known but by name, beyond the sphere of the legal profession and of antiquaries: we will endeavour to excite attention to charters of such transcendent importance, and will commence with that of K. Henry the First. The text of this charter is preserved in that celebrated collection of records of our Kentish antiquities, the Textus Roffensis, which was compiled by Ernulph, bishop of Rocheshe died A.D. 1114, and therefore was living at the date of K. Henry's charter. ter; CARTA REGIS HENRICI, Anno regni primo, A.D. M.C.I. Anno Incarnationis dnicæ M.C.I. Henricus fili.' Willelmi, regis post obitu, fris sui Willelmi, Dei gri. Rex Anglor. omībz. fidelibz. sal'. Sciatis me Dei miscordia, y comuni consilio Baronu. toci'. regni Angliæ ejusdē. regē. coronatu. esse. Et qâ regnü. oppressu. erat injustis exactionibz Ego Dei respectu 1 amore qué. erga vos habeo scam Dei ecclia. impmis liberā. facio. . . . .. Lagā. Eduuardi regis vobis reddo cu. illis emendationibz quibz pater m's. eam emendavit consilio Baronu. suorum. . . . T. M. Londoniæ Epō. (cum aliis) apd. Londonia quando fui co ronatus. (See Textus Roffensis; also Statutes of the Realm, published by the Record Commission, and Blackstone on the Great Charter.) CHARTER OF KING HENRY, In the first year of his reign, A.D. M.C.I. In the year of our Lord's Incarnation M.C.I., Henry, son of King William, after the death of his brother William, by the grace of God king of the English, to all faithful [subjects] greeting. Know ye that I, by the mercy of God, and by the common advice of the barons of the whole kingdom of England, am crowned king of the same. And whereas the kingdom was oppressed by unjust exactions, I, for the love of God, and the love which I bear towards you, in the first place make the holy church of God free. . . . . . The law of King Edward I restore to you with those emendations with which my father amended it with the advice of his barons. .. Witnesses. M. Bp. of London His successor, Stephen, who had succeeded to the crown with the same disregard to the hereditary claims of the Empress Maud (King Henry's daughter), also granted two charters of liberties to his subjects, viz. : CHARTER OF KING STEPHEN, In the first year of his reign, A.D. M.C.XXXVI. The Charter of King Stephen. Of the liberties of the Church and Kingdom of England. I, Stephen, by the grace of God, the assent of the clergy and people, elected king of England, and by William, archbishop of Canterbury and legate of the holy Roman church, consecrated, and by Innocent, pope of the holy Roman see, confirmed for devotion, and love of God grant holy church to be free, and I confirm to her due reverence. ... All exactions, and injustice, and mescheningas, whether by sheriffs, or by any other whomsoever, and unlawfully imposed, I entirely abolish. The good laws, and antient, and lawful customs in murders, and pleas, and other causes, I will observe, and I appoint and command them to observed. Witnesses. William, archbishop of Canterbury (and others), at Oxford, in the year from our Lord's incarnation M.C.XXXVI, to wit, the first of my reign. CHARTER OF KING STEPHEN. Stephen, by the grace of God King of England, to his Justices, Sheriffs, Barons, and all his ministers and faithful subjects, French and English, greeting. Know ye that I have granted, and by my present charter have confirmed to all my barons and men of England, Henricus Dei gra Rex Angl'. Dux Normannie Aquit'. 7 comes Andegavie omnibz comitibz. baronibz. 1 fidelibz. suis Francis Anglicis, salutem. Sciatis me ad honorem Dei scē. eccie. 7 pro cōi. emendacione tocius regni mei concessisse reddidisse presenti carta mea confirmasse Deo 1 sce. eccie. 7 omnibz. comitibz. baronibz omnibz. hominibz. meis omnes concessiones donaciones libertates liberas consuetudines quas Rex Henr'. avus meus eis dedit 7 concessit Silr'. eciam omnes malas consuetudines q's ip'e. delevit 7 remisit ego remitto 7 deleri concedo pro me her'. me's. Quare volo 7 firmiter p'cipio q'd. scă eccia. 