: -' - . '

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY OF THE
DIVINITY SCHOOL

Vol. I, No. 6.

Translations and Reprints

FROM THE

Original Sources of European History.

ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS.

EDITED BY EDWARD P. CHEYNEY, A. M.

PUBLISHED BY
; The Department of History of the University of Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia, Pa., 1894.
ENGLISH AGENCY: P. S. KING & SON, 12-14 Kltif; Street, London S. W.
Price, 2; Cents,

SOME use of the .primary sources of history is now very generally
regarded as essential, if this study is to produce the best attainable
results. The simple reception and retention of facts derived from a
textbook is as crude a method of approaching history, as would be the
hope of learning chemistry or biology without a laboratory, or mineralogy
without a collection. The primary aim of instruction in all branches is
to cultivate the student so that he may later continue his study inde
pendently. This is especially true of history, which ought to constitute a*
source of profit and rational enjoyment in after life, if the student has
once gained a-love for the subject and learned the methods applicable to all
historical study.
It is hoped that the present publications will facilitate in two ways
the adoption of the newer and better method of studying history. In the
first place, in no way can we actually feel that we participate in the great
events of the past, except by listening to the actors as they speak for
themselves. The most vivid second-hand account cannot replace the
original. We must, where it is practicable, use the materials of history in
their original form. To a student who has never resorted to the sources,
it will be a revelation to read a sermon of Wycliffe, a letter of Luther,
or of Napoleon, or a speech of Burke or Mirabeau. In the second place,
everyone must learn to work for himself. In mathematics and physics,
biology and chemistry, we take nothing on faith ; each for himself must
demonstrate the problem and perform the experiment. The mere fact is
as dead in history as in the so-called natural sciences. The power of
learning and using the truth is alone profitable. A student who recognizes
that he is participating iu the work of reconstructing the past out of the
materials it has left us, will have a new interest in the subject, and an
increased power of assimilation of its best lessons.
The examples of historical material which it is proposed in this
series to reproduce in an accessible form, must be treated as illustrations
of historical method. They are all worthy of careful study and may be
examined and dissected somewhat as' the botanist analyzes his flower
Although it will be impossible in adopting such a method to go over the
long centuries of universal history usually covered by textbook courses,
yet by choosing for closer study especially significant periods, all the
educational value of the study will be obtained, a permanent interest
created, and incidentally much even of the history of other times and
nations will inevitably come in through explanation, comparison, or
illustration.

For list of series, terms of sale, etc, see third page of cover.

Translations and Reprints
FROM THE
ORIGINAL SOURCES OF EUROPEAN HISTORY.

Voi,. I. Engwsh Constitution ai. Documents. No. 6.

INTRODUCTION.
I. The coronation oaths are, on the one hand, an illustration of the continuity of
the form of government in England, at least as far as concerns the formal position of
the king, and on fhe other, a proof that the king's power was at no time absolutely
unlimited. It appears that every king took an oath, as a part of the ceremony of
coronation ; and that this oath was practically the same, from the time of the Saxon
kings to the accession of Edward I. The words of his oath are not recorded, but
there are indications that it varied from the traditional formula, and that of Edward II.
was certainly new and much extended.
II. The royal Charters of Liberties indicate the progressive restrictions on the
independence of the early Norman and Angevin kings, although the occasion for the
issue of such charters was apparently almost accidental. The charter of Henry I.
was granted to strengthen his doubtful claim to the throne ; two successive charters
were issued by Stephen with the same object and that of Henry II. was granted in
imitation of these. Magna Charta is known to have been suggested by and based on
these precedinggrants. The Confirmation of the Charters was in form one of the
many regrants of Magna Charta and the Forest Charter, but it obtained its importance
from the sixth clause which was practically new and remained effective. Under
another form, in which it appears as the Statute de tallagio non concedendo, this docu
ment is frequently referred to in later struggles between king and Parliament.
III. The growth of the judicial system was constructive in its nature' rather than
merely restrictive as was true of the two former lines of development. The union of
a centralized royal jurisdiction with the old local courts is shown in the practices
exemplified by the typical royal writs, and in a still further extension in the Assize of
Clarendon. This enactment also secured the subordination of feudal jurisdictions, at
least in one great group of criminal cases. The concrete cases quoted are intended
to serve as instances of the actual working of the assize, with occasional extensions of
'iurisdiction and intrusions of other forms of ordeal and even of compurgation. The

Constitutions of Clarendon is the most conspicuous document in the English portion
of the perennial mediaeval struggle between Church and State.
IV. The barons and great prelates having a right of individual summons to the
royal council, as to military service, and in their relations with the royal exchequer,
such special writs were always issued until the fifteenth century, when the official and
hereditary character of the membership of the first two estates in Parliament came
to be clearly recognized, and special summons was therefore dropped. The summons
of the knights of the shire and of the representatives of the towns was naturally
through the sheriffs of the various counties.
V. The Bill of Rights is largely self-explanatory. It is introduced here not so
much from its value in the settlement of later questions as from its indications
of the points of dispute between king and Parliament during the preceding one hundred
years. Many of the documents included in this number are published in their original
form in Stubbs' Select Charters and other Illustrations of English Constitutional
History ; and several of them are translated in Henderson's Historical Documents of
the Middle Ages. Of Magna Charta several translations exist, the one of most repute
probably being that by Richard Thomson, An Historical Essay on the Magna Charta
of King John, London, 1839.

I. CORONA Tf ON OATHS OF ENGLfSH KfNGS.
a. ETHELRED II., A. D. 978.
Kemble, Saxons in England. II. 36.
In the name of the Holy Trinity, three things do I promise to this
Christian people, my subjects ; first, that I will hold God's church and
all the Christian people of my realm in true peace ; second, that I will
forbid all rapine and injustice to men of all conditions ; third, that I
promise and enjoin justice and mercy in all judgments, in order that
a just and merciful God may give us all His eternal favor, who liveth
and reigneth.

t. WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, A. D. 1066.
Florence of Worcester, under the year 1066.
Having first, as the archbishop required, sworn before the altar
of St. Peter the apostle, in the presence of the clergy and people, to
defend the holy churches of God and their governors, and also to rule
over the whole people subject to him justly and with royal providence •
to enact and to preserve right law, and straitly to forbid violence and
unjust judgments.

c HEATR Y I., A. D. noo.
Maskell, Monumenta Ritualia II. 5.
In the name of Christ, I promise these three things to the Christ
ian people subjected to me. In the first place, that I will require and,
according to my strength, provide that the church of God and the whole
Christian people preserve a true peace, under my judgment, through
all time ; secondly, that I will forbid to all ranks violence and all injus
tice ; thirdly, that in all judgments I will require justice and mercy,
that a merciful and forgiving God may grant His mercy to me and to
you.

d. HENR Y III., A. D. 1216.
Ma'.theiv of Paris, Greater Chronicles. III. 1, 2. Rolls Series.
Standing there before the high altar, the holy gospels and the
relics of many saints having been placed near, Jocelyn [Bishop] of
Bath dictating the oath, he swore before the clergy and people that he
would observe honor, peace, and reverence toward God, and holy
church, and its ministers, all the days of his life ; that concerning the
people committed to him, he would preserve right justice ; and that he
would abolish evil laws and unjust customs, if there were such in the
realm, and abide by the good ones, and make them to be observed by
all eood men.

e. EDWARD II, A.D. 1307.
Statutes of the Realm, I. 168.
Sire, will you grant and observe, and by your oath confirm to the
people of England the laws and customs granted to them by the ancient
Kings of England, your predecessors, just and devoted to God ; and
especially the laws and customs and franchises granted to the clergy and
to the people by the glorious King, saint Edward, your predecessor ?
[King.] I grant them and promise them. Sire, will you keep toward
God and holy church, and clergy and people entire peace and concord
in God, according to your power ? [King.] I will keep them. Sire,
will you cause to be made in all your judgments equal and right justice
and judgment, in mercy and truth, according to your power ? [King.]
I will do it. Sire, do you grant that the just laws and customs will be
observed which the commonalty of your realm have chosen, and do
you promise to protect and enforce them to the honor of God, according
to your power ? [King.] I grant and promise it.

II. CHARTERS OT LIBERTIES OF ENGLISH KINGS.
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, TO THE CITY OF LONDON,
A. D. 1066.
Liber Custumarum, Pt. I, pp. 25 and 26.
William, king, greets William, bishop, and Gosfrith, portreeve,
and all the burghers within London, French and English, friendly ; and
I assure you that I will that ye all have rights before the law that had
them in King Edward's day. And I will that every child be his fath
er's heir after his father's day. And I will not allow that any man do
any wrong to you. God keep you.

