7 ms·

Charter of the Forest

38 points by benbreen 7y ago

CalRobert 7y ago
If you liked this, you might enjoy a discussion of old Irish law about the Lords and commoners of the wood as well. http://www.forestryfocus.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Trees-in-Early-Ireland.pdf http://www.forestryfocus.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Trees...
peteretep 7y ago
I feel like there’s some context missing here on why the king signed this into law? Benefits for commoners are obvious, but the benefits for the king less so
- notahacker 7y ago
  The king at the time was nine years old, and facing a rival claim to the throne from a French prince. His unpopular late father had been forced into signing the Magna Carta a couple of years earlier. His regent's decision to be generous (and to actually uphold Magna Carta and not punish all the nobles who had fought against either king) was probably a smart one. It's not like royalty particularly suffered from the common man foraging in their forests.
kensai 7y ago
""Forest" to the Normans meant an enclosed area where the monarch (or sometimes another aristocrat) had exclusive rights to animals of the chase and the greenery ("vert") on which they fed. It did not consist only of trees, but included large areas of heathland, grassland and wetlands, productive of food, grazing and other resources." I adore this definition. Forest is so important for modern living as well, although we do not use it necessarily directly for grazing or resources, but as a weekend safe haven from the hectic city life. Sure, I am "grazing" my local forest with my MTB on the weekends, but in a much more eco-friendly way. It fills up my batteries for the coming working week. :)
- oh_sigh 7y ago
  The US government uses it in that fashion...e.g. national forests. Lots of economic activities go on in there, but an outsider might think it is just similar to a national park
- KineticLensman 7y ago
  Yes, as in the New Forest [0] in southern England (where 'new' refers to its creation in 1079). Even today it has some complex and ancient usage rights. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Forest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Forest
DFHippie 7y ago
The calligraphy in that document blows my mind.

38 points by benbreen 7y ago

If you liked this, you might enjoy a discussion of old Irish law about the Lords and commoners of the wood as well. http://www.forestryfocus.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Trees-in-Early-Ireland.pdf http://www.forestryfocus.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Trees...

peteretep 7y ago

I feel like there’s some context missing here on why the king signed this into law? Benefits for commoners are obvious, but the benefits for the king less so

notahacker 7y ago
The king at the time was nine years old, and facing a rival claim to the throne from a French prince. His unpopular late father had been forced into signing the Magna Carta a couple of years earlier. His regent's decision to be generous (and to actually uphold Magna Carta and not punish all the nobles who had fought against either king) was probably a smart one. It's not like royalty particularly suffered from the common man foraging in their forests.

kensai 7y ago

""Forest" to the Normans meant an enclosed area where the monarch (or sometimes another aristocrat) had exclusive rights to animals of the chase and the greenery ("vert") on which they fed. It did not consist only of trees, but included large areas of heathland, grassland and wetlands, productive of food, grazing and other resources." I adore this definition. Forest is so important for modern living as well, although we do not use it necessarily directly for grazing or resources, but as a weekend safe haven from the hectic city life. Sure, I am "grazing" my local forest with my MTB on the weekends, but in a much more eco-friendly way. It fills up my batteries for the coming working week. :)

oh_sigh 7y ago
The US government uses it in that fashion...e.g. national forests. Lots of economic activities go on in there, but an outsider might think it is just similar to a national park
KineticLensman 7y ago
Yes, as in the New Forest [0] in southern England (where 'new' refers to its creation in 1079). Even today it has some complex and ancient usage rights. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Forest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Forest

DFHippie 7y ago

The calligraphy in that document blows my mind.