The Magna Carta, sealed in 1215, was born out of rebellion, as England’s barons forced King John to curb his abuses of power. Here is a complete translation of this important medieval document.
The Magna Carta was created during a time of crisis, when King John’s heavy-handed rule and repeated failures—both in war and governance—provoked rebellion among England’s barons. Faced with a kingdom on the verge of civil war, the king agreed to a list of demands that sought to limit his authority, protect feudal rights, and establish principles of justice. Although annulled soon after, the charter became a powerful symbol of accountability and the rule of law.
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Here is the complete translation done by William Sharp McKechnie in his work Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John.
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, justiciars, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his bailiffs and loyal subjects, greeting.
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Know that we, out of reverence for God and for the salvation of our soul and the souls of all our ancestors and heirs, and for the exaltation of 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, bishop of Coventry; Benedict, bishop of Rochester; and Master Pandulf, subdeacon and member of the papal household; Brother Aymeric, master of the knighthood of the Temple in England; and of the noblemen William Marshal, earl of Pembroke; William, earl of Salisbury; William, earl of Warenne; William, earl of Arundel; Alan of Galloway, constable of Scotland; Warin fitz Gerold; Peter fitz Herbert; Hubert de Burgh, seneschal of Poitou; Hugh de Neville; Matthew fitz Herbert; Thomas Basset; Alan Basset; Philip d’Aubigny; Robert of Ropsley; John Marshal; John fitz Hugh; and others of our loyal subjects:
1. First, that we have granted to God, and by this present charter have confirmed, for us and our heirs for ever, 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 elections, which is reckoned most important and most necessary to the English Church. This we shall observe, and our will is that it shall be observed in 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 liberties written out below, to have and to hold, to them and their heirs, of us and our heirs:
2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding lands directly of us, for military service, shall have died, and at the time of 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 100 shillings at most for the entire knight’s fee, and any man that owes less shall pay less, in accordance with the ancient usage of fees.
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3. But if the heir of such a person is under age and a ward, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance without relief or fine.
4. The guardian of the land of an heir who is under age shall take from it only reasonable revenues, customary dues, and feudal services. He shall do this without destruction or damage to men or property. If we have given the guardianship of the land to a sheriff, or to any person answerable to us for the revenues, and he commits destruction or damage, we will compel him to give up the guardianship to two proper and lawful men of that fee, who shall be answerable to us for the revenues, or to the person to whom we have assigned them. And if we have sold or given away to anyone the wardship of any such land, and he has caused destruction or damage, he shall lose the wardship, which shall be handed over to two proper and lawful men of that fee, who shall be similarly answerable to us.
5. For as long as a guardian has wardship of such land, he shall maintain the houses, parks, fish preserves, ponds, mills, and everything else pertaining to it, from the revenues of the land itself. When the heir comes of age, he shall restore the whole inheritance to him, stocked with plough teams and such implements of husbandry as the season demands and the revenues from the land can reasonably bear.
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6. Heirs may be given in marriage, but not to someone of lower social standing. Before a marriage takes place, the nearest in blood to the heir shall be notified.
7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall immediately and without hindrance have her marriage portion and inheritance. She shall not pay any fine to exercise her dower, or for her marriage portion, or for her inheritance, and she may remain in her husband’s house for forty days after his death, within which period her dower shall be assigned to her.
8. No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as she wishes to remain without a husband, provided that she gives security not to marry without our consent, if she holds her lands of us, or without the consent of the lord of whom she holds her lands.
9. Neither we nor our officials will seize any land or rent in payment of a debt, so long as the debtor has movable goods sufficient to discharge the debt. A debtor’s sureties shall not be distrained upon so long as the debtor himself can discharge the debt. If the debtor, having nothing with which to pay, defaults on his debt, the sureties shall answer for it. If they so desire, they may have the debtor’s lands and rents, until they have received satisfaction for the debt that they have paid on his behalf, unless the debtor can show that he has settled his obligations to them.
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10. If anyone who has borrowed a sum of money from Jews dies before the debt has been repaid, his heir shall pay no interest on the debt for as long as he remains under age, irrespective of whom he holds. If such a debt falls into our hands, we will take nothing except the principal sum specified in the bond.
11. If a man dies owing money to Jews, his wife shall be entitled to her dower and may remain in the house, and the heir shall have his inheritance. No payment shall be demanded of him so long as the heir is under age.
12. No scutage nor aid shall be levied in our kingdom without its general consent, except for ransoming our person, for knighting our eldest son, and for once marrying our eldest daughter. For these purposes only a reasonable aid may be levied. Aids from the city of London are to be treated similarly.
