Good News In History, November 6
Good News In History, November 6 808 years ago today, the Charter of the Forest was signed in England by King Henry III. This law document is sometimes described as the sister of the Magna Carta, and granted rights of free men to use the forests of England once reserved for King William I and his descendants. Many today learn from Robin Hood productions that the “kingswood” was a place where people couldn’t hunt or gather. The Charter of the Forest changed that and remained in force for centuries. HEAR what legal scholars have to say… (1217) The Forest Charter This charter was almost unique in providing a degree of economic protection for free men who used the forest to forage for food and to graze their animals. In contrast to Magna Carta, which dealt with the rights of barons, the Charter of the Forest restored to the common man some real rights, privileges, and protections against the abuses of an encroaching aristocracy. Sir William Blackstone, the famous legal scholar and judge remar…