Our Legal Heritage Part 26

The same render account of 48 chickens from arrears of the previous year. And of 258 chickens for cheriset. Sum: 306. In expenses of the lord bishop on the feast of St. Martin, 36 by one tally. In expenses of the same on the feast of St. Leonard, 106, by one tally. In expenses of the lord king and bishop on the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, 131 chickens, by two tallies. In allowance for food for Roger Wakelin, 8. In allowance of food for Master Robert Ba.s.set, 4. By death, 21. Sum: 306 chickens. It is quit.

The same render account of 273 chickens, 27 sticae of eels, 4 suckling pigs, freed for the expenses of the lord king and bishop. From the Larder: The same freed for the expenses of the lord bishop meat of 2 cows taken to Cranbourne.

The same render account of 13 sides of bacon, arrears of the previous year. And of 5 oxen and 1 quarter of old beef from arrears of the previous year. And of 84 hogs from Downton. And of 71 hogs from Mardon.

And of 10 hogs from Overton. And of 9 hogs from High-Clere. And of 14 hogs from Harwell. And of 7 hogs from Knoyle. Sum: 203 hogs, and meat of 5 oxen and one quarter. In expenses of the lord bishop at the feast of St. Martin, 8 sides of bacon. In expenses of the same at the feast of St. Leonard, 17 sides of bacon, the meat of 5 oxen, and 1 quarter of an ox. In expenses of the same on the morrow of the feast of the Holy Cross, delivered to Nicolas the cook, 27 sides of bacon. In expenses of the lord bishop delivered to the same cook at Knoyle on the Sat.u.r.day before the feast of St. Michael, 15 sides of bacon. In expenses of the same and of the lord king on the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, 50 sides of bacon. In allowance of food to Master Robert Ba.s.set on the feast of All Saints, half a side of bacon. In allowance of food to the same on Wednesday and Thursday before Pentecost, 1 side of bacon. In those sent to Knoyle for autumnal work, 6 sides of bacon. In three autumnal festivals at Downton, 9 and a half sides of bacon. Sum: 134 sides of bacon. And there remain 74 sides of bacon.

The same render account of skins, sausages, and offal of the said hogs.

In expenses of the lord king and lord bishop at the feast of St.

Leonard, all. Nothing remains."

King Richard the Lion-hearted, unlike his father, was interested in warfare. He spent most of his term on crusade to recover Jerusalem. For his expenses, he imposed a tax of one-tenth of rents and income from moveable goods. He also sold town charters, heiresses and heirs, widows, sheriffdoms, justices.h.i.+ps, earldoms, and licenses for tournaments. In 1198, the bishop barons had refused to pay for a campaign of Richard's war in Normandy arguing that military service was only due within the kingdom of England. When Richard was captured, every person in the realm was required to pay a part of his ransom of 100,000 pounds, which was double the whole revenue of the crown. Aids, tallages, and carucage were imposed. The heaviest impost was one-fourth of revenue or of goods from every person.The crusaders' contact with Arabs brought to England an expansion of trade, Arab horses, and arabic numerals, which included "zero" and greatly facilitated arithmetic, which was very difficult with Roman numerals. The church decreed that those who went on these crusades would be remitted of their sins.

At the end of this period was the reign of King John, a short man.

After his mother Eleanor's death in 1204, John ruled without her influence. He had no conscience and his oaths were no good. He trusted and was trusted by no one. He had a huge appet.i.te for money. He imposed 2,000 pounds [3,000 marks] on London for confirmation of its charter. He imposed levies on the capital value of all personal and moveable goods.

It began the occasional subsidies called "tenths and fifteenths" from all people on incomes from movables: one-tenth from boroughs and royal demesne land, and one-fifteenth elsewhere. He sold the wards