13. The city of London shall enjoy all its ancient liberties and free customs, both by land and by water. We also will and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall enjoy all their liberties and free customs.
14. To obtain the general consent of the realm for the assessment of an aid—except in the three cases specified above—or a scutage, we will cause the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons to be summoned individually by letter. To the lesser barons, we will send a general summons through the sheriff. This shall be done on a fixed date, at least forty days in advance, and at a fixed place. In all letters of summons, the cause of the summons will be stated. When a summons has been issued, the business appointed for the day shall go forward in accordance with the resolution of those present, even if not all those who were summoned have appeared.
15. In future we will allow no one to levy an aid from his free men, except to ransom his person, to knight his eldest son, and to marry his eldest daughter. For these purposes only a reasonable aid may be levied.
16. No man shall be forced to perform more service for a knight’s fee, or other free holding of land, than is due from it.
17. Ordinary lawsuits shall not follow the royal court around, but shall be held in a fixed place.
18. Inquests of novel disseisin, mort d’ancestor, and darrein presentment shall be taken only in their proper counties and in this manner: we, or, if we are out of the kingdom, our chief justiciar, will send two justices to each county four times a year. These justices, with four knights of the county elected by the county itself, shall hold the assizes in the county court, on the day and in the place where the court meets.
19. If any assizes cannot be held on the day of the county court, as many knights and freeholders shall afterwards remain behind, of those who have attended the court, as will suffice for the administration of justice, having regard to the volume of business to be done.
20. For a trivial offence, a free man shall be fined only in proportion to the degree of his offence, and for a serious offence correspondingly, but not so heavily as to deprive him of his livelihood. In the same way, a merchant shall be spared his merchandise, and a villein the implements of his husbandry, if they fall upon the mercy of a royal court. None of these fines shall be imposed except by the assessment on oath of reputable men of the neighbourhood.
21. Earls and barons shall be fined only by their equals, and in proportion to the gravity of their offence.
22. A fine imposed upon the lay property of a clerk in holy orders shall be assessed in the same manner, without reference to the value of his ecclesiastical benefice.
23. No town or person shall be forced to build bridges over rivers, except those with an ancient obligation to do so.
24. No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other royal officials are to hold lawsuits that properly belong to the crown’s justices.
25. Every county, hundred, wapentake, and tithing shall remain at its ancient rent, without increase, except in the royal demesne lands.
26. If any man holding a lay fief dies, and the sheriff or royal officials produce royal letters of summons for a debt owed to the crown, it shall be lawful for them to seize and remove the chattels of the dead man, to the value of the debt, as assessed by worthy men. Nothing shall be removed until the whole debt due to the crown is paid. The residue shall be left to the executors to carry out the dead man’s will. If no debt is due to the crown, all the chattels shall go to the deceased, saving the rights of his wife and children.
27. If a free man dies intestate, his chattels are to be distributed by his next of kin and friends, under the supervision of the Church. The rights of creditors are to be preserved.
28. No constable or other royal official shall take corn or other movable goods from any man without immediate payment, unless the seller voluntarily offers postponement of this.
29. No constable may compel any knight to pay money for castle guard, if the knight is willing to undertake the guard himself, or with reasonable excuse to supply some other fit man to do it. A knight taken or sent on military service shall be excused castle guard for the period of his service.
30. No sheriff, royal official, or other person shall take horses or carts for transport from any free man, without his consent.
31. Neither we nor any royal official will take wood for our castle, or for any other purpose, without the consent of the owner.
32. We will not keep the lands of people convicted of felony in our hand for longer than a year and a day, after which they shall be returned to the lords of the fiefs.
33. All fish-weirs shall be removed from the Thames, the Medway, and throughout the whole of England, except on the sea coast.
34. The writ called praecipe shall not in future be issued to anyone in respect of any holding, whereby a free man may lose the right of trial in his own lord’s court.
35. There shall be standard measures of wine, ale, and corn (the London quarter), throughout the kingdom. There shall also be a standard width of dyed cloth, russet, and haberject, namely two ells within the selvedges. Weights are to be standardised similarly.
36. In future nothing shall be paid or accepted for the issue of a writ of inquisition of life or limb. It shall be given gratis, and not denied.