HENR YI.,AT HIS CORONA TION, A. D. 1100.
Stubbs' Select Charters, 96-98.
In the year of the incarnation of the Lord 1101, Henry, son of
King William, after the death of his brother William, by the grace
of God, king of the English, to all faithful, greeting :
1. Know that by the mercy of God, and by the common counsel
of the barons of the whole kingdom of England, I have been crowned
king of the same kingdom ; and because the kingdom has been op
pressed by unjust exactions, I, from regard to God, and from the love
which I have toward you, in the first place make the holy church of
God free, so that I will neither sell nor place at rent, nor, when arch
bishop, or bishop, or abbot is dead, will I take anything from the
domain of the church, or from its men, until a successor is installed into
it. And all the evil customs by which the realm of England was un
justly oppressed will I take away, which evil customs I partly set down
here. 2. If any of my barons, or earls, or others who hold from me shall
have died, his heir shall not redeem his land as he did in the time of
my brother, but shall relieve it by a just and legitimate relief. Simi
larly also the men of my barons shall relieve their lands from their
lords by a just and legitimate relief.
3. And if any of the barons or other men of mine wishes to give
his daughter in marriage, or his sister or niece or relation, he must
speak with me about it, but I will neither take anything from him for
this permission, nor forbid him to give her in marriage, unless he should
wish to join her to my enemy. And if when a baron or other man of
mine is dead, a daughter remains as his heir, I will give her in marriage
A

according to the judgment of my barons, along with her land. And if
when a man is dead his wife remains, and is without children, she shall
have her dowry and right of marriage, and I will not give her to a
husband except according to her will.
4. And if a wife has survived with children, she shall have her
dowry and right of marriage, so long as she shall have kept her body
legitimately, and I will not give her in marriage, except according to
her will. And the guardian of the land and children shall be either
the wife or another one of the relatives as shall seem to be most
just. And I require that my barons should deal similarly with the
sons and daughters or wives of their men.
5. The common tax on money * which used to be taken through
the cities and counties, which was not taken in the time of King
Edward, I now forbid altogether henceforth to be taken. If any one
shall have been seized, whether a moneyer or any other, with false
money, strict justice shall be done for it.
6. All fines and all debts which were owed to my brother, I
remit, except my rightful rents, and except those payments which had
been agreed upon for the inheritances of others or for those things
which more justly affected others. And if any one for his own in
heritance has stipulated anything, this I remit, and all reliefs which
had been agreed upon for rightful inheritances.
7. And if any of my barons or men shall become feeble, how
ever he himself shall give or arrange to give his money, I grant
that it shall be so given. Moreover, if he himself, prevented by arms,
or by weakness, shall not have bestowed his money, or arranged to
bestow it, his wife or his children or parents, and his legitimate men
shall divide it for his soul, as to them shall seem best.
8. If any of my barons or men shall have committed an offense
he shall not give security to the extent of forfeiture of his money, as
he did in the time of my father, or of my brother, but according to
the measure of the ofiense so shall he pay, as he would have payed
from the time of my father backward, in the time of my other prede
cessors ; so that if he shall have been convicted of treachery or of
crime, he shall pay as is just.
9. All murders moreover before that day in which I was crowned
King, I pardon ; and those which shall be done henceforth shall be
punished justly according to the law of King Edward.
* Monetagium, which is here translated " tax on money,'* was apayment made to the King or
Other lord, periodically, on condition that he would not change the standard of value during a given
period. It was customary in Normandy. Ducange.

10. The forests, by the common agreement of my barons, I have
retained in my own hand, as my father held them.
11. To those Knights who hold their land by the cuirass, I yield
of my own gift, the lands of their demesne ploughs free from all pay
ments and from all labor, so that as they have thus been favored by
such a great alleviation, so they may readily provide themselves with
horses and arms for my service and for the defense of my kingdom.
12. A firm peace in my whole kingdom I establish and require to
be kept from henceforth.
13. The law of King Edward I give to you again with those
changes with which my father changed it by the counsel of his barons.
14. If any one has taken anything from my possessions since the
death of King William, my brother, or from the possessions of any
one, let the whole be immediately returned without alteration, and if
any one shall have retained anything thence, he upon whom it is found
will pay it heavily to me. Witnesses Maurice, bishop of London, and
Gundulf, bishop, and William, bishop-elect, and Henry, earl, and
Simon, earl, and Walter Giffard, and Robert de Montfort, and Roger
Bigod, and Henry de Port, at London, when I was crowned.

HENR Y I I., A T HIS CORONA TION, A. D. 1154..
Statutes of the Realm. I. (Charters of Liberties). 4.
Henry, by the grace of God, King of England, Duke of Nor
mandy and Aquitaine and Count of Anjou, to all the earls, barons,
and his faithful, French and English, greeting. Know that, to the
honor of God and of the holy church and for the advantage of my
whole kingdom, I have conceded and granted, and by my present char
ter confirmed to God and to the holy church, and to all the earls and
barons, and to all my men all the concessions and grants and liberties
and free customs which King Henry, my grandfather, gave and con
ceded to them. Similarly also, all the evil customs which he abolished
and remitted, I remit and allow to be abolished for myself and my heirs.
Therefore, I will and strictly require that the holy church and all the
earls and barons, and all my men should have and hold all those cus
toms and grants and liberties and free customs, freely and quietly, well
and in peace, and completely, from me and my heirs to them and their
heirs, as freely and quietly and fully in all things as King Henry, my
grandfather, granted and conceded to them and by his charter confirmed
them. Witness, Richard de Luci at Westminster.

THE GREAT CHARTER.
GRANTED B Y KING JOHN, JUNE is, A. D. 1215.
Stubbs' Reprint.
John, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland,
Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, Count of Anjou, to the archbishops,
bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciars, foresters, sheriffs, reeves, ser
vants, and all bailiffs and his faithful people greeting. Know that by
the suggestion of God and for the good of our soul and those of all our
predecessors and of our heirs, to the honor of God and the exaltation of
holy church, and the improvement of our kingdom, by the advice of
our venerable fathers Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of
all England and cardinal of the holy Roman church, Henry, arch
bishop of Dublin, William of London, Peter of Winchester, Jocelyn
of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh of Lincoln, Walter of Worcester,
William of Coventry, and Benedict of Rochester, bishops ; of Master
Pandulf, subdeacon and companion of the Lord Pope, of Brother
Aymeric, master of the Knights of the Temple in England ; and of
the noblemen William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, William, Earl of
Salisbury, William, Earl of Warren, William, Earl of Arundel, Alan
of Galloway, constable of Scotland, Warren Fitz-Gerald, Peter Fitz-
Herbert, Hubert de Burgh, steward of Poitou, Hugh de Nevil, Mat
thew Fitz-Herbert, Thomas Bassett, Alan Bassett, Philip d'Albini,
Robert de Roppelay, John Marshall, John Fitz-Hugh, and others of
our faithful. 1. In the first place we have granted to God, and by this our
present charter confirmed, for us and our heirs forever, that the English
church shall be free, and shall hold its rights entire and its liberties
uninjured ; and we will that it be thus observed ; which is shown by
this, that the freedom of elections, which is considered to be most im
portant and especially necessary to the English church, we, of our pure
and spontaneous will, granted, and by our charter confirmed, before the
contest between us and our barons had arisen ; and obtained a con
firmation of it by the lord Pope Innocent III. ; which we will observe
and which we will shall be observed in good faith by our heirs forever.
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
for themselves and their heirs from us and our heirs.
2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding from us in chief
by military service shall have died and when he has died his heir is of
full age and owes relief, he shall have his inheritance by the ancient

relief ; that is to say the heir or heirs of an earl for the whole barony
of an earl a hundred pounds ; the heir or heirs of a baron, for a whole
barony a hundred pounds ; the heir or heirs of a knight, for a whole
knight's fee, a hundred shillings or more ; and who owes less let him
give less according to the ancient custom of fiefs.
3. If moreover the heir of any one of such shall be under age, and
shall be in wardship, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance
without relief and without a fine.
4. The custodian of the land of such a minor heir shall not take
from the land of the heir any except reasonable products, reasonable
customary payments, and reasonable services, and this without destruc
tion or waste of men or of property ; and if we shall have committed
the custody of the land of any such a one to the sheriff or to any other
who is to be responsible to us for its proceeds, and that man has caused
destruction or waste from his custody we will recover damages from
him, and the land shall be committed to two legal and discreet men of
that fief, who shall be responsible for its proceeds to us or to him to
whom we have assigned them ; and if we shall have given or sold to
any one the custody of any such land, and he has caused destruction or
waste there, he shall lose that custody, and it shall be handed over to
two legal and discreet men of that fief who shall be in like manner
responsible to us as is said above.
5. The custodian moreover, so long as he shall have the custody of
the land, must keep up the houses, parks, warrens, fish ponds, mills, and
other things pertaining to the land, from the proceeds of the land itself;
and he must return to the heir, when he has come to full age, all his
land, furnished with ploughs and implements of husbandry according
as the time of wainage requires and the proceeds of the land are able
reasonably to sustain.
6. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, so nevertheless
that before the marriage is contracted, it shall be announced to the
relatives by blood of the heir himself.
7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall have her mar
riage portion and her inheritance immediately and without obstruction,
nor shall she give anything for her dowry or for her marriage portion,
or for her inheritance which inheritance her husband and she held on
the day of the death of her husband ; and she may remain in the house
of her husband for forty days after his death, within which time her
dowry shall be assigned to her.
8. No widow shall be compelled to marry'so long as she prefers to
live without a husband, provided she gives security that she will not
8

marry without our consent, if she holds from us, or without the consent
of her lord from whom she holds, if she holds from another.
9. Neither we nor our bailiffs will seize any land or rent for any
debt, so long as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient for the payment
of the debt ; nor shall the pledges of a debtor be distrained so long as
the principal debtor himself has enough for the payment of the debt ;
and if the principal debtor fails in the payment of the debt, not having
the wherewithal to pay it, the pledges shall be responsible for the debt ;
and if they wish, they shall have the lands and the rents of the debtor
until they shall have been satisfied for the debt which they have be
fore paid for him, unless the principal debtor shall have shown himself
to be quit in that respect towards those pledges.
10. If any one has taken anything from the Jews, by way of a
loan, more or less, and dies before that debt is paid, the debt shall not
draw interest so long as the heir is under age, from whomsoever he
holds ; and if that debt falls into our hands, we will take nothing except
the chattel contained in the agreement.
11. And if any one dies leaving a debt owing to the Jews, his wife
shall have her dowry, and shall pay nothing of that debt ; and if there
remain minor children of the dead man, necessaries shall be provided
for them corresponding to the holding of the dead man ; and from the
remainder shall be paid the debt, the service of the lords being retained.
In the same waydebts are to be treated which are owed to others than
the Jews.
12. No scutage or aid shall be imposed in our kingdom except by
the common council of our kingdom, except for the ransoming of our
body, for the making of our oldest son a knight, and for once mar
rying our oldest daughter, and for these purposes it shall be only a
reasonable aid ; in the same way it shall be done concerning the aids
of the city of London.
13. And the city of London shall have all its ancient liberties
and free customs, as well by land as by water. Moreover, we will and
grant that all other cities and boroughs and villages and ports should
have all their liberties and free customs.
14. And for holding a common council of the kingdom concerning
the assessment of an aid otherwise than in the three cases mentioned
above, or concerning the assessment of a scutage we shall cause to be
summoned the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons
by our letters under seal ; and besides we shall cause to be summoned
generally, by our sheriffs and bailiffs all those who hold from us in chief;
for a certain day, that is at the end of forty days at least, and for a

