The Charter of the Forest

WHAT WAS THE CHARTER OF THE FOREST?

The Charter of the Forest was a piece of legislation issued in 1217 on behalf of King Henry III, England’s 10-year-old monarch. The Charter curbed the unbridled power of the monarchy over England’s forests and reasserted the rights of the common people.

Since the Norman Conquest of 1066, England’s kings had been able to seize swathes of forest and turn them into hunting grounds, or Royal Forests, meant exclusively for their use. (It’s worth noting that at this time, a ‘forest’ was not quite what we would think of today – it could also refer to heaths, moorland, fields and even villages and towns in rural areas.)

This had deeply frustrated the barons, who were unable to develop land unless the king granted them the right to do so. It also caused great misery for the common folk, who had traditionally used the forests to sustain themselves – cutting