37. If a man holds land of the crown by fee-farm, socage, or burgage, and also holds land of someone else for knight’s service, we will not have guardianship of his heir, nor of the land that belongs to the other person’s fief, by virtue of the fee-farm, socage, or burgage, unless the fee-farm owes knight’s service. We will not have the guardianship of a man’s heir, or of land that he holds of someone else, by reason of any small property that he holds of the crown for service of knives, arrows, or the like.
38. In future no official shall place a man on trial upon his own unsupported statement, without producing credible witnesses to the truth of it.
39. No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.
40. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.
41. All merchants may enter or leave England unharmed and without fear, and may stay or travel within it, by land or water, for purposes of trade, free from all illegal exactions, in accordance with ancient and lawful customs. This, however, does not apply in time of war to merchants from a country that is at war with us. Any such merchants found in our country at the outbreak of war shall be detained without injury to their persons or goods, until we or our chief justiciar have discovered how our own merchants are being treated in the country at war with us. If our own merchants are safe, the others shall be safe too.
42. In future it shall be lawful for any man to leave and return to our kingdom unharmed and without fear, by land or water, preserving his allegiance to us, except in time of war for some short period, for the common benefit of the realm. People who have been imprisoned or outlawed in accordance with the law of the land, people from a country that is at war with us, and merchants who shall be dealt with as stated above, are excepted from this provision.
43. If a man holds lands of any escheat such as the honour of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats in our hand that are baronies, at his death his heir shall give us only the relief and service that he would have done to the baron, had the barony been in the baron’s hand. We will hold the escheat in the same manner as the baron held it.
44. People who live outside the forest need not in future come before our justiciars of the forest in answer to general summonses, unless they are actually involved in proceedings or are sureties for someone who has been seized for a forest offence.
45. We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or other officials, only men that know the law of the realm and are minded to keep it well.
46. All barons who have founded abbeys, and have charters of English kings or ancient tenure as evidence of this, may have guardianship of them when there is no abbot, as is their due.
47. All forests that have been created in our reign shall at once be disafforested. River-banks that have been enclosed in our reign shall be treated similarly.
48. All evil customs relating to forests and warrens, foresters, warreners, sheriffs, and their servants, or river-banks and their wardens, are at once to be investigated in every county by twelve sworn knights of the county, chosen by the honest men of the county. Within forty days of their inquiry, the evil customs are to be abolished completely and irrevocably. But we, or our chief justiciar if we are not in England, are first to be informed.
49. We will at once return all hostages and charters delivered to us by Englishmen, as security for peace or faithful service.
50. We will remove completely from their offices the kinsmen of Gerard de Athée, so that in future they shall have no office in England. The people in question are Engelard de Cigogné, Peter, Guy, and Andrew de Chanceaux, Guy de Cigogné, Geoffrey de Martigny, and his brothers, Philip Marc and his brothers, with Geoffrey his nephew, and all their followers.
51. As soon as peace is restored, we will remove from the kingdom all the foreign knights, bowmen, their attendants, and the mercenaries that have come to it, to its harm, with horses and arms.
52. To any man whom we have deprived or dispossessed of lands, castles, liberties, or rights, without the lawful judgment of his equals, we will at once restore these. In cases of dispute, the matter shall be resolved by the judgment of the twenty-five barons referred to below in the clause for securing the peace. In cases, however, where a man was deprived or dispossessed of something without the lawful judgment of his equals by our father King Henry or our brother King Richard, and it remains in our hands or is held by others under our warranty, we shall have respite for the period commonly allowed to crusaders, unless a lawsuit had been begun, or an inquiry had been made at our order, before we took the cross as a crusader. On our return from the crusade, or if we abandon it, we will at once render justice in full.
53. We shall have similar respite in rendering justice in connection with forests that are to be disafforested, or to remain forests, when these were first afforested by our father Henry or our brother Richard; with regard to abbeys founded in forests, and with regard to the wardship of lands in another person’s fee, when we have hitherto had this by virtue of a fee held of us for knight’s service. On our return from the crusade, or if we abandon it, we will at once do full justice to complainants in these matters.
54. No one shall be arrested or imprisoned on the appeal of a woman for the death of any person except her husband.
55. All fines that have been given to us unjustly and against the law of the land, and all amercements imposed unjustly and against the law of the land, are to be entirely remitted or dealt with by the judgment of the twenty-five barons referred to below in the clause for securing the peace, or by the judgment of the majority of them, together with Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and such others as he may wish to bring with him. If the archbishop cannot be present, the business shall nevertheless proceed without him, provided that if any one or more of the twenty-five barons has been involved in a similar suit, they shall be removed from this particular judgment, and others shall be chosen in their place, after having been sworn as a substitute.
