The essence of human rights has remained largely unchanged since the Magna Carta text originated as a peace treaty in 1215 between King John and his barons, bishops and freemen. And there are 35 clauses. The copy I'm quoting from here is '1217 Text and Translations.'
ISBN 97831851244522
1217 Text and Translation
Bodleian Library (University of Oxford)
Neither a settlement nor a man is to be distrained to build bridges at [for or?] embankments, except those who of old and of right ought to do it.
Simplified
No settlement or individual shall be forced to build bridges or embankments, except those who are historically obligated to do so by right.
Earls and barons are not to be amerced except through their peers and not except according to the measure of the offence.
----
Streamlined
Earls and barons shall only be fined by the judgment of their peers and according to the measure of their offense
Assizes of Last Presentation [cases concerning church patronage or benefices] are always to be taken before our Justiciaries of the Bench and there determined.
Streamlined
Cases concerning church patronage (Assizes of Last Presentation) shall always be heard and decided by our royal judges at Westminster.
Trials of Novel Disseisin [to recover seized property]
-------------------------
Streamlined
"Trials for recovering seized property (Novel Disseisin) and inheritance disputes (Mort d’Ancestor) will only be held in their respective counties. Justices will be sent to each county once a year to oversee these cases, along with local knights."
Clause 11
No one is to be distrained to do more service for a Knight's fee-holding, nor for any other free tenement, than what is due from it.
-------------------------------------------
Simplified
No one shall be forced to provide more service for a knight’s fee or any other free holding than what is lawfully owed.
Self-Governance: London had a degree of autonomy, allowing its citizens to elect their own officials, such as the Lord Mayor and sheriffs, without direct interference from the king.
Freedom from Arbitrary Taxation: The citizens of London were often exempt from certain taxes and tolls imposed on other towns. Instead, they paid a fixed annual sum known as a "farm" to the king.
Trade Privileges: London merchants had special rights to trade without undue restrictions, giving them an advantage over traders from other towns. They were also allowed to form guilds and regulate trade within the city.
Justice and Legal Rights: Londoners enjoyed certain legal protections, such as trial by jury of their peers, and could administer justice through their own courts. The city was largely self-regulating in matters of law.
Freedom from Military Service: Citizens of London were sometimes exempted from the requirement of providing military service to the king, in exchange for financial payments.
Control Over the Thames: The city held rights to control and regulate the Thames River, which was essential for commerce and transportation.
The city of London is to have all its ancient liberties and its free customs. Furthermore we desire and grant that all other cities and boroughs and settlements and the Barons of the Cinque Ports (five ports of the south-east coast of England) and all ports may have liberties and their free customs.
----------------------------------
Simplified
The city of London shall retain all its ancient liberties and free customs. Additionally, we grant that all other cities, boroughs, settlements, and the Barons of the Cinque Ports, along with all ports, shall have their liberties and free customs as well."
No widow will be distrained (legally forced) to get married while she shall have wished to live without a husband; but yet she is to give security that she will not get married without our assent if she shall have held
-------------------
"No widow shall be forced to remarry if she wishes to remain without a husband. However, if she holds land from the king, she must get his consent before marrying again, and if she holds land from another lord, she must get their consent."
Heirs are to be married without disparagement (dishonour to a woman resulting from marriage to a man of inferior rank)
------------------
Simplified
"Heirs are to be married without disgrace, ensuring that their marriage does not dishonor them by pairing them with someone of significantly lower rank."
----------------------
The warden of the land of such an under-age heir is not to take from the heir's land any but reasonable proceeds and reasonable customs and reasonable services, and this without destruction and waste of men or goods. An if we shall have committed the custody of any land or any such heir to a sheriff, or to any other person who ought to answer to us for the proceeds of that land,and he shall have caused destruciton or waste of his wardship, and we shall recover damages from him, and the land is to be committed to two lawful and discreet men of the same fee-holding, who are to answer for the proceeds to us or to him to whom we shall have assigned them. And if we shall have given or sold to anyone the wardship of any such and, and he shall then have made destruction of waste upon it, let him lose the wardship, and let it be handed over to two lawfull and disreet men of the same fee-holding, who are to answer to us in the same way as said above.
---------------------------
Simplified:
"The guardian of an underage heir’s land must only take reasonable profits and provide reasonable services, without causing destruction or waste. If a sheriff or another person appointed by the crown abuses their role, they must compensate for the damage, and the land will be given to two trustworthy men of the same estate, who will manage it responsibly. If someone who bought or was given wardship causes waste, they lose the wardship, and it will be handed to two responsible men of the same estate."
