88 PROBLEM 12 A Milestone in Constitutional Government ‘Magno Charta is one of the most famous documents in all history. Written in 1218 by feudal borons and accepted ot the point of the sword by King John of England, this famous pact hat often been viewed as the source of almost Gil British freedoms. However, students of history should understand its limitations ond should be careful not to distort its meaning. ‘Magna Charta wes @ feudal document; in no sense did it signal the odvent of democracy in England. It came os the result of « long series of events Which revealed John 03 untrustworthy, cruel, and greedy. The English barons, hhaving inherited rights from their ancestors, resisted the king's attempts to violote these rights and run the country as he pleased. In forcing the king to sign the charter,-the nobles sought only specific remedies for particular abuses. ‘The chronological chart shows the major events of John’s reign. These ore divided into three categories, according to whether they were concerned with Franee, internol affairs (particularly taxation), or the Church, Study the Chart carefully before reading excerpts from Magna Charta itself, so thet you an place this document in its proper historical setting. Pay close attention to the following questions: 1 Was Magno Charto confined to granting privileges only to the barons? 2. What possible beginnings of constitutional government do you detect in these excerpts from Magna Charte? Can you find specific references that seem 10 auggett the following: (a) limitations on executive power; (b) no Taxation without representation; (c) trial by jury; (A) respect for property rights; (e) supremacy of notional law. ‘2 Whot seems most significant about Clause 61? Is ito clear-cut right to revolt? "4 Is it possible to discern from this reading the form of future parlia- mentary institutions? MAGNA CHARTA rom “teyna Coa (25) in Sources of EnglihCanttrion! Hix John, by the grace of God king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and of Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to his archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciars, foresters, sheriffs, reeves, ministers, and all his bailiffs and faithful men, greeting. Know that, through the inspiration of God, for the health of our soul and [the2 bn its 1? vet of 8, at, PROBLEM 12, 89 RELATIONS WITH FRANCE INTERNAL EVENTS CHURCH AFFAIRS 1199 John becomes King of England 1200 John acknowledges 1200 John offends English Philip Augustus of France barons by divorcing sa- fs overlord of his French bella of Gloucester. possessions. 1202 John angers French Robles ‘by. marrying bella of Angoule trothed to" one of French vassals. Philip Augustus deprives John of French lands for iis failure to do homage. 1208 John’s nephew mur- dered; John suspected. 1204 Philip. gains Nor. mandy from John. 1204-1206 John loses 1204-1206 Jor." lAnjou, 1205 John assesses duty 1205 Office of Archbishop Maine, ou isitany! to of 1/15 on exports and of Canterbury | becomes Philip. import. Vacant, Monks choose one ‘candidate; John, anoth Pope Innocent il refuses {0 recognize either 1207 Special tax of 1/13 1207 Special tax assessed levied on all movable on Church, property. Pope names stephen gto shop of Canterbury; John refuses ‘0 accept him. 1208 Pope places England Under interdict John seizes Church rev: 1209 John excommuni cated. 1210 Jews taxed £44,000. 12121213 Great inquiry 1213 Innocent asks Philip Uonductedinto feuds! Augustus to Invade Eng des. fang: John submits "to Pope and accepts him 25 feudal lord of England, ‘John recognizes Langton. Langton proposes reforms to check royal despotism. 1214 French defeat Eng: 1214 John levies heavy ish st Batic of Bouvines, scutage to pay for French expedition. 2015 Magna Chart% PROBLEM 12 souls] of all our ancestors and heirs, for the honour of God and the exaltation of Holy Church, and for the betterment of our realm, by the counsel of our venerable fathers . . . of our nobles . . . and of our other faithful men : 2. If any one of our earls or barons or other men holding of us in chief dies, and if when he dies his heir is of full age and owes relief [sum paid to the lord of an estate by an heir when the latter takes possession], [that heir] shall have his inheritance for the ancient relief: namely, the heir or heirs of an earl £100 for the whole barony of an earl; the heir or heirs of a baron £100 for a whole barony; the heir or heirs of a knight 100s, at most for a whole knight's fee [fief]. And let whoever owes less give less, according to the ancient custom of fiefs. « 1. Seutage [tax paid by tenant of a knight's fief, usually instead of military service] or aid shall be levied in our kingdom only by the common counsel of our kingdom, except for ransoming our body, for knighting our eldest son, and for once marrying our eldest daugh- ter; and for these [purposes] only a reasonable aid shall be taken. The same provision shall hold with regard to the aids of the city of London. 13. And the city of London shall have all its ancient liberties and free customs, both by land and by water. Besides we will and grant that all the other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall have all their liberties and free customs. 