The Magna Carta (1215) and Current Law

My first observation while reading the Magna Carta (1215) was to note that "brother Amerie, master of the Order of Knights Templar in England" was noted in the document. All of these TV and Movie shows which have been making references to the Knights Templar yet no noting of major historical documents which would attest to the Knights Templar actual presence in society. Here this would indicate a deep significance and not just a passing fancy or a segment of society or even a part of an industrial banking system.

I have put notations as to which section of the Magna Carta I will be looking at. See my source below if you would like to get a copy printed out so you will be able to make the conclusions and read along with the Magna Carta (1215) at the same time. The original document did not have a numbered sequence as what is showing in my reference source though.

1) A Free Church. God comes first. As this is also true with the United states Constitution. What comes first is always what is the most important on the minds of the drafters of a document. God and king.
"in the first place have granted to God, and by this our present charter confirmed for us and our heirs for ever that the English church shall be free, and shall have al its rights undiminished and its liberties unimpaired:..."

You will also note that "king" is rather in lower case and not in capitals as I was looking for during my first reading of this document. We seem to be capitalizing titles and other notations of nobility. The "G" in God of course is capitalized but in the next word "king" is not capitalized. This is noteworthy of comfort in comparison to our day. Everyone seems to think they are important nowadays and of which they usually should not be. Perhaps to conform with uniformity in 1215 we should be addressing our President as "president Obama" instead.

3 and 4) Addresses the right of inheritance and the time of inheritance. Just compensation is addressed but not the amount or a percentage of compensation. If unjust or extreme then others will be able to take over. it does not address whether it is reduced to a reasonable amount just that it is given to others who will be compensated at a reasonable amount.

6) "before the marriage is contracted those nearest in blood to the heir shall have notice."

My wonderment is that did the elopement process seem to be widespread even then. Would this essentially have outlawed shot-gun weddings. I guess this could have been a problem back then as well.

7) "A widow ... and she may remain in her husband's house for forty days after his death, within which time her dower shall be assigned her."

Present law seems to be able to lock-out anyone even before the burial of he deceased spouse. Still, forty days is a lengthy but albeit also a short period of time. Maybe just enough time for just the initial shock to have worn off. But after forty days one should still be grieving if the spouse truly loved the other.

9) "Neither we nor our bailiffs will seize for any debt any land or rent, so long as the chattels of the debtor are sufficient to repay the debt ... and they shall, if they wish, have the lands and rents of the debtor until they are reimbursed for the debt which they have paid for him, unless the principal debtor can show that he has discharged his obligation in the matter to the said sureties."

This would completely disallow the taking of property unless in the case of complete bankruptcy. This would require the relinquishment of property for harvesting to clear the debt or for renting of property until a debt is paid-up. In today's modern context a foreclosure would be extremely rare. In this also I am not seeing any price for interest charges. A zero rate of interest during this process would be beneficial to the deceased estate and to the spouse and other heirs or beneficiaries. A large negative in this is a 00% confiscation of assets for conversion to income or should I say - debt relief.

10) "If anyone who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, great or small, dies before it is repaid, the debt shall not bear interest as long as the heir is under age, of whomsoever he holds; and if the debt falls into our hands, we will not take anything except the principal mentioned in the bond."

11) "And if anyone dies indebted to Jews, his wife shall have her dower and pay nothing of that debt; and if the dead man leaves children who are under age, ... and the debt shall be paid out of the residue, reserving, however, service due to lords of the land debts owing to others than Jews shall be dealt with in like manner."

This 10 and 11 are not really punishing loans or debts but rather punishing the obligation of interest and more commonly referred to as usury. If any usury were to be charged then forgiveness of debt and the pecking order of repayment was established.

A more recent ascribing of a likewise pecking order was with GMC bondholders and extreme discounting of those bonds. This realignment of the pecking order did also violate the U.S. Constitution because of the ex-post facto provision of the contract was violated.

This part is a complete supposition on my part. When one is writing a contract to borrow money you probably have noticed that in the contract is a request to also have life insurance. If I was a businessman back in 1215 and a Jew writing contract for people to borrow money I would have require the recipient to buy life insurance. This would be to make sure I would be paid back my principal. This would be spreading the risk of not getting the money back in a timely fashion. Perhaps the Magna Carta (1215) was the creation of a new industry. Or should I say the inclusion of another premium for my reduction of risk. Every time the government get involved things seem to get complication and society sometimes needs to defend against government actions.

12) "And the city of London shall have all its ancient liberties and free customs as well by land as by water ..."

One of the first instances of free trade. Am I reading this wrong or was Boston wronged by having a six pence tax and thus this eliminated free customs as required in the second half of this statement to all other trade cities. This also would have been one of the first Uniform Commercial Codes established by law.

14) "... And when the summons has thus been made, the business shall proceed on the day appointed, according to the counsel of those present, though not all have come who were summoned."

This is the establishment of a notice. Attend not at your own parole. But defining how a notice will be given and the date and timeliness of the notice.

15) "... and for these only a reasonable aid shall be levied."

