The 1311 Ordinances were a series of statements made by Barons that were intended to regulate the way in which King Edward II managed his household and state. It was a response to perceptions of favouritism and maladministration, including within the sphere of justice. The Ordiners, that is those who set out the Ordinances of 1311, were a mixture of Peers of the Realm and Bishops. Therefore it reflected the views of the lords and clergy, rather than being a forced reform from the commonality, towns, merchants, or others.

This post is part of a series on Kingship: Legitimacy, Rights, Traditions and Law.

The Ordinances of 1311

The Ordonances were originally written in French. Therefore there are several translated versions which are not entirely the same but which make the point of each Ordinance clearly enough. For the original French version, alongside an English translation, see the references at the foot of the page. The imposition of the Ordinances had similarities to the circumstances in which Magna Carta had been issued, and its subsequent revisions.

Comparisons with the Wars of the Roses era

That there was opposition to the King and the nature of his governance draws a comparison with the state in which England found itself at various points within the 15th century. Many of the items noted in the Ordinances below are comparible to things that were called for by either the Peers of the Realm, or commoners, during the reign of King Henry VI. The revolt led by Jack Cade in 1450 published a manifesto calling for fair and good governance. There was opposition by Peers to the advancement of favourites, resulting in the impeachment of William de la Pole. Later, there were manifestos issued from Calais by Richard Neville earl of Warwick that called for good governance and fair treatment of Peers. Each has similarities with the situation in 1311 and are continuations of the developmment of checks and balances, or the struggle for power, at the highest levels of monarchical government.

The 41 Ordinances as set out in 1311

EDWARD by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitain, To All to whom these Letters shall come, Greeting. Know Ye, That Whereas on the sixteenth day of March, in the third year of our reign, to the honour of God, and for the weal of Us and of our Realm, We did grant of our free will, by our Letters Patent, to the Prelates, Earls, and Barons of our said Realm, that they might choose certain Persons of the Prelates, Earls, and Barons, whom they should see fit to call unto them; and We did also grant, by the same Letters, to those who should be chosen, whosoever they should be, by the said Prelates, Earls, and Barons, full power to order the State of our Household, and of our Realm before mentioned, in such manner that their Ordinances should be made to the honour of God and the honour and profit of Holy Church, and to our honour, and to our profit, and to the profit of our People, according to right, and reason, and the Oath which We made at our Coronation (‘), according as is more fully contained in our said Letters: And the Honourable Father in God Robert, by the grace of God Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, the Bishops, Earls, and Barons thereunto chosen (2), by virtue of our said Letters, have ordained upon the said Matters in the Form which followeth : Forasmuch as by bad and deceitful counsel our Lord the King and all his Subjects are dishonoured in all Lands; and moreover the Crown hath been in many points abased and dismembered, and his Lands of Gascony, Ireland, and Scotland on the point of being lost, if God do not give amendment; and his Realm of England upon the point of rising, on account of Oppressions, Prises, and Destructions; the which things being known and shewn, our Lord the King, of his free will hath granted to the Prelates, Earls, and Barons, and to the other good People of his Realm, that certain Persons should be chosen to order and establish the state of his Household and of his Realm, as more fully appears by the Commission of our Lord the King thereof made: Wherefore We, Robert, by the grace of God Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, the Bishops, Earls, and Barons chosen. by virtue of the said Commission, do ordain, to the honour of God and of Holy Church, and to the honour of the King and of his Realm, in the manner which followeth :

