Proclamation of Magna Carta, 1217

With the civil war coming to an end, the government of the young Henry III ordered the sheriffs of each county to publicly read Magna Carta in the county court. This order was designed to encourage rebel barons to defect and reaffirm their allegiance to the king. Dated 23 June 1217 (C54/16).

Transcript

The king [sends] greeting[s] to the sheriff of Worcestershire. We order you on the day and place of your county court to cause the charters of liberties to be read. We have conceded these charters to the barons and all other men of our realm through the common council of our kingdom and our lord legate has confirmed them through his seal. And [we order] that you cause the liberties included in the charter itself to be firmly observed by all our faithful men in your bailiwicks. Because to you not yet, etc. With the count as witness at Chertsey, on the 23rd day of June in the first year of our reign.

Original translation by Maroula Perisanidi

Simplified transcript

The king sends greetings to the sheriff of Worcestershire. We order that on the day and at the place that your county court assembles that you cause the charters of liberties to be read aloud. We have conceded these charters to the barons and all other men of our realm through the common council of our kingdom, and our lord legate, representative of the Pope, has confirmed them through his seal. And we order that you cause the liberties included in the charter itself to be strictly obeyed by all our faithful men under your jurisdiction. Witness, 23 June 1217.

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