56. If we have deprived or dispossessed any Welshmen of lands, liberties, or anything else in England or in Wales, without the lawful judgment of their equals, these are at once to be returned to them. In cases of dispute, the matter shall be resolved in the Marches by the judgment of their equals. Welshmen shall do the same to us and ours.
57. Further, for all the possessions of which any Welshman has been deprived or dispossessed, without the lawful judgment of his equals, by our father King Henry or our brother King Richard, and which we retain in our hand or are held by others under our warranty, we shall have respite for the period commonly allowed to crusaders, unless a lawsuit had been begun, or an inquiry had been made at our order, before we took the cross as a crusader. But on our return from the crusade, or if we abandon it, we will at once do full justice according to the laws of Wales and the said regions.
58. We will at once return the son of Llewelyn, all the Welsh hostages, and the charters delivered to us as security for the peace.
59. With regard to the return of the sisters and hostages of Alexander, king of Scotland, and his liberties and his rights, we will treat him in the same way as our other barons of England, unless it appears by the charters which we hold as security for the peace that it should be otherwise. This will be determined by the judgment of his equals in our court.
60. All these customs and liberties that we have granted shall be observed in our kingdom in so far as concerns our own relations with our subjects. Let all men of our kingdom, whether clergy or laymen, observe them similarly in their relations with their own men.
61. Since we have granted all these things for God, for the better ordering of our kingdom, and to allay the discord that has arisen between us and our barons, we have granted to them the following security:
The barons shall choose twenty-five of their number to keep and cause to be observed with all their might, the peace and liberties granted and confirmed to them by this charter. If we, our chief justiciar, our officials, or any of our servants offend in any respect against any man, or transgress any of the articles of the peace or of this security, and the offence is made known to four of the said twenty-five barons, they shall come to us—or in our absence from the kingdom, to the chief justiciar—to declare it and claim immediate redress. If we, or in our absence abroad the chief justiciar, make no redress within forty days, reckoning from the day on which the offence was declared to us or to him, the four barons shall refer the matter to the rest of the twenty-five barons, who may distrain upon and assail us in every way possible, with the support of the whole community of the land, by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, or anything else, saving only our person and those of the queen and our children, until they have secured such redress as they have determined upon. Having secured the redress, they may then resume their normal obedience to us.
Any man who so desires may take an oath to obey the orders of the twenty-five barons for the achievement of these ends, and to join with them in assailing us to the utmost of his power. We give public and free permission to take this oath to any man who so desires, and at no time will we prohibit any man from taking it.
Moreover, we will compel any of our subjects who have not taken it to swear it at our command. If any one of the twenty-five barons dies or leaves the country, or is prevented in any other way from carrying out the duties laid upon him, the rest of the said twenty-five barons shall choose another in his place, at their discretion, who shall be duly sworn in as they were.
In all matters, the twenty-five barons shall act as one, by the majority decision of those present. If any of the twenty-five barons has been involved in a similar suit, they shall be removed from this particular judgment, and others shall be chosen in their place for this purpose only, after having been sworn as a substitute.
If we have transgressed in any way against the charter, the twenty-five barons shall have full authority to ensure that redress is made, in accordance with the terms of this charter. All disputes shall be resolved in accordance with the judgment of the twenty-five barons, acting in conjunction with the archbishop of Canterbury.
62. We have utterly pardoned and forgiven, to all men, any ill-will, grudges, and rancour that have arisen between us and our subjects, whether clergy or laymen, since the beginning of the dispute. We have also fully pardoned, and for God’s sake granted complete remission of, all offences committed as a result of the said dispute between Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign and the restoration of peace. Furthermore, we have caused to be made for them letters patent bearing witness to this security and to the concessions set out above.
63. It is accordingly our wish and command that the English Church shall be free, and that men in our kingdom shall have and keep all these liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably in their fullness and entirety, for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs, in all things and all places, for ever.
Both we and the barons have sworn that all this shall be observed in good faith and without deceit. Witness the above-mentioned people and many others. Given by our hand in the meadow that is called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June in the seventeenth year of our reign.
This translation was by William Sharp McKechnie and was first published in his 1914 work, Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John. You can read the book from Archive.org.
Magna Carta – Britsh Library Additional MS 46144
There are several recent studies about the Magna Carta and its role in English history. They include:
The Magna Carta, sealed in 1215, was born out of rebellion, as England’s barons forced King John to curb his abuses of power. Here is a complete translation of this important medieval document.
