The Magna Carta

Anonymous

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781443446396
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

The Magna Carta, or "The Great Charter of the Liberties" is one of the most important historical documents in English history and serves as a philosophical basis for democratic monarchy and civil liberties. The charter was originally drafted in response to a political crisis during the reign of King John who faced opposition from the church and from a group of rebellious barons. The Magna Carta placed restrictions on the monarch and provided an important precedent in suggesting that the king, like everyone else, was subject to the laws of the land. Though the Magna Carta was nullified shortly after it was signed into law in 1215, it continued to influence the philosophies on which the English and American political systems are based.

HarperTorch brings great works of non-fiction and the dramatic arts to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperTorch collection to build your digital library.

The Text of Magna Carta

John, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to his archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his officials and loyal subjects, greeting.

Know that before God, for the health of our soul and those of our ancestors and heirs, to the honour of God, the exaltation of the Holy Church, and the better ordering of our kingdom, at the advice of our reverend fathers Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, and cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Henry Archbishop of Dublin, William Bishop of London, Peter Bishop of Winchester, Jocelin Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh Bishop of Lincoln, Walter Bishop of Worcester, William Bbishop of Coventry, Benedict Bishop of Rochester, Master Pandulf Subdeacon and member of the papal household, Brother Aymeric Master of the Knighthood of the Temple in England, William Marshal Earl of Pembroke, William Earl of Salisbury, William Earl of Warren, William Earl of Arundel, Alan de Galloway Constable of Scotland, Warin Fitz Gerald, Peter Fitz Herbert, Hubert de Burgh Seneschal of Poitou, Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip Daubeny, Robert de Roppeley, John Marshal, John Fitz Hugh, and other loyal subjects:

(1) First, that we have granted to God, and by this present charter have confirmed for us and our heirs in perpetuity, that the English Church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its liberties unimpaired. That we wish this so to be observed, appears from the fact that of our own free will, before the outbreak of the present dispute between us and our barons, we granted and confirmed by charter the freedom of the Church’s elections—a right reckoned to be of the greatest necessity and importance to it—and caused this to be confirmed by Pope Innocent III. This freedom we shall observe ourselves, and desire to be observed in good faith by our heirs in perpetuity. To all free men of our kingdom we have also granted, for us and our heirs forever, all the liberties written out below, to have and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs.

(2) If any earl, baron, or other person that holds lands directly of the Crown, for military service, shall die, and at his death his heir shall be of full age and owe a ‘relief,’ the heir shall have his inheritance on payment of the ancient scale of ‘relief.’ That is to say, the heir or heirs of an earl shall pay £100 for the entire earl’s barony, the heir or heirs of a knight 100s at most for the entire knight’s ‘fee,’ and any man that owes less shall pay less, in accordance with t...

Table of contents

• CONTENTS
• Text of The Magna Carta
• About the Author
• About the Series
• Copyright
• About the Publisher