-Continental Congress
American intercolonial assemblage
of delegates, which evolved into the revolutionary government that directed
the war for independence
-Why Communism is not a
Godly system
They are against property
rights for the individual and the Bible is all for peoples' independence:.Micah
4:4 "But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig
tree and none shall make them afraid. For the mouth of the LORD of hosts
hath spoken it.".(what
does 'Lord of hosts' mean?)
-Magna
Carta:
MAGNA CARTA
The so-called
Great Charter of English liberty granted by King John at Runnymede on June
15, 1215.(designed
by the elites then, not We
The People. But was it really a document
of liberty or was this the sop they
fed to the people? It was a document that maintains the control of the
cabal back then. See sections 20 and 39).
John, by the grace of God.(to
find out the god they really meant, read through the document for 'by their
fruits you'll know them':.Matthew
7:16,20).King
of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine and Count of
Anjou, to his archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, foresters,
sheriffs, stewards, servants and to all his officials and loyal subjects,
greetings.
Know that before God, for
the health of our soul and those of our ancestors and heirs, to the honor
of God, the exaltation of the holy Church and the better ordering of our
kingdom, at the advice of our reverend fathers Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury,
primate of all England and cardinal of the holy Roman Church, Henry archbishop
of Dublin, William bishop of London, Peter bishop of Winchester, Jocelin
bishop of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh bishop of Lincoln, Walter Bishop of
Worcester, William bishop of Coventry, Benedict bishop of Rochester, Master
Pandulf sub deacon and member of the papal household, Brother Aymeric master
of the Knights of the Temple in England, William Marshal, earl of Pembroke,
William earl of Salisbury, William earl of Warren, William earl of Arundel,
Alan de Galloway constable of Scotland, Warin Fitz Gerald, Peter Fitz Herbert,
Hubert de Burgh seneschal of Poitou, Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert,
Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip Daubeny, Robert de Roppeley, John Marshal,
John Fitz Hugh and other loyal subjects:
1. First, that
we have granted to God and by this present charter have confirmed for us
and our heirs in perpetuity, that the English Church shall be free, and
shall have its rights undiminished, and its liberties unimpaired. That
we wish this so to be observed, appears from the fact that of our own free
will, before the outbreak of the present dispute between us and our barons,
we granted and confirmed by charter the freedom of the Church's elections
- a right reckoned to be of the greatest necessity and importance to it
- and caused this to be confirmed by Pope Innocent III. This freedom we
shall observe ourselves, and desire to be observed in good faith by our
heirs in perpetuity. We have also granted to all free men of our realm,
for us and our heirs forever, all the liberties written out below, to have
and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs:
2. If
any earl, baron or other person that holds lands directly of the Crown,
for military service, shall die and at his death his heir shall be of full
age and owe a 'relief', the heir shall have his inheritance on payment
of the ancient scale of 'relief'. That is to say, the heir or heirs of
an earl shall pay for the entire earl's barony, the heir or heirs of a
knight l00s. At most for the entire knight's 'fee' and any man that owes
less shall pay less, in accordance with the ancient usage of 'fees'.
3. But
if the heir of such a person is under age and a ward, when he comes of
age he shall have his inheritance without 'relief' or fine.
4. The
guardian of the land of an heir who is under age shall take from it only
reasonable revenues, customary dues and feudal services. He shall do this
without destruction or damage to men or property. If we have given the
guardianship of the land to a sheriff or to any person answerable to us
for the revenues and he commits destruction or damage, we will exact compensation
from him and the land shall be entrusted to two worthy and prudent men
of the same 'fee', who shall be answerable to us for the revenues or to
the person to whom we have assigned them. If we have given or sold to anyone
the guardianship of such land and he causes destruction or damage, he shall
lose the guardianship of it and it shall be handed over to two worthy and
prudent men of the same 'fee', who shall be similarly answerable to us.
