CHAPTER XII. Renewals of the Great Charter in Henry the Third's Reign.-The Charter as confirmed by Edward I. and subsequent Kings.-The Statute Confirmatio Cartarum.-All Taxation without consent of Parliament made illegal. JOHN died soon after the grant of the Great Charter, leaving England torn by civil war and foreign invasion, both of which had been caused by his perfidy and tyranny. The first act of the great Earl of Pembroke, as Protector of the Kingdom on the accession of Henry III., was to renew the Great Charter, but with several changes, the most important of which was the omission of the provisions concerning the manner and reason of levying scutages. It assigned as a reason for the omission of this and other weighty matters, that the prelates and barons had agreed to respite the consideration of them till further deliberation could be had, when they and such other things as pertained to the welfare of all should be most fully reviewed and set right. The stipulations in John's Charter, which were of a temporary nature, and referred to the troops and allies of that king and his barons respectively, were of course not copied into Henry's Charters. And the provisions for empowering the twenty-five chosen barons to redress violations of the Charter were not renewed. A duplicate of the Charter was forthwith transmitted to Ireland, for the benefit of the king's subjects there; and writs were sent to the sheriffs of the several English counties, commanding them to cause the Charter of Liberties to be publicly read in full County Court, and to see that its ordinances were fully observed within their several jurisdictions. In the next year, after the French Dauphin had been driven out of the kingdom, and the malcontent English who had fought under him had returned to their allegiance, the Charter of Liberties was granted again, and was again renewed by Henry in the ninth year of his reign, at which same time the Charter of the Forest was granted, whereby many of the most atrocious iniquities of the primitive game-laws were redressed. The two Charters were five times renewed between this period and Henry's death. At some of these renewals temporary variations were introduced; but it is in the form in which it was promulgated in the ninth year of Henry's reign that the Great Charter was solemnly confirmed by his successor, and in that form it appears at the head of our statute book, where (as before mentioned) it is printed from the inspeximus and confirmation of it by Edward I. Magna Carta, THE GREAT CHARTER, (TRANSLATED AS IN THE STATUTES AT LARGE,) MADE IN THE NINTH YEAR OF KING HENRY THE THIRD, AND CONFIRMED BY KING EDWARD THE FIRST, IN THE FIVEAND-TWENTIETH YEAR OF HIS REIGN. EDWARD, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Guyan: to all archbishops, &c. We have seen the Great Charter of the Lord Henry, sometimes King of England, our Father, of the Liberties of England, in these words: "HENRY, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Guyan, and Earl of Anjou: To all archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons, sheriffs, provosts, and officers, and to all bailiffs and other our faithful subjects, which shall see this present Charter, greeting: Know ye that We, unto the honour of Almighty God, and for the salvation of the souls of our progenitors and successors, kings of England, to the advancement of Holy Church and amendment of our realm, of our mere and free will have given and granted to all archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons, and to all freemen of this our realm, these liberties following, to be kept in our kingdom of England for ever." 66 CHAPTER I. A Confirmation of Liberties. FIRST, we have granted to God, and by this our present Charter have confirmed for us and our heirs for ever, that the Church of England shall be free, and shall have all her whole rights and liberties inviolable. We have granted also, and given to all the freemen of our realm, for us and our heirs for ever, these liberties under-written, to have and to hold to them and their heirs, of us and our heirs for ever.” CHAPTER II. The Relief of the King's Tenant of full Age. CHAPTER III. The Wardship of the Heir within Age. The Heir a Knight. [Similar to 3rd Chapter of John's Charter.] CHAPTER IV. No waste shall be made by a Guardian in waste lands. [Same as 4th Chapter of John's Charter.] CHAPTER V. Guardians shall maintain the Inheritance of Wards. [Similar to 5th Chapter of John's Charter, with addition of like provisions against the waste of ecclesiastical possessions while in the king's hand during a vacancy in the see, &c.] CHAPTER VI. Heirs shall be Married without Disparagement. CHAPTER VII. A Widow shall have her Marriage, Inheritance and Quarantine. The King's Widow, &c. [Similar (with additions) to the 7th and 8th Chapters of John's Charter.] CHAPTER VIII. How Sureties shall be charged to the King. CHAPTER IX. The Liberties of London and other Cities and Towns confirmed. [Same as 13th Chapter of John's Charter.] CHAPTER X. None shall distrain for more Service than is due. CHAPTER XI. Common Pleas shall not follow the King's Court. CHAPTERS XII. AND XIII. When and before whom Assizes shall be taken. Adjournment for Difficulty. Assizes of Darrein Presentment. [Analogous to 18th and 19th Chapters of John's Charter.] CHAPTER XIV. How Men of all sorts shall be amerced, and by whom. CHAPTERS XV. AND XVI. Making and defending of Bridges and Banks. Holding Pleas of the Crown. [Same as 24th Chapter of John's Charter.] CHAPTER XVIII. The King's Debtor dying, the King shall be first paid. CHAPTERS XIX., XX., AND XXI. Purveyors for a Castle. Doing of Castle-ward. Taking of Horses, Carts, and Woods. [Same as 28th, 29th, 30th, and 31st Chapters of John's Charter.] CHAPTER XXII. How long Felons' Land shall be holden by the King. CHAPTER XXIII. In what places Wears shall be put down. CHAPTER XXIV. In what case a Præcipe in Capite is grantable. There shall be but one Measure through the Realm. CHAPTER XXVI. Inquisition of Life and Member. [Same as 38th Chapter of John's Charter.] I |