The Magna Carta was created during a time of crisis, when King John’s heavy-handed rule and repeated failures—both in war and governance—provoked rebellion among England’s barons. Faced with a kingdom on the verge of civil war, the king agreed to a list of demands that sought to limit his authority, protect feudal rights, and establish principles of justice. Although annulled soon after, the charter became a powerful symbol of accountability and the rule of law.
Here is the complete translation done by William Sharp McKechnie in his work Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John.
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, justiciars, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his bailiffs and loyal subjects, greeting.
Know that we, out of reverence for God and for the salvation of our soul and the souls of all our ancestors and heirs, and for the exaltation of 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, bishop of Coventry; Benedict, bishop of Rochester; and Master Pandulf, subdeacon and member of the papal household; Brother Aymeric, master of the knighthood of the Temple in England; and of the noblemen William Marshal, earl of Pembroke; William, earl of Salisbury; William, earl of Warenne; William, earl of Arundel; Alan of Galloway, constable of Scotland; Warin fitz Gerold; Peter fitz Herbert; Hubert de Burgh, seneschal of Poitou; Hugh de Neville; Matthew fitz Herbert; Thomas Basset; Alan Basset; Philip d’Aubigny; Robert of Ropsley; John Marshal; John fitz Hugh; and others of our loyal subjects:
1. First, that we have granted to God, and by this present charter have confirmed, for us and our heirs for ever, 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 elections, which is reckoned most important and most necessary to the English Church. This we shall observe, and our will is that it shall be observed in 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 liberties written out below, to have and to hold, to them and their heirs, of us and our heirs:
2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding lands directly of us, for military service, shall have died, and at the time of 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 100 shillings at most for the entire knight’s fee, and any man that owes less shall pay less, in accordance with the ancient usage of fees.
3. But if the heir of such a person is under age and a ward, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance without relief or fine.
4. The guardian of the land of an heir who is under age shall take from it only reasonable revenues, customary dues, and feudal services. He shall do this without destruction or damage to men or property. If we have given the guardianship of the land to a sheriff, or to any person answerable to us for the revenues, and he commits destruction or damage, we will compel him to give up the guardianship to two proper and lawful men of that fee, who shall be answerable to us for the revenues, or to the person to whom we have assigned them. And if we have sold or given away to anyone the wardship of any such land, and he has caused destruction or damage, he shall lose the wardship, which shall be handed over to two proper and lawful men of that fee, who shall be similarly answerable to us.
5. For as long as a guardian has wardship of such land, he shall maintain the houses, parks, fish preserves, ponds, mills, and everything else pertaining to it, from the revenues of the land itself. When the heir comes of age, he shall restore the whole inheritance to him, stocked with plough teams and such implements of husbandry as the season demands and the revenues from the land can reasonably bear.
6. Heirs may be given in marriage, but not to someone of lower social standing. Before a marriage takes place, the nearest in blood to the heir shall be notified.
7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall immediately and without hindrance have her marriage portion and inheritance. She shall not pay any fine to exercise her dower, or for her marriage portion, or for her inheritance, and she may remain in her husband’s house for forty days after his death, within which period her dower shall be assigned to her.
8. No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as she wishes to remain without a husband, provided that she gives security not to marry without our consent, if she holds her lands of us, or without the consent of the lord of whom she holds her lands.
9. Neither we nor our officials will seize any land or rent in payment of a debt, so long as the debtor has movable goods sufficient to discharge the debt. A debtor’s sureties shall not be distrained upon so long as the debtor himself can discharge the debt. If the debtor, having nothing with which to pay, defaults on his debt, the sureties shall answer for it. If they so desire, they may have the debtor’s lands and rents, until they have received satisfaction for the debt that they have paid on his behalf, unless the debtor can show that he has settled his obligations to them.
10. If anyone who has borrowed a sum of money from Jews dies before the debt has been repaid, his heir shall pay no interest on the debt for as long as he remains under age, irrespective of whom he holds. If such a debt falls into our hands, we will take nothing except the principal sum specified in the bond.
11. If a man dies owing money to Jews, his wife shall be entitled to her dower and may remain in the house, and the heir shall have his inheritance. No payment shall be demanded of him so long as the heir is under age.
12. No scutage nor aid shall be levied in our kingdom without its general consent, except for ransoming our person, for knighting our eldest son, and for once marrying our eldest daughter. For these purposes only a reasonable aid may be levied. Aids from the city of London are to be treated similarly.
