 Four months after the birth of the First Prince of Wales at
Caernarfon - A.D.1284 - Edward I granted to the town a charter,
conferring upon the inhabitants and burgesses various rights and
privileges. The following is a translation of the text of the original
charter:
Edward, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland and
Duke of Aquitaine: To the Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors,
Earls, Barons, Justices, Sheriffs, Provosts, Ministers and all our
bailiffs and faithful servants, Greeting.
Know ye, that we do will and grant, for us and our heirs and
successors, that our town of Carnarvon from henceforth shall be
a free Borough and that our men of the same town shall be free
Burgesses.
And that the Constable of our Castle of Carnarvon for the time
being, shall be the Mayor of that Borough, sworn as well to us as
to the said Burgesses, who having first taken the oath to preserve
our Rights, shall swear to the same Burgesses upon the Holy
Gospel of God, that he will preserve to the same Burgesses the
Liberties by us granted, and faithfully perform those things which
to the office of Mayor do belong in the same Borough.
We grant also that the said Burgesses do every year, at the feast
of Saint Michael, elect from among themselves, two fit and
sufficient Bailiffs, and present the same to the said Constable, as
their Mayor, who, in the presence of the said Mayor and
Burgesses, shall swear faithfully to perform their office of Bailiffs.
And further, we also will and grant, that the aforesaid Burgesses
shall have their free prison, in the aforesaid Borough, for all
offences within the same, except in cases of Life and Limbs, in which cases all as well Burgesses as others, shall be imprisoned
in our castle there. Nevertheless, if any of the said Burgesses be
suspected, accused or indicted of any offence, in such cases we
will, that on that occasion, they shall not be imprisoned, as long
as they can find good and sufficient Bail, to stand before our Chief
Justice, or others our Justices there to appointed.
Moreover, we grant to the said Burgesses that all Lands to the said
Borough now assigned, be free from the Warren and Forest Laws;
and that Jews shall not at any time dwell in the said Borough.
We will also, and do grant for us and our Heirs, that the same
Burgesses shall have all other Liberties and free Customs above
expressed, favourably and peaceably, without hindrance or
impeachment of us or our Heirs, or of our Justices, Sheriffs, and
other Bailiffs or Ministers whatsoever, as aforesaid. These being
witnesses:- the Venerable Father Robert, Bishop of Bath and Wells,
our Chancellor; Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster; Thomas de Caire;
Richard de Brus; Reginald de Grave; Nicholas de Segrave; Peter
de Chaumpuent; John de Mantalto; and others. Given under our
hand, at Flint, the eighth day of September in the twelfth year of
our Reign. (1284)
This charter was often confirmed by subsequent sovereigns.
Firstly, by Edward of Caernarvon, while yet Prince of Wales on May
25, 1306, on which occasion he styled himself "Edward, son of the
illustrious king, Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester" &c. It was also
confirmed by Edward III at Waltham Holy Cross in 1331; Richard II at Westminster in 1379; Henry V, while Prince of Wales at Kensington in
1400; Henry VI at Westminster in 1425; Edward IV at Westminster in
1468; Edward VI at Westminster in 1547 and Elizabeth at
Westminster in 1559.
These charters of confirmation merely repeated the words of the
original Edwardian deed.
Source: Caernarfon 2000 ~ Features in a Royal Town
Disclaimer -The exclusions within the Edward 1 document are no longer relevant (this is purely a historical document) |
