The Charter of the Forest is a little-known charter sealed in England by King Henry III. Carta de Foresta was, in substance, part of the great constitutional reforms imposed by his barons upon King John. It was issued in 1217 as a supplement to Magna Carta, which the previous King (King John) wished to repudiate and annul with Papal authority as a "shameful and demeaning agreement, forced upon the king by violence and fear". In contrast to Magna Carta, it provided some real rights, privileges and protections for the common man against the abuses of the encroaching aristocracy.[1]

At a time when the Royal forests were the most important potential source of fuel for cooking, heating and industries such as charcoal burning, this charter was almost unique in providing a degree of economic protection for serfs and vassals.

The Charter provided a right of common access to (royal) private lands that would wait until the Union of England and Scotland in 1707 to be equaled within the realm.

It repealed the death penalty for taking royal game and abolished mutilation as a lesser punishment.

The Charter was the statute that remained longest in force in England (from 1217 to 1971), being finally superseded by the Wild Creatures and Forest Laws Act 1971.

[edit] External links

• Charter of the Forest
• BBC Radio 4 "The Things We Forgot to Remember," Broadcast 3 of 4

This article about a manuscript is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e