Our Legal Heritage Part 33

In the King's 1235 grant to Oxford, the Mayor and good men were authorized to take weekly for three years 1/2 d. on every cart entering the town loaded with goods, if it was from the county, or 1d. if it came from outside the county; 1/4 d. for every horse load, except for brushwood; 1/2 d. on every horse, mare, ox, or cow brought to sell; and 1/2 d. for every five sheep, goats, or pigs.

English ships had one mast with a square sail. The hulls were made of planks overlapping each other. There was a high fore castle [tower] on the bow, a top castle on the mast, and a high stern castle from which to shoot arrows down on other ships. There were no rowing oars, but steering was still by an oar on the starboard side of the ship. The usual carrying capacity was 30 tuns [big casks of wine each with about 250 gallons]. On the coasts there were lights and beacons. Harbors at river mouths were kept from silting up. Ships were loaded from piers.

The construction of London Bridge had just been finished. Bricks began to be imported for building. About 10% of the population lived in towns.

Churches had stained gla.s.s windows.

Newcastle-on-Tyne received these new rights:

1. And that they shall justly have their lands and tenures and mortgages and debts, whoever owes them to them.

2. Concerning their lands and tenures within the town, right shall be done to them according to the custom of the city Winton.

3. And of all their debts which are lent in Newcastle-on-Tyne and of mortgages there made, pleas shall be held at Newcastle-on-Tyne.

4. None of them shall plead outside the walls of the City of Newcastle-on-Tyne on any plea, except pleas of tenures outside the city and except the minters and my ministers.

5. That none of them be distrained by any without the said city for the repayment of any debt to any person for which he is not capital debtor or surety.

6. That the burgesses shall be quit of toll and lastage [duty on a ship's cargo] and pontage [tax for repairing bridges] and have pa.s.sage back and forth.

7. Moreover, for the improvement of the city, I have granted them that they shall be quit of year's gift and of scotale [pressure to buy ale at the sheriff's tavern], so that my sheriff of Newcastle-on-Tyne or any other minister shall not make a scotale.

8. And whosoever shall seek that city with his merchandise, whether foreigners or others, of whatever place they may be, they may come sojourn and depart in my safe peace, on paying the due customs and debts, and any impediment to these rights is prohibited.

9. We have granted them also a merchant guild.

10. And that none of them [in the merchant guild] shall fight by combat.

The king no longer lives on his own from income from his own lands, but takes money from the treasury. A tax of a percentage of 1/15 th of personal property was levied in 1225 for a war, in return for which the king signed the Magna Carta. It was to be paid by all tenants-in-chief, men of the royal domain, burgesses of the boroughs and cities, clerical tenants-in-chief, and religious houses. The percentage tax came to be used frequently and ranged from about 1/40 th to 1/5 th. In 1294, this tax was bifurcated into one percentage amount for the rural districts and a higher one for urban districts, because the burgesses had greater wealth and much of it was hard to uncover because it was in the possession of customers and debtors. It was usually 1/10 th for towns and royal domains and 1/15 th in the country. This amount of money collected by this tax increased with the wealth of the country.

The king takes custody of lands of lunatics and idiots, as well as escheats of land falling by descent to aliens. Henry III took 20s. from his tenants-in-chief for the marriage of his daughter, and two pounds for the knighting of his son.

By 1250, the king was hiring soldiers at 2s. per day for knights, and 9d. a day for less heavily armed soldiers, and 6d. a day for crossbowmen. Some castle-guard was done by watchmen hired at 2d. a day.

Ships were impressed when needed. Sometimes private ships were authorized to ravage the French coasts and take what spoil they could.

While King Henry III was underage, there was much controversy as to who should be his ministers of state, such as justiciar, chancellor, and treasurer. This led to the concept that they should not be chosen by the king alone. After he came of age, elected men from the baronage fought to have meetings and his small council in several conferences called great councils or parliaments (from French "to speak the mind") to discuss the levying of taxes and the solution of difficult legal cases, the implementation of the Magna Carta, the appointment of the king's ministers and sheriffs, and the receipt and consideration of pet.i.tions.

The barons paid 1/30 th tax on their moveable property to have three barons of their choice added to the council. Statutes were enacted.

Landholders were given the duty of electing four of their members in every county to ensure that the sheriff observed the law and to report his misdemeanors to the justiciar. They were also given the duty of electing four men from the county from whom the exchequer was to choose the sheriff of the year. Earl Montfort and certain barons forced King Henry III to summon a great council or parliament in 1265 in which the common people were represented officially by two knights from every county, two burgesses from every borough, and two representatives from each major port. So the King's permanent small council became a separate body from parliament and its members took a specific councilor's oath in 1257 to give faithful counsel, to keep secrecy, to prevent alienation of ancient demesne, to procure justice for the rich and poor, to allow justice to be done on themselves and their friends, to abstain from gifts and misuse of patronage and influence, and to be faithful to the queen and to the heir.

- The Law -

The barons forced successive Kings to sign the Magna Carta until it became the law of the land. It became the first statute of the official statute book. Its provisions express the principle that a king is bound by the law and is not above it. However, there is no redress if the king breaches the law.

The Magna Carta was issued by John in 1215. A revised version was issued by Henry III in 1225 with the forest clauses separated out into a forest charter. The two versions are replicated together, with the formatting of each indicated in the t.i.tles below.

{Magna Carta - 1215} Magna Carta - 1215 & 1225 MAGNA CARTA - 1225

{John, by the grace of G.o.d, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou: To the Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Earls, Barons, Justiciaries, Foresters, Sheriffs, Reeves, Ministers, and all Bailiffs and others, his faithful subjects, Greeting.