Constitutional history -- England -- Sources; Magna Carta
* If we have deprived or dispossessed any Welshmen of lands, liberties,
or anything else in England or in Wales, without the lawful judgement
of their equals, these are at once to be returned to them. A dispute on
this point shall be determined in the Marches by the judgement of
equals. English law shall apply to holdings of land in England, Welsh
law to those in Wales, and the law of the Marches to those in the
Marches. The Welsh shall treat us and ours in the same way.
* In cases where a Welshman was deprived or dispossessed of anything,
without the lawful judgement of his equals, by our father King Henry or
our brother King Richard, and it remains in our hands or is held by
others under our warranty, we shall have respite for the period
commonly allowed to Crusaders, unless a lawsuit had been begun, or an
enquiry had been made at our order, before we took the Cross as a
Crusader. But on our return from the Crusade, or if we abandon it, we
will at once do full justice according to the laws of Wales and the
said regions.
* We will at once return the son of Llywelyn, all Welsh hostages, and
the charters delivered to us as security for the peace.
* With regard to the return of the sisters and hostages of Alexander,
king of Scotland, his liberties and his rights, we will treat him in
the same way as our other barons of England, unless it appears from the
charters that we hold from his father William, formerly king of
Scotland, that he should be treated otherwise. This matter shall be
resolved by the judgement of his equals in our court.
* All these customs and liberties that we have granted shall be
observed in our kingdom in so far as concerns our own relations with
our subjects. Let all men of our kingdom, whether clergy or laymen,
observe them similarly in their relations with their own men.
***Strange characters may have ended here.
SINCE WE HAVE GRANTED ALL THESE THINGS for God, for the better ordering
of our kingdom, and to allay the discord that has arisen between us and
our barons, and since we desire that they shall be enjoyed in their
entirety, with lasting strength, for ever, we give and grant to the
barons the following security:
* The barons shall elect twenty-five of their number to keep, and cause
to be observed with all their might, the peace and liberties granted
and confirmed to them by this charter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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