---------------------------
If any of our earls or barons or our other tenants in chief through military service (holding lands directly from the king) shall have died, and at this death his heir shall have been of full age and owe a relief (inheritance fee) the heir may posess his inherance through the ancient relief: that is the heir or heirs of an earl, an earl's barony whole for one hundred pounds, the heir or heirs of a knight, a knight's fee-holding whole for 100 schillings at most and he who shall have owed less may give less, according to the ancient custom of fees.
_________________
Simplified
This second clause addresses the issue of inheritance fees, known as "relief," which heirs had to pay to take possession of their lands when a tenant of the king died. The clause ensures that these fees were regulated and set according to long-standing customs, rather than arbitrarily increased by the king, thereby protecting heirs from having to pay exorbitant fees and so ensures a fair inheritance process based on historical precedent.
No ecclesiastical person is to be amerced according to the greatness of his ecclesiastical benefice, but only according to his lay-fee [land held in return for secular services], and according to the greatness of his offence.
Streamlined
No member of the clergy shall be fined based on the value of their church benefice, but only according to their lay land holdings and the severity of their offense..
A freeman is not to be amerced [fined of punished at a court’s discretion] for a small offence except according to the measure of that offence ; and for a great offence according to the magnitude of that offence, saving his contenement [i.e. without threatening his freeholding or maybe other qualifying property]: and a merchant in the same manner saving his merchandise; and a serf belonging to another rather than ours is to be amerced in the same manner, saving his wainage [means of livelihood or agriculture tools?] , if he shall have fallen at our mercy; and none of the aforesaid amercements is to be imposed except through the oaths of honest and lawful men of the neighbourhood.
------------
Simplified
A freeman shall only be fined in proportion to the offense committed, protecting his livelihood. Merchants and serfs are to be treated similarly, preserving their means of living. No fine shall be imposed without the judgment of trustworthy local men.
----------
And those matters, which at that arrival in the county cannot be determinded by the aforesaid justiciaries sent to take the said assizes, are to be determined by them elsewhere in their circuit; and those matters which cannot be determinded by them, because of the difficulty of some articles, are to be referred to our Justiciaries of the Bench [royal judges sitting at Westminister] and there determined.
-----
Streamlined
"If certain cases can’t be resolved by the justices visiting a county, they will decide them elsewhere in their circuit. If any cases are particularly complex, they will be referred to our royal judges at Westminster for a final decision."
Traditions of governance, law, and checks on royal power, influenced by local customs, Christianity, and regional political structures.
Ethiopian Legal and Governance Traditions
Fetha Nagast (Law of the Kings): The Fetha Nagast, often translated as "Law of the Kings," is Ethiopia's most significant legal document, though it was not created in the same political context as the Magna Carta.
This legal code was compiled in the 13th century and formally adopted in Ethiopia during the 15th century. It was based on Byzantine and Coptic Christian canon law and was deeply influenced by religious and customary law.
Religious Foundation: The Fetha Nagast dealt extensively with ecclesiastical matters, including the conduct of the clergy, church administration, and religious obligations. It also addressed civil law, including marriage, inheritance, property, and criminal matters.
Monarchical Authority: Unlike the Magna Carta, which limited the king’s power, the Fetha Nagast reinforced the king’s divine right to rule, drawing from religious doctrines that gave Ethiopian monarchs legitimacy as divinely appointed leaders, supposedly descending from the biblical King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
The Council of Nobles and Traditional Checks on Power: While the Magna Carta sought to curb the king’s power in England by empowering the barons, Ethiopia’s political structure also had traditional systems that provided some checks on the emperor’s absolute rule.
Council of Nobles: Ethiopian emperors often governed with the support of a council of nobles or regional rulers (called Rases). While this was not a formalized legal contract like the Magna Carta, the emperor’s power was often balanced by regional nobles, who held significant local influence and authority. The loyalty of these nobles was crucial to the emperor’s ability to rule, and they could act as a check on imperial authority through negotiations, alliances, or even rebellion.
Feudalism and Local Autonomy: Similar to the feudal system in medieval Europe, Ethiopia had a decentralized system where local rulers governed large regions with considerable autonomy. These rulers, often of noble descent, had their own armies, administered justice locally, and collected taxes. The emperor’s power, therefore, relied heavily on their cooperation, similar in some ways to how English kings depended on their barons.
Gadaa System (Oromo People): Among the Oromo people, who constitute one of the largest ethnic groups in Ethiopia, there existed a unique system of governance known as the Gadaa system, which dates back to ancient times.