5. For
so long as a guardian has guardianship of such land, he shall maintain
the houses, parks, fish preserves, ponds, mills, and everything else pertaining
to it, from the revenues of the land itself. When the heir comes of age,
he shall restore the whole land to him, stocked with plough teams and such
implements of husbandry as the season demands and the revenues from the
land can reasonably bear.
6. Heirs
may be given in marriage, but not to someone
of lower social standing.(cabal
controlled even back then; who was this standing to be determined by?).
Before a marriage takes place, it shall be made known to the heir's next-of-kin.
7. At
her husband's death, a widow may have her marriage portion and inheritance
at once and without trouble. She shall pay nothing for her dower, marriage
portion, or any inheritance that she and her husband held jointly on the
day of his death. She may remain in her husband's house for forty days
after his death, and within this period her dower shall be assigned to
her.
8. No
widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as she wishes to remain without
a husband. But she must give security that
she will not marry without royal consent, if she holds her lands of the
Crown or without the consent of whatever other
lord she may hold them of.
9. Neither
we nor our officials will seize any land or rent in payment of a debt,
so long as the debtor has movable goods sufficient to discharge the debt.(violates
the Bible with its no forgiveness of debt).
A debtor's sureties shall not be distrained upon so long as the debtor
himself can discharge his debt. If, for lack
of means, the debtor is unable to discharge his debt, his sureties shall
be answerable for it.(they
made sure the moneygrubbers
kept their fingers in there). If they
so desire, they may have the debtor's lands
and rents until they have received satisfaction for the debt that they
paid for him, unless the debtor can show that
he has settled his obligations to them.
10. If
anyone who has borrowed a sum of money from Jews dies before the debt has
been repaid, his heir shall pay no interest on the debt for so long as
he remains under age, irrespective of whom he holds his lands. If such
a debt falls into the hands of the Crown, it will take nothing except the
principal sum specified in the bond.
11. If
a man dies owing money to Jews, his wife may have her dower and pay nothing
towards the debt from it. If he leaves children that are under age, their
needs may also be provided for on a scale appropriate to the size of his
holding of lands. The debt is to be paid out of the residue, reserving
the service due to his feudal lords. Debts owed to persons other than Jews
are to be dealt with similarly.
12. No
'scutage'.(a
tax paid for not joining the militay).or
'aid' may be levied in our kingdom without
its general consent, unless it is for
the ransom of our person, to make our eldest son a knight and (once) to
marry our eldest daughter.(saying
that for us, it's a different story).
For these purposes only a reasonable 'aid' may be levied. 'Aids' from the
city of London are to be treated similarly.
13. The
city of London.(this
was cabal headquarters in England; this was not the the large city we know
as London, England; see how deceitful the cabal was).shall
enjoy all its ancient liberties and free customs, both by land and by water.(did
they mean 'in the wordl' or just in England? they don't specify).
We also will and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns and ports
shall enjoy all their liberties and free customs.
14. To
obtain the general consent of the realm for the assessment of an 'aid',
except in the three cases specified above - or a scutage', we will cause
the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls and greater barons to be summoned
individually by letter. To those who hold lands directly of us we will
cause a general summons to be issued, through the sheriffs and other officials,
to come together on a fixed day (of which at least forty days notice shall
be given) and at a fixed place. In all letters of summons, the cause of
the summons will be stated. When a summons has been issued, the business
appointed for the day shall go forward in accordance with the resolution
of those present, even if not all those who were summoned have appeared.
15. In
future we will allow no one to levy an 'aid' from his free men, except
to ransom his person, to make his eldest son a knight and (once) to marry
his eldest daughter. For these purposes only a reasonable 'aid' may be
levied.
16. No
man shall be forced to perform more service for a knight's 'fee' or other
free holding of land, than is due from it.
17. Ordinary
lawsuits shall not follow the royal court around, but shall be held in
a fixed place.
18. Inquests
of novel disseisin, mort d'ancestor and darrein presentment shall be taken
only in their proper county court. We ourselves or in our absence abroad
our chief justice, will send two justices to each county four times a year
and these justices, with four knights of the county elected by the county
itself, shall hold the assizes in the county court, on the day and in the
place where the court meets.