1 omnes comites 7 barones omnes mei hoies omnes illas consuetudines all the liberties and good laws which Henry, king of England, my uncle, gave and granted to them. And I grant to them all the good laws and good customs which they had in the time of King Edward. Wherefore I will and strictly command that they and their heirs have and hold all those good laws and liberties of me and my heirs freely, quietly, and fully. And I forbid that any one shall cause trouble, or impediment, or diminution hereupon, upon forfeiture to me to be made. Witness. William Martel, at CHARTER OF KING HENRY II. The Charter of King Henry the Second, made to the Commonally of the Kingdom. Henry, by the grace of God king of England, duke of Normandy and Acquitain, and earl of Anjou, to all his earls, barons, and faithful subjects, French and English, greeting. Know ye that to the honor of God and of holy church, and for the common weal of all my kingdom, I have granted and restored, and by my present charter have confirmed to God and holy church, and to all earls and barons, and to all my men, all grants and gifts and liberties and free customs, which king Henry my grandfather gave and granted to them. And likewise all bad customs which he abrogated and remised, I remit, and for me and my heirs grant to be abolished. Wherefore I will and strictly command that holy These charters-which had been continually violated by the kings who had granted them-were followed by that of King John, which is emphatically called "The Great Charter." Nothing which relates to that celebrated palladium of English liberty can be deemed uninteresting to the reader. We therefore call his attention to certain letters-patents of K. John, granted to his barons, then in arms against him, for their protection from regal outrage, until their disputes shall have been decided by certain arbitrators. These letters-patents are conceived in almost the very words of the celebrated thirty-ninth chapter57 of the subsequent charter at Runingmede; and they are important, as conveying the only true and intelligible interpretation of the words, "Nec super eum ibimus, nec super eum mittemus," which in the statute-book are awkwardly and unintelligibly translated: "Nor will we not pass upon him, nor condemn him." 57 In the printed edition of the Statutes, Magna Carta is given from the confirmation by K. Hen. III. Litera Patentes 16 John.58 x May A.D. M.CC.XIV. Rex omnibus ad quos littere presentes, pervenerint salutem. Sciatis nos concessisse baronibus nostris qui contra nos sunt, quod nec eos nec homines suos capiemus, nec dissaisiemus nec super eos per vim vel per arma ibimus, nisi per legem regni nostri, vel per judicium parium suorum in curia nostra donec consideratio facta fuerit per iiijor quos eleginus ex parte nostra, et per iiiior quos eligent ex parte sua, et dominum Papam, qui superior erit supra eos, et de hoc securitatem eis faciemus quam poterinus, et quam debebimus per barones nostros, et interim volumus quod episcopi London', Wygorn'. Cestrens'. Roffensis, et W. comes Warenn'. interim eos securos faciant de predictis. Et si fortè contra aliquod interceptum fuerit infra competens tempus per predictos octo emendetur. Et in hujus, &c., eis fieri fecimus. Apud Windesorum, x die Maii, a. r. n. xvimo (From Blackstone on the Great Charter, Introd. p. xxi, n. x.) Letters Patents, 16th King John. x May, A.D. M.CC.XIV. To all to whom these present letters shall come, greeting. Know ye that we have granted to our barons who are opposed to us, that neither them nor their men will we attach, nor disseise, nor will we come upon them by force or by arms, except by the law of our realm, or by the judgment of their peers in our court, until a decision shall have been made by the four persons whom we have elected on our part, and by the four persons whom they shall elect on their part, and by our lord the Pope, who shall be the head above them. And of this we will cause such security to be made to them as we can and ought by our barons. And in the meantime we will that the bishops of London, Worcester, Chester, Rochester, and William, earl of Warren, shall make them secure in the matters aforesaid. And if by chance anything shall arise in the meantime, it shall be amended within a competent time by the aforesaid eight persons. In testimony whereof, &c., we have caused, &c. At Windsor, the tenth day of May, in the sixteenth year of our reign. The immediate cause which excited the discontented barons at this particular period to demand a restitution of their liberties, has not been very satisfactorily explained by our historians, nor is it material to inquire into it. They, however, formed a league at St. Edmondsbury 58 Pat. 16 Joh., part 1, mem. 3 d, n. 2; Blackst. on the Great Charter, Introd. p. xxi. |