CHAPTER 20 A free man shall not be amerced for a small offense unless according to the measure of the offense, and for a great offense he shall be amerced according to the greatness of the offense, saving his tenement, and the merchant in the same manner, saving his merchandise, and the villein shall be amerced in the same manner, saving his tools of husbandry, if they fall into our mercy, and none of the aforenamed mercies shall be imposed except by the oath of reputable men of the vicinage. CHAPTER 21 Earls and barons shall not be amerced but by their equals, and only according to the measure of the offense. CHAPTER 22 No cleric shall be amerced of his lay tenement, except according to the measure of the other aforesaid, and not according to the size of his ecclesiastical benefice. 5 CHAPTER 23 No vill or man shall be distrained to make bridges at rivers, unless he who of old, or by right, is bound to do so. CHAPTER 24 No sheriff, constable, coroners, or others of our bailiffs sha ll hold pleas of our crown. CHAPTER 25 All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and ridings shall be at the old farms [rents] without any increase, saving the manors of our demesne. CHAPTER 26 If anyone holding a lay fee [fief] of us dies, and the sheriff or our bailiff shows our letters patent of the summonses of a debt which the dead man owed us, it shall be lawful for our sheriff or bailiff to attach and enroll the chattels of the dead man found in this fee to the value of the debt by the view of lawful men, so that nothing be moved thence till our debt which is clear be paid us, and the residue shall be left to the executors to fulfill the testament of the deceased, and if nothing be owed us by the deceased, all his chattels shall go to the deceased, save the reasonable shares to his wife and children. CHAPTER 27 If any free man die intestate, his chattels shall be distributed by his nearest relations and friends, by the view of the church, save the debts due to each which the deceased owed. CHAPTER 28 No constable, or other bailiff of ours, shall take the corn or chattels of anyone, unless he forthwith pays money for them, or can have any respite by the good will of the seller. 6 CHAPTER 29 No constable shall distrain any knight to give money for the wardship of a castle [military service i n the garrison of a castle],ifhebe willing to perform that wardship in his own person, or by some other reputable man, if he cannot do it himself f or some reasonable cause, and if we have led or se nt him to an army, he shall be quit of the wardship, according to the length of time that he is with us in the army. CHAPTER 30 No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or any other, shall take horses and carts of any free man for carrying, except by the will of the free man. 7 CHAPTER 31 Neither we nor our bailiffs will take any wood for our castles, or other our works, except by consent of the man whose wood it is. 5 In 1225 chapters 20, 21, and 22 were combined in a single chapter. 6 In 1216 the chapter was modified to say that constables and their bailiffs should not take the goods of anyone who is not from the village where the castle is located unless they pay cash or make arrangements to pay later; persons from the village should be paid in three weeks. In 1217 the three weeks was changed to forty days. 7 In 1216 the chapter was modified to say that the horses and carts should not be taken unless the owner received a specified amount of money. In 1217 a chapter was inserted that prohibited bailiffs from taking carts from the demesne of a cleric, a knight, or a lady. In 1225 chapters 30 and 31 from the Charter of 1215 and the new chapter were combined into a single chapter. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 6 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ENGLISH LAW MAGNA CHARTA CHAPTER 32 We will not hold the lands of those who are convict of felony, except for one year and one day, and then the lands shall be returned to the lords of the fees. CHAPTER 33 All kidells [fish-weirs] shall for the future be wholly taken away from the Thames and the Medway, and through all England, except at the coast of the sea. CHAPTER 34 The writ which is called praecipe for the future shall not issue to anyone about any tenement from which a free man may lose his court. CHAPTER 35 There shall be one measure of wine throughout our whole realm, and one measure of beer, and one measure of corn, to wit, the London quarter, and one breadth of dyed cloth, and russet and haberget cloth, to wit, two ells within the lists, and of weights it shall be as of measures. CHAPTER 36 Nothing shall be given or taken hereafter for the writ of inquisition on life or limb, but it shall be granted freely, and not denied. CHAPTER 37 If anyone holds of us by fee-farm, either by socage or by burgage, or of any other land by military service, we shall not have the wardship of the heir or his land which belongs to another’s fee, because of that fee-farm, or socage or burgage, nor shall we have wardship of that fee-farm, or socage or burgage, unless the fee-farm itself owes military service. We shall not either have wardship of heir or any land, which he holds of another by military service, by reason of some petty serjeanty which he holds of us, by the service of paying us knives, or arrows, or the like. CHAPTER 38 No bailiff in future shall put anyone to law by his mere word, without trustworthy witnesses brought forward for it. CHAPTER 39 No free man shall be seized, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or exiled, or injured in any way, nor will we enter on him or send against him except by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. 