19. If
any assizes cannot be taken on the day of the county court, as many knights
and freeholders shall afterwards remain behind, of those who have attended
the court, as will suffice for the administration of justice, having regard
to the volume of business to be done.
20. For
a trivial offense, a free man.(the
original Latin word here was 'libre homo' meaning 'free man'; this was
later changed by world would be cabal controllers back then to reflect
what it is now, 'freeman', no space between the words, which means not
a free man meaining a free mind as the Infinite One created, but now a
freeman, meaning a slave {see also section 39 below}).shall
be fined only in proportion to the degree of his offense and for a serious
offense correspondingly, but not so heavily as to deprive him of his livelihood.(it
was the ruling elite that determined this, not We
The People); let's not deprive him of his
livelihood, we must keep him working so he can pay us).
In the same way, a merchant shall be spared his merchandise and a husbandman
the implements of his husbandry, if they fall upon the mercy of a royal
court.(that
is, are in debt and now in court).
None of these fines shall be imposed except by the assessment on oath of
reputable men of the neighborhood.(which
of coure would be those the court regards as the elite, not the commonsensible
regular folk).
21. Earls
and barons shall not be amerced.(punished
by a fine).save
through their peers and only according to the measure of the offense.
22. No
clerk shall be amerced for his lay tenement except according to the manner
of the other persons aforesaid and not according to the amount of his ecclesiastical
benefice.
23. Neither
a town nor a man shall be forced to make bridges over the rivers, with
the exception of those who, from of old and of right ought to do it.
24. No
sheriff, constable, coroners or other bailiffs of ours shall hold the pleas
of our crown.
25. All
counties, hundreds, wapentakes and trithings--our demesne manors being
excepted--shall continue according to the old farms, without any increase
at all.
26. If
any one holding from us a lay fee shall die and our sheriff or bailiff
can show our letters patent containing our summons for the debt which the
dead man owed to us, our sheriff or bailiff may be allowed to attach and
enroll the chattels of the dead man to the value of that debt, through
view of lawful men.(in
other words, we'll get your money dead or alive);
in such way, however, that nothing shall be removed thence until the debt
is paid which was plainly owed to us. And the residue shall be left to
the executors that they may carry out the will of the dead man. And if
nothing is owed to us by him, all the chattels shall go to the use prescribed
by the deceased, saving their reasonable portions to his wife and children.
27. If
any freeman shall have died intestate his chattels shall be distributed
through the hands of his near relatives and friends, by view of the church,
saving to any one the debts which the dead man owed him.
28. No
constable or other bailiff of ours shall take the corn or other chattels
of any one except he straightway give money for them, or can be allowed
a respite in that regard by the will of the seller.
29. No
constable shall force any knight to pay money for castleward if he be willing
to perform that ward in person or, he for a reasonable cause not being
able to perform it himself, then through another proper man. And if we
shall have led or sent him on a military expedition, he shall be quit of
ward according to the amount of time during which, through us, he shall
have been in military service.
30. No
sheriff nor bailiff of ours, nor any one else, shall take the horses or
carts of any freeman for transport, unless by the will of that freeman.
31. Neither
we nor our bailiffs shall take another's wood for castles or for other
private uses, unless by the will of him to whom the wood belongs.
32. We
shall not hold the lands of those convicted of felony longer than a year
and a day and then the lands shall be restored
to the lords of the fiefs.
33. Henceforth
all the weirs (controls water) in the Thames and Medway and throughout
all England, save on the sea-coast, shall be done away with entirely.
34. Henceforth
the writ, which is called Praecipe (a written order to the clerk of a court
requesting that a writ be issued
and specifying its contents), shall not be served on any one for
any holding so as to cause a free man to lose his court.
35. There
shall be one measure of wine throughout our whole realm, and one measure
of ale and one measure of corn, namely, the London quart; and one width
of dyed and russet and hauberk cloths, namely, two ells below the selvage.
And with weights, moreover, it shall be as with measures.
