having advised the king on its composition. These men were effectively the witnesses to the charter. Most of them had a history of loyal service to the king, which highlights the fact that the charter was granted explicitly to the king’s faithful subjects, and its privileges were to be withheld from his enemies.

  SMALL CAPITALS indicate cross-references.

  Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury,

  Primate of All England and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church

  (?1160–1228)

  A famous scholar and theologian, Stephen Langton laid the foundations for English canon-law procedure. He was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Pope Innocent III in 1207, but this caused a major rupture between the pope and King John, resulting in the pope excommunicating John and placing England under Interdict. Langton did not take office until 1213. Although he is often considered the author of Magna Carta, Langton’s role was probably more as mediator between the king and the barons, although the prominence given to its Church-related matters is doubtless down to him. When Innocent ordered Magna Carta annulled in 1215 and excommunicated the barons who would not accede, Langton refused to publish the excommunications. He was then suspended and forced out of England until 1216, when both Innocent III and John died. He resumed his position as archbishop until his death in 1228.

  Henry, Archbishop of Dublin (d.1228)

  Henry of London was one of the most important and controversial archbishops of Dublin in the thirteenth century. A close ally of King John, he ensured the loyalty of the Irish barons to the Crown. He exerted very strong power in the administration of Ireland and often aroused complaints for obstructing secular justice. Eventually in 1224 King Henry III replaced him with William Marshal the Younger (see Appendix III). Henry of London died in 1228 and was buried in the Cathedral Church of Holy Trinity, Dublin.

  William, Bishop of London (d.1224)

  A Norman churchman admitted to the service of King Henry II before 1182, William de Sainte-Mère-Église became one of the Plantagenet regime’s most trusted servants. He followed Richard I to England and obtained the diocese of London. He was appointed special counsellor under King John, but he was exiled between 1208 and 1213 for taking the side of the pope in the fight over the Archbishopric of Canterbury. After John’s death, he was a counsellor to Henry III, before retiring in 1221. He died three years later at St Osyth, Essex.

  Peter, Bishop of Winchester (d.1238)

  Born in Touraine, northern France, Peter des Roches was a long-time associate and servant of the Plantagenet dynasty. He was one of only two bishops to remain loyal to King John during the dispute with Pope Innocent III and the period of the Interdict, and he served as guardian to the king’s eldest son, Henry. He would retain a close relationship with Henry when he succeeded as king, but he became embroiled in a long-running dispute with another royal servant, HUBERT DE BURGH. As justiciar, des Roches overrode numerous legal processes, which were viewed as breaches of Magna Carta and which caused a baronial revolt. In April 1234 Henry III ordered him to leave court. He died four years later at Farnham, Surrey. His heart was buried at Waverley Abbey, the rest of his body in Winchester Cathedral.

  Jocelin, Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury (d.1242)

  A royal clerk and a canon, Jocelin of Wells was one of John’s main advisers during the dispute with Pope Innocent III over the appointment of STEPHEN Langton to the Archbishopric of Canterbury. After John’s excommunication he sided with Langton and the barons, but together with PETER des Roches he anointed King Henry III and helped him to restore the crown’s possessions. He was the brother of HUGH, BISHOP OF LINCOLN.

  Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln (d.1235)

  The brother of JOCELIN, Hugh of Wells served as a royal administrator until 1209, when he was elected Bishop of Lincoln. The election aroused papal suspicions of undue royal influence and STEPHEN Langton was appointed to investigate, causing a delay in Hugh’s consecration. After King John was excommunicated, Hugh went into exile in France, where he remained until 1213. He was later employed by King Henry III to negotiate with Louis VIII.

  Walter, Bishop of Worcester (d.1255)

  Walter de Gray was one of the closest supporters of King John, who appointed him chancellor at a very young age. He was instrumental in delaying the papal bill of excommunication. As thanks for his good work in this matter he was elected Archbishop of York in 1215. During the Barons’ War of 1215–17 he raised mercenaries from abroad on the king’s behalf, and he remained prominent well into the reign of Henry III, working energetically both as churchman and diplomat.

  William, Bishop of Coventry (d.1223)

  Raised in London, William de Cornhill made his way into royal administration via the service of Henry II and remained a faithful servant of John, serving variously as judge, chamberlain and tax collector. Tirelessly (but fruitlessly) he negotiated with both the Welsh rebels and the English barons before Runnymede. Following the king’s death, de Cornhill was also present at the Gloucester coronation of Henry III. He was remembered after his death as vir simplex et liberalis, fidelis regi et utilis regno: ‘a simple and generous man, faithful to the king and useful to the realm’.

  Benedict, Bishop of Rochester (d.1226)

  Benedict of Sawston was Preceptor of St Paul’s. It is possible that he studied in Paris under STEPHEN Langton, who recommended him for the election as Bishop of Rochester in December 1214. He was of greater service to the Crown after, rather than before, John’s death, serving as a judge in South-East England before being sent to France in 1225 as an ambassador to negotiate the peace settlement with Louis VIII.

  Master Pandulf, subdeacon and confidant of the lord pope (d.1226)

  Pandulf Verraccio, Bishop of Norwich, was born in Rome and went to England as a papal legate on the orders of Innocent III, to receive John’s submission following the Interdict. Pandulf subsequently remained close to the king, advising him during the conflict with the barons, among whom he was extremely unpopular thanks to his foreign background and offensively lavish habits. Highly active in the minority of Henry III, Pandulf was a crucial figure in the restoration of order following the Barons’ War of 1215–17. He left England in 1221 and died in Rome five years later.

  Brother Aymeric, Master of the Knights Templar in England (d.?1219)

  Aymeric de St Maur was Master of the Order of the Knights Templar in England. The Templars were a wealthy, powerful and highly protected order of crusading monks, who owned prominent property in London. Aymeric was a steady financial supporter of John, and the king actually stayed in the Temple for a time in 1215. Over the period 1203 to 1206 the Templars had lent the king money for the ransom of soldiers captured in France and for mercenaries. In return, the king made several gifts to the Order, including the Isle of Lundy. Aymeric probably died in 1219, when he was succeeded by Alan Marcel.

  William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke (c.1146–1219)

  One of the most famous knights not only of his day but of all time, William Marshal’s life was spent in the service of the Plantagenet family. Although he fell out with John during the king’s pursuit of the de Briouze family, Marshal (sometimes called ‘William the Marshal’) returned to the fold and remained a loyal supporter of the Crown, taking charge of the person of Henry III after John’s death and leading the war against Prince Louis of France, despite being around sixty years old at the time. A dramatic and highly self-serving 19,000-word Life of Marshal is, despite its obvious exaggerations and distortions, still one of the most enjoyable and interesting sources for this period of English history.