1. First, We do ordain that the Ordinances before made by Us, and shewn to the King (‘), be holden and kept, the which are next under written: “FIRST, It is Ordained, That Holy Church have all her Franchises, in such sort as she ought to have.
2. MOREOVER, It is Ordained, That the Peace of the King be firmly kept throughout the Realm, so that every one may safely go, come, and tarry, according to the Law and Usage of the Realm.
3. MOREOVER, It is Ordained, For to acquit the Debts of the King and retrieve his State, and the more honourably to maintain him, that no Gift of Land, nor of Rent, nor of Franchise, nor of Escheat, nor of Wardship, nor Marriage, nor Bailiwick, be made to any of the said Ordainours during their Power under the said Ordinance, nor to any other, without the Consent and Assent of the said Ordainours, or of the greater part of them, or Six of them at the least; but all the things whereof Profit can arise shall be used to the Profit of the King, until his State be becomingly retrieved, and somewhat else be thereupon ordained to the honour and profit of the King.
4. MOREOVER, It is Ordained, That the Customs of the Realm be kept and received by People of the Realm, and not by Aliens; and that the Issues and Profits of the same Customs, together with all other Issues and Profits of the Realm arising from any matters whatsoever, shall come entirely to the King’s Exchequer, and by the Treasurer and the Chamberlains shall be delivered, to maintain the Household of the King, and otherwise to his Profit, so that the King may live of his own, without taking Prises other than those anciently due and accustomed; and all others shall cease.
5. MOREOVER, It is Ordained, That all Merchants Aliens, who have received the Profits of the Customs of the Realm, or of other things appurtenant to the King, since the Death of King Edward the Father of our Lord the King that now is, shall be arrested with all their Goods, wheresoever they shall be found within the power of the King of England, until they have rendered reasonable Account, of how much they have received of the Issues of the Realm within the time aforesaid, before the Treasurer and before the Barons of the Exchequer, and others joined to them by the said Ordainours.
6. MOREOVER, It is Ordained, That the Great Charter be kept in all its points in such manner, that if there be in the said Charter any point obscure or doubtful, it shall be declared by the said Ordainours, and others whom they will, for that purpose, call to them, when they shall see occasion and season during their power.
7. AND Moreover, Forasmuch as the Crown is so much abased and dismembered by divers Gifts, We do ordain, That all the Gifts which have been given to the damage of the King and the Diminution of the Crown since the Commission made to us, of Castles, Towns, Lands and Tenements, and Bailiwicks, Wardships and Marriages, Escheats and Releases, whatsoever they be, as well in Gascony, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, as in England, be repealed, and We do repeal the same altogether, without being given again to the same persons without common assent in Parliament. And that if such manner of Gifts or Releases be from henceforth given against the form aforesaid, without the assent of his Baronage, and that in Parliament, until that his Debts be acquitted, and his State becomingly relieved, they shall be holden for none, and the Taker shall be punished in Parlia ment by the Award of the Baronage.
8. FOR ASMUCH as it was heretofore ordained, That the Customs of the Realm should be received and kept by People of the Realm, and not by Aliens; and that the Issues and the Profits of the same Customs, together with all other Issues and Profits of the Realm arising, whatsoever they be, should come entirely to the King’s Exchequer, and by the Treasurer and Chamberlain be received and delivered for the Maintenance of the King’s Household, and otherwise to his profit, so that the King might live of his own, without making Prises other than those anciently due and rightful; the which matters are not observed; Wherefore We do ordain, that the said Customs, together with all the Issues of the Realm as afore is said, be received and kept by People of the Realm, and delivered into the Exchequer in the form aforementioned.
9. FOR ASMUCH as the King ought not to undertake Deed of War against any one, nor to go out of his Realm, but by common assent of his Baronage, for the many Perils that may happen to him and his Realm, We do ordain, That the King henceforth shall not go out of his Realm, nor undertake against any one Deed of War, without the common assent of his Baronage, and that in Parliament. And if he otherwise do, and upon such Enterprize cause to be summoned his Service, such Summons shall be for none; and if it happen that the King undertake Deed of War against any one, or go out of the Realm, with the assent of his said Baronage, and it be necessary that he appoint a Guardian in his Realm, then he shall appoint him with the common assent of his Baronage, and that in Parliament.
10. AND Forasmuch as it is to be feared that the People of the Land will rise, for the Prises and divers Oppressions made in these times, especially because that it was heretofore ordained, That our Lord the King should live of his own, without making Prises other than those anciently due and accustomed, and all others should cease, and nevertheless Prises are made from day to day against that Ordinance, as before; We do ordain that all Prises fhall cease from henceforth, saving the Prises, antient, rightful, and due to the King, and to others to whom they are due of right. And if any Prises be made contrary to the Ordinance aforesaid, by whomsoever it be, or of whatsoever condition he be; that is to say, if any, by colour of making Purveyance to the use of our Lord the King, or of another, fhall take Corn, Wares, Merchandizes, or other manner of Goods, against the will of those to whom they belong, and do not render incontinently the Money to the very Value, if he cannot thereof have respite of the good will of the seller, according to that which is comprised in the great Charter, of Prises made by Constables of Castles and their Bailiffs, and moreover the Prises aforesaid which are due being excepted, notwithstanding any Commission which may be, the pursuit of the Hue and Cry shall be raised upon him, and he shall be carried to the next Gaol of the King, and the Common Law shall be done of him as of a Robber or Thief, if he be thereof attainted.
