Constitutional history -- England -- Sources; Magna Carta
61. Since, moveover, for God and the amendment of our kingdom and for
the better allaying of the quarrel that has arisen between us and our
barons, we have granted all these concessions, desirous that they
should enjoy them in complete and firm endurance forever, we give and
grant to them the underwritten security, namely, that the barons choose
five and twenty barons of the kingdom, whomsoever they will, who shall
be bound with all their might, to observe and hold, and cause to be
observed, the peace and liberties we have granted and confirmed to them
by this our present Charter, so that if we, or our justiciar, or our
bailiffs or any one of our officers, shall in anything be at fault
towards anyone, or shall have broken any one of the articles of this
peace or of this security, and the offense be notified to four barons
of the foresaid five and twenty, the said four barons shall repair to
us (or our justiciar, if we are out of the realm) and, laying the
transgression before us, petition to have that transgression redressed
without delay. And if we shall not have corrected the transgression
(or, in the event of our being out of the realm, if our justiciar shall
not have corrected it) within forty days, reckoning from the time it
has been intimated to us (or to our justiciar, if we should be out of
the realm), the four barons aforesaid shall refer that matter to the
rest of the five and twenty barons, and those five and twenty barons
shall, together with the community of the whole realm, distrain and
distress us in all possible ways, namely, by seizing our castles,
lands, possessions, and in any other way they can, until redress has
been obtained as they deem fit, saving harmless our own person, and the
persons of our queen and children; and when redress has been obtained,
they shall resume their old relations towards us. And let whoever in
the country desires it, swear to obey the orders of the said five and
twenty barons for the execution of all the aforesaid matters, and along
with them, to molest us to the utmost of his power; and we publicly and
freely grant leave to everyone who wishes to swear, and we shall never
forbid anyone to swear.
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