certain place ; and in all the letters of that summons, we will express the
cause of the summons, and when the summons has thus been given
the business shall proceed on the appointed day, on the advice of those
who shall be present, even if not all of those who were summoned have
come. 15. We will not grant to any one, moreover, that he should take an
aid from his free men, except for ransoming his body, for making his
oldest son a knight, and for once marrying his oldest daughter ; and
for these purposes only a reasonable aid shall be taken.
16. No one shall be compelled to perform any greater service for a
knight's fee, or for any other free tenement than is owed from it.
17. The common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall be held
in some certain place.
18. The assizes of novel disseisin, mori d'aneestor, and darrein pre
sentment shall be held only in their own counties and in this manner :
we, or if we are outside of the kingdom our principal justiciar, will
send two justiciars through each county four times a year, who with
four knights of each county, elected by the county, shall hold in the
county and on the day and in the place of the county court, the afore
said assizes of the county.
19. And if the aforesaid assizes cannot be held within the day of
the county court, a sufficient number of knights and free-holders shall
remain from those who were present at the county court on that day to
give the judgments, according as the business is more or less.
20. A free man shall not be fined for a small offense, except in
proportion to the measure of the offense ; and for a great offense, he
shall be fined in proportion to the magnitude of the offense, saving his
freehold ; and a merchant in the same way, saving his merchandise ; and
the villain shall be fined in the same way, saving his wainage, if he shall
be at our mercy ; and none of the above fines shall be imposed except
by the oath of honest men of the neighborhood.
21. Earls and barons shall only be fined by their peers, and only
in proportion to their offense.
22. A clergyman shall be fined, like those before mentioned, only
in proportion to his lay holding, and not according to the extent of his
ecclesiastical benefice.
23. No manor nor man shall be compelled to make bridges over
the rivers except those which ought to do it of old and rightfully.
24. No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other bailiffs of ours shall
hold pleas of our crown.
25. All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and tithings should be at

the ancient rents and without any increase, excepting our demesne
manors. 26. If any person holding a lay fief from us shall die, and our
sheriff or bailiff shall show our letters-patent of our summons concern
ing a debt which the deceased owed to us, it shall be lawful for our
sheriff or bailiff to attach and levy on the chattels of the deceased found
on his lay fief, to the value of that debt, in the view of legal men, so never
theless that nothing be removed thence until the clear debt to us shall
be paid ; and the remainder shall be left to the executors for the fulfil
ment of the will of the deceased ; and if nothing is owed to us by him,
all the chattels shall go to the deceased, saving to his wife and the
children their reasonable shares.
27. If any free man dies intestate, his chattels shall be distributed
by the hands of his near relatives and friends, under the oversight of
the church, saving to each one the debts which the deceased owed to
him. 28. No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take anyone's grain
or other chattels, without immediately paying for them in money, unless
he is able to obtain a postponement at the good-will of the seller.
29. No constable shall require any knight to give money in place of
his ward of a castle if he is willing to furnish that ward in his own person
or through another honest man, if he himself is not able to do it for a
reasonable cause ; and if we shall lead or send him into the army he
shall be free from ward in proportion to the amount of time by which
he has been in the army through us.
30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours or any one else shall take horses or
wagons of any free man for carrying purposes except on the permission
of that free man.
31. Neither we nor our bailiffs will take the wood of another man
for castles, or for anything else which we are doing, except by the per
mission of him to whom the wood belongs.
32. We will not hold the lands of those convicted of a felony for
more than a year and a day, after which the lands shall be returned to
the lords of the fiefs.
33. All the fish-weirs in the Thames and the Medway, and through
out all England shall be done away with, except those on the coast.
34. The writ which is called Praecipe, moreover, shall not be given
to anyone concerning any tenement by which a free man can lose his
court. 35. There shall be one measure of wine throughout our whole
kino-dom, and one measure of ale, and one measure of grain, that is

the London quarter, and one width of dyed cloth and of russets and
of halbergets, that is two ells within the selvages ; of weights, moreover
it shall be as of measures.
36. Nothing shall henceforth be given or taken for a writ of inqui
sition concerning life or limbs, but it shall be given freely and not
denied. 37. If anyone holds of us by fee farm or by soccage or by burgage
and from another he holds land by military service, we will not have
the guardianship of the heir or of his land which is of the fief of
another, on account of that fee farm, or soccage, or burgage ; nor will
we have the custody of that fee farm, or soccage, or burgage, unless
that fee farm itself owes military service. We will not have the guar
dianship of the heir or of the land of anyone, which he holds from
another by military service on account of any petty serjeanty which
he holds from us by the service of paying to us knives or arrows, or
things of that kind.
38. No bailiff for the future shall place any one to his law on his
simple affirmation, without credible witnesses brought for this pur
pose. 39. No free man 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.
40. To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny, or delay right or
j ustice. 41. 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 ; and if such are found
in our land at the beginning of war, they shall be attached without
injury to their bodies or goods, until it shall be known from us or from
our principal justiciar in what way the merchants of our land are
treated who shall be then found in the country which is at war with us;
and if ours are safe there, the others shall be safe in our land.
42. It is allowed henceforth to anyone to go out from our kingdom,
and to return, safely and securely, by land and by water, saving their
fidelity to us, except in time of war for some short time, for the
common good of the kingdom ; excepting persons imprisoned and
outlawed according to the law of the realm, and people of a land at
war with us, and merchants, of whom it shall be done as is before said.

43. If anyone holds from any escheat, as from the honor of
Wallingfbrd, or Nottingham, or Boulogne, or Lancaster, or from other
escheats which are in our hands and are baronies, and he dies, his heir
shall not give any other relief, nor do to us any other service than he
would do to the baron, if that barony was in the hands of the baron ;
and we will hold it in the same way as the baron held it.
44. Men who dwell outside the forest shall not henceforth come
before our justiciars of the forest, on common summons, unless they are
in a plea of, or pledges for any person or persons who are arrested on
account of the forest.
45. We will not make justiciars, constables, sheriffs or bailiffs except
of such as know the law of the realm and are well inclined to observe it.
46. All barons who have founded abbeys for which they have
charters of kings of England, or ancient tenure, shall have their
custody when they have become vacant, as they ought to have.
47. All forests which have been afforested in our time shall be dis
afforested immediately ; and so it shall be concerning river banks which
in our time have been fenced in.
48. All the bad customs concerning forests and warrens and con
cerning foresters and warreners, sheriffs and their servants, river banks
and their guardians shall be inquired into immediately in each county
by twelve sworn knights of the same county, who shall be elected by the
honest men of the same county, and within fifty days after the inquisition
has been made, they shall be entirely destroyed by them, never to be
restored, provided that we be first informed of it, or our justiciar, if we
are not in England.
49. We will give back immediately all hostages and charters which
have been liberated to us by Englishmen as security for peace or for
faithful service.
50. We will remove absolutely from their bailiwicks the relatives of
Gerard de Athyes, so that for the future they shall have no bailiwick
in England; Engelard de Cygony, Andrew, Peter and Gyon de
Chancelles, Gyon de Cygony, Geoffrey de Martin and his brothers,
Philip Mark and his brothers, and Geoffrey his nephew and their whole
retinue. 51. And immediately after the re-establishment of peace we will
remove from the kingdom all foreign-born soldiers, cross-bow men,
servants, and mercenaries who have come with horses and arms for the
injury of the realm.
52. If any one shall have been dispossessed or removed by us without
legal judgment of his peers, from his lands, castles, franchises, or his right
i3

we will restore them to him immediately ; and if contention arises about
this, then it shall be done according to the judgment of the twenty-
five barons, of whom mention is made below concerning the security of
the peace. Concerning all those things, however, from which anyone
has been removed or of which he has been deprived without legal
judgment of his peers by King Henry our father, or by King Richard
our brother, which we have in our hand, or which others hold, and
which it is our duty to guarantee, we shall have respite till the usual
term of crusaders ; excepting those things about which the suit has
been begun or the inquisition made by our writ before our assumption
of the cross ; when, however, we shall return from our journey or if by
chance we desist from the journey, we will immediately show full
justice in regard to them.
53. We shall, moreover, have the same respite and in the same
manner about showing justice in regard to the forests which are to be
disafforested or to remain forests, which Henry our father or Richard our
brother made into forests ; and concerning the custody of lands which
are in the fief of another, custody of which we have until now had on
account of a fief which anyone has held from us by military service ;
and concerning the abbeys which have been founded in fiefe of others
than ourselves, in which the lord of the fee has asserted for himself a
right ; and when we return or if we should desist from our journey we
will immediately show full justice to those complaining in regard to
them. 54. No one shall be seized nor imprisoned on the appeal of a woman
concerning the death of anyone except her husband.
55. All fines which have been imposed unjustly and against the law
of the land, and all penalties imposed unjustly and against the law of
the land are altogether excused, or will be on the judgment of the
twenty-five barons of whom mention is made below in connection with
the security of the peace, or on the judgment of the majority of them,
along with the aforesaid Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, if he is
able to be present, and others whom he may wish to call for this pur
pose along with him. And if he should not be able to be present,
nevertheless the business shall go on without him, provided that if any
one or more of the aforesaid twenty-five barons are in a similar suit they
should be removed as far as this particular judgment goes, and others
who shall be chosen and put upon oath, by the remainder of the twenty-
five shall be substituted for them for this purpose.
56. If we have dispossessed or removed any Welshmen from their
lands, or franchises, or other things, without legal judgment of their peers,