11. ALSO, new Customs have been levied, and the old enhanced, as upon Wools, Cloths, Wines, Avoir de pois, and other Things, whereby the Merchants come inore seldom, and bring fewer Goods into the Land, and the Foreign Merchants ahide longer than they were wont to do, by which abiding things become more dear than they were wont to be, to the damage of the King and his People; We do ordain, that all manner of Customs and Imposts levied since the Coronation of King Edward, Son of King Henry, be entirely put out, and altogether extinguished for ever, notwithstanding the Charter which the said King Edward made to the Merchants Aliens, because the same was made contrary to the Great Charter and the Franchise of the City of London, and without the assent of the Baronage; And if any, of whatsoever condition he be, do take or levy any thing beyond the ancient Customs due and rightful, or make disturbance, whereby the Merchants cannot of their Goods do their will, and thereof be attainted, there shall  be awarded to the Plaintiffs their damages having regard to the Purchase, to the Suit, to the Costs and Losses which they shall have had, and to the violation of the Great Charter; and the Trespasser shall be imprisoned according to the quantity of the Trespass, and according to the discretion of the Justices, and he shall never be in the King’s Service; saving nevertheless to the King the Customs of Wools, Wool-Fells and Leather; that is to say, for each Sack of Wool, half a Mark, and for three hundred Wool-Fells, half a Mark, and for a Last of Leather, one Mark, if the Goods be liable thereto And henceforth Merchants Strangers shall come, abide, and go according to the ancient Customs, and according to that which of old they were wont to do.
12. TO the Honour of God and of Holy Church, and against Of Damages those who by malice do purchase Prohibitions and Attachments against the Ordinaries of Holy Church in causes of corrections of Sin, and others purely spiritual, which in no wise belong to the Lay Court; We do ordain, that by the Justices, who convict for such malicious doings, and who amerce the malicious Plaintiffs, Damages shall be awarded to the Ordinaries injuriously vexed, or if the said Plaintiffs have nothing whereof to pay, Imprisonment shall be awarded for the time according to the Grievance maliciously procured, saving the Estate of the King, and of his Crown, and the Right of others.
13. AND Forasmuch as the King hath been evil guided and Of removing counselled by bad Counsellors, as is aforesaid, We do ordain, that all evil Counsellors be put away and removed altogether, so that neither they nor other such be near him, nor retained in any Office of the King, and other more fit People be put in their Places; And in the same manner shall it be done of their Servants and People of Office, and of others who are in the King’s Household, who are not fit.
14. AND Forasmuch as many Evils have come to pass by such Counsellors and such Ministers, We do ordain that the King do make the Chancellor, Chief Justice of the one Bench and the other, the Treasurer, the Chancellor and Chief Baron of the Exchequer, the Steward of his Houshold, the Keeper of his Wardrobe, and Comptroller, and a fit Clerk to keep the Privy Seal, a Chief Keeper of the Forests on this Side of Trent, and another on the other Side of Trent, and also an Escheator on this Side of Trent, and another on the other Side of Trent, and the Chief Clerk of the King in the Common Bench, by the Counsel and Assent of his Baronage, and that in Parliament; And if it happen by any chance, that it be expedient to appoint any of the said Ministers before there be a Parliament, then the King shall appoint thereto by the good Counsel which he shall have near him, until the Parliament. And so it shall henceforth be done of such Ministers, when need shall be.
15. LIKEWISE We do ordain, that all the Chief Wardens of the Ports and the Castles upon the Sea, shall be appointed and made in the Form aforesaid, and that such Wardens be themselves People of the Land.
16. AND Forasmuch as the Lands of Gascony, Ireland, and Scotland be in peril of being lost for want of good Ministers, We do ordain, that good and sufficient Ministers be appointed to keep watch in the said Lands, in the form contained in the Second Article next above.
17. MOREOVER We do ordain, that the Sheriffs be from henceforth appointed by the Chancellor, the Treasurer, and the others of the Council who shall be present; and if the Chancellor be not present, they shall be appointed by the ‘Treasurer and Barons of the Exchequer, and by the Justices. of the Bench, and that such be appointed and made who are fit and sufficient and who have Lands and Tenements whereof they can answer to the King and to the People for their Deeds, and that no other than such be appointed, and that they have their Commission under the Great Seal.
