charta de foresta

/karta diy foresta/ A collection of the laws of the forest, made in the 9th Hen. Ill, and said to have been originally a part of Magna Charta. The charta de foresta was called the Great Charter of the woodland population, nobles, barons, freemen, and slaves, loyally granted by Henry III, early in his reign (A.D. 1217). There is a difference of opinion as to the original charter of the forest similar to that which exists respecting the true and original Magna Carta (q.v.), and for the same reason, viz., that both required repeated confirmation by the kings, despite their supposed inviolability. This justifies the remark of recent historians as to the great charter that "this theoretical sanctity and this practical insecurity are shared with "the Great Charter of Liberties' by the Charter of the Forest which was issued in 1217." It is asserted with great positiveness by Inderwick that no forest charter was ever granted by King John, but that Henry III issued the charter of 1217 (which he puts in the third year of the reign, which, however, only commenced Oct. 28, 1216), in pursuance of the promises of his father; and Lord Coke, referring to it as a charter on which the lives and liberties of the woodland population depended, says that it was confirmed at least thirty times between the death of John and that of Henry V