13. The city of London shall enjoy all its ancient liberties and free customs, both by land and by water. We also will and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall enjoy all their liberties and free customs.
14. To obtain the general consent of the realm for the assessment of an aid—except in the three cases specified above—or a scutage, we will cause the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons to be summoned individually by letter. To the lesser barons, we will send a general summons through the sheriff. This shall be done on a fixed date, at least forty days in advance, and at a fixed place. In all letters of summons, the cause of the summons will be stated. When a summons has been issued, the business appointed for the day shall go forward in accordance with the resolution of those present, even if not all those who were summoned have appeared.
15. In future we will allow no one to levy an aid from his free men, except to ransom his person, to knight his eldest son, and to marry his eldest daughter. For these purposes only a reasonable aid may be levied.
16. No man shall be forced to perform more service for a knight’s fee, or other free holding of land, than is due from it.
17. Ordinary lawsuits shall not follow the royal court around, but shall be held in a fixed place.
18. Inquests of novel disseisin, mort d’ancestor, and darrein presentment shall be taken only in their proper counties and in this manner: we, or, if we are out of the kingdom, our chief justiciar, will send two justices to each county four times a year. These justices, with four knights of the county elected by the county itself, shall hold the assizes in the county court, on the day and in the place where the court meets.
19. If any assizes cannot be held on the day of the county court, as many knights and freeholders shall afterwards remain behind, of those who have attended the court, as will suffice for the administration of justice, having regard to the volume of business to be done.
20. For a trivial offence, a free man shall be fined only in proportion to the degree of his offence, and for a serious offence correspondingly, but not so heavily as to deprive him of his livelihood. In the same way, a merchant shall be spared his merchandise, and a villein the implements of his husbandry, if they fall upon the mercy of a royal court. None of these fines shall be imposed except by the assessment on oath of reputable men of the neighbourhood.
21. Earls and barons shall be fined only by their equals, and in proportion to the gravity of their offence.
22. A fine imposed upon the lay property of a clerk in holy orders shall be assessed in the same manner, without reference to the value of his ecclesiastical benefice.
23. No town or person shall be forced to build bridges over rivers, except those with an ancient obligation to do so.
24. No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other royal officials are to hold lawsuits that properly belong to the crown’s justices.
25. Every county, hundred, wapentake, and tithing shall remain at its ancient rent, without increase, except in the royal demesne lands.
26. If any man holding a lay fief dies, and the sheriff or royal officials produce royal letters of summons for a debt owed to the crown, it shall be lawful for them to seize and remove the chattels of the dead man, to the value of the debt, as assessed by worthy men. Nothing shall be removed until the whole debt due to the crown is paid. The residue shall be left to the executors to carry out the dead man’s will. If no debt is due to the crown, all the chattels shall go to the deceased, saving the rights of his wife and children.
27. If a free man dies intestate, his chattels are to be distributed by his next of kin and friends, under the supervision of the Church. The rights of creditors are to be preserved.
28. No constable or other royal official shall take corn or other movable goods from any man without immediate payment, unless the seller voluntarily offers postponement of this.
29. No constable may compel any knight to pay money for castle guard, if the knight is willing to undertake the guard himself, or with reasonable excuse to supply some other fit man to do it. A knight taken or sent on military service shall be excused castle guard for the period of his service.
30. No sheriff, royal official, or other person shall take horses or carts for transport from any free man, without his consent.
31. Neither we nor any royal official will take wood for our castle, or for any other purpose, without the consent of the owner.
32. We will not keep the lands of people convicted of felony in our hand for longer than a year and a day, after which they shall be returned to the lords of the fiefs.
33. All fish-weirs shall be removed from the Thames, the Medway, and throughout the whole of England, except on the sea coast.
34. The writ called praecipe shall not in future be issued to anyone in respect of any holding, whereby a free man may lose the right of trial in his own lord’s court.
35. There shall be standard measures of wine, ale, and corn (the London quarter), throughout the kingdom. There shall also be a standard width of dyed cloth, russet, and haberject, namely two ells within the selvedges. Weights are to be standardised similarly.
36. In future nothing shall be paid or accepted for the issue of a writ of inquisition of life or limb. It shall be given gratis, and not denied.
37. If a man holds land of the crown by fee-farm, socage, or burgage, and also holds land of someone else for knight’s service, we will not have guardianship of his heir, nor of the land that belongs to the other person’s fief, by virtue of the fee-farm, socage, or burgage, unless the fee-farm owes knight’s service. We will not have the guardianship of a man’s heir, or of land that he holds of someone else, by reason of any small property that he holds of the crown for service of knives, arrows, or the like.