18. FORASMUCH as common Fame is, and besides much Proof hath been made, that divers Oppressions, as Disheritances, false Indictments and Imprisonments, and thereupon grievous Ransoms, and many other manner of Grievances, which the Wardens, Bailiffs, Ministers of the Forest, and others, have done by colour of their Bailiwicks and of their Offices, of which Grievances the People, who are so much grieved, do not dare openly to complain, nor to prosecute their Suit in the King’s Court, while they are in their Bailiwicks and Offices; We do ordain that of all Wardens, Bailiffs, and Ministers of the Forests, who before the Time of the King who now is, have been wont to be removeable at the King’s Pleasure as well of those to whom their Bailiwicks and Offices have been already wilfully granted for term of life, notwithstanding such Grant, as of others, their Bailiwicks or Offices shall be seised in the King’s hand; and that good and sufficient Persons be assigned Justices to enquire upon the Grievances aforesaid, and to hear and determine all the Grievances and Plaints of all those who will prosecute for the King, or for themselves, against the said Wardens, Bailiffs, and Ministers of the Forests, or others, according to the Law and Custom of the Realm; and in such sort as the Law will permit, the Plaints shall be determined between this and the Easter next coming, or before, if they can in due manner according to Law. And if the said Wardens, Bailiffs, and Ministers be found guilty of the Grievances aforesaid, then they shall be removed for ever, and if not, they shall have again their Bailiwicks and Offices.
19. AND Forasmuch as many Persons have been disherited, fined, and destroyed by the Chief Wardens of the Forests on this side of Trent and on the other, and by other Ministers, against the form of the Charter of the Forest, and against the Declaration which King Edward the Son of King Henry made in the Form which followeth ; that is to say; “We will and grant for ourselves and our Heirs, that concerning Trespasses hereafter to be done in our Forests of Green Hue and of Hunting, the Foresters within whose Bailiwicks such Trespasses shall happen to be committed, shall present the same at the next Swanimote before the Forresters, Verdors, Regardors, Agistors, and other Ministers of the same Forest; and upon such Presentations there before the Foresters, Verdors, Regardors, Agistors, and all other Ministers aforesaid, by the Oath as well of Knights as of other lawful and honest Men of the nearest parts where the Trespass so presented shall be done, not suspected, the truth of the matter shall be better and more fully inquired of; and the truth so inquired of, the same Presentations by the common Accord and Assent of all the Ministers aforesaid shall be solemnly confirmed and sealed with their Seals: And if an Indictment be in any other Manner, it shall be adjudged void:” And because that the Chief Wardens of the Forests have not observed the said Form heretofore, We do ordain, that henceforth no one shall be taken or imprisoned for Green Hue or Hunting, unless he be found with the Mainour, or indicted in the form before mentioned, and then the Chief Warden of the Forest shall deliver him to Mainprize until the Eyre of the Forest, without taking any thing for his deliverance. And if the said Warden will not do it, he shall have the Writ in the Chancery which was of old ordained for such Persons indicted, to be at Mainprise until the Eyre; And if the said Warden, after the receiving of the said Writ, do not cause such Persons indicted to be delivered to Mainprise, without taking any thing, then the Plaintiff shall have a Writ in the Chancery to the Sheriff, to attach the Warden before the King, to answer at a certain day, why he hath not replevied him, who is so taken; And the Sheriff, calling the Verdors, shall cause to be delivered him who is so taken, to good Mainprise, in the presence of the Verdors, and shall cause to be delivered the names of the Mainpernors to the same Verdors, to answer in Eyre before the Justices. And if the Chief Warden be thereof attainted, there shall be awarded to the Plaintiffs their treble Damages; and the said Warden shall be imprisoned and ransomed at the King’s Pleasure, and shall never be in the Service of the King. And from henceforth it shall be written to them as to the Chief Wardens of the Forest, because that they cannot be Justices, nor have Record, except in Evre. And Forasmuch as it is said, that the Chief Wardens of the Forests have taken and levied Fines, Amercements, and Ransoms against the Form aforesaid, We do ordain, that the said Wardens, and the other Chief Wardens do render their Accounts of the aforesaid Prises before the Treasurer and Barons of the Exchequer, between this and the Christmas next to come.
20. FORASMUCH as it is a Matter known, and proved by the examination of the Prelates, Earls, and Barons, Knights, and other good People of the Realm, that Piers de Gavaston hath evil led and evil counselled our Lord the King, and hath enticed him to do evil in divers and deceitful manners, in gathering to himself all the Treasure of the King, and sending the same out of the Realm; in accroaching to himself Royal Power and Royal Dignity, as in making alliances of People by Oaths to live and die with him against all Men, and that by the Treasure which he acquired from day to day; in lording it over the State of the King and of the Crown, in destruction of the King and his People, and especially estranging the King’s heart from his Liege People; in despising their counsels ; not suffering good Ministers to execute the Law of the Land; in removing good Ministers, putting in those of his covin, as well Aliens as others, and who at his will and at his command offended against Right and the Law of the Land; in taking the King’s Lands, Tenements, and Bailiwicks to him and his Heirs; and hath caused the King to give the Lands and l’enements of his Crown to divers People, to the great Damage and Decrease of the State of the King and of his Crown; and that as well since the Ordinance which the King granted to the Ordainours, to act for the profit of him and of his People, as before, against the Ordinance of the Ordainours; and maintaining Robbers, Homicides, and causing them to obtain the King’s Charter of his Peace, in encouraging evil doers to act worse; and in carrying the King into hostile Land without the Assent of his Baronage, to the peril of his Person and the destruction of his Realm; and in causing to be sealed Blank Charters under the Great Seal of the King, in deceit and disheritance of the King and his Crown, and against his homage; and feloniously, falsely, and traiterously hath done the things aforesaid, to the great dishonour and damage of the King, and disherison of his Crown, and