8 CHAPTER 40 We will sell to no one, or deny to no one, or put off right or justice. CHAPTER 41 All merchants shall have safe conduct and security to go out of England or come into England, and to stay in, and go through England, both by land and water, for buying or selling, without any evil tolls, by old and right customs, except in time of war; and if they be of the land at war against us, and if such shall be found in our land, at the beginning of war, they shall be attached without loss of person or property, until it be known by us or our chief justiciar how the merchants of our land are treated who are found then in the land at war with us; and if ours be safe there, others shall be safe here. 9 CHAPTER 42 It shall be lawful for anyone hereafter to go out of our realm, and return, safe and sound, by land or by water, saving fealty to us, except in time of war for some short time, for the common weal of the realm, except imprisoned men, and outlaws accord- ing to the law of the realm, and as natives of a land at war against us, and to the merchants of whom is done as is aforesaid. CHAPTER 43 If any person holds of any escheat, as of the honor of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other escheats which are in our hands, and they are baronies, and he dies, his heir shall not pay any other relief, or do us any other service but that which he would do for the baron, if the barony were in the hand of a baron, and we similarly will hold him in the same way that the baron held him. 10 8 In 1217 the words “of his freehold liberties or free customs” were inserted after “disseised.” In 1225 the words “in the future” were inserted after “No free man shall,” and the chapter and the one following it were joined together. 9 In 1216 the words “unless formerly they have been publicly prohibited” were inserted after “All merchants.” 10 In 1217 a sentence added at the end of the chapter stipulated that the king would not have an escheat or wardship by reason of such an escheat or barony unless the person who held the property was a tenant-in-chief for other property. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION PRIMARY DOCUMENTS FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW 7 ENGLISH LAW MAGNA CHARTA CHAPTER 44 Men who dwell without the forest shall not come hereafter before our justices of the forest, by common summonses, unless they are in plea, or sureties of one or more, who are attached for the forest. 11 CHAPTER 45 We will not make justices, constables, sheriffs, or bailiffs except from those who know the law of the realm, and are willing to keep it. CHAPTER 46 All barons who have founded abbeys, whence they have charters of the kings of England, or ancient tenure, shall have their custody while vacant, as they ought to have it. CHAPTER 47 All forests which have been afforested in our time shall be forthwith deforested, and so with the rivers which have been forbidden by us in our time. 12 CHAPTER 48 All ill customs of forests and warrens, and foresters and warreners, sheriffs and their servants, rivers and their keepers, shall be forthwith inquired into in each county by twelve sworn knights of the same county, who should be chosen by the reputable men of the same county; and, within forty days after the inquest is over, they shall be wholly done away by them, never to be recalled, so we know this first, or our justiciar, if we are not in England. CHAPTER 49 We will forthwith return all hostages and char ters which were delivered to us by the English as security of peace or faithful service. CHAPTER 50 We will wholly remove from their bailiwicks the relations of Gerard de Athée so that hereafter they shall have no bailiwick in England, Engelard de Cigogné, Andrew, Peter, and Guy de Chanceux, Geoffrey de Martigny and his brothers, Philip Mark and his brothers, and Geoffrey his nephew, and all their following. CHAPTER 51 And immediately after the restoration of peace, we will remove from the realm all foreign knights, bowmen, officers, and mercenaries who came with horses an d arms to the harm of the realm. CHAPTER 52 If anyone has been disseised or deprived by us without lawful judgment of his peers, from lands, castles, liberties, or his right, we will forthwith restore him; and if a dispute arise about this, judgment shall then be made by twenty-five barons, of whom mention is made below, for the security of peace, and of all those matters of which a man has been disseised or deprived without the lawful judgment of his peers, by King Henry our father, or by King Richard our brother, which lands we have in our hands, or which others have, which we ought to warrant, we will have respite up to the common term of the crusaders, those being excepted of which the plea was raised or inquisition was made by our order, before the taking of our cross, and when we return from our journey, or if we chance to remain from our journey, we will forthwith show full justice thence. CHAPTER 53 We will have the same respite, and in the same way, about exhibiting justice of deforesting or maintaining the forests, which Henry our father, or Richard our brother afforested, and of the wardship of the lands which are of another’s fee, of which thing we have hitherto had the wardship, by reason of the fee, because someone held of us by military service, and of the abbeys which were founded on the fee of another than our own, in which the lord of the fee says he has the right; and when we return, or if we stay from our journey, we will afford full justice to those who complain of these things. CHAPTER 54 No one shall be seized or imprisoned for the appeal of a woman about the death of any other man but her husband. CHAPTER 55 All fines which have been made unjustly and against the law of the land with us, and all amercements made unj ustly and against the law of the land, shall be wholly excused, or it shall be done with them by the judgment of twenty-five barons, of whom mention will be made below on the security of the peace, or by the judgment of the 11 Chapter 44 of the Charter of 1215 was retained in the Charter of 1216, but in 1217 it was transferred to the separate Charter of the Forest. In 1217 a new chapter was inserted at this point that stipulated that no free man should give or sell so much of his land that he would be prevented from doing the full service due from the fief. 12 In 1217 the first clause was transferred to the Charter of the Forest; the second clause became a separate chapter. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 8 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ENGLISH LAW MAGNA CHARTA greater part of them, along with the aforenamed Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and others whom he wills to summon to him, and if he be unable to be present, nevertheless the business shall go on without him, so that if one or more of the aforenamed twenty-five barons are in a like suit, they may be removed as far as this judgment is concerned, and others be appointed, elected, and sworn for this matter only, by the residue of the same twenty-five. CHAPTER 56 If we have disseised or deprived the Welsh of their lands or liberties or other goods, without lawful judgment of their peers, in England or in Wales, let these things be forthwith restored, and if a dispute arise upon this, let it be thereafter settled in the march by the judgment of their peers; on tenements in England according to the law of England; on tenements in Wales according to the law of Wales; on tenements in the march according to the law of the march. The Welshmen shall do the same to us and ours. 13 CHAPTER 57 In all these matters in which anyone of the Welsh was disseised or deprived without lawful judgment of his peers, by King Henry our father, or King Richard our brother, which we have in our hands, or which others hold, and which we ought to warrant, we will have respite to the comm on term of the crusaders, those excepted in which our plea has been raised, or inquisit ion has been made by our order, before we took the cross; but, when we return, or if by chance we wait from our journey, we will show full justice to them thence, according to the laws of Wales, and the aforesaid parties. CHAPTER 58 We will restore the son of Llewellyn forthwith, and all the hostages of Wales, and the charters which have been delivered to us for the security of peace. CHAPTER 59 We will do to Alexander, king of Scots, about his sisters, and restoring his hostages, and his liberties, and his right, according to the form in which we have dealt with our other barons of England, unless they are bound to other matters by the charters which we have of William his father, once king of the Scots, and this shall be by judgment of their peers in our court. CHAPTER 60 All these aforesaid customs and liberties which we have granted to be held in our realm, as far as belongs to us, towards our own, all in our realm, both clergy and lay, sha ll observe, as far as belongs to them, towards their own. CHAPTER 61 But since, for the sake of God and for the bettering of our realm, and for better quieting the discord which has arisen between us and our barons, we have ganted all the aforesaid, wishing to enjoy them in pure and firm security forever, we make and grant them the underwritten security: viz. that the barons choose twenty-five barons from the realm, whom they will, who should with all their power keep, hold, and cause to be kept, the peace and liberties which we grant them, and by this our present charter confirm, so that, if we, or our justiciar, or our bailiffs, or any of our servants, do wrong in any case to anyone, or we transgress any of the articles of peace and security, and the offense is shown to four out of the aforenamed twenty-five barons, those four barons shall come to us, or our justiciar, if we are out of the realm, to show the wrong; they shall seek that we cause that wrong to be rectified without delay. And if we do not rectify the wrong, or if we are witho ut the realm, our justiciar does not rectify it within forty days from the time in which it was shown to us or our justiciar, if we are without the realm, the aforesaid four barons shall bring the case befo re the rest of the twenty-five barons, and those twenty-five barons, with the commonalty of the whole realm, shall distrain and distress us, in every way they can, to wit, by the capture of castles, lands, possessions, and other ways in which they can, till right is done according to their will, saving our person and that of our queen and our children; and, when right is done, they shall obey us as before. And whoever of the land wishes, may swear that he will obey t he orders of the aforesaid twenty-five barons, in carrying out all the aforesaid, and that he will distress us as far as he can, with them, and we give publicly and freely license to all to swear who wills, and we will forbid no one to swear. But all thos e in the land who will not, by themselves and of their own accord, swear to the twenty-five barons about distraining and distressing us with them, we will cause them to swear by our orders, as is aforesaid. And if any one 13 Chapter 56 was retained in the Charter of 1216 but was omitted thereafter. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION PRIMARY DOCUMENTS FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW 9 ENGLISH LAW MAGNA CHARTA of the twenty-fi ve barons dies, or quits the country, or in any way is hindered from being able to carry out the aforesaid, the remainder of the aforesaid twenty-five barons may choose another into his place, at their discretion, who shall be sworn in like manner with the rest. In all those matters which are committed to the barons to carry out, if these twenty-five happen to be present and differ on any onepoint,orotherssummonedbythemwillnot or cannot be present, that must be had settled and fixed which the majority of those who are present provides or decides, just as if all the twenty-five agreed on it, and the aforesaid twenty-five shall swear that they will faithfully keep all the aforesaid, and cause them to be kept with all their power. And we will ask nothing from anyone, by ourselves or any other, by which any one of these grants and liberties shall be revoked or lessened; and if we do obtain any such thing, it shall be vain and void, and we will never use it by ourselves or by another. CHAPTER 62 And all ill will, wrath, and rancor, which has arisen between us and our men, clerics and laymen, from the time of the discord, we fully have remitted and condoned to all. Besides, all the offenses done by reason of the same discord, from Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign to the renewal of peace, we wholly remit to all, clerics and laymen, and as far as we are concerned fully have condoned. And, moreover, we have caused letters patent to be made to them, in witness of this, of lord Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, of lord Henry, archbishop of Dublin, and of the aforesaid bishops, and of Master Pandulf, as the aforenamed security and grants. CHAPTER 63 Wherefore we will and firmly order that the English church should be free, and that the men of our realm should have and hold all the afore- named liberties, rights, and grants, well and in peace, freely and quietly, fully and completely, for them and their heirs, from us and our heirs, in all things and places, forever, as is aforesaid. It is sworn both by us, and on the part of the barons, that all these aforesaid shall be kept in good faith and without ill meaning. Witnesses, 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. 