38. In future no official shall place a man on trial upon his own unsupported statement, without producing credible witnesses to the truth of it.
39. No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.
40. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.
41. All merchants may enter or leave England unharmed and without fear, and may stay or travel within it, by land or water, for purposes of trade, free from all illegal exactions, in accordance with ancient and lawful customs. This, however, does not apply in time of war to merchants from a country that is at war with us. Any such merchants found in our country at the outbreak of war shall be detained without injury to their persons or goods, until we or our chief justiciar have discovered how our own merchants are being treated in the country at war with us. If our own merchants are safe, the others shall be safe too.
42. In future it shall be lawful for any man to leave and return to our kingdom unharmed and without fear, by land or water, preserving his allegiance to us, except in time of war for some short period, for the common benefit of the realm. People who have been imprisoned or outlawed in accordance with the law of the land, people from a country that is at war with us, and merchants who shall be dealt with as stated above, are excepted from this provision.
43. If a man holds lands of any escheat such as the honour of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats in our hand that are baronies, at his death his heir shall give us only the relief and service that he would have done to the baron, had the barony been in the baron’s hand. We will hold the escheat in the same manner as the baron held it.
44. People who live outside the forest need not in future come before our justiciars of the forest in answer to general summonses, unless they are actually involved in proceedings or are sureties for someone who has been seized for a forest offence.
45. We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or other officials, only men that know the law of the realm and are minded to keep it well.
46. All barons who have founded abbeys, and have charters of English kings or ancient tenure as evidence of this, may have guardianship of them when there is no abbot, as is their due.
47. All forests that have been created in our reign shall at once be disafforested. River-banks that have been enclosed in our reign shall be treated similarly.
48. All evil customs relating to forests and warrens, foresters, warreners, sheriffs, and their servants, or river-banks and their wardens, are at once to be investigated in every county by twelve sworn knights of the county, chosen by the honest men of the county. Within forty days of their inquiry, the evil customs are to be abolished completely and irrevocably. But we, or our chief justiciar if we are not in England, are first to be informed.
49. We will at once return all hostages and charters delivered to us by Englishmen, as security for peace or faithful service.
50. We will remove completely from their offices the kinsmen of Gerard de Athée, so that in future they shall have no office in England. The people in question are Engelard de Cigogné, Peter, Guy, and Andrew de Chanceaux, Guy de Cigogné, Geoffrey de Martigny, and his brothers, Philip Marc and his brothers, with Geoffrey his nephew, and all their followers.
51. As soon as peace is restored, we will remove from the kingdom all the foreign knights, bowmen, their attendants, and the mercenaries that have come to it, to its harm, with horses and arms.
52. To any man whom we have deprived or dispossessed of lands, castles, liberties, or rights, without the lawful judgment of his equals, we will at once restore these. In cases of dispute, the matter shall be resolved by the judgment of the twenty-five barons referred to below in the clause for securing the peace. In cases, however, where a man was deprived or dispossessed of something without the lawful judgment of his equals by our father King Henry or our brother King Richard, and it remains in our hands or is held by others under our warranty, we shall have respite for the period commonly allowed to crusaders, unless a lawsuit had been begun, or an inquiry had been made at our order, before we took the cross as a crusader. On our return from the crusade, or if we abandon it, we will at once render justice in full.
53. We shall have similar respite in rendering justice in connection with forests that are to be disafforested, or to remain forests, when these were first afforested by our father Henry or our brother Richard; with regard to abbeys founded in forests, and with regard to the wardship of lands in another person’s fee, when we have hitherto had this by virtue of a fee held of us for knight’s service. On our return from the crusade, or if we abandon it, we will at once do full justice to complainants in these matters.
54. No one shall be arrested or imprisoned on the appeal of a woman for the death of any person except her husband.
55. All fines that have been given to us unjustly and against the law of the land, and all amercements imposed unjustly and against the law of the land, are to be entirely remitted or dealt with by the judgment of the twenty-five barons referred to below in the clause for securing the peace, or by the judgment of the majority of them, together with Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and such others as he may wish to bring with him. If the archbishop cannot be present, the business shall nevertheless proceed without him, provided that if any one or more of the twenty-five barons has been involved in a similar suit, they shall be removed from this particular judgment, and others shall be chosen in their place, after having been sworn as a substitute.