in England, or in Wales, they shall be immediately returned to them ; and
if a dispute shall have arisen over this, then it shall be settled in the bor
derland by judgment of their peers, concerning holdings of England ac
cording to the law of England, concerning holdings of Wales according
to the law of Wales, and concerning holdings of the borderland accord
ing to the law of the borderland. The Welsh shall do the same to us
and ours.
57. Concerning all these things, however, from which any one of
the Welsh shall have been removed or dispossessed without legal judg
ment of his peers by King Henry our father, or King Richard our
brother, which we hold in our hands, or which others hold, and we are
bound to warrant to them, we shall have respite till the usual period
of crusaders, those being excepted about which suit was begun or inqui
sition made by our command before our assumption of the cross. When,
however, we shall return or if by chance we shall desist from our jour
ney, we will show full justice to them immediately, according to the
laws of the Welsh and the aforesaid parts.
58. We will give back the son of Lewellyn immediately, and all
the hostages from Wales and the charters which had been liberated to
us as a security for peace.
59. We will act toward Alexander, King of the Scots, concerning
the return of his sisters and his hostages, and concerning his franchises
and his right, according to the manner in which we shall act toward
our other barons of England, unless it ought to be otherwise by the
charters which we hold from William his father, formerly King of the
Scots, and this shall be by the judgment of his peers in our court.
60. Moreover, all those customs and franchises mentioned above
which we have conceded in our kingdom, and which are to be fulfilled,
as far as pertains to us, in respect to our men ; all men of our kingdom,
as well clergy as laymen, shall observe as far as pertains to them, in
respect to their men.
61. Since, moreover, for the sake of God, and for the improvement
of our kingdom, and for the better quieting of the hostility sprung
up lately between us and our barons, we have made all these conces
sions ; wishing them to enjoy these in a complete and firm stability for
ever, we make and concede to them the security described below ; that
is to say, that they shall elect twenty-five barons of the kingdom, whom
they will, who ought with all their power to observe, hold, and cause to
be observed, the peace and liberties which we have conceded to them, and
by this our present charter confirmed to them ; in this manner that if
we or our justiciar, or our bailiffs, or any one of our servants shall have
i5

done wrong in any way toward any one, or shall have transgressed any
of the articles of peace or security ; and the wrong shall have been
shown to four barons of the aforesaid twenty-five barons, let those four
barons come to us or to our justiciar, if we are out of the kingdom, lay
ing before us the transgression, and let them ask , that we cause that
transgression to be corrected without delay. And if we shall not have
corrected the transgression or, if we shall be out of the kingdom, if our
justiciar shall not have corrected it within a period of forty days, counting
from the time in which it has been shown to us or to our justiciar, if we are
out of the kingdom ; the aforesaid four barons shall refer the matter to the
remainder of the twenty-five barons, and let these twenty-five barons with
the whole community of the country distress and injure us in every way
they can ; that is to say by the seizure of our castles, lands, possessions, and
in such other ways as they can until it shall have been corrected accord
ing to their judgment, saving our person and that of our queen, and those
of our children ; and when the correction has been made, let them de
vote themselves to us as they did before. And let whoever in the
country wishes take an oath that in all the above-mentioned measures
he will obey the orders of the aforesaid twenty-five barons, and that he
will injure us as far as he is able with them, and we give permission to swear
publicly and freely to each one who wishes to swear, and no one will we
ever forbid to swear. All those, moreover, in the country who of them
selves and their own will are unwilling to take an oath to the twenty-five
barons as to distressing and injuring us along with them, we will compel
to take the oath by our mandate, as before said. And if any one of the
twenty-five barons shall have died or departed from the land or shall in
any other way be prevented from taking the above-mentioned action,
let the remainder of the aforesaid twenty-five barons choose another in
his place, according to their judgment, who shall take an oath in the
same way as the others. In all these things, moreover, which are com
mitted to those five and twenty barons to carry out, if perhaps the
twenty-five are present, and some disagreement arises among them about
something, or if any of them when they have been summoned are not
willing or are not able to be present, let that be considered valid and firm
which the greater part of those who are present arrange or command,
just as if the whole twenty-five had agreed in this ; and let the afore
said twenty-five swear that they will observe faithfully all the things
which are said above, and with all their ability cause them to be
observed. And we will obtain nothing from anyone, either by ourselves
or by another by which any of these concessions and liberties shall be
revoked or diminished ; and if any such thing shall have been obtained,
16

let it be invalid and void, and we will never use it by ourselves or by
another. 62. And all ill-will, grudges, and anger sprung up between us and
our men, clergy and laymen, from the time of the dispute, we have
fully renounced and pardoned to all. Moreover, all transgressions
committed on account of this dispute, from Easter in the sixteenth year
of our reign till the restoration of peace, we have fully remitted to all,
clergy and laymen, and, as far as pertains to us, fully pardoned. And
moreover we have caused to be made for them testimonial letters-patent
of lord Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, lord Henry, archbishop
of Dublin, and of the aforesaid bishops and of master Pandulf, in respect
to that security and the concessions named above.
63. Wherefore we will and firmly command that the Church of
England shall be free, and that the men in our kingdom shall have
and hold all the aforesaid liberties, rights and concessions, well and
peacefully, freely and quietly, fully and completely, for themselves and
their heirs, from us and our heirs, in all things and places, forever, as
before said. It has been sworn, moreover, as well on our part as on the
part of the barons, that all these things spoken of above shall be
observed in good faith and without any evil intent. Witness the above
named and many others. Given by our hand in the meadow which is
called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of
June, in the seventeenth year of our reign.

THE CONFIRMATION OF THE CHARTERS, BY EDWARD I.,
"97-
Statutes of the Realm, I, 123, 124.
I. Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of
Ireland, and Duke of Guyan, to all those that these present letters
shall hear or see, greeting : Know ye, that we to the honor of God and
of holy church, and to the profit of our realm, have granted for us and
our heirs that the Charter of Liberties and the Charter of the Forest,
which were made by common assent of all the realm, in the time of
King Henry our father, shall be kept in every point without breach.
And we will that the same charters shall be sent under our seal as well
to our justices of the forest as to others, and to all sheriffs of shires, and
to all our other officers and to all our cities throughout the realm,
together with our writs in which it shall be contained, that they cause
the foresaid charters to be published, and to declare to the people that
we have confirmed them in all points, and that our justioes, sheriffs,
17

mayors, and other ministers which under us have the laws of our,
land to guide, shall allow the said charters pleaded before them in
judgment in all their points ; that is to wit, the Great Charter as the
common law and the Charter of the Forest according to the assize of
the forest, for the wealth of our realm.
II. And we will that if any judgment be given from henceforth,
contrary to the points of the charters aforesaid, by the justices or by
any other of our ministers that hold plea before them, against the
points of the charters, it shall be undone and holden for nought.
III. And we will that the same charters shall be sent under our
seal to cathedral churches throughout our realm there to remain, and
shall be read before the people two times by the year.
IV. And that all archbishops and bishops shall pronounce the
sentence of great excommunication against all those that by word, deed,
or counsel do contrary to the foresaid charters, or that in any point
break or undo them. And that the said curses be twice a year
denounced and published by the prelates aforesaid. And if the same
prelates or any of them be remiss in the denunciation of the said
sentences, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York for the time being,
as is fitting, shall compel and distrein them to make that denunciation
in form aforesaid.
V. And for so much as divers people of our realm are in fear that
the aids and tasks which they have given to us beforetime towards our
wars and other business, of their own grant and good-will, howsoever
they were made, might turn to a bondage to them and their heirs,
because they might be at another time found in the rolls, and so like
wise the prises taken throughout the realm by our ministers ; we have
granted for us and our heirs, that we shall not draw such aids, tasks,
nor prises into a custom, for anything that hath been done heretofore
or that may be found by roll or in any other manner.
VI. Moreover we have granted for us and our heirs, as well to
archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, and other folk of holy church, as
also to earls, barons, and to all the commonalty of the land, that for no
business from henceforth will we take such manner of aids, tasks, nor
prises, but by the common consent of the realm, and for the common
profit thereof, saving the ancient aids and prises due and accustomed.
VII. And for so much as the more part of the commonalty of the
realm find themselves sore grieved with the maletote of wools, that is
to wit, a toll of forty shillings for every sack of wool, and have made
petition to us to release the same ; we, at their requests, have clearly
released it, and have granted for us and our heirs that we shall not
18

take such thing or any other without their common assent and good
will, saving to1 us and our heirs the custom of wools, skins, and leather
granted before by the commonalty aforesaid. In witness of which
things we have caused these our letters to be made patents. Witness
Edward, our son, at London, the tenth day of October, the five and
twentieth year of our reign.
And be it remembered that this same charter in the same terms,
word for word, was sealed in Flanders under the king's great seal, that
is to say at Ghent, the fifth day of November in the twenty-fifth year
of the reign of our aforesaid lord the king, and sent into England.

III. JUDICIAL DOCUMENTS.
WRI7 OF WILLIAM I I., FOR AN INQUISITION.
Palgrave's English Commonwealth, II, clxxix.
The King to William de Cahaunis greeting: I require you to
cause the shire of Hampton to meet, and on its judgment to decide
whether the land of Isham paid a rent to the monks of St. Benedict,
in the time of my father, and if this is found to have been so, let it be
in the control of the abbot ; thus if it is found to be demesne land,
whoever holds it let him hold it from the abbot, and acknowledge him.
And if he is not willing, let the abbot have it in his control, and see
that no further complaint comes to me about it. Witness William,
Bishop of Durham.
WRIT OF HENRY I., FOR AN INQUISITION.
Palgrave's English Commonwealth, II, clxxxiv.
Henry, King of the English, to Ralph Meschin and Osbert the
sheriff, and Picot, son of Colswen, and Wigot of Lincoln, greeting:
Go and examine the borders between my manor of Torkesey and the
manor of Estora, and have the aforesaid borders testified to and divided
by the honest men of the county. And if you do not give full credit
to them, let them confirm what they have said by an oath.

