Constitutional history -- England -- Sources; Magna Carta
* If we, our chief justice, our officials, or any of our servants
offend in any respect against any man, or transgress any of the
articles of the peace or of this security, and the offence is made
known to four of the said twenty-five barons, they shall come to us -
or in our absence from the kingdom to the chief justice - to declare it
and claim immediate redress. If we, or in our absence abroad the chief
justice, make no redress within forty days, reckoning from the day on
which the offence was declared to us or to him, the four barons shall
refer the matter to the rest of the twenty-five barons, who may
distrain upon and assail us in every way possible, with the support of
the whole community of the land, by seizing our castles, lands,
possessions, or anything else saving only our own person and those of
the queen and our children, until they have secured such redress as
they have determined upon. Having secured the redress, they may then
resume their normal obedience to us.
* Any man who so desires may take an oath to obey the commands of the
twenty-five barons for the achievement of these ends, and to join with
them in assailing us to the utmost of his power. We give public and
free permission to take this oath to any man who so desires, and at no
time will we prohibit any man from taking it. Indeed, we will compel
any of our subjects who are unwilling to take it to swear it at our
command.
* If one of the twenty-five barons dies or leaves the country, or is
prevented in any other way from discharging his duties, the rest of
them shall choose another baron in his place, at their discretion, who
shall be duly sworn in as they were.
* In the event of disagreement among the twenty-five barons on any
matter referred to them for decision, the verdict of the majority
present shall have the same validity as a unanimous verdict of the
whole twenty-five, whether these were all present or some of those
summoned were unwilling or unable to appear.
* The twenty-five barons shall swear to obey all the above articles
faithfully, and shall cause them to be obeyed by others to the best of
their power.
* We will not seek to procure from anyone, either by our own efforts or
those of a third party, anything by which any part of these concessions
or liberties might be revoked or diminished. Should such a thing be
procured, it shall be null and void and we will at no time make use of
it, either ourselves or through a third party.
We have remitted and pardoned fully to all men any ill-will, hurt, or
grudges that have arisen between us and our subjects, whether clergy or
laymen, since the beginning of the dispute. We have in addition
remitted fully, and for our own part have also pardoned, to all clergy
and laymen any offences committed as a result of the said dispute
between Easter 1215 AD and the restoration of peace.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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