CHARTER (Lat. charta, carta, from Gr. Xap-rns, originally for papyrus, material for writing, thence transferred to paper and from this material to the document, in O. Eng. boc, book)

This article appears in Volume V05, Page 950 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: CHA-CHR

CHARTER (Lat. charta, carta, from Gr. Xap-rns, originally for papyrus, material for writing, thence transferred to paper and from this material to the document, in O. Eng. boc, book) , a written

instrument

INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

contract

or convention by which cessions of sales of property or of rights and privileges are confirmed and held, and which may be produced by the grantees in proof of lawful possession. The use of the word for any written document is obsolete in England, but is preserved in France, e.g. the Ecole des Chartes at Paris. In feudal times charters of privileges were granted, not only by the crown, but by mesne lords both lay and ecclesiastical, as well to communities, such as boroughs, gilds and religious foundations, as to individuals. In modern usage grants by charter have become all but obsolete, though in England this form is still used in the incorporation by the crown of such societies as the British

Academy

ACADEMY, GREEK
ACADEMY, ROYAL

.
The grant of the

Great

GREAT

Charter by King John in 1215 (see MAGNA CARTA), which guaranteed the preservation of English liberties, led to a

special

SPECIAL

association of the word with constitutional privileges, and so in modern times it has been applied to constitutions granted by sovereigns to their subjects, in contradistinction to those based on " the will of the people." Such was the Charter (Charte) granted by Louis XVIII. to France in 1814. In Portugal the constitution granted by Dom Pedro in 1826 was called by the French party the " Charter," while that devised by the

Cortes

CORTES
CORTES, HERNAN

in 1821 was known as the " Constitution." Magna Carta also suggested to the English radicals in 1838 the name " People's Charter," which they gave to their published programme of reforms (see CHARTISM). This association of the idea of liberty with the word charter led to its figurative use in the sense of freedom or

licence

LICENCE (through the French from Lat. licentia, licere, to be lawful)

. This is, however, rare; the most common use being in the phrase " chartered libertine " (Shakespeare,

Henry

V. Act i. Sc. I) from the derivative verb "to charter," e.g, to grant a charter. The common colloquialism " to charter," in the sense of to take, or hire, is derived from the

special

SPECIAL

use of " to charter " as to hire (a ship) by charter-party.

End of Article: CHARTER (Lat. charta, carta, from Gr. Xap-rns, originally for papyrus, material for writing, thence transferred to paper and from this material to the document, in O. Eng. boc, book)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/CHA_CHR/CHARTER_Lat_charta_carta_from_.html">
CHARTER (Lat. charta, carta, from Gr. Xap-rns, ...
</a>

(Previous)
CHART (from Lat. carta, charta, a map)

(Next)
CHARTERED COMPANIES

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email