WRIT OF WILLIAM, SON OF HENRY I, FOR A RECOGNITION.
Palgrave's English Commonwealth, II, clxxix.
William, son of the King, to William, sheriff of Kent, greeting :
I command you to require Hamo, son of Vitalis, and the honest men
19

of the neighborhood of Sandwich, whom Hamo will nominate to give a
verdict [ut dicant veritatem] concerning the ship of the abbot of St.
Augustine. And if that ship came by sea on the day when the king
recently crossed the sea then I command that it should now go free,
until the king comes into England, and in the meantime that it should
be given back to the aforesaid abbot. Witness the Bishop of Salisbury
and the Chancellor, at Woodstock.

WRIT OF HENRY II. , FOR A RECOGNITION.
Palgrave's English Commonwealth, II, clxxxi.
Henry, King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine and
Count of Anjou, to Richard de Lucy and the Foresters of Windsor,
greeting: I command that without delay, you cause to be decided
(recognosci) by the oath of legal men of the hundred, how many swine
the Abbot of Abingdon was accustomed to have free of payment in my
forest, which is called Kingsfrith, in the time of King Henry, my
grandfather ; and in accordance with the report, that you cause
Walchelin, Abbot of Abingdon, and the monks serving God there, to
have their justice.
Witness Man. Biset, steward, at Rouen.

THE ASSIZE OF CLARENDON, 1166.
Stubbs' Select Charters, 137-139.
Here begins the Assize of Clarendon, made by King. Henry
II. with the assent of the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls and barons
of all England.
§ 1. In the first place, the aforesaid King Henry, with the consent
of all his barons, for the preservation of the peace and the keeping of
justice, has enacted that inquiry should be made through the several
counties and through the several hundreds, by twelve of the more legal
men of the hundred and by four of the more legal men of each manor,
upon their oath that they will tell the truth, whether there is in their
hundred or in their manor, any man who has been accused or publicly
suspected of himself being a robber, or murderer, or thief, or of being
a receiver of robbers, or murderers, or thieves, since the lord king
has been king. And let the justices make this inquiry before them
selves, and the sheriffs before themselves.
§ 2. And let anyone who has been found by the oath of the afore
said, to have been accused or publicly suspected of having been a

robber, or murderer, or thief, or a receiver of them, since the lord king
has been king, be arrested and go to the ordeal of water, and let him
swear that he has not been a robber, or murderer, or thief, or receiver
of them since the lord king has been king, to the value of five shillings,
so far as he knows.
§ 3. And if the lord of the man who has been arrested, or his
steward, or his men shall have claimed him, with a pledge within the
third day after he has been seized, let him be given up and his chattels
until he himself makes his law.
§ 4. And when a robber, or murderer, or thief, or receiver of them
shall have been seized through the above-mentioned oath, if the justices
are not to come very soon into that county where they have been
arrested, let the sheriffs send word to the nearest justice by some
intelligent man that they have arrested such men, and the justices will
send back word to the sheriffs where they wish that these should be
brought before them ; and the sheriffs shall bring them before the
justices ; and along with these they shall bring from the hundred and
the manor where they have been arrested, two legal men to carry the
record of the county and of the hundred as to why they were seized,
and there before the justice let them make their law.
§ 5. And in the case of those who have been arrested through the
aforesaid oath of this assize, no one shall have court, or judgment, or
chattels, except the lord king in his court before his justices, and the
lord king shall have all their chattels. In the case of those, however,
who have been arrested, otherwise than through this oath, let it be as it
has been accustomed and ought to be.
§ 6. And the sheriffs who have arrested them shall bring such
before the justice without any other summons than they have from him.
And when robbers, or murderers, or thieves, or receivers of them, who
have been arrested through the oath or otherwise, are handed over to
the sheriffs, they also must receive them immediately without delay.
§ 7. And in the several counties where there are uo jails, let such
be made in a borough or in some castle of the king, from the money of the
king and from his forest, if one shall be near, or from some other
neighboring forest, on the view of the servants of the king ; in order that
in them the sheriffs may be able to detain those who have been seized
by the officials who are accustomed to do this or by their servants.
8 8. And the lord king moreover wills that all should come to the
county courts to make this oath, so that no one shall remain behind
because of any franchise which he has or court or jurisdiction which he
had, but that they should come to the making of this oath.

§ 9. And there is to be no one within a castle or without a castle,
or even in the honor of Wallingford, who may forbid the sheriffs to
enter into his court or his land for seeing to the frankpledges and that
all are under pledges ; and let them be sent before the sheriffs under a
free pledge. § 1 0. And iu cities and boroughs, let no one have men or receive
them in his house or in his land or his soc, whom he does not take in
hand that he will produce before the justice if they shall be required,
or else let them be under a frankpledge.
§11. And let there be none in a city or borough or in a castle or
without or even in the honor of Wallingford who shall forbid the
sheriffs to enter into his land or his jurisdiction to arrest those who haye
been charged or publicly suspected of being robbers or murderers or
thieves or receivers of them, or outlaws, or persons charged concerning
the forest; but he requires that they should aid them to capture
these. § 12. And if any one is captured who has in his possession the
fruits of robbery or theft, if he is of bad reputation and has an evil
testimony from the public, and has not a warrant, let him not have law.
And if he shall not have been accused on account of the possession
which he has, let him go to the water.
§ 13. And if any one shall have acknowledged robbery or mur
der or theft or the reception of them iu the presence of legal men or of
the hundreds, and afterwards shall wish to deny it, he shall not have
law. § 14. The lord king wills moreover that those who make their law
and shall be absolved by the law, if they are of very bad testimony,
and publicly and disgracefully spoken ill of by the testimony of many and
legal men, shall abjure the lands of the king, so that within eight days
they shall go over the sea, unless the wind shall have detained them ;
and with the first wind which they shall have afterward they shall go
over the sea, and they shall not afterward return into England, except
on the permission of the lord king ; and then let them be outlawed if
they return, and if they return they shall be seized as outlaws.
§ 15. And the lord king forbids any vagabond, that is a wandering
or an unknown man, to be sheltered anywhere except in a borough, and
even there he shall be sheltered only one night, unless he shall be sick
there, or his horse, so that he is able to show an evident excuse.
§ 16. And if he shall have been there more than one night, let
him be arrested and held until his lord shall come to give securities for

him, or until he himself shall have secure pledges ; and let him likewise
be arrested who has sheltered him.
§ 17. And if any sheriff shall have sent word to any other sheriff
that men have fled from his county into the other county, on account of
robbery or murder or theft, or the reception of them, or for outlawry or
for a charge concerning the forest of the king, let him arrest them.
And even if he knows of himself or through others that such men have
fled into his county, let him arrest them and hold them until he shall
have secure pledges from them.
§ 18. And let all sheriffs cause a list to be made of all fugitives
who have fled from their counties ; and let them do this in the presence
of their county courts, and they will carry the written names of these
before the justices when they come first before these, so that they may
be sought through all England, and their chattels may be seized for the
use of the king.
§ 19. And the lord king wills that, from the time when the sheriffs
have received the summons of the justices in eyre to appear before
them with their county courts, they shall gather together their county
courts and make inquiry for all who have recently come into their
counties since this assize ; and that they should send them away with
pledges that they will be before the justices, or else keep them in custody
until the justices come to them, and then they shall have them before the
justices. § 20. The lord king moreover prohibits monks and canons and all
religious houses from receiving any one of the lesser people as a monk
or canon or brother, until it is known of what reputation he is, unless
he shall be sick unto death.
§ 21. The lord king moreover forbids any one in all England
to receive in his land or his jurisdiction or in a house under him
any one of the sect of those renegades who have been excommunicated
and branded at Oxford. And if anyone shall have received them, he
will be at the mercy of the lord king, and the house in which they
have been shall be carried outside the village and burned. And each
sheriff will take this oath that he will hold this, and will make all his
servants swear this, and the stewards of the barons, and all knights
and free tenants of the counties.
§ 22. And the lord king wills that this assize shall be held in his
kingdom so long as it shall please him.

23

TYPICAL CASES IN ROYAL COURTS.
Maitland; Select Pleas of the Crown : Selden Society.
Hundred of Kerrier, Cornwall, A. D. 1201.
Denise, who was wife of Anthony, summons Nicholas Kam for the
death of Anthony, her husband, as having wickedly killed her husband ;
and this she offers to prove against him under award of the court. And
Nicholas denies it all. It is adjudged that Denise has no right of
summons, because she does not claim in her accusation that she saw it.
The jurors being asked say that they suspect him of it, and the whole
county likewise suspects him. Let Nicholas purge himself by water,
according to the assize. He has found sureties.

Hundred of Eastwivchhire, Cornwall, A. D. 1201.
William Burnell and Luke of the Well are suspected by the jurors
of the hundred and the four neighboring townships, which have been
sworn, of the burglary at the house of Richard Palmer. Let them
purge themselves by water, according to the assize.

Wapentake of Aswardhurn, Lincolnshire, A. D. 1202.
Hugh of Ruperes summons John of Ashby because he in the
king's peace and wickedly came into his meadows and pastured his
cattle on them, and this he offers, etc. And John comes and denies it
all. And since it has been testified by the sheriff and by the guardians
of the pleas of the crown, that he had previously summoned John for
the pasturing of his meadows and for the beating of his men, and now
is not willing to pursue his accusation concerning the men, but only
concerning the meadows, and moreover an accusation of the pasturing
of meadows does not pertain to the king's crown, it is judged that the
accusation is of no effect, and therefore let Hugh be in mercy and John
be declared quit. Hugh is in custody because he cannot find securities.