14 14 Several chapters were added in 1217 that regulated the sheriff’s tourn (tour through the hundreds, or subdivisions, of a county to hold court) and view of frankpledge; made it illegal for anyone to give land to a religious house and receive it back to hold as a tenant; established that scutage should be taken as it had been during the reign of King Henry II (1154–1189); and decreed that all adulterine castles (castles built without the king’s permission) that had been erected since the beginning of the war between John and the barons should be destroyed. All but the last chapter were retained in 1225. Source: Selections from The Second Treatise on Government, 5 J. Locke, WORKS (1823). The footnotes have been renumbered. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 10 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ENGLISH LAW MAGNA CHARTA English Law English Bill of Rights An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown T he English Bill of Rights grew out of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. During the revolution King James II abdicated and fled from England. He was succeeded by his daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange, a Dutch prince. Parliament proposed a Declaration of Rights and presented it to William and Mary on February 13, 1689. Only after they accepted the declaration did Parliament proclaim them king and queen of England. Parliament then added several clauses to the declaration and formally enacted the amended bill as the Bill of Rights on December 16, 1689. The Bill of Rights combined past grievances against the deposed king with a more general statement of basic liberties. The statute prohibited the monarch from suspending laws or levying taxes or customs duties without Parliament’s consent and prohibited the raising and maintain- ing of a standing army during peacetime. More importantly, it proclaimed fundamental liberties, including freedom of elections, freedom of debate in Parliament, and freedom from excessive bail and from cruel and unusual punishments. To prevent a recurrence of the religious divisions that beset the Catholic James in ruling a largely Protestant England, the Bill of Rights also barred Roman Catholics from the throne. The Bill of Rights became one of the corner- stones of the unwritten English constitution. The Bill of Rights has also had a significant impact on U.S. law, with many of its provisions becoming part of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. k English Bill of Rights Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully, and freely representing all the states of 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 Orang e, being present in their proper persons, a certain declaration in writing made by the said Lords and Commons in the words following, viz: 1 Whereas the late King James the Second, by the assistance of divers evil councilors, judges, and ministers employed by him, did endeavor to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion and the laws and liberties of the kingdom; By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing with and suspending of laws and the execution of laws without consen t of Parliament; By committing and prosecuting divers worthy prelates for humbly petitioning to be excused from concurring to the said assumed power; 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; 1 Source: Selections from The Second Treatise on Government, 5 J. Locke, WORKS (1823). The footnotes have been renumbered. 11 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW By levying money for and to the use of the Crown by pretense of prerogative for other time and in other manner than the same was granted by Parliament; By raising and keeping a standing army within this kingdom in time of peace without consent of Parliament and quartering soldiers contrary to law; By causing several good subjects being Protestants to be disarmed at the same time when papists were both armed and employed contrary to law; By violating the freedom of election of members to serve in Parliament; By prosec utions in the Court of King’s Bench for matters and causes cognizable only in Parliament and by divers other arbitrary and illegal courses; 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; 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 ; And excessive fines have been imposed; And illegal and cruel punishments inflicted; 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 the Second 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 arbitrary 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 cin- que 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 Commons, pursuant to their respective letters and elections being now ass- embled in a full and free representative of this nation, taking into their most serious consider- ation 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 That the pretended power of suspending of laws or the execution of laws by regal authority without consent of Parliament is illegal; 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; That the commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other commissions and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious; That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative without grant of Parliament, for longer time or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal; That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal; That the raising or keepi ng a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against law; That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defense suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law; That election of members of Parliament ought to be free; That the free dom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament; That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, or cruel and unusual punishments inflicted; GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 12 