Note: Before John (1167-1216, king of England from 1199) was forced by his barons to seal a document at Runnymede near Windsor, the principle held that the king's will was law. The Magna Carta, as this document came to be known, was the first step on the long and winding road which led to the constitutional principle the "Law is King". Eight of the 63 articles are printed here.

(12) No scutage or aid shall be imposed in our realm except with the common counsel of the realm; except it be to ransom our person, to make our eldest son a knight, or for once marrying our eldest daughter; and for these only a reasonable aid shall be levied. And this shall also apply to aids from the city of London.

(13) And the city of London shall have all its ancient liberties and free customs both by land and by water. Furthermore we will and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns and ports shall have all their liberties and free customs.

(14) And to obtain the common counsel of the realm about levying an aid (except in the three cases aforesaid) or a scutage, we will cause to be summoned archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls and greater barons separately by our letters. []

Aids from Sub-Tenants

(15) Henceforth we will not grant anyone the right to take an aid from his freemen tenants, except to ransom his own person, to make his eldest son a knight and to marry his eldest daughter once; and for these purposes only a reasonable aid shall be levied.

(20) A freeman shall not be amerced for a small offence, except in accordance with the degree of the offence and for a grave offence he shall be amerced according to its gravity, without imperilling his status; and a merchant similarly without imperilling his stock-in-trade; and similarly a villain shall be amerced always without loss of wainage—if their liability is to us. And none of the aforesaid amercements shall be imposed except by the sworn evidence of worthy men of the neighbourhood.

(38) In future no official shall put anyone to trial merely on his own testimony without reliable witnesses produced for this purpose.

(39) No freeman shall be arrested or imprisoned or deprived of his freehold or outlawed or banished or in any way ruined, nor will we take or order action against him, except by the lawful judgment of his equals and according to the law of the land.

(40) To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay right or justice.

Annotations:

Magna Carta: "great charter"; signed statement by a ruler giving rights to the people
scutage: in feudal times, tax paid by a knight instead of doing military service, or money paid by a landowner instead of personal service aid: in medieval England, tax paid to the king
impose sth.: enforce sth.
common counsel: council, assembly of persons called together to be consulted
ransom sb.: gain the freedom of sb. in exchange for money
levy sth.: impose or collect sth. officially
borough: in feudal times, town with a mayor and a governing body, given special privileges by royal charter
aforesaid [-'--]: mentioned before summon sb. (fml.): require the presence of sb.
sub-tenant: in English feudal law, sb. who held land as a permanent loan from a tenant (= Pächter) of the king's
henceforth (fml.): from now on
freeman ['--] (n., adj.): in feudal society, (of or belonging to) sb. not tied to the land or by other economic servitude
amercement: fine for an offence against the king
imperil sth. [-'- -]: endanger sth.
stock-in-trade [,--'-]: goods kept on sale by a merchant
villain: (trier) Leibeigener
wainage (old use): profit or produce from the cultivation of land
if their liability is to us: if the offence they committed was against us
banish sb.: proclaim sb. as an outlaw

1. Like the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights can be considered a negative comment on the king's rule. What conclusions concerning the king's misuse of royal power can you draw from the document?

2. As history shows, the effect of the Bill of Rights was not limited to the rights of the individual citizen. It also profoundly affected the future role of parliament. What powers did the Bill of Rights demand for Parliament?

Excerpts from the Bill of Rights (1689)

Note: Hardly ever before or after has a king enraged his people to such a degree in such a short time as James II (1633-1701, king of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1685 to 1688). James, a Catholic, provoked the resistance of the whole political spectrum when he tried to restore Catholicism to his realm. Parliament forced James into exile without bloodshed -the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 - and passed an act now known as the "Bill of Rights". Prince William of Orange and his wife, Princess Mary, were offered the throne on the condition that they accepted the Bill of Rights. Thus Britain's constitutional monarchy was established. The British monarch reigned not by the grace of God, but by the grace of Parliament.

The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons [...] do declare:

(1) That the pretended power of suspending of laws, or the execution of laws, by regal authority, without consent of Parliament, is illegal.

(2) That the pretended power of dispensing with laws or the execution of laws by regal authority as it has been assumed and exercised of late is illegal.

(it) That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by presence of prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal.

(5) That it is the right of the subject to petition the King, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal.

(6) That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with the consent of Parliament, is against law.

(8) That elections of members of Parliament ought to be free.

(9) That the freedom of speech, and debates and proceedings in Parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.

(10) That excessive bail ought not to be required nor excessive fines imposed; nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.

(13) And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening, and preserving of the laws, Parliament ought to be held frequently.

Annotations:

said (adj.) (fml.): mentioned before
Lords Spiritual: archbishops and bishops of the Anglican Church
Lords Temporal: lords who are supposed to be concerned with worldly affairs, rather than with spiritual things; together with the Lords Spiritual they constituted the House of Lords
Commons: House of Commons consisting of representatives of counties and towns
regal (fml.): royal
dispense with sb./sth.: do without sb./sth.
assume sth.: claim sth.
by pretence of prerogative: by claiming a sovereign right
grant (n.): (here) consent
petition the King: request satisfaction before a law court for some wrong or injury caused by the Crown
commitment (old use) = committal: order for imprisonment, act of sending to prison
standing army: army maintained on a permanent basis
impeach sth.:(here) prevent sth.
redress of grievances (fml.): compensation for injury or oppression
amend sth.: change sth.