Note 208 — PART III. MAGNA CARTA: ITS FORM AND CONTENTS.

In addition to its appearance in the two places mentioned in the text, the word “freeman” appears in five other chapters, namely 15, 20, 27, 30, and 39. The three last instances throw no light on the meaning of the word, since the context of each would be satisfied either with a broader or with a narrower interpretation. It is different, however, with chapter 15, where the freemen are necessarily the feudal tenants of a mesne lord—that is, freeholders; and with chapter 20, where, in the matter of amercement, the freeman is distinctly contrasted with the villanus. Further, where men of servile birth are clearly meant, they are described generally as probi homines (e.g. in chapters 20, 29, and 48), and in one place, chapter 26, as legales homines. Chapter 44 mentions homines without any qualification. It seems safe to infer that the Great Charter never spoke of “freemen” when it meant to include the ordinary peasantry or villagers. In chapter 39 of the re-issue of 1217, liber homo is clearly used as synonymous with “freeholder.”