disherison of the People in many ways: And Moreover We, having regard to the Deeds of the most noble King, the Father of the King that now is, by whose award the aforesaid Piers abjured the Realm of England, and who willed that our Lord the King his Son should abjure for ever his Company; and that since by the common Assent of all the Realm, and of the King, and of the same Prelates, Earls, and Barons, it was heretofore awarded that he should void the faid Realm, and he did void the fame; and that his Return was never by common Assent, but only by the Assent of some Persons, who, under condition if he should well demean himself after his return, assented thereto : And now for certain is found his evil demeanour; for which demeanour, and for the great evils aforesaid, and for the many others which may happen to our Lord the King and his People, and for nourishing good concord between the King and his People, and to eschew many manners of discords and perils; We do ordain, by virtue of the Commission of our Lord the King to us granted, that Piers de Gavaston, as the open Enemy of the King and of his People, be for ever exiled, as well out of the Realm of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, as from all the Dominion of our Lord the King, as well beyond the Sea as on this Side, for ever, never to return and that he do void the Realm of England and all the Lands aforesaid, and entirely all the Dominion of our Lord the King, between this and the Feast of All Saints next to come; and We do give him Port at Dover, in the form aforesaid, and no where else, from whence to pass and go out. And if the said Piers do abide in the Realm of England, or in any other place within the Dominion of our Lord the King, beyond the said Day which is given to him to go out and pass as is aforesaid, then it shall be done of him as of the Enemy of the King and of the Realm, and of his People. And that all those who henceforth shall contravene this Ordinance in respect of the said Exile, or the penalty thereupon ensuing, it shall be done of them according to that which thereunto pertaineth, if thereof they be attainted.
21. ALSO We do ordain, that Emery and those of the Company of Friscombaud do render account in the manner that was ordained and published, notwithstanding the account which they say they have rendered, within the Quinzime of St. Michael next coming, and in the mean time there be arrested all the Bodies and all the Goods of the Company of those of Friscombaud, who can be found in the power of the King of England, and that all the Lands of the said Emery be seised into the hand of the King, wheresoever they be in the power of the King. And if the said Emery doth not come within the day assigned, forasmuch as the aforesaid Ordinance is by him broken, and by his withdrawing himself he maketh himself culpable and suspected; We do ordain, that he be banished out of the power of the King, and from that time forward he be holden as an Enemy, and of him it shall be done as of an Enemy of the King and of the Realm, if he be found any where in the power of the King, as well beyond Sea, as on this side.
22. ALSO Forasmuch as Sir Henry de Beaumont hath taken of our Lord the King, to the Damage and Destruction of the King, since the time of the Ordinance of the Ordainours to which the King agreed, the Realm of Man, and other Lands, Rents, Franchises, and Bailiwicks, and hath procured to be given to others Lands and Tenements, Franchises and Bailiwicks contrary to that Ordinance, and for that because he hath evil counselled the King contrary to his Oath; We do ordain that he be put out of the King’s Counsel for ever, and that he do never, in any place, come near the King, unless it be at the common Suminons of the Parliament, or in War if the King willeth to have him, unless it be by common Assent of the Archbishops, Bishops, Earls, and Barons, and that in full Parliament, and all other Lands which he holdeth within the Realm of England, shall be taken into the hand of the King of England, and holden until the King hath received of the Issues of those Lands the Value of all the Esplees which the said Sir Henry hath taken of the Lands received contrary to the said Ordinance. And if the aforesaid Sir Henry do in any point contravene these Ordinances, he shall be disherited for ever of all the Lands which he hath in England of the Gift of the King.
23. FOR ASMUCH as it is found by the Enquiry of the Prelates, Earls, and Barons, that the Lady de Vesey hath pro. cured the King to give to Sir Henry de Beaumont her Brother, and to others, Lands, Franchises, and Bailiwicks, to the damage and dishonour of the King, and open disherison of the Crown, and also procured to be sent out Letters under the Privy Seal against the Law and the Intent of the King, We do ordain, that she go to her house, and that within the Quinzime of St. Michael next coming, without ever returning to the Court to make stay; And that for all the Things aforesaid, and because that it is understood that the Castle of Bamburgh belongeth to the Crown, We do also ordain that the said Castle be retaken from her into the King’s hand, and that it be not delivered to her nor to any other, except at the King’s Pleasure.
24. AND Forasmuch as the People do feel themselves much aggrieved by divers Debts which are demanded of them to the King’s use by Summons of the Exchequer, the which Debts are paid, whereof the People have divers Acquittances, some by Tallies and Writs, and others by divers Franchises which were granted to them by Deeds of Kings, which are allowable; We do ordain, that from henceforth upon the Account of every Sheriff, and of other Ministers of the King, who ought to render account at the Exchequer, such manner of Tallies, Writs, and Franchises be allowed, which are allowable upon the Account, if the said Acquittances be shewn to the Court, so that they do not run in demand by default of Allowance; and if the Treasurer and Barons of the Exchequer do not perform this in manner aforesaid, the Plaintiffs shall have their recovery by Petitions in Parliament.
