Читать книгу Magna Carta: A Commentary on the Great Charter of King John. With an Historical Introduction онлайн

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On the other hand, it may be argued that Magna Carta, while something less than a law, is also something more. A law made by the king in one national assembly might be repealed by the king in another; whereas the Great Charter was intended by the barons to be unchangeable. It was granted to them and their heirs for ever; and, in return, a price had been paid, namely, the renewal of their allegiance—a fundamental condition of John’s continued possession of the throne.^[183]

Magna Carta has also been frequently described as a treaty. Such is the verdict of Dr. Stubbs.^[184] “The Great Charter, although drawn up in the form of a royal grant, was really a treaty between the King and his subjects.... It is the collective people who really form the other high contracting party in the great capitulation.”^[185] This view receives some support from certain words contained in chapter 63 of the Charter itself: “Juratum est autem tam ex parte nostra quam ex parte baronum, quod haec omnia supradicta bona fide et sine malo ingenio observabuntur.”