36. Henceforth
nothing shall be given or taken for a writ of inquest in a matter concerning
life or limb, but it shall be conceded gratis and shall not be denied.
37. If
any one hold of us in fee-farm or in socage.(feudal.tenure
of land by a tenant, in return for agricultural or other nonmilitary services
or for payment of rent in money).or
in burkage.(tenure
in England and Scotland under which property of the king or a lord in a
town was held in return for a yearly rent or the rendering of a service;
crown land today).and
hold land of another by military service, we shall not, by reason of that
fee-farm or socage or burkage, have the wardship of his heir or of his
land, which is held in fee from another. Nor shall we have the wardship
of that fee-farm or socage or burkage unless that fee-farm owes military
service. We shall not, by reason of some petit-serjeanty which some one
holds of us through the service of giving us knives or arrows or the like,
have the wardship of his heir or of the land which he holds of another
by military service.
38. No
bailiff, on his own simple assertion, shall henceforth any one to his law,
without producing faithful witnesses in evidence.
39. No
freeman.(note
the difference between the word 'freeman' here and 'free man' in section
29 above).shall
be taken or imprisoned or disseized.(deprived
of property).or
outlawed.(taken
outside of common law).or
exiled or in any way harmed, nor will we go upon or send upon him, save
by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the
law of the land.
40. To
none will we sell, to none deny or delay, right or justice.
41. All
merchants may safely and securely go out of England and come into England
and delay and pass through England, as well by land as by water, for the
purpose of buying and selling, free from all evil taxes.(what
are these 'evil' taxes? aren't all taxes evil?),
subject to the ancient and right customs, save in time of war and if they
are of the land at war against us. And if such be found in our land at
the beginning of the war, they shall be held, without harm to their bodies
and goods, until it shall be known to us or our chief justice how the merchants
of our land are to be treated who shall, at that time, be found in the
land at war against us. And if ours shall be safe there, the others shall
be safe in our land.
42. Henceforth
any person, saving fealty to
us, may go out of our realm and return to it, safely and securely, by land
and by water, except perhaps for a brief period in time of war, for the
common good of the realm. But prisoners and outlaws are excepted according
to the law of the realm; also people of a land at war against us and the
merchants, with regard to whom shall be done as we have said.
43. If
any one hold from any escheat.(reversion
of land held under feudal tenure to the manor in the absence of legal heirs
or claimants; reversion of property to the state in the absence of legal
heirs or claimants; property that has reverted to the state when no legal
heirs or claimants exist), as from
the honor of Walingford, Nottingham, Boloin, Lancaster or the other escheats
which are in our hands and are baronies and shall die, his heir shall not
give another relief, nor shall he perform for us other service than he
would perform for a baron if that barony were in the hand of a baron and
we shall hold it in the same way in which the baron has held it.
44. Persons
dwelling without the forest shall not henceforth come before the forest
justices, through common summonses, unless they are impleaded or are the
sponsors of some person or persons attached for matters concerning the
forest.
45. We
will not make men justices, constables, sheriffs or bailiffs unless they
are such as know the law of the realm and are minded to observe it rightly.
46. All
barons who have founded abbeys for which they have charters of the king
of England or ancient right of tenure, shall have, as they ought to have,
their custody when vacant.
47. All
forests constituted as such in our time shall straightway be annulled and
the same shall be done for riverbanks made into places of defense by us
in our time.
48. All
evil customs concerning forests and warrens and concerning foresters and
warreners, sheriffs and their servants, river banks and their guardians,
shall straightway be inquired into each county, through twelve sworn knights
from that county, and shall be eradicated by them, entirely, so that they
shall never be renewed, within forty days after the inquest has been made;
in such manner that we shall first know about them or our justice if we
be not in England.
49. We
shall straightway return all hostages and charters, which were delivered,
to us by Englishmen as a surety for peace or faithful service.
50. We
shall entirely remove from their bailwicks the relatives of Gerard de Athyes,
so that they shall henceforth have no bailwick in England: Engelard de
Cygnes, Andrew Peter and Gyon de Chanceles, Gyon de Cygnes, Geoffrey de
Martin and his brothers, Philip Mark and his brothers and Geoffrey his
nephew and the whole following of them.