Wapentake of Kirton, Lincolnshire, A. D. 1202.
Hereward, the son of William, accuses Walter, the son of Hugh,
of assaulting him, in the king's peace, and wounding him in the arm
with a certain iron fork, and giving him another wound on the head ;
and this he offers to prove on his body, as the court shall approve.
And Walter denies it all, on his body. And it is testified by the
coroners and by the whole county that the same Hereward showed his
wounds at the proper time, and has made sufficient suit. And it is
therefore adjudged that a battle should be made. The securities of
24

Walter are Peter bf Gosberton church and Richard, the son of Here
ward; the securities of Hereward are William, his father, and the
Prior of Pinchbeck. Let them come armed, a fortnight from St.
Swithins day, at Leicester.

Borough of Bedford, A. D. 1202.
Lambert, the miller, complains that Clarice, wife of Lawrence, the
son of Walter, sold him beer by a false gallon, and produces testimony
which report that they were present when she thus sold by that gallon
that is to say, three gallons for a penny. Clarice comes and denies that
she sold by a false gallon, or that she sold by that gallon which he
said was hers as being a whole gallon, but as being a half-gallon. Let
her defend herself with twelve hands on the coming of the justices.
She has given securities. Security for her law, William, son of Ascelin ;
securities of Lambert to prosecute, William Sanguinel, Richard, son of
Geoffrey, Dennis, son of Lambert, and Walter the miller.

Hundred of Pirehill, Staffordshire, A. D. 1203.
A certain Lemis is suspected by the jurors of being present when
Reinild of Hemchurch was slain, and of having given aid and consent
to her death. And she denies it. Therefore let her purge herself by
the ordeal of iron ; but as she is il), let it be postponed until she
recovers.

Suffolk, Easter Term, A. D. 1212.
William Brown, who was charged with the death of a certain man,
and who purged himself by water and abjured the realm, offers one
mark that he may be allowed to return and to find sureties for standing
to right if any one shall wish to accuse him.

Middlesex, Trinity Term, A. D. 1214.
Walter Trenchebof was asserted to have handed to Inger of
Faldingthorpe the knife with which he killed Guy Foliot, and is
suspected of it. Let him purge himself by water that he did not
consent to it. He has failed and is hanged.
Simon, the son of Robert, who was captured in company with
thieves and was held in prison because he was under age must likewise
purge himself by water. He has purged himself and abjured the
realm. 25

CONSTITUTIONS OF CLARENDON, 1164.
Stubbs' Select Charters, 131-134.
In the year of the incarnation of the Lord, 1164, of the papacy of
Alexander the fourth year, of the most illustrious king of the English,
Henry IL, the tenth year, in the presence of the same king, has been
made this memorial or acknowledgment of a certain part of the customs
and franchises and dignities of his predecessors, that is to say of King
Henry, his grandfather, and of other kings which ought to be observed
and held in the kingdom. And on account of the discussions and
disputes which have arisen between the clergy and the justices of our
lord the king and the barons of the kingdom concerning the customs
and dignities, this acknowledgment is made in the presence of the
archbishops and bishops and clergy and earls and barons and principal
men of the kingdom. And these customs, acknowledged by the
archbishops and bishops and earls and barons, and by the most noble
and ancient of the kingdom, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, and
Roger, Archbishop of York, and Gilbert, Bishop of London, and
Henry, Bishop of Winchester, and Nigel, Bishop of Ely, and William,
Bishop of Norwich, and Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, and Hilary,
Bishop of Chichester, and Jocelyn, Bishop of Salisbury, and Richard,
Bishop of Chester, and Bartholomew, Bishop of Exeter, and Robert,
Bishop of Hereford, and David, Bishop of Man, and Roger, Bishop-
elect of Worcester have conceded, and in the word of truth by their
living voice have firmly promised to the lord king and to his heirs
should be held and observed, in good faith and without any evil inten
tion ; the following being present : Robert, Earl of Leicester, Reginald,
Earl of Cornwall, Conan, Count of Brittany, John, Count of En, Roger,
Earl of Clare, Count Geoffrey de Mandeville, Hugh, Earl of Chester,
William, Earl of Arundel, Earl Patrick, William, Count of Ferrara,
Richard de Lacy, Reginald de St. Valery, Roger Bigod, Reginald de
Warenne, Richer de Aquila, William de Braose, Richard de Camville,
Nigel de Mowbray, Simon de Warfield, Humphrey de Bohun,
Matthew de Hereford, Walter de Medway, Manasses Bisett, steward,
William Malet, William de Courcy, Robert de IDunstanville, Jocelyn
de Balliol, William de Lanvale, William de Cheyney, Geoffrey de
Vere, William de Hastings, Hugh de Moreville, Alan de Neville,
Simon Fitz-Peter, William Malduit, chamberlain, John Malduit,
John Marshall, Peter de Mare, and many others of the principal men
and nobles of the kingdom, as well clergy as laity.
26

Of these acknowledged customs and dignities of the realm, a cer
tain part is contained in the present writing. Of this part the heads are
as follows :
§ 1. If any controversy has arisen concerning the advowson and
presentation of churches, between laymen, or between laymen and
ecclesiastics, or between ecclesiastics, it is to be considered or settled in
the court of the lord king.
§ 2. Churches of the fee of the lord king cannot be given per
petually without his assent and grant.
§ 3. Clergymen charged and accused of anything, when they have
been summoned by a justice of the king shall come into his court, to
respond there to that which it shall seem good to the court of the king for
him to respond to, and in the ecclesiastical court to what it shall seem
good should be responded to there ; so that the justice of the king shall
send into the court of holy 'church to see how the matter shall be treated
there. And if a clergyman shall have been convicted or has confessed,
the church ought not to protect him otherwise.
§ 4. It is not lawful for archbishops, bishops, and persons of the
realm to go out of the realm without the permission of the lord king.
And if they go out, if it please the lord king, they shall give security
that neither in going or in making a stay, nor in returning will they seek
evil or loss to the king or the kingdom.
§ 5. Excommunicated persons ought not to give permanent security
nor offer an oath but only security and a pledge to stand to the judg
ment of the church, in order that they may be absolved.
§ 6. Laymen ought not to be accused except by definite and legal
accusers and witnesses, in the presence of the bishop, so that the arch
deacon shall not lose his right, nor anything which he ought to have
from it. And if there are such persons as are blamed, but no one
wishes or no one dares to accuse them, let the sheriff when required by
the bishop cause twelve legal men of the neighborhood or of the town
ship to take an oath in the presence of the bishop that they will show
the truth about it according to their conscience.
§ 7. No one who holds from the king in chief, nor any one of the
officers of his demesnes shall be excommunicated, nor the lands of any
one of them placed under an interdict, unless the lord king, if he is in
the land, first agrees, or his justice, if he is out of the realm, in order
that he may do right concerning him ; and so that what shall pertain
to the king's court shall be settled there, and for that which has respect
to the ecclesiastical court, that it may be sent to the same to be con
sidered there. 27

§ 8. Concerning appeals, if they should occur, they ought to pro
ceed from the archdeacon to the bishop, from the bishop to the arch
bishop. And if the archbishop should fail to show justice, it must come
to the lord king last, in order that by his command the controversy
should be finally terminated in the court of the archbishop, so that it
ought not to proceed further without the assent of the lord king.
§ 9. If a contest has arisen between a clergyman and a layman
or between a layman and a clergyman, concerning any tenement which
the clergyman wishes to bring into charitable tenure, but the layman
into a lay fief, it shall be settled by the deliberation of a principal
justice of the king, on the recognition of twelve legal men, whether the
tenement pertains to charity or to a lay fief, in the presence of that
justice of the king. And if the recognition shall decide that it belongs
to charity, the suit will be in the ecclesiastical court, but if to a lay fief,
unless both are answerable to the same bishop or baron, the suit will be
in the king's court. But if both shall be answerable concerning that
fief before the same bishop or baron, the suit will be in his court ; pro
vided that the one who was formerly in possession shall not lose his
possession on account of the recognition which has been made until it
has been decided upon through the suit.
§ 10. If any one who is of a city or a castle, or a borough or a dem
esne manor of the lord king has been summoned by the archdeacon or
the bishop for any offense for which he ought to respond to them and is
unwilling to make answer to their summons, it is fully lawful to place
him under an interdict, but he ought not to be excommunicated before
the principal officer of the lord king for that place agrees, in order that
he may adjudge him to come to the answer. And if the officer of the
king is negligent in this, he himself will be at the mercy of the lord
king, and afterward the bishop shall be able to coerce the accused man
by ecclesiastical justice.
§ 11. Archbishops, bishops, and all persons of the realm, who hold
from the king in chief, have their possessions from the lord king as a
barony, and are responsible for them to the justices and officers of the
king, and follow and perform all royal rules and customs ; and just as
the rest as the barons, ought to be present at the judgments of the court
of the lord king along with the barons at least till the judgment
reaches to loss of limbs or to death.
§ 12. When an archbishopric or bishopric or abbacy or priorate
of the demesne of the king; has become vacant, it ought to be in his hands
and he shall take thence all its rights and products just as demesnes.
And when it has come to providing for the church, the lord king ought
28

to summon the more powerful persons of the church, and the election
ought to be made in the chapel of the lord king himself, with the assent
of the lord king and with the agreement of the persons of the realm
whom he has called to do this. And there the person elected shall do
homage and fealty to the lord king as to his liege lord, concerning his
life and his limbs and his earthly honor, saving his order, before he shall
be consecrated. § 13. If anyone of the great men of the kingdom has prevented
archbishop, bishop or archdeacon from exercising justice upon himself
or his, the lord king ought to bring them to justice. And if by chance
anyone has deprived the lord king of his right, the archbishops and
bishops and archdeacons ought to bring him to justice in order that he
may give satisfaction to the lord king.
§ 14. The chattels of those who are in forfeiture to the king no
church or church-yard must detain against the justice of the king,
because they are the king's whether they have been found within the
churches or without.
§ 15. Suits concerning debts which are owed through the medium
of a bond or without the medium of a bond should be in the jurisdiction
of the king.
§ 16. Sons of rustics ought not to be ordained without the assent
of the lord upon whose land they are known to have been born.
The acknowledgment of the aforesaid royal customs and dignities
has been made by the aforesaid archbishops, and bishops, and earls, and
barons, and the more noble and ancient of the realm, at Clarendon, on
the fourth day before the Purification of the Blessed Mary, Perpetual
Virgin, Lord Henry with his father, the lord king, being there present.
There are, however, many other and great customs and dignities of
holy mother church and of the lord king, and of the barons of the
realm, which are not contained in this writing. These are preserved to
holy church and to the lord king and to his heirs and to the barons of
the realm, and shall be observed inviolably forever.

