“For lawyers, the really important date is neither 1215 nor 1225, when Henry’s Charter took its final form, but 1297, when Edward I, in his Inspeximus, confirmed the Charter of 1225 and the Forest Charter, which was issued at the same time (Confirmatio Chartarum). The important element in the Confirmatio is the statement that the Charter might be pleaded in every royal court, either to support a claim or a defense. The Charter becomes in this way part of the law — the Common Law — which, in 1297, was already a definite concept although it was not yet quite the equivalent of the law of England. Until then, the political aspects of the Charter had been much the more important.” Max Radin, Handbook of Anglo-American Legal History 156 (1936).
confirmatio chartarum
Confirmatio Chartarum (kon-f[schwa]r-may-shee-oh kahr-tair-[schwa]m). [Latin “confirmation of the charters”] Hist. A declaration first made by Henry III in 1225 confirming the guarantees of Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest. • It was not enrolled until 1297, when, during the reign of Edward I, it was enacted, thus introducing these charters into the common law. — Also spelled Confirmatio Cartarum.