51. And
straightway after peace is restored we shall remove from the realm all
the foreign soldiers, crossbowmen, servants, hirelings, who may have come
with horses and arms to the harm of the realm.
52. If
any one shall have been disseized by us, or removed, without a legal sentence
of his peers, from his lands, castles, liberties or lawful right, we shall
straightway restore them to him. And if a dispute shall arise concerning
this matter it shall be settled according to the judgment of the twenty-five
barons who are mentioned below as sureties for the peace. But with regard
to all those things of which any one was, by king Henry our father or king
Richard our brother, disseized or dispossessed without legal judgment of
his peers, which we have in our hand or which others hold, and for which
we ought to give a guarantee: We shall have respite until the common term
for crusaders. Except with regard to those concerning which a plea was
moved or an inquest made by our order, before we took the cross. But when
we return from our pilgrimage or if, by chance, we desist from our pilgrimage,
we shall straightway then show full justice regarding them.
53. We
shall have the same respite, moreover and in the same manner, in the matter
of showing justice with regard to forests to be annulled and forests to
remain, which Henry our father or Richard our brother constituted and in
the matter of wardships of lands which belong to the fee of another--wardships
of which kind we have hitherto enjoyed by reason of the fee which some
one held from us in military service and in the matter of abbeys founded
in the fee of another than ourselves, in which the lord of the fee may
say that he has jurisdiction. And when we return, or if we desist from
our pilgrimage, we shall straightway exhibit full justice to those complaining
with regard to these matters.
54. No
one shall be taken or imprisoned on account of the appeal of a woman concerning
the death of another than her husband.
55. All
fines imposed by us unjustly and contrary to the law of the land and all
amerciaments made unjustly and contrary to the law of the land, shall be
altogether remitted or it shall be done with regard to them according to
the judgment of the twenty five barons mentioned below as sureties for
the peace or according to the judgment of the majority of them together
with the aforesaid Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present,
and with others whom he may wish to associate with himself for this purpose.
And if he can not be present, the affair shall nevertheless proceed without
him; in such way that, if one or more of the said twenty five barons shall
be concerned in a similar complaint, they shall be removed as to this particular
decision, and, in their place, for this purpose alone, others shall be
substituted who shall be chosen and sworn by the remainder of those twenty
five.
56. If
we have disseized or dispossessed Welshmen of their lands or liberties
or other things without legal judgment of their peers, in England or in
Wales, they shall straightway be restored to them. And if a dispute shall
arise concerning this, then action shall be taken upon it in the March
through judgment of their peers, concerning English holdings according
to the law of England, concerning Welsh holdings according to the law of
Wales, concerning holdings in the March according to the law of the March.
The Welsh shall do likewise with regard to us and our subjects.
57. But
with regard to all those things of which any one of the Welsh by king Henry
our father or king Richard our brother, disseized or dispossessed without
legal judgment of his peers, which we have in our hand or which others
hold, and for which we ought to give a guarantee: we shall have respite
until the common term for crusaders. Except with regard to those concerning
which a plea was moved, or an inquest made by our order, before we took
the cross. But when we return from our pilgrimage, or if, by chance, we
desist from our pilgrimage, we shall straightway then show full justice
regarding them, according to the laws of Wales and the aforesaid districts.
58. We
shall straightway return the son of Llewelin and all the Welsh hostages
and the charters delivered to us as surety for the peace.
59. We
shall act towards Alexander king of the Scots regarding the restoration
of his sisters, and his hostages, and his liberties and his lawful right,
as we shall act towards our other barons of England; unless it ought to
be otherwise according to the charters which we hold from William, his
father, the former king of the Scots. And this shall be done through judgment
of his peers in our court.
60. Moreover
all the subjects of our realm, clergy as well as laity, shall, as far as
pertains to them, observe, with regard to their vassals, all these aforesaid
customs and liberties which we have decreed shall, as far as pertains to
us, be observed in our realm with regard to our own.
