lawful and discreet men of that fief, who shall be respon in like manner as aforesaid.

V. The guardian, morever, so long as he has the ward land, shall keep up the houses, parks, fishponds, stanks, cther things pertaining to the land, out of the issues of the and he shall restore to the heir, when he has come to full land, stocked with plows and "waynage," 1 according as th husbandry shall require, and the issues of the land can reason

VI. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, y before the marriage takes place the nearest in blood to tha have notice.

VII. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall and without difficulty have her marriage portion and in nor shall she give anything for her dower, or for her marria or for the inheritance which her husband and she held on the death of that husband,; and she may remain in the h husband for forty days after his death, within which time shall be assigned to her.

VIII. No widow shall be compelled to marry, so lo prefers to live without a husband; provided always that security not to marry without our consent, if she holds of u out the consent of the lord of whom she holds, if she holds

IX. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any land or r debt, so long as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient to debt; nor shall the sureties of the debtor be distrained so principal debtor is able to satisfy the debt; and if the princi shall fail to pay the debt, having nothing wherewith to p the sureties shall answer for the debt; and let them have and rents of the debtor, if they desire them, until they ar fied for the debt which they have paid for him, unless the 1 A word of uncertain meaning.

terest while the heir is under age, of whomsoever he ma if the debt fall into our hands, we will not take anythin principal sum contained in the bond.

XI. And if any one die indebted to the Jews, his wi her dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if any ch deceased are left under age, necessaries shall be provid in keeping with the holding of the deceased; and out of the debt shall be paid, reserving, however, service du lords; in like manner let it be done touching debts d than Jews.

XII. No scutage1 nor aid shall be imposed on o unless by common counsel of our kingdom, except for ra person, for making our eldest son a knight, and for on our eldest daughter; and for these there shall not be than a reasonable aid. In like manner it shall be done aids from the city of London.

XIII. And the city of London shall have all its anci and free customs, as well by land as by water; furthermor and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports all their liberties and free customs.

XIV. And for obtaining the common counsel of t anent the assessing of an aid (except in the three cases a of a scutage, we will cause to be summoned the archbisho abbots, earls, and greater barons, severally by our lette will moreover cause to be summoned generally, through and bailiffs, all others who hold of us in chief, for a fixed da after the expiry of at least forty days, and at a fixed place letters of such summons we will specify the reason of th And when the summons has thus been made, the busines ceed on the day appointed, according to the counsel of present, although not all who were summoned have come.

XV. We will not for the future grant to any one take an aid from his own free tenants, except to ransom 1

1 Scutage was a direct tax in commutation for military service. 2 The three aids were direct taxes paid by the tenant to his lord occasions here specified.

XVI. No one shall be distrained for perfor ice for a knight's fee, or for any other free therefrom.

XVII. Common pleas1 shall not follow our in some fixed place.

4

XVIII. Inquests of novel disseisin,2 of m darrein presentment shall not be held elsewh county courts and that in manner following: be out of the realm, our chief justiciar, will send every county four times a year, who shall, alo the county chosen by the county, hold the said court, on the day and in the place of meeting o

XIX. And if any of the said assizes canno of the county court, let there remain of the k who were present at the county court on that be required for the efficient making of judgm business be more or less.

XX. A freeman shall not be amerced for a accordance with the degree of the offense; a he shall be amerced in accordance with the gra saving always his "contenement"; " and a way, saving his "merchandise"; and a villei the same way, saving his "waynage" — if our mercy: and none of the aforesaid amercem except by the oath of honest men in the neig

XXI. Earls and barons shall not be amerce peers, and only in accordance with the degree

XXII. A clerk shall not be amerced in res except after the manner of the others afore

1 That is, law suits in which the Crown had no spec 2 Dispossession.

3 Death of the ancestor; that is, in cases of dispute 4 Last presentation to a benefice.

The word "assize" here means an assembly of k persons, held at a certain time and place where they sit 6 That by which a person subsists and which is esse 7 An amercement was a payment demanded from a buy himself back under protection of the law.

XXVI. If any one holding of us a lay fief shall die, and our or bailiff shall exhibit our letters patent of summons for a debt the deceased owed to us, it shall be lawful for our sheriff or to attach and catalogue chattels of the deceased, found upon t fief, to the value of that debt, at the sight of law-worthy men, pro always that nothing whatever be thence removed until the debt is evident shall be fully paid to us; and the residue shall be left executors to fulfill the will of the deceased; and if there be no due from him to us, all the chattels shall go to the deceased, s to his wife and children their reasonable shares.

XXVII. If any freeman shall die intestate, his chattels sha distributed by the hands of his nearest kinsfolk and friends, u supervision of the Church, saving to every one the debts whic deceased owed to him.

XXVIII. No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take co other provisions from any one without immediately tendering m therefor, unless he can have postponement thereof by permissio the seller.

XXIX. No constable shall compel any knight to give mone lieu of castle-guard, when he is willing to perform it in his own son, or (if he himself cannot do it from any reasonable cause) the another responsible man. Further, if we have led or sent him u military service, he shall be relieved from guard in proportion to time during which he has been on service because of us.

XXX. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or other person, shall t

1 These are suits conducted in the name of the Crown against criminals. 2 Counties or shires in England were subdivided into smaller districts kn as hundreds in the south and as wapentakes in the Danish districts of the no Intermediate divisions called trithings or ridings existed in some of the la counties.

from Thames and Medway, and throughout all Englan upon the seashore.

XXXIV. The writ which is called præcipe shall not for t be issued to any one, regarding any tenement whereby a may lose his court.3

XXXV: Let there be one measure of wine throughout realm; and one measure of ale; and one measure of corn, t "London quarter"; and one width of cloth (whether dyed, or "halberget "), to wit, two ells within the selvedges; o also let it be as of measures.

XXXVI. Nothing in future shall be given or taken f of inquisition of life or limbs, but freely it shall be granted, a denied.1

XXXVII. If any one holds of us by fee-farm, by soca burgage, and holds also land of another lord by knight's s will not (by reason of that fee-farm, socage, or burgage) wardship of the heir, or of such land of his as is of the fief of t nor shall we have wardship of that fee-farm, socage, or bur less such fee-farm owes knight's service. We will not by any small serjeanty which any one may hold of us by the rendering to us knives, arrows, or the like, have wardship o or of the land which he holds of another lord by knight's sery XXXVIII. No bailiff for the future shall, upon his ow ported complaint, put any one to his "law," 5 without cre nesses brought for this purpose.

1 Forfeiture for felony was abolished by laws passed in the reign of Que 2 Fish-weirs.

The effect of the writ præcipe was to remove certain cases from th the feudal lords to the king's court.

The writ of inquisition here mentioned has nothing to do with habeas corpus.

• Perhaps equivalent to compelling his submission to the ordeal.