25. FOR ASMUCH as common Merchants and many other of the People are received to plead in the Exchequer Pleas of Debt and Trespass, by reason that they are acknowledged by the Ministers of the said Court more readily than they ought to be, whereby the Accounts and other things touching the King are the more delayed, and besides that many of the People are aggrieved; We do ordain, that from henceforth Pleas shall not be holden in the said Court of the Exchequer, except Pleas touching the King and his Ministers, who are answerable in the Exchequer by reason of their Offices; and the Officers of the same Court, and their Attendants and Servants, who chiefly are abiding with them in the Places where the Exchequer abides; And if any be received by the acknowledgement of the said Court to plead in the said Exchequer in the form aforesaid, the Parties impleaded shall have their recovery in Parliament.
26. LIKEWISE, Forasmuch as the People do feel themselves much aggrieved that the Stewards and Marshals hold many Pleas which do not belong to their Office, and also in this that they will not receive Attornies as well for the Defendants as for the Plaintiffs, We do ordain, that from henceforth they receive Attornies as well for the Defendants as for the Plaintiffs, and that they do not hold Plea of Freehold nor of Debt, nor of Covenant, nor of Contract, nor any common Plea concerning the common People, but only of Trespass of those of the Household, and of other Trespasses done within the Verge, and of Contracts and of Covenants which any one of the King’s Household shall have made with others of the same Household, and in the same Household, and no where else; And that they plead no Plea of Trespass other than that which may be attached by them, before that the King go out of the Verge where the Trespass shall be done, and shall plead them speedily from day to day, so that they be pleaded through and determined, before that the King go out of the Limits of that Verge where the Trespass was done; And if perchance they cannot be determined within the Limits of that Verge, such Pleas shall cease before the Steward, and the Plaintiffs shall sue by the common Law. Nor from henceforth shall the Steward take cognizance of Debts, nor of other things, except of Persons of the Household aforesaid, and against Persons of the Household aforesaid, nor shall hold none other Plea by Obligation made at the Distress of the Steward and of the Marshals; Nor shall any one of the Household, nor any who follow the Household, be put in Inquest before them, excepting where the Plaintiff and Defendant be of the same Household, and of Deeds done in the same Household; And if the Steward and Marshals do any thing against this Ordinance, their Deed shall be holden for none; and they who feel themselves aggrieved against the said Ordinance, shall have a Writ in Chancery pleadable in the King’s Bench, and shall recover their Damages against those who hold the Plea, and who have drawn them into Plea, by the discretion of the Justices, having regard to their Purchase, Costs, Grievances, and Losses, according to the quantity of the Trespass, and they shall never be in the Service of the King.
27. AND Forasmuch as heretofore many Felonies done within the Verge have been unpunished, because that the Coroners of the Country have not been authorised to enquire of such manner of Felonies done within the Verge, but the Coroner of the King’s Household, by reason whereof there hath been no Trial made in due manner, nor the Felons put in Exigent, nor outlawed, nor any thing of such Felony presented in Eyre, which is to the great Damage of the King, and the less secure maintenance of his Peace; We do ordain, that from henceforth in case of Homicide, whereof the Coroner’s Office is to make View and Inquest, it shall be commanded to the Coroner of the Country or of the Franchises where the dead Persons shall be found, that he together with the Coroner of the Household do execute the Office which thereunto pertaineth, and shall enter it in his Roll; And of that which cannot be determined before the Steward, because that the Felons cannot be attached or found, or for any other reason, the shall remain at the common Law, so that the process Exigents, and the Outlawries and the Presentments made thereof be shewed in Eyre by the Coroner of the Country, as well as of other Felonies done out of the Verge; Nevertheless they shall not omit, by reason hereof, to make Attachments freshly upon the Felonies done; if they can be found.
28. FORASMUCH as the People do feel themselves much aggrieved in this, that Persons are emboldened to kill and rob Peace. his Peace against the form of Law; We do ordain, that no Felon nor Fugitive be from henceforth protected or defended from any manner of Felony, by the King’s Charter of his Peace granted to him, unless in a case where the King can give grace according to his Oath, and that by Process of Law and the Custom of the Realm, and if any Charter be from henceforth granted and made in any other manner to any one, it shall avail nothing, and be holden for none: And that no open evil doer against the Crown and the Peace of the Land, be by any one aided or maintained.
29. FORASMUCH as many Persons are delayed in the King’s Court of their Demands, because that the Party alledgeth, that the Demandants ought not to be answered without the King, and also many People be aggrieved by the King’s Ministers against Right, in respect of which Grievances no one can recover without a common Parliament; We do ordain, that the King shall hold a Parliament once in the year, or twice, if need be, and that in a convenient Place: And that in the same Parliaments, the Pleas, which are in the aforesaid form delayed, and the Pleas whereon the Justices are of divers Opinions, shall be recorded and determined. And, in like manner the Bills shall be finished which are delivered in Parliament, in such sort as Law and Reason demand.