61. Inasmuch
as, for the sake of God and for the bettering of our realm and for the
more ready healing of the discord which has arisen between us and our barons,
we have made all these aforesaid concessions, wishing them to enjoy for
ever entire and firm stability, we make and grant to them the following
security: that the baron, namely, may elect at their pleasure twenty five
barons from the realm, who ought, with all their strength, to observe,
maintain and cause to be observed, the peace and privileges which we have
granted to them and confirmed by this our present charter. In such wise,
namely, that if we or our justice or our bailiffs or any one of our servants
shall have transgressed against any one in any respect or shall have broken
one of the articles of peace or security and our transgression shall have
been shown to four barons of the aforesaid twenty five, those four barons
shall come to us or, if we are abroad, to our justice, showing to us our
error and they shall ask us to cause that error to be amended without delay.
And if we do not amend that error, or we being abroad, if our justice
does not amend it within a term of forty days from the time when it was
shown to us or, we being abroad, to our justice the aforesaid four barons
shall refer the matter to the remainder of the twenty five barons and those
twenty five barons, with the whole land in common, shall distrain
and oppress us in every way in their power, namely, by taking our castles,
lands and possessions and in every other way that they can, until amends
shall have been made according to their judgment. Saving the individuals
of ourselves, our queen and our children. And when amends shall have been
made they shall be in accord with us as they had been previously. And whoever
of the land wishes to do so, shall swear that in carrying out all the aforesaid
measures he will obey the mandates of the aforesaid twenty five barons
and that with them, he will oppress us to the extent of his power. And,
to any one who wishes to do so, we publicly and freely give permission
to swear and we will never prevent any one from swearing. Moreover, all
those in the land who shall be unwilling, themselves and of their own accord
to swear to the twenty five barons as to distraining and oppressing us
with them, such ones we shall make to swear by our mandate, as has been
said. And if any one of the twenty five barons shall die or leave the country
or in any other way be prevented from carrying out the aforesaid measures,--the
remainder of the aforesaid twenty five barons shall choose another in his
place, according to their judgment, who shall be sworn in the same way
as the others. Moreover, in all things entrusted to those twenty five barons
to be carried out, if those twenty five shall be present and chance to
disagree among themselves with regard to some matter or if some of them,
having been summoned, shall be unwilling or unable to be present, that
which the majority of those present shall decide or decree shall be considered
binding and valid, just as if all the twenty five had consented to it.
And the aforesaid twenty five shall swear that they will faithfully observe
all the foregoing and will cause them be observed to the extent of their
power. And we shall obtain nothing from any one, either through ourselves
or through another, by which any of those concessions and liberties may
be revoked or diminished. And if any such thing shall have been obtained,
it shall be vain and invalid, and we shall never make use of it either
through ourselves or through another.
62. And
we have fully remitted to all and pardoned, all the ill will, anger and
rancour, which have arisen between us and our subjects, clergy and laity,
from the time of the struggle. Moreover have fully remitted to all, clergy
and laity and as far as pertains to us have pardoned fully all the transgressions
committed, on the occasion of that same struggle, from Easter of the sixteenth
year of our reign until the re-establishment of peace. In witness of which,
more-over, we have caused to be drawn up for them letters patent of lord
Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, lord Henry, archbishop of Dubland the
aforesaid bishops and master Pandulf, regarding that surety and the aforesaid
concessions.
63. Wherefore
we will and firmly decree that the English church shall be free and that
the subjects of our realm shall have and hold all the aforesaid liberties,
rights and concessions, duly and in peace, freely and quietly, fully and
entirely, for themselves and their heirs from us and our heirs, in all
matters and in all places, forever,
as has been said. Moreover it has been sworn, on our part as well as on
the part of the barons, that all these above mentioned provisions shall
observed with good faith and without evil intent. The witnesses being the
above mentioned and many others. Given through our hand, in the plain called
Runnymede between Windsor and Stanes, on the fifteenth day of June, in
the seventeenth year of our reign.
.
I n d e x o f
s i t e
.