Happy Anniversary Charter Of The Forest!

In the Middle Ages all English land was owned by the King and his buddies (noblemen and churchmen).  Though formally a monarchy, it was more like an oligarchy.  Everyone else was a peasant.  A vast majority of the peasants were serfs.  This was a form of slavery whereby the serf was indentured to a landowner in order to gain access to land (for food, housing, etc.).  Eventually the serfs  (and many noblemen who came not to like the King for other reasons) caused enough of an uprising, that the King (Henry III) signed the Charter Of The Forest on this day in 1217.

With the Charter, the King gave some of his lands to the free-men (those who fulfilled their serfdom).

That land was called the "Commons".  The free-men who equally owned the land were called "Commoners".

It wasn't until the mid-1500's, when the King (Henry VIII) dissolved a bunch of monasteries and sold the land to raise money, that land became a commodity.

In America today, land owned "in common" is land owned by many people, each with equal rights of access and equal duty to maintain, unless otherwise agreed. 

The Charter remained in force in England until 1971!!  It's the longest standing statute in English history.

What's disappointing is that with the wealth inequality across the globe today, we're seeing history repeat itself with the Occupy Wall Street and similar movements in the struggle against the oligarchy.