14. And in order to have the common counsel of the kingdom for assessing aid other than in the three cases aforesaid, or for assess- ing scutage, we will cause the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons to be summoned by our letters individually; and besides we will cause to be summoned in general through our sheriffs and bailiffs, all those who hold of us in chief—for a certain day, namely at the end of forty days at least, and to a certain place. And in all such letters of summons we will state the cause of the summons; and when the summons has thus been made, the business assigned for the day shall proceed according to the counsel of those who are present, although all those summoned may not come. 17, Common pleas [civil lawsuits] shall not follow our court, but shall be held in some definite place, 20. A freeman shall be amerced [fined] for a small offence only according to the degree of the offence; and for a grave offence he shall be amerced according to the gravity of the offence, saving his con- tenement [except for his land]. And a merchant shall be amerced inPROBLEM 12 a the same way, saving his merchandise; and a villein [serf] in the same way, saving his wainage [farm implements] —should they fall into our mercy. And none of the aforesaid amercements shall be imposed except by the oaths of good men from the neighbourhood. 28. No constable or other bailiff of ours shalll take grain or other chattels of anyone without immediate payment therefor in money, unless by the will of the seller he may secure postponement of that [payment]. . . 35. There shall be one measure of wine throughout our entire kingdom, and one measure of ale; also one measure of grain, namely, the quarter of London; and one width of dyed cloth, russet [cloth], and hauberk [cloth], namely, two yards between the borders. With weights, moreover, it shall be as with measures. 39. No freeman shall be captured or imprisoned or disseised [dispossessed] or outlawed or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor will we go ayainst him or send against him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. 40. To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice. 51, And immediately after the restoration of peace we will remove from the kingdom all alien knights, crossbowmen, serjeants, and mercenaries, who have come with horses and arms to the injury of the kingdom, 61. Since moreover for [the love of] God, for the improvement of our kingdom, and for the better allayment of the conflict that has arisen between us and our barons, we have granted all these [liber- ties] aforesaid, wishing them to enjoy those [liberties] by full and firm establishment forever, we have made and granted them the following security: namely, that the barons shall elect twenty-five barons of the kingdom, whomsoever they please, who to the best of their ability, should observe, hold, and cause to be observed the peace and liber- ties that we have granted to them and have confirmed by this our present charter; so that, specifically, if we or our justiciar or our bailiffs or any of our ministers are in any respect delinquent toward any one or transgress any article of the peace or the security, and if the delinquency is shown to four barons of the aforesaid twenty-five barons, those four barons shall come to us, or to our justiciar if we are out of the kingdom, to explain to us the wrong, asking that without delay we cause this wrong to be redressed. And if within a period of forty days, counted from the time that notification is made to us,2 PROBLEM 12 or to our justiciar if we are out of the kingdom, we do not redress the wrong, of, if we are out of the kingdom, our justiciar does not redress it, the four barons aforesaid shall refer that case to the rest of the ‘twenty-five barons, and those twenty-five barons, together with the community of the entire country, shall distress and injure us in all ways possible—namely, by capturing our castles, lands, and pos- sessions and in all ways that they can—until they secure redress according to their own decision, saving our person and [the person] of our queen and [the persons] of our children, And when redress has been made, they shall be obedient to us as they were before. . « And neither of ourself nor through others will we procure from any one anything whereby any of these concessions and liberties may be revoked or diminished; and should anything of the sort be pro- cured, it shall be null and void, and we will never make use of it either of ourself or through others. . . - 63. Wherefore we wish and straitly enjoin that the English Church shall be free and that the men in our kingdom shall have and hold all the aforesaid liberties, rights, and grants well and in peace, freely-and quietly, full and completely, for themselves and their heirs from us and our heirs, in all things and in all places for- ever, as aforesaid. Moreover, it has been sworn both on our part and ‘on the part of the barons that all the aforesaid [provisions] shall be observed in good faith and without malicious intent. . . - By the witness of the aforesaid men and of many others. Given by our hand in the meadow that is called Runnymede between Windsor and Staines, June 15, in the seventeenth year of our reign.