The Great Charter of Liberties
Historical Overview
Following the spiritual knightly orders such as the Templars, the Hospitallers, the Teutonic Knights, and others, the 14th century saw the emergence of secular knightly alliances, orders, and brotherhoods.
At tournaments, each brotherhood acted as a unified team, thereafter collectively spending time celebrating victories or devising plans for revenge.
All urban alliances bore distinctive insignia and organizational structures, and conducted periodic assemblies, reviews, and festivals similar to knightly tournaments, during which they competitively determined the champion of the year.
Description and Core Principles
The Order of Magna Carta unites practitioners of various fencing disciplines and schools, who engage in historical combat from the mid-14th to the early 16th centuries within the Western European region, forming a fellowship of like-minded individuals styled after a medieval supra-national elite order.
We are here to revel in medieval martial arts and aesthetics, to share our native cultures, and to explore the histories of other nations.
We commit collectively to assist one another in advancing our movement, organizing festivals and tournaments worldwide, and sharing information, technologies, and knowledge about reenactment, training, crafts, skills, and arts.
We are here to showcase our abilities and nobility at tournaments and festivals and to set an example of conduct beyond them.
Charter
We are a union of friends dedicated to preserving ancient crafts and skills, the values and virtues of chivalry. By this Great Charter of Liberties, we embrace the common ideals that guide the development of our international movement. We agree to befriend and collaborate, to assist each other, regardless of any political, religious, or other differences. We commit to collectively support each other in advancing our movement, organizing festivals and tournaments worldwide.
We agree to adhere to the principal rules of friendship and chivalry:
Humility
You are no better than others, and others are no better than you.
Gratitude
The only sensible response to the present gift of life is gratitude. For everything that has happened, a knight says, “Thank you.” For everything that happens, a knight says, “Yes!”
Pride
Never pretend you are not a knight, nor try to belittle yourself, thinking it will make others more comfortable around you. We show the greatest respect to others by offering the best of what we have.
Interaction
Each of us walks our own path. Understanding and respecting the individuality of life is vital to our ability to harness collective strength. Only through fairness, honesty, and collaborative actions we can truly succeed in leading people. We must live and work together as brothers and sisters, or perish together as fools.
Friendship
The quality of your life will largely be determined by whom you choose to spend your time with.
Forgiveness
Those who cannot forgive easily will not find many friends. Look for the best in others.
Honesty
Dishonest language and a dishonest mind waste our time, and thus, our lives. We are here to grow, and truth is the water, light, and soil from which we spring. The armor of lies is forged from darkness; it hides us not only from others but from our own soul.
Courage
Everything that illuminates must endure burning. This means that true bravery involves facing challenges and overcoming them, not just enduring pain.
Grace
Grace is the ability to accept change. Be open and flexible.
Patience
There is no such thing as a once-in-a-lifetime chance. A hurried mind is a confused mind; it cannot see clearly or hear distinctly; it sees what it wants to see, and hears what it fears to hear or misses much. A knight turns time into his ally. There comes a moment for action, and with a clear mind, this moment is obvious.
Justice
There is only one thing a knight will not tolerate: injustice. Every true knight at all times fights for human dignity.
We are here to have fun, to be knights, to enjoy the battle in armor, the medieval aesthetics, costumes, camps, and castles. We are here to respect those who stand with us in the ranks, and even more so those who stand before us. We are here to demonstrate our skills and nobility in the arenas and to be examples of behavior outside them. Honor, justice, and courage—these are our principles. Among us, there is a place for everyone who shares these principles, who wants to return to their roots and is not afraid to admit what they truly value.
We declare that we are a cultural-historical movement founded on the ideals of chivalry, aimed at creating a community for conducting mass festivals with grand melees. In our ranks, there is a place for everyone who shares these values, who is ready to return to their roots and say: “This is my place in the ranks. In the front row, next to my brother and sisters from The Order Magna Carta.”