30. FOR ASMUCH as at all times when an Exchange of Money is made in the Realm, the People are greatly aggrieved in many manners; We do ordain, that when need be, and the King willeth to make an Exchange, that he do it by the common Counsel of his Baronage, and that in Parliament.
31. LIKEWISE We do ordain, that all the Statutes which have been made in Amendment of the Law, and to the Profit of the People by the Ancestors of our Lord the King, be kept and maintained in such sort as they ought to be by Law and Reason, so that they be not contrary to the Great Charter, nor the Charter of the Forest, nor against the Ordinances by us made. And if any Statute be made against the form aforesaid, it shall be holden for none and altogether made void.
32. FOR ASMUCH as the Law of the Land and common Right are often delayed, by Letters issued under the King’s Privy Seal, to the great grievance of the People, We do ordain, that from henceforth the Law of the Land and common Right be not delayed nor disturbed by Letters of the said Seal; And if any thing be done in any of the Places of the Court of our Lord the King, or elsewhere, by such Letters issued under the Privy Seal against Right or the Law of the Land, it shall avail nothing, and be holden for none.
33. FORASMUCH as many Persons, other than known Merchants, do feel themselves much aggrieved and fined by the Statute of Merchants made at Acton Burnell; We do ordain, that henceforth that Statute shall not hold except between Merchants and Merchants, and of Merchandizes made between them, and that the Recognizance be made like as is contained in the said Statute, and by the testimony of four good and lawful Men, who are known, and that their names be entered in the Recognizance to testify the fact, and that to no one shall other Lands be delivered, to hold in the name of Frank Tenement by virtue of the said Statute, except the Burgages of Merchants and their moveable Chattles, and that is to be understood between Merchants and Merchants, known Merchants. Moreover We do ordain, that the Seals of the King which be assigned to testify the said Recognizances be delivered to the most rich and the most sage, in the undermentioned Towns, chosen to such custody by the Commonalties of the same Towns; that is to say, at Newcastle upon Tyne, York, and Nottingham, for the Counties beyond Trent, and the Merchants there coming and abiding; at Exeter, Bristol, and Southampton for the Merchants coming to and abiding in Parts of the South and West; at Lincoln and Northampton, for Merchants there coming and abiding; at London and at Canterbury, for the Merchants coming to and abiding in those Parts; at Shrewsbury, for the Merchants coming to and abiding in those Parts; at Norwich, for the Merchants coming to and abiding in those Parts. And Recognizances made elsewhere than in the said Towns, shall not hold place from henceforth.
34. FOR ASMUCH as many Prisoners do become Approvers for the saving of their Lives, and by means of divers Oppressions and Pains which Sheriffs and Gaolers, in whose custody they are, do cause to them, and set them on to approve the most rich Persons of the Country, and those of good fame, whom they cause to be attached, and to be put into vile and hard imprisonment, and take grievous ransom of them, from which Imposts and Takings no advantage doth accrue to the King, We do ordain, that from henceforth they who are of good fame being approved by Approvers, who of right ought not to have any voice, shall not be put into Prison, in case they can find good mainprise, to be at the next Gaol Delivery to abide the Law, and to acquit them of the charge according to the Usage of the Realm, without taking any thing from them for being let to mainprize. And that at all times when the Gaol Delivery is delayed by the absence of the Justices, or on other occasion, they shall be left by the said Mainprize, or by other sufficient Security, until the coming of the said Justices in the form aforesaid. Likewise, We do ordain, that they who become Approvers shall not be heard to approve any Man later than three Days next after the time when they become Approvers.
35. LIKEWISE, Forasmuch as many Persons, Terre Tenants are appealed, through malice, of divers Felonies in Counties where they have not Lands or Tenements, and by malicious Suit are outlawed, to the loss of their Lives and the disherison of them and of their Heirs; We do ordain, that from henceforth no Man outlawed by such malicious Suit in the County where he hath not Lands or Tenements, shall be put to death, or disherited, in case that they who by such Suit are outlawed, do render themselves to the King’s Prison, and can acquit themselves by the Counties in which they were outlawed of the Felonies and other Trespasses, in respect of which they were outlawed, and their Lands shall be restored to them when they are acquitted, if they be in the King’s Hand; and if any other than the King be Tenant of the said Tenements they shall have their Recovery by Writ of Entry formed upon the said case; And they at whose Suit they were so outlawed shall be taken, and shall abjure the Realm, and if they cannot be found, they shall be put in Exigent and outlawed. Forasmuch as many Persons, by false testimonies of Sheriffs, testifying that they cannot be found, and have not Lands or Tenements by which they can be distrained in their Bailiwicks, albeit they have in other Counties Lands and Tenements, are thereby put in Exigent in Counties where they have not Lands or Tenements, and perchance outlawed, in peril of their Lives, and in disherison of them and of their Heirs, if they be outlawed for Felonies; wherefore We do ordain, that Persons outlawed in such manner shall not be put to death, nor disherited of their Lands, in case they render themselves to the King’s Prison, and can acquit themselves by the Counties in which they were so outlawed, that they be not guilty of the Felonies nor of the Trespasses laid to their charge, and they shall have recovery of their Lands and their Damages in form aforesaid.
