A cartulary of Deeping priory: London, British Library, Harley 3658, fos.57-58v.1

The only witness is Stephen archbishop of Canterbury and there is no ‘giving’ clause and date. The chapters are numbered 1 to 37. Between the end of chapter 21 on the taking of wood and chapter 22 on holding the lands of felons, the copy inserts chapter 27 of the 1215 Charter on those who die intestate.2 The Forest Charter and the 1253 sentence of excommunication follow. 

A late thirteenth-century, early fourteenth-century statute book: Hitotsubashi, Hitotsubashi University Library, Japan: The Burt Franklin Collection, no.1300, fos.1-5.

The existence of this  volume  with its copy of the Charter was brought to my attention by Yukie Baba, Research Associate at the Centre for Historical Social Science Literature at Hitotsubashi University. She also arranged for me to inspect the volume. It has the statutes of Merton and Marlborough  and legislation of Edward I.3 It begins with the 1225 Magna Carta and Charter of the Forest. Magna Carta ends with the February 1225 date but has no witness list. The separate chapters are distinguished with red paragraph marks.  The earl owes his relief 'de comitatu integro' and the baronial relief is 100 marks. Above the line in the chapter on the assignment of dower, a hand has added 'de feodo militari', presumably to indicate that the rules only apply to land held by military tenure. Above the word 'precipe' in the chapter on the writ of precipe is written 'in capite'. A later hand has also supplied some passages carelessly omitted from the chapters on socage, burgage tenure and serjeanties. There are  annotations relating chapters to later legislation. Clearly, therefore, the text was studied. At the bottom of the folio with chapters 10 to 17 of the Charter,4 a neat contemporary hand has written out chapters 10 and 11 from the 1215 Charter on the Jews.  The interest  of the copyist himself in the Charter is shown by the way 'magna carta'  is written in large letters when it appears in the statute of Marlborough.

A late thirteenth, early fourteenth-century statute book: London, British Library, Harley 79, fos.2-3v.

There are forty-nine numbered chapters. There are no witnesses or dating clause.

After chapter 9 on London, the copy adds from the 1215 Charter, chapters 10 and 11 on the Jews, and then chapters 12, 13 and 14 on consent to scutages and aids.5   Later, the chapter on those who die intestate is also added.  The earl owes his relief 'de comitatu integro' and the baronial relief is 100 marks. The copy is followed by the Charter of the Forest and a reference to the 1253 sentence of excommunication. 

A late thirteenth, early fourteenth century statute book: London, British Library, Lansdowne 575, fos.121-3

This has a table of contents (with thirty three chapters) comparable to that in British Library, Harley, 5213 (p.70). The Charter is not then transcribed verbatim but the contents of each chapter are described  fairly fully. After the chapter on London (9), the copy summarises the 1215 Magna Carta's chapters 10 and 11 on the Jews.  Later the 1215 Charter's chapter 42 on free entry and exit from the kingdom is also included. The earl's relief is 'de comitatu integro' and the baron's relief is 100 marks. There are no witnesses or dating clause.

The Merton College Magna Carta: Oxford, Merton College, Muniments, 321, fos.1-3.

This copy is in a late thirteenth century statute book given to Merton College by a  student, John Lister, in 1674.6 It contains the statutes of Merton, Marlborough and Edwardian legislation. It begins with the 1225 Magna Carta and Charter of the Forest. The chapters are numbered with the start of each indicated by a coloured paragraph mark. The copy of Magna Carta has no witnesses or dating clause. The earl's relief is 'de comitatu integro' and the baronial relief is 100 marks. The saving clause at the end is in its 1217 not 1225 place. The inserted chapters from the 1215 Magna Carta, in the order they appear, are as follows: 10 and 11 on the Jews; 27 on free men dying intestate; 25 on the farms of counties, hundreds, tithings and wapentakes;7 15 on the king not giving permission for the taking of aids from freemen; 42 on entry and exit from the kingdom; and 45 on local officials knowing and meaning to observe the law of the kingdom.  Some of these chapters appear in the place they would have occupied had they remained in the Charter, others seem to have been placed more randomly. The inclusion of chapters 25 and 45 suggests a concern with the running of local government. As a result of these inclusions, and other divisions, the text has fifty-eight numbered chapters. The number in modern printed  editions is thirty-seven!  This copy has  the most extensive insertions from the 1215 Magna Carta so far discovered. However, unlike British Library Harley 79 (above pp.71-2),  the chapters on consent to taxation are not included. None of the known copies include the security clause, although it was clearly well known to Simon de Montfort in 1265.