Selections from the Great Charter
By the Great Charter of 1215, King John promised that his ministers would not meddle in the Church or stuff his Treasury with taxes on trade.
1215
King John 1199-1216
By the Great Charter of 1215, King John promised that his ministers would not meddle in the Church or stuff his Treasury with taxes on trade.
1215
King John 1199-1216
The Great Charter of England was signed under duress by King John (r. 1199-1216) at Runnymede in June 1215. It has inspired critics of Government overreach ever since, and the Provisions of Oxford (1258), the Petition of Right (1628) and the US Declaration of Independence (1776) owe much to it. Below is a selection of provisions that speak to every generation.
originally in Latin
IN the first place, we have granted to God, and by this our present charter confirmed, for us and for our heirs forever, that the English church shall be free, and shall hold its rights entire and its liberties uninjured.
We have granted, moreover, to all free men of our kingdom, for us and our heirs forever, all the liberties written below, to be had and holden by themselves and their heirs from us and our heirs.
No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or dispossessed, or outlawed or banished or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him, nor send upon him, except by the legal judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay, right or justice.
All merchants shall be safe and secure in going out from England and coming into England, and in remaining and going through England, as well by land as by water, for buying and selling, free from all evil tolls, by the ancient and rightful customs, except in time of war, and if they are of a land at war with us.