IV. PARLIAMENTARY WRITS.
SUMMONS OF ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY TO PARLIAMENT,
1295.
Stubbs' Select Charters, 474.
The king to the venerable father in Christ Robert, by the same
grace Archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, greeting.
29

As a most just law, established by the careful providence of sacred
princes, exhorts and decrees that what affects all, by all should be
approved, so also, very evidently should common danger be met by
means provided in common. You know sufficiently well, and it is now
as we believe, divulged through all regions of the world, how the
King of France fraudulently and craftily deprives us of our land of
Gascony, by withholding it unjustly from us. Now, however, not
satisfied with the before-mentioned fraud and injustice, having gathered
together for the conquest of our kingdom a very great fleet, and an
abounding multitude of warriors, with which he has made a hostile
attack on our kingdom and the inhabitants of the same kingdom, he now
proposes to destroy the English language altogether from the earth if
his power should correspond to the detestable proposition of the
contemplated injustice, which God forbid. Because, therefore, darts seen
beforehand do less injury, and your interest especially, as that of other
fellow citizens of the same realm, is concerned in this affair, we com
mand you, strictly enjoining you in the fidelity and love in which you are
bound to us, that on the Lord's day next after the feast of St. Martin,
in the approaching winter, you be present in person at Westminster ;
citing beforehand the dean and chapter of your church, the arch
deacons and all the clergy of your diocese, causing the same dean and
archdeacons in their own persons, and the said chapter by one suitable
proctor, and the said clergy by two, to be present along with you, having
full and sufficient power of themselves from the chapter and clergy,
for considering, ordaining and providing along with us and with the
rest of the prelates and principal men and other inhabitants of our
kingdom how the dangers and threatened evils of this kind are to be
met. Witness the king at Wangham, the thirtieth day of September.
Identical summons were sent out to the two archbishops and eighteen
bishops, and, with the omission of the last paragraph, to seventy abbots.

SUMMONS OF THE EARL OF CORNWALL TO PARLIAMENT,
1295-
Stubbs' Select Charters, 475.
The king to his beloved and faithful relative, Edmund, Earl of
Cornwall, greeting. Because we wish to have a consultation and meet
ing with you and with the rest of the principal men of our kingdom,
as to provision for remedies against the dangers which in these days are
threatening our whole kingdom ; we command you, strictly enjoining
you in the fidelity and love in which you are bound to us, that on the
3°

Lord's day next after the feast of St. Martin, in the approaching win
ter, you be present in person at Westminster, for considering, ordaining
and doing along with us and with the prelates, and the rest of the
principal men and other inhabitants of our kingdom, as may be neces
sary for meeting dangers of this kind.
Witness the king at Canterbury, the first of October.
Similar summons were sent to seven earls and forty-one barons.

SUMMONS OF REPRESENTATIVES OF SHIRES AND TOWNS
TO PARLIAMENT, i29j.
Stubbs' Select Charters, 476.
The king to the sheriff of Northamptonshire. Since we intend to
have a consultation and meeting with the earls, barons and other prin
cipal men of our kingdom with regard to providing remedies against
the dangers which are in these days threatening the same kingdom ;
and on that account have commanded them to be with us on the Lord's
Day next after the feast of St. Martin in the approaching winter, at
Westminster, to consider, ordain, and do as may be necessary for the
avoidance of these dangers ; we strictly require you to cause two knights
from the aforesaid county, two citizens from each city in the same
county, and two burgesses from each borough, of those who are especially
discreet and capable of laboring, to be elected without delay, and to
cause them to come to us at the aforesaid time and place.
Moreover, the said knights are to have full and sufficient power for
themselves and for the community of the aforesaid county, and the said
citizens and burgesses for themselves and the community of the aforesaid
cities and boroughs separately, then and there for doing what shall
be ordained by the common council in the premises ; so that the aforesaid
business shall not remain unfinished in any way for defect of this
power. And you shall have there the names of the knights, citizens
and burgesses and this writ.
Witness the king at Canterbury on the third day of October.
Identical summons were sent to the sheriffs of each county.

31

V. THE BILL OF RIGHTS.
AN ACT FOR DECLARING THE RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES
OF THE SUBJECT AND SETTLING THE SUCCESSION
OF THE CROWN, 1689.
Statutes of the Realm, VI, 142-145.
Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons,
assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully, and freely representing all
the estates of the people of this realm, did upon the thirteenth day
of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred
eighty-eight, present unto their Majesties, then called and known by
the names and style of William and Mary, Prince and Princess of
Orange, being present in their proper persons, a certain Declaration
in writing, made by the said Lords and Commons, in the words follow
ing, viz. :
Whereas the late King James IL, by the assistance of divers
evil counsellors, judges, and ministers employed by him, did endeavor
to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion, and the laws and
liberties of this kingdom :
1. By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing with and
suspending of laws, and the execution of laws, without consent of
Parliament. 2. By committing and prosecuting divers worthy prelates for
humbly petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said assumed
power. 3. By issuing and causing to be executed a commission under the
Great Seal for erecting a court, called the Court of Commissioners for
Ecclesiastical Causes.
4. By levying money for and to the use of the Crown by pretence
of prerogative, for other time and in other manner than the same was
granted by Parliament.
5. By raising and keeping a standing army within this kingdom
in time of peace, without consent of Parliament, and quartering
soldiers contrary to law.
6. By causing several good subjects, being Protestants, to be dis
armed, at the same time when Papists were both armed and employed
contrary to law.
7. By violating the freedom of election of members to serve in
Parliament. 32

8. By prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench for matters and
causes cognizable only in Parliament, and by divers other arbitrary and
illegal causes.
9. And whereas of late years, partial, corrupt, and unqualified
persons have been returned, and served on juries in trials, and
particularly divers jurors in trials for high treason, which were not
freeholders. 10. And excessive bail hath been required of persons committed
in criminal cases, to elude the benefit of the laws made for the liberty
of the subjects.
11. And excessive fines have been imposed ; and illegal and cruel
punishments inflicted.
12. And several grants and promises made of fines and forfeitures
before any conviction or judgment against the persons upon whom the
same were to be levied.
All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known laws and
statutes, and freedom of this realm.
And whereas the said late King James II. having abdicated the
government, and the throne being thereby vacant, his Highness the
Prince of Orange (whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the
glorious instrument of delivering this kingdom from Popery and arbi
trary power) did (by the advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and divers principal persons of the Commons) cause letters to be
written to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, being Protestants, and
other letters to the several counties, cities, universities, boroughs, and
cinque ports, for the choosing of such persons to represent them as were
of right to be sent to Parliament, to meet and sit at Westminster upon
the two-and-twentieth day of January, in this year One Thousand Six
Hundred Eighty and Eight, in order to such an establishment, as that
their religion, laws and liberties might not again be in danger of being
subverted ; upon which letters elections have been accordingly made.
And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Com
mons, pursuant to their respective letters and elections, being now
assembled iu a full and free representation of this nation, taking into
their most serious consideration the best means for attaining the ends
aforesaid, do in the first place (as their ancestors in like case have
usually done) for the vindicating and asserting their ancient rights and
liberties, declare:
I. 1. That the pretended power of suspending of laws, or the
execution of laws, by regal authority, without consent of Parliament,
is illegal. 33