36.  LIKEWISE, Forasmuch as many Persons are the more emboldened to kill and rob People, by reason that Appeals pursued in the Court of our Lord the King are abated for too slight causes, and the Appellors taken and imprisoned and ransomed at the King’s will, and those appealed at the King’s Suit more lightly acquited than they would be if the Appeals were not abated; We do ordain, that from henceforth Appeals of Felonies be not abated, wherever the Appellors make mention in their Appeals of the Day, and the hour, and the place, and with what weapon the death was inflicted, and of what manner of Goods the Robbery was; And if the Appellors can acquit themselves of the said Felonies, they shall have their Recovery upon the Abettors and the Appellors, according to that which is contained in the Statute upon the Abettors of false Appeals, if the Appellees be not indicted of such Felonies by solemn Inquest.
37. FOR ASMUCH as many Persons are delayed of their Suits Of deceit by in the King’s Court, by Protections granted to Persons who XXXVII. means of Protections. pretend to go into the King’s Service, and do so only to delay the Suit of the Plaintiff, as well in Plea of Land as in Plea of Debt, and of Trespass; to restrain such malice also, We do ordain, that if the Tenant in Plea of Land do use the Protection of our Lord the King after appearance, and the Demandant can aver that the Tenant was not in the King’s Service the Day that the parol did demur without Day by reason of the Protection, the absence of the Tenant shall be turned into a default; And if the Tenant use his Protection before Appearance, it shall be lawful for the Demandant, if it be profitable to him to take a Writ in the Chancery upon the Tenant, to aver that he was not in the King’s Service the Day that the Suit was delayed by the Protection, and if the Tenant be convict thereof, there shall be awarded to the Demandant his Damages by the Discretion of the Justices, regard being had to his Purchase, Costs, Charges, and Losses, and the Tenant shall be adjudged to Prison for the Deceit done to the King and to the Court, to abide one year and a day, and he shall be ransomed at the King’s Pleasure: And if the said Deceit be proved in a Plea of Debt or of Trespass, the Defendant shall be punished as well in respect of the Plaintiff as in respect of the King, in the form above mentioned.
38. LIKEWISE We do ordain, That the Great Charter of Franchises, and the Charter of the Forest which King Henry the Son of King John made, be holden in all their points, and that the Points which are doubtful in the said Charters of Franchises be explained, in the next Parliament after this, by the advice of the Baronage, and of the Justices, and of other sage Persons of the Law. And this thing shall be done, because that we have it not in our power to do the same during our time.
39. LIKEWISE We do ordain, that the Chancellor, Treasurer, Chief Justices of the one Bench and of the other, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Treasurer of the Wardrobe, the Steward of the King’s Houshold, all the Justices, the Sheriffs, Escheators, Constables, Inquirers for any matter whatever, and all other the King’s Bailiffs and Ministers, shall be sworn at all times that they receive their Bailiwicks and Offices, to observe and keep all the Ordinances made by the Prelates, Earls, and Barons thereunto chosen, and assigned, and every of them, without contravening them in any point.
40. LIKEWISE We do ordain, that in every Parliament one Bishop, two Earls, and two Barons be assigned to hear and Of assigning Persons in determine all the Plaints of those who will complain of the Parliament Officers of the King, whosoever they be, who shall have contravened the above mentioned Ordinances; And if the said Bishop, Earls, and Barons cannot all attend, or shall be hindered against Officers from hearing and determining the said Plaints, then three or two of them shall so do; and they who shall be found to have contravened the said Ordinances, shall be punished in respect of the King and in respect of the Plaintiffs, by the discretion of the said Persons assigned.
41. LIKEWISE We do ordain, that the Ordinances aforesaid be maintained and kept in all their points, and that our Lord the King do cause them to be put under his Great Seal, and sent into every County of England, to be published, holden, and firmly kept, as well within Franchises as without; And in like manner it shall be commanded to the Warden of the Cinque Ports, that throughout his whole Bailiwick he do cause the same to be published, holden, and kept in manner aforesaid. THE WHICH ORDINANCES to Us shewn and published the Monday before the Feast of St. Michael last past, We do agree to, accept, and affirm; and We do will and grant for Us and our Heirs, that all the said Ordinances and every of them, made according to the Form of our Letters aforesaid, be published throughout our Realm, and henceforth firmly holden and kept. In Witness whereof, We have caused to be made these our Letters Patents. Given at London, the fifth day of October, in the Fifth year of our Reign.

The Ordinances aforesaid were published in the Church Yard at Saint Paul’s, London, by Simon Lord Bishop of Sarum, by the authority and special command of the venerable Father Robert Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, on the fifth of the Kalends of October, in the year of our Lord 1311, and in the Fifth year of the Reign of K. Edward, Son of K. Edward

Links about the Ordinances of 1311

Fourteenth Century Fiend – A King Under Heel: The Ordinances, 1311

1311 Ordinances: Original Text and Translations

The statutes of the realm : Printed by command of his majesty King George the Third, in pursuance of an address of the House of Commons of Great Britain. From original records and authentic manuscripts / [Edited by Alexander Luders and others]. v.1. pages 157 – 167. Via The Hathi Trust.

The Ordinances are contained within Douglas [ed] and Rothwell, English Historical Documents, Oxford University Press. New York [1953]. Pages 527 – 539. Via Archive.org

An alternative translation, not entirely complete, with notes, can be found on The History of England Website [pdf file].