Leveling a tax or "aid" must be reasonable. This probably presupposes that the definition of reasonable increased with inflation. A reasonable clause is also stated in our U.S. Constitution concerning bailment.

16) "No one shall be compelled to do greater service for a knight's fee or for any other free holding than is due from it."

The establishment of conscription and the time served would be uniform for everyone. Thus a form of duty of service tax.

17-25) The pecking order of who is to be determined as a peer. Where courts are held and how often. Who cannot hold court with the Kings court. Punishing shall be according to the particular offense. In the U.S. system we all can eventually go to the state or U.S. Supreme Court if we so petition. But a court of appeals does not seem to be present here. Or at least not an appeal to a supreme court or to the king's Court if the court hearing started at a lower court.

26) Establishment of the King's right to first claim of debt payment. And how it would be done and by whom. The following the will for distribution and finally to the wife and children. What else seems to be but the biggest hand out first for even the smallest of amounts.

27) If a free man dies without a will then the remainder will be distributed by his kinsfolk and friends "under the supervision of the church, saving to every one the debts which the deceased owed him."

A system of who will be in control and a brief on how the system will work if one passes without a will. Looks like even then a Revocable or Irrevocable Will would have been a necessity for the preservation of passing of wealth but also in the keeping of privacy of wealth. My question would be: Was the priest there to give the last rights or to take the first fruits?.

28) ..." unless he pays on the spot in cash"...

Coins were a necessity going back to King Solomon's days. If on a pilgrimage a large amount of cash or coin could be a major undertaking. This could be where the Knights Templar would have come in. The banking system or coin transportation or checking deposit and withdrawal system was not as complex but was a necessity as showing here in the Magna Carta (1215).

If corn or other items are taken by a constable or other bailiff payment in cash or other means is required. This is also address but in other words by the U.S. Constitution as well and in the Bill of Rights.

29) Addresses an instance where an equivalent national Guard form a State can be compelled to serve i the U.S. forces. But the time in the U.S. forces shall count as time in the National Guard forces.

30-31) Stating all property or land will not be taken except by agreement. No notion here of eminent domain but by required agreement.

33) Giving authority of mobility (ships) over fishermen by nets. Clearing rivers so transportation can thrive. Evidently the fishermen had not properly previously filed an environment impact statement with the government and they lost their court case under appeal to the king.

35) Establishment of uniform weights and measures. I guess they did not calculators which could multi-task as we do today. Conversion from one system to another must have made shopping extremely difficult. I wonder if this was one of the first women's revolts and the entire premise of the Magna Carta was to squelch this aspect of shopping. People may not have been good at literacy but they certainly would have been required to be good at math.

38) A restriction on self-incrimination by investigation. Must have other reliable witnesses rather than one's own bare word. I wonder if they had problems with water boarding back then also.

39) Establishes law of peers or by the laws of he land concept. Codifies anyways. Where is this system of justice now-a-days. Does it still exist. Judges seem to think they are all important. In a judging of your peers the judge is merely a referee and the questions are asked by the peers on a back and forth process between the jury and the attorneys.

40) Simply put will not sell, refuse or delay justice. By sell I assume this refers to briberies cannot be made. I could be thinking too much into this phrase sell. But why would the king not sell.

41) Foreign merchants shall automatically be given a VISA for selling and traveling purposes. If in case of war with an enemy then the merchant shall be held to determine homelands treatment of like-merchant and thus owul dor chould be treated likewise. Homeland Security and the TSA needs to take a look at this aspect of the Magna Carta and determine who is from an enemy country and clear them without delay. Other who merely are from enemy countries could be searched. No discrimination here. Discrimination only is based upon a foreign country of origin. Senior citizen and young children traveling within a country should not be strip-searched without reasonable cause.

42) Others may come and go. Swearing allegiance is not necessary or would not prejudice an individual. Except if from a land which would also be an enemy.

45) Legal authorities must know "well" the law. "No one will be assigned a position of responsibility unless they also know th elaw and are reliable to obseve it well also."

Taking money, briberies, or other causes of action which stall justice do not sit "well" with this clause. By well the standard is not 100% but it definitely is over 51%. Rookie cops should know "well" the codes which they are trying to enforce. If they do not know it "well" then they would be in violation of this demand. But a higher standard would have to be with a judge even though they also would come under the standard of "well". A judge would be having to have knowledge in a broader aspect of law and thus a higher standard of "well" would be required.

47) Recently created forests and riverbanks by the king will dissolve and not be national lands. This must have been the first case of environmentalism gone bad. It seems also this could have been the first case of establishing a national park and the local inhabitants objecting. But it seemed like a good idea at the time. Maybe this was the first WPA (Works Project Act). Planting the forest to stimulate the economy and now deforesting or cutting to again stimulate the economy. A true case of Economics 101. Or perhaps this was the first case of a government program which was completely "axed". Sorry but I could not resist.

55) Unjust fines and against the law of the land will be heard by a 25 member panel and redresses will be made. This would have produced a large panel for making up decisions of national importance.

Sources:

http://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/magnacarta.html
Magna Carta (1215)