2. That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, or the
execution of laws, by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and
exercised of late, is illegal.
3. That the commission for erecting the late Court of Commis
sioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other commissions and courts
of like nature, are illegal and pernicious.
4. That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence
and prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer [time or in
other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal.
5. That it is the right of the subjects to petition the King, and
all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal.
6. That the raising or keeping a standing army within the king
dom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is
against law.
7. That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for
their defence suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law.
8. That election of members of Parliament ought to be free.
9. That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in
Parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or
place out of Parliament.
10. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive
fines imposed ; nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
11. That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, and
jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be
freeholders. 12. That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particu
lar persons before conviction are illegal and void.
13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending,
strengthening, and preserving of the laws, Parliament ought to be held
frequently. And they do claim, demand, and insist upon all and singular the
premises, as their undoubted rights and liberties ; and that no declara
tions, judgments, doings or proceedings, to the prejudice of the people
in any of the said premises, ought in any wise to be drawn hereafter
into consequence or example.
To which demand of their rights they are particularly encouraged
by the declaration of his Highness the Prince of Orange, as being the
only means for obtaining a full redress and remedy therein.
Having therefore an entire confidence that his said Highness the
Prince of Orange will perfect the deliverance so far advanced by him,
and will still preserve them from the violation of their rights, which
34

they have here asserted, and from all other attempts upon their religion,
rights, and liberties :
II. The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons,
assembled at Westminster, do resolve, that William and Mary, Prince
and Princess of Orange, be, and be declared King and Queen of
England, France, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, to
hold the crown and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and dominions
to them the said Prince and Princess during their lives, and the life
of the survivor of them ; and that the sole and full exercise of the
regal power be only in, and executed by, the said Prince of Orange, in
the names of the said Prince and Princess, during their joint lives ; and
after their deceases, the said crown and royal dignity of the said king
doms and dominions to be to the heirs of the body of the said Princess ;
and for default of such issue to the Princess Anne of Denmark, and
the heirs of her body ; and for default of such issue to the heirs of the
body of the said Prince of Orange. And the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, do pray the said Prince and Princess to
accept the same accordingly.
III. And that the oaths hereafter mentioned be taken by all
persons of whom the oaths of allegiance and supremacy might be
required by law instead of them ; and that the said oaths of allegiance
and supremacy be abrogated.
" I, A. B., do sincerely promise and swear, That I will be faithful
and bear true allegiance to their Majesties King William and Queen
Mary: "So help me God."
" I, A. B., do swear, That I do from my heart abhor, detest, and
abjure as impious and heretical that damnable doctrine and position,
that princes excommunicated or deprived by the Pope or any authority
of the See of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or
any other whatsoever. And I do declare, that no foreign prince,
person, prelate, state, or potentate hath, or ought to have, any jurisdic
tion, power, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical, or
spiritual, within this realm : " So help me God."
IV. Upon which their said Majesties did accept the crown and
royal dignity of the kingdoms of England, France, and Ireland, and
the dominions thereunto belonging, according to the resolution and desire
of the said Lords and Commons contained in the said declaration.
V. And thereupon their Majesties were pleased, that the said
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, being the two houses of
35

Parliament, should continue to sit, and with their Majesties' royal
concurrence make effectual provision for the settlement of the religion,
laws and liberties of this kingdom, so that the same for the future
might not be in danger again of being subverted ; to which the said
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, did agree and proceed
to act accordingly.
VI. Now in pursuance of the premises, the said Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, for the ratifying,
confirming, and establishing the said declaration, and the articles,
clauses, matters, and things therein contained, by the force of a
law made in due form by authority of Parliament, do pray that it may
be declared and enacted, That all and singular the rights and liberties
asserted and claimed in the said declaration are the true, ancient, and
indubitable rights and liberties of the people of this kingdom, and so
shall be esteemed, allowed, adjudged, deemed, and taken to be, and that
all and every the particulars aforesaid shall be firmly and strictly
holden and observed, as they are expressed in the said declaration, and
all the officers and ministers whatsoever shall serve their Majesties and
their successors according to the same in all times to come.
VII. And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons,
seriously considering how it hath pleased Almighty God, in his marvel
ous providence, and merciful goodness to this nation, to provide and
preserve their said Majesties' royal persons most happily to reign over
us upon the throne of their ancestors, for which they render unto Him
from the bottom of their hearts their humblest thanks and praises, do
truly, firmly, assuredly, and in the sincerity of their hearts, think, and
do hereby recognize, acknowledge, and declare, that King James II.
having abdicated the Government, and their Majesties having accepted
the Crown and royal dignity as aforesaid, their said Majesties did
become, were, are, and of right ought to be, by the laws of this realm,
our sovereign liege Lord and Lady, King and Queen of England,
France, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, in and to
whose princely persons the royal state, crown, and dignity of the said
realms, with all honors, styles, titles, regalities, prerogatives, powers,
jurisdictions, and authorities to the same belonging and appertaining,
are most fully, rightfully, and entirely invested and incorporated,
united, and annexed.
VIII. And for preventing all questions and divisions in this
realm, by reason of any pretended titles to the crown, and for preserv
ing a certainty in the succession thereof, in and upon which the unity,
peace, tranquillity, and safety of this nation doth, under God, wholly
36

consist and depend, the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Com
mons, do beseech their Majesties that it may be enacted, established, and
declared, that the Crown and regal government of the said kingdoms
and dominions, with all and singular the premises thereunto belonging
and appertaining, shall be and continue to their said Majesties, and the
survivor of them, during their lives, and the life of the survivor of
them. And that the entire, perfect, and full exercise of the regal
power and government be only in, and executed by, his Majesty, in the
names of both their Majesties, during their joint lives ; and after their
deceases the said crown and premises shall be and remain to the heirs
of the body of her Majesty ; and for default of such issue, to her
Royal Highness the Princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her
body ; and for default of such issue, to the heirs of the body of his
said Majesty : And thereunto the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
and Commons, do, in the name of all the people aforesaid, most humbly
and faithfully submit themselves, their heirs and posterities, for ever :
and do faithfully promise, that they will stand to, maintain, and defend
their said majesties, and also the limitation and succession of the crown
herein specified and contained, to the utmost of their powers, with their
lives and estates, against all persons whatsoever that shall attempt any-
thing'to the contrary.
IX. And whereas it hath been found by experience, that it is
inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant kingdom to
be governed by a Popish prince, or by any king or queen marrying a
Papist, the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do
further pray that it may be enacted, That all and every person and
persons that is, are, or shall be reconciled to, or shall hold communion
with, the See or Church of Rome, or shall profess the Popish religion,
or shall marry a Papist, shall be excluded, and be for ever incapable to
inherit, possess, or enjoy the Crown and Government of this realm, and
Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, or any part of the same,
or to have, use, or exercise, any regal power, authority, or jurisdiction
within the same ; and in all and every such case or cases the people of
these realms shall be and are hereby absolved of their allegiance, and
the said crown and government shall from time to time descend to, and
be enjoyed by, such person or persons, being Protestants, as should
have inherited and enjoyed the same, in case the said person or persons
so reconciled, holding communion, or professing, or marrying, as afore
said, were naturally dead.
X. And that every King and Queen of this realm, who at any
time hereafter shall come to and succeed in the Imperial Crown of this

kingdom, shall, on the first day of the meeting of the first Parliament,
next after his or her coming to the Crown, sitting in his or her throne
in the House of Peers, in the presence of the Lords and Commons
therein assembled, or at his or her coronation, before such person or
persons who shall administer the coronation oath to him or her, at the
time of his or her taking the said oath (which shall first happen),
make, subscribe, and audibly repeat the declaration mentioned in the
statute, made in the thirteenth year of the reign of King Charles II.,
intituled " An Act for the more effectual preserving the King's person
and.Government, by disabling Papists from sitting in either House of
Parliament." But if it shall happen that such King or Queen, upon
his or her succession to the crown of this realm, shall be under the age
of twelve years, then every such King or Queen shall make, subscribe,
and audibly repeat the said declaration at his or her coronation, or the
first day of meeting of the first Parliament as aforesaid, which shall
first happen after such King or Queen shall have attained the said age
of twelve years.
XI. All which their Majesties are contented and pleased shall be
declared, enacted, and established by authority of this present Parlia
ment, and shall stand, remain, and be the law of this realm for ever ;
and the same are by their said Majesties, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in Parlia
ment assembled, and by the authority of the same, declared, enacted,
or established accordingly.
XII. And be it further declared and enacted by the authority
aforesaid, That from and after this present session of Parliament, no
dispensation by non obstante of or to any statute, or any part thereof,
shall be allowed, but that the same shall be held void and of ho effect,
except a dispensation be allowed of in such statute, and except in such
cases as shall be specially provided for by one or more bill or bills to be
passed during this present session of Parliament.
XIII. Provided that no charter, or grant, or pardon granted
before the three-and-twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord
one thousand six hundred eighty-nine, shall be any ways impeached or
invalidated by this Act, but that the same shall be and remain of the
same force and effect in law, and no other, than as if this Act had
never been made.

38

SERIES FOR 1895.
Preliminary Announcement.
PRICE, $I.OO. SINGLE NUMBERS: IO CTS. DOUBLE NUMBERS, 20 OTS.

I.— English Gilds. Double number, ready in March.

IL — Napoleon and Europe. Double number, April

III.— The Medieval Student. Single Number, May

IV.— Monastic Tales of the XIII Century. Single number, August

V. — Social Life in England in the time of Wyckliffe.
Single (or double) number, September.

VI. — The Period of The Early Reformation in Germany.
Double number, October.

VII.— Life of St. Columban. Double (or Single) number, November.
30

SERIES FOR 1894.
PRICE, $1.00 SINGLE NUMBERS, 5 CTS. DOUBLE NUMBERS, 25 CTS.

I.— The Early Reformation Period in England. Wolsey,
Henry VIII., and Sir Thomas More. Single number.
Contents : Despatches of Venetian Ambassador describing English Court.
Four letters between Henry VIII. Anne Boleyn and Wolsey.
Enacting Clause of Statute of Prasmunire.
Wolsey's Indictment under the Statute of Praemunire.
Letter from Erasmus to TJlrich von Hutten describing More.
Extracts from Roper's Life of More.
Letters from More to Peter Giles transmitting the "Utopia."
IL— Urban and the Crusaders. Single number.
Contents : Speech of Pope Urban at Clermont.
Privileges of the Crusaders.
Truce of God.
William of Tyre's Account of Peter the Hermit.
Description of the Start
Select Bibliography.
III.— The Reaction after 1815, and the European Policy of
MeTTBRNICH. Single number.
Contents : The French Constitutional Charter of 1814.
The Holy Alliance.
The German Act of Confederation, 1815.
Anti-revolutionary legislation based upon the Carlsbad Reso
lutions.The Circular of Troppau.
IV.— Letters of the Crusaders. Double number.
Contents : Anselme of Ribemont to Manasses II.
Stephen of Blois to his wife.
Daimbert, Godfrey, and Raymond to the Pope.
Conrad III. to Wibald.
Eight other letters.
List of other letters, which have been translated.
40

3 9002