56. If we have deprived or dispossessed any Welshmen of lands, liberties, or anything else in England or in Wales, without the lawful judgment of their equals, these are at once to be returned to them. In cases of dispute, the matter shall be resolved in the Marches by the judgment of their equals. Welshmen shall do the same to us and ours.
57. Further, for all the possessions of which any Welshman has been deprived or dispossessed, without the lawful judgment of his equals, by our father King Henry or our brother King Richard, and which we retain in our hand or are held by others under our warranty, we shall have respite for the period commonly allowed to crusaders, unless a lawsuit had been begun, or an inquiry had been made at our order, before we took the cross as a crusader. But on our return from the crusade, or if we abandon it, we will at once do full justice according to the laws of Wales and the said regions.
58. We will at once return the son of Llewelyn, all the Welsh hostages, and the charters delivered to us as security for the peace.
59. With regard to the return of the sisters and hostages of Alexander, king of Scotland, and his liberties and his rights, we will treat him in the same way as our other barons of England, unless it appears by the charters which we hold as security for the peace that it should be otherwise. This will be determined by the judgment of his equals in our court.
60. All these customs and liberties that we have granted shall be observed in our kingdom in so far as concerns our own relations with our subjects. Let all men of our kingdom, whether clergy or laymen, observe them similarly in their relations with their own men.
61. Since we have granted all these things for God, for the better ordering of our kingdom, and to allay the discord that has arisen between us and our barons, we have granted to them the following security:
The barons shall choose twenty-five of their number to keep and cause to be observed with all their might, the peace and liberties granted and confirmed to them by this charter. If we, our chief justiciar, our officials, or any of our servants offend in any respect against any man, or transgress any of the articles of the peace or of this security, and the offence is made known to four of the said twenty-five barons, they shall come to us—or in our absence from the kingdom, to the chief justiciar—to declare it and claim immediate redress. If we, or in our absence abroad the chief justiciar, make no redress within forty days, reckoning from the day on which the offence was declared to us or to him, the four barons shall refer the matter to the rest of the twenty-five barons, who may distrain upon and assail us in every way possible, with the support of the whole community of the land, by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, or anything else, saving only our person and those of the queen and our children, until they have secured such redress as they have determined upon. Having secured the redress, they may then resume their normal obedience to us.
Any man who so desires may take an oath to obey the orders of the twenty-five barons for the achievement of these ends, and to join with them in assailing us to the utmost of his power. We give public and free permission to take this oath to any man who so desires, and at no time will we prohibit any man from taking it.
Moreover, we will compel any of our subjects who have not taken it to swear it at our command. If any one of the twenty-five barons dies or leaves the country, or is prevented in any other way from carrying out the duties laid upon him, the rest of the said twenty-five barons shall choose another in his place, at their discretion, who shall be duly sworn in as they were.
In all matters, the twenty-five barons shall act as one, by the majority decision of those present. If any of the twenty-five barons has been involved in a similar suit, they shall be removed from this particular judgment, and others shall be chosen in their place for this purpose only, after having been sworn as a substitute.
If we have transgressed in any way against the charter, the twenty-five barons shall have full authority to ensure that redress is made, in accordance with the terms of this charter. All disputes shall be resolved in accordance with the judgment of the twenty-five barons, acting in conjunction with the archbishop of Canterbury.
62. We have utterly pardoned and forgiven, to all men, any ill-will, grudges, and rancour that have arisen between us and our subjects, whether clergy or laymen, since the beginning of the dispute. We have also fully pardoned, and for God’s sake granted complete remission of, all offences committed as a result of the said dispute between Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign and the restoration of peace. Furthermore, we have caused to be made for them letters patent bearing witness to this security and to the concessions set out above.
63. It is accordingly our wish and command that the English Church shall be free, and that men in our kingdom shall have and keep all these liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably in their fullness and entirety, for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs, in all things and all places, for ever.
Both we and the barons have sworn that all this shall be observed in good faith and without deceit. Witness the above-mentioned people and many others. Given by our hand in the meadow that is called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June in the seventeenth year of our reign.
This translation was by William Sharp McKechnie and was first published in his 1914 work, Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John. You can read the book from Archive.org.
Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty, by Dan Jones (Viking, 2015)
Magna Carta, by David Carpenter (Penguin Classics, 2015)
Magna Carta: The True Story Behind the Charter, by David Starkey (Hodder & Stoughton, 2015)
1215: The Year of Magna Carta, by Danny Danziger and John Gillingham (Hodder & Stoughton, 2003)
Top Image: One of the four surviving copies of Magna Carta – British Library Cotton Augustus II.106
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