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ENGLISH LAW ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS That jurors ought to be duly impaneled and returned, and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be freeholders; That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before convic- tion are illegal and void; And that, for redress of all grievances and for the amending, strengthening, and preserv- ing of the laws, Parliaments 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 no declarations, judg- ments, 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 part icularly 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 there- fore 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 they have here asserted and from all other attempts upon their religion, rights, and liber- ties, 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 domin- ions thereunto belonging, 2 to hold the Crown and royal dignity of the said kingdom 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 kingdoms 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; 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 this damnable doctrine and posi- tion, that princes excommunicated or de- prived 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 jurisdiction, power, superiority, preeminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm. So help me God. 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 resolu- tion and desire of the said Lords and Commons contained in the said declaration. And there- upon their Majesties were pleased that the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, being the two Houses of Parliament, should continue to sit and, with their Majesties’ royal concurrence, make eff ectual 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. Now in pursuance of the premises, the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled, for the ratifying, confirm- ing, 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 2 English monarchs styled themselves king or queen of France between 1340 and 1801. The custom began when the English became embroiled in the Hundred Years War with France and King Edward III of England, whose mother was a French princess, claimed the French throne. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION PRIMARY DOCUMENTS FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW 13 ENGLISH LAW ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS and strictly holden and observed as they are expressed in the said declaration; and all officers and ministers whatsoever shall serve their Majesties and their successors according to the same in all times to come. And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, seriously considering how it hath pleased Almighty God in his marvelous 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 the Second 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 authori- ties to the same belonging and appertaining are most fully, rightfully, and entirely invested and incorporated, united and annexed. And for preventing all questions and divi- sions in this realm by reason of any pretended titles to the Crown, and for preserving a certainty in the succession thereof, in and upon which the unity, peace, tranquility, and safety of this nation doth under God wholly consist and depend, the said Lords Spiritu al and Temporal and Commons 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 apper- taining, 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 the 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 Lord s Spiritual and Temporal and Commons do in the name of all the people aforesaid most humbly and faithfully submit themselves, their heirs, and posterities forever and do faithfully promis e 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 pe rsons whatsoever that shall attempt any thing to the contrary. And whereas it hath been found by experi- ence 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 marr ying a papist, the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons do further pray that it may be enacted that all and every person and perso ns 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 forever 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 aforesaid were naturally dead. 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 declara- tion mentioned in the statute made in the thirtieth year of the reign of King Char les the GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 14 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ENGLISH LAW ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS Second entitled 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 a 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 the 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. All which their Majesties are contented and pleased shall be declared, enacted, and established by authority of this present Parliament and shall stand, remain, and be the law of this realm forever. And the same are by their said Majesties, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled and by the authority of the same, declared, enacted, and established accordingly. 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 no effect, except a dispensation be allowed of in such statutes, 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. 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 anyway 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. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION PRIMARY DOCUMENTS FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW 15 ENGLISH LAW ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS . chapter. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 6 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ENGLISH LAW MAGNA CHARTA CHAPTER 32 We will not hold the lands of those who are convict of felony,. chapter. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 8 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ENGLISH LAW MAGNA CHARTA greater part of them, along with the aforenamed Stephen, archbishop of. retained in the Charter of 1216 but was omitted thereafter. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION PRIMARY DOCUMENTS FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW 9 ENGLISH LAW MAGNA CHARTA of the twenty-fi ve