Magna Carta 6

Magna Carta 6

2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding of us in chief by

military service 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 baroncy of an earl by L100; the heir or heirs of a

baron, L100 for a whole barony; the heir 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 services, 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 lose 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 houses, 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 season 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 house 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 security not to

marry without our consent, if she holds of us, or without the consent

of the lord of whom she holds, if she holds of another.

 

9. Neither we nor our bailiffs will seize any land or rent for any

debt, as long as the chattels of the 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

deceased are left under age, necessaries shall be provided for them in

keeping with the holding of the deceased; and out of the residue the

debt shall be paid, reserving, however, service due to feudal lords;

in like manner let it be done touching debts due to others than Jews.

 

12. No scutage not aid shall be imposed on our kingdom, unless by

common counsel of our kingdom, except for ransoming our person, for

making our eldest son a knight, and for once marrying our eldest

daughter; and for these 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 counsel of the kingdom anent the

assessing of an aid (except in the three cases aforesaid) or of a

scutage, we will cause to be summoned the archbishops, bishops,

abbots, earls, and greater barons, severally by our letters; and we

will moveover cause 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 counsel of such as are

present, although not all who were summoned have come.

 

15. We will not for the future grant to anyone license 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 these occasions there shall be levied only a reasonable aid.

 

16. No one shall be distrained for performance of greater service 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 disseisin, of mort d'ancestor, and of darrein

presentment shall not be held elsewhere 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 send two justiciaries through

every county four times a year, who shall alone with four knights of

the county chosen 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 present 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.

 

20. A freeman shall not be amerced for a slight offense, except in

accordance with the degree of the offense; and for a grave offense he

shall be amerced in accordance with the gravity of the offense, yet

saving always his "contentment"; and a merchant in the same way,

saving his "merchandise"; and a villein shall be amerced in the same

way, saving his "wainage" if they have fallen into our mercy: and none

of the aforesaid amercements shall be imposed except by the oath of

honest men of the neighborhood.

 

21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced except through their peers,

and only in accordance with the degree of the offense.

 

22. A clerk shall not be amerced in respect of his lay holding except

after the manner of the others aforesaid; further, he shall not be

amerced in accordance with the extent of his ecclesiastical benefice.

 

23. No village or individual shall be compelled to make bridges at

river banks, except those who from of old were legally bound to do so.

 

24. No sheriff, constable, coroners, or others of our bailiffs, shall

hold pleas of our Crown.

 

25. All counties, hundred, wapentakes, and trithings (except our

demesne manors) shall remain at the old rents, and without any

additional payment.

 

26. If anyone holding of us a lay fief shall die, and our sheriff or

bailiff shall exhibit our letters patent of summons for a debt which

the deceased owed us, it shall be lawful for our sheriff or bailiff to

attach and enroll the chattels of the deceased, found upon the lay

fief, to the value of that debt, at the sight of law worthy men,

provided always that nothing whatever be thence removed until the debt

which is evident shall be fully paid to us; and the residue shall be

left to the executors to fulfill the will of the deceased; and if

there be nothing due from him to us, all the chattels shall go to the

deceased, saving to his wife and children their reasonable shares.

 

27. If any freeman shall die intestate, his chattels shall be

distributed by the hands of his nearest kinsfolk and friends, under

supervision of the Church, saving to every one the debts which the

deceased owed to him.

 

28. No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take corn or other

provisions from anyone without immediately tendering money therefor,

unless he can have postponement thereof by permission of the seller.

 

29. No constable shall compel any knight to give money in lieu of

castle-guard, when he is willing to perform it in his own person, or

(if he himself cannot do it from any reasonable cause) then by another

responsible man. Further, if we have led or sent him upon military

service, he shall be relieved from guard in proportion to the time

during which he has been on service because of us.

 

30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or other person, shall take the

horses or carts of any freeman for transport duty, against the will of

the said freeman.

 

31. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall take, for our castles or for any

other work of ours, wood which is not ours, against the will of the

owner of that wood.

 

32. We will not retain beyond one year and one day, the lands those

who have been convicted of felony, and the lands shall thereafter be

handed over to the lords of the fiefs.

 

33. All kydells for the future shall be removed altogether from Thames

and Medway, and throughout all England, except upon the seashore.

 

34. The writ which is called praecipe shall not for the future be

issued to anyone, regarding any tenement whereby a freeman may lose

his court.

 

35. Let there be one measure of wine throughout our whole realm; and

one measure of ale; and one measure of corn, to wit, "the London

quarter"; and one width of cloth (whether dyed, or russet, or

"halberget"), to wit, two ells within the selvedges; of weights also

let it be as of measures.

 

36. Nothing in future shall be given or taken for a writ of

inquisition of life or limbs, but freely it shall be granted,

and never denied.

 

37. If anyone holds of us by fee-farm, either by socage or by burage,

or of any other land by knight's service, we will not (by reason of

that fee-farm, socage, or burgage), have the wardship of the heir, or

of such land of his as if of the fief of that other; nor shall we have

wardship of that fee-farm, socage, or burgage, unless such fee-farm

owes knight's service. We will not by reason of any small serjeancy

which anyone may hold of us by the service of rendering to us knives,

arrows, or the like, have wardship of his heir or of the land which he

holds of another lord by knight's service.

 

38. No bailiff for the future shall, upon his own unsupported

complaint, put anyone to his "law", without credible witnesses brought

for this purposes.

 

39. No freemen shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or exiled or

in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him nor send upon 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 refuse or delay, right

or justice.

 

41. All merchants shall have safe and secure exit from England, and

entry to England, with the right to tarry there and to move about as

well by land as by water, for buying and selling by the ancient and

right customs, quit from all evil tolls, except (in time of war) such

merchants as are of the land at war with us. And if such are found in

our land at the beginning of the war, they shall be detained, without

injury to their bodies or goods, until information be received by us,

or by our chief justiciar, how the merchants of our land found in the

land at war with us are treated; and if our men are safe there, the others shall be safe in our land.