Democratic Elements: The Gadaa system was a democratic form of governance in which power was transferred peacefully every eight years. Leaders were elected by the community, and different groups had specific roles and responsibilities in managing society. While not a document like the Magna Carta, this system of checks and balances between different classes of society offered a form of accountability for leadership.
Conflict Resolution and Law: The Gadaa system also included a legal framework that governed community disputes, land rights, and other civil matters, embodying a more egalitarian approach than Ethiopia’s monarchy-centered system.
Common Pleas [civil actions at law] are not to follow our court
------------------
Streamlined
Civil cases (Common Pleas) shall not travel with the royal court but will instead be held in a fixed location.
This highlights the intent to separate the royal court’s movements from regular civil cases, ensuring greater consistency and accessibility!
Also on the Magna Carta timeline of 1142-1217
The Great Law of Peace of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy is believed to have been established between 1142 and 1450 CE, though the exact date is uncertain because it predates written records.
It was a constitution that governed the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a union of six Indigenous nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora) in what is now the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada . This constitution influenced early American democratic thinkers, including Benjamin Franklin, and some scholars argue that the principles of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy impacted the formation of the U.S. Constitution.. This law laid out a complex system of government that balanced power among different groups and outlined the roles and responsibilities of leaders. The original was kept in the oral tradition, and passed down through word of mouth.
Other Indigenous groups had their own forms of governance. These systems of governance often included practices and principles that emphasized collective well-being, balance, respect for the natural world, and consensus-based decision-making, underscoring a deeply rooted commitment to shared values and justice within their communities.
While the Great Law of Peace irepresents a similar foundational approach to governance, liberty, and justice.
A Few Passages
The Opening Address:
“We shall consider each other the flesh and blood of each other. We shall have one body, one mind, and one heart. If any of the five nations shall be in distress, we shall all rush to their aid as a single nation, ever striving to keep the Great Peace."
On Leadership and the Role of Chiefs:
“The Chiefs of the League of Five Nations shall be mentors of the people for all time. The thickness of their skin shall be seven spans -- which is to say that they shall be proof against anger, offensive actions, and criticism. Their hearts shall be full of peace and good will, and their minds filled with a yearning for the welfare of the people of the League. With endless patience, they shall carry out their duty. Their firmness shall be tempered with a tenderness for their people."
The Tree of Peace:
"I, Dekanawidah, and the Union Lords, plant the Tree of Great Peace. We plant it in your territory. At the top of the tree, the white eagle shall perch, who is able to see far. If he sees in the distance any evil approaching or any danger threatening, he will at once warn the people of the League. We place at the top of the Tree of the Long Leaves an Eagle who is able to see afar. If he sees in the distance any danger threatening the people of the Five Nations, he will at once warn the people of the Confederacy."
On Consensus:
“Whenever the Confederate Lords shall assemble for the purpose of holding a council, the Onondaga Lords shall open it by expressing their gratitude to their cousin Lords, and greeting them, and they shall make an address and offer thanks to the earth where men dwell, to the streams of water, the pools, the springs, and the lakes, to the maize and the fruits, to the medicinal herbs and trees, to the forest trees for their usefulness, to the animals that serve as food and give their pelts for clothing, to the great winds and the lesser winds, to the Thunderers, to the Sun, the mighty warrior, to the moon, to the messengers of the Creator who reveal his wishes and to the Great Creator who dwells in the heavens above who gives all the things useful to men, and who is the source and the ruler of health and life."
We indeed or our bailiffs will not seize any land or rent for any debt, as long as the pressent chattlels of the debtor are sufficient for paying the debt, and the debtor himself may be prepared to make satisfaction of it; or may the guarantors of the debtor himself be distrained, as long as the principle debtor himself may be good for the payment of the debt. And if the principal debtor shall have failed in payment of the debt, not having the wherewithal to discharge it, or is unwilling to discharge when he could, the guarantors are to answer for the debt; and if they wish let them have the lands and rents of the debtor until satifaction be made to them, for the debt which they shall have paid for him before, unless the principal debtor shall have shown himself acquited of it against the same guarantors.
-------
Simplified
Neither the king nor his officials will seize any land or rent for a debt as long as the debtor has enough personal property to cover the payment and is willing to pay. Guarantors of the debt won’t be forced to pay if the debtor can still meet the obligation. However, if the debtor fails or refuses to pay, the guarantors must cover the debt and may take possession of the debtor’s land or rent until they are reimbursed, unless the debtor can prove they have already settled the debt.
--------------------
A widow after the death of her husband, is to have immediately and without any difficulty her marriage portion (land assigned for her upkeep before her husband’s death) and her inheritance; nor is she to give anything for her dower (land assigned for her use after her husband’s death), and for her marriage portion, or for her inheritance which her husband and she shall have held on the day of his death, and she is to remain in the principal messuage (dwelling house and lands) of her husband for forty days after her husband’s death, within which time her dower is to be assigned to her, unless it has been assigned to her before, or unless the house is a castle, and if she shall have departed from the castle, let there at once be provided for her a suitable house in which she may decently dwell, until her dower may be assigned to her as said above. And she is to have her reasonable estovers of the common (necessaries for maintenance). And for her dower, let there be assigned to her the third part of all the land of her husband which was his in his lifetime, unless she shall have been dowered with less at the church door (at her marriage ceremony).
--------------------------
Simplified
"After her husband’s death, a widow is to receive her marriage portion and inheritance immediately and without difficulty, without having to pay for her dower or inheritance. She can remain in her husband's main residence for 40 days, during which her dower must be assigned, unless the residence is a castle. If the castle is unsuitable, she will be provided with a proper home until her dower is assigned. A widow is entitled to one-third of her husband’s land unless a smaller portion was agreed at their marriage."
Magna Carta is chequered with a long list of charaters that populated the timeline. Like the Butlers, the cup-bearers of Lord John's father King Henry who gained immense favour in Ireland.
Robert Fitzwalter - One of the most prominent leaders of the rebellion and sometimes called the “Marshal of the Army of God and Holy Church. - He played a significant role in organizing the barons against John.
Eustace de Vesci - A powerful baron from the North, he was an early critic of King John and had personal grievances with him. He supported Prince Louis of France during the barons' rebellion.
William de Mowbray - A baron from Yorkshire, de Mowbray was another influential figure among the rebel barons and a signer of the Magna Carta.
Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford - Known as a key rebel leader, he was among the most influential barons and one of the Magna Carta's signatories.
William d'Aubigny - Lord of Belvoir Castle, he played a pivotal role in the baronial rebellion and was another Magna Carta signatory.
Geoffrey de Mandeville - The Earl of Essex, he was a strong opponent of King John’s policies and fought against him until his death.
Saher de Quincy, Earl of Winchester - He joined the rebellion early on and was instrumental in pushing the Magna Carta forward.
Roger de Montbegon - Although less prominent than others, he held lands in northern England and supported the barons’ demands for reform.
Robert de Ros - He held extensive lands and was one of the most committed barons, aiding in the drafting and enforcement of the Magna Carta.
John de Lacy - The constable of Chester, he was a significant northern baron and actively involved in the rebellion.
The warden however, as long as he shall have had wardship of the land, is to maintain the houses, parks, warrens, ponds, mills and other things belonging to that land, out of the proceeds of the same land, and is to hand back to the heir, when he shall have reached full age, his whole estate restored, with ploughs and all other things, as least in as far as he received it. All these things are to be observed i the wardships of vacant archbishoprics. bishoprics, abbeys, priories, churches and dignities. which appertain to us, except that wardships of this type ought not to be sold.
----------------------------------
Simplified
"The guardian must maintain all buildings, parks, ponds, mills, and other parts of the estate using the proceeds from the land, and return the estate to the heir fully restored when they come of age. This rule also applies to the guardianship of vacant archbishoprics, bishoprics, abbeys, priories, and churches, but wardships of these religious estates should not be sold."
If however the heirs of any such persons shall have been underage, his lord is not to have the wardship of him or his land before receiving his homage. and after such an heir shall have in ward, when he shall come of age, that is twenty-one years, he may have his inheritance without relief and without fine; so that, however,even if he shall have been made an knight
------------------------------------------------
Revised to simplify the text
"If an heir is underage when they inherit, their land stays in the wardship of their lord until they come of age at 21. Once of age, the heir can claim their inheritance without paying a fee. Even if they are knighted before turning 21, their land remains under their lord’s control until they reach full age."
First, that we have granted to God, and by this present charter have confirmed on behalf of us and our heirs forever that the English church is to be free and is to have her rights in full and her liberties unharmed. We have also granted to all the freeman of our kingdom, on behalf of us and our heirs forever, all the underwritten liberties to be held by them and by their heirs from us and from our heirs.
-----------
Simplified
This first clause emphasizes the freedom and autonomy of the Church in England, which was a key issue during the reign of King John, the liberties mentioned, referred to specific rights and freedoms. and are outlined later within the document.