1215
                                  MAGNA CARTA
                                       OR
                         THE GREAT CHARTER OF KING JOHN
                         GRANTED JUNE 15TH, A. D. 1215,
                     IN THE SEVENTEENTH YEAR OF HIS REIGN.

  John, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of
Normandy and Aquitaine, and Earl of Anjou, to his Archbishops,
Bishops, Abbots, Earls, Barons, Justiciaries, Foresters, Sheriffs,
Governors, Officers, and to all Bailiffs, and his faithful subjects, -
Greeting.

  Know ye, that We, in the presence of God, and for the salvation of
our own soul, and of the souls of all our ancestors, and of our heirs,
to the honor of God, and the exaltation of the Holy Church and
amendment of our Kingdom, by the counsel of our venerable fathers,
Stephen Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, and Cardinal
of the Holy Roman Church, Henry Archbishop of Dublin, William of
London, Peter of Winchester, Joceline of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh of
Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of Coventry, and Benedict of
Rochester, Bishops; Master Pandulph our Lord the Pope's Subdeacon
and familiar, Brother Almeric, Master of the Knights-Templars in
England, and of these noble persons, William Mareschal Earl of
Pembroke, William Earl of Salisbury, William Earl of Warren, William
Earl of Arundel, Alan de Galloway Constable of Scotland, Warin
Fitz-Gerald, Hubert de Burgh Seneschal of Poictou, Peter Fitz-Herbert,
Hugh de Nevil, Matthew Fitz-Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset,
Philip de Albiniac, Robert de Roppel, John Mareschal, John
Fitz-Hugh, and others our liegemen; have in the First place granted to
God, and by this our present Charter, have confirmed, for us and our
heirs for ever:

  (1) That the English Church shall be free, and shall have her
whole rights and her liberties inviolable; and we will this to be
observed in such a manner, that it may appear from thence, that the
freedom of elections, which was reputed most requisite to the
English Church, which we granted, and by our Charter confirmed, and
obtained the Confirmation of the same, from our Lord Pope Innocent the
Third, before the rupture between us and our Barons, was of our own
free will: which Charter we shall observe, and we will it to be
observed with good faith, by our heirs for ever.
  We have also granted to all the Freemen of our Kingdom, for us and
our heirs for ever, all the underwritten Liberties, to be enjoyed
and held by them and by their heirs, from us and from our heirs.

  (2) If any of our Earls or Barons, or others who hold of us in chief
by military service, shall die, and at his death his heir shall be
of full age, and shall owe a relief, he shall have his inheritance
by the ancient relief; that is to say, the heir or heirs of an Earl, a
whole Earl's Barony for one hundred pounds: the heir or heirs of a
Baron for a whole Barony, by one hundred pounds; the heir or heirs
of a Knight, for a whole Knight's Fee, by one hundred shillings at
most: and he who owes less, shall give less, according to the
ancient custom of fees.

  (3) But if the heir of any such be under age, and in wardship,
when he comes to age he shall have his inheritance without relief
and without fine.

  (4) The warden of the land of such heir who shall be under age,
shall not take from the lands of the heir any but reasonable issues,
and reasonable customs, and reasonable services, and the without
destruction and waste of the men or goods, and if we commit the
custody of any such lands to a Sheriff, or any other person who is
bound to us for the issues of them and he shall make destruction or
waste upon the ward- lands we will recover damages from him and the
lands shall be committed to two lawful and discreet men of that fee,
who shall answer for the issues to us, or to him to whom we have
assigned them.  And if we shall give or sell to any one the custody of
any such lands, and he shall make destruction or waste upon them, he
shall lose the custody; and it shall be committed to two lawful and
discreet men of that fee, who shall answer to us in like manner as
it is said before.

  (5) But the warden, as long as he hath the custody of the lands,
shall keep up and maintain the houses, parks, warrens, ponds, mills,
and other things belonging to them, our of their issues; and shall
restore to the heir when he comes of full age, his whole estate,
provided with ploughs and other implements of husbandry, according
as the time of Wainage shall require, and the issues of the lands
can reasonably afford.

  (6) Heirs shall be married without disparagement, so that before the
marriage be contracted, it shall be notified to the relations of the
heir by consanguinity.

  (7) A widow, after the death of her husband, shall immediately,
and without difficulty have her marriage and her inheritance; nor
shall she give any thing for her dower, or for her marriage, or for
her inheritance, which her husband and she held at the day of his
death:  and she may remain in her husband's house forty days after his
death, within which time her dower shall be assigned.

  (8) No widow shall be compelled to marry herself, while she is
willing to live without a husband; but yet she shall give security
that she will not marry herself without our consent, if she hold of
us, or without the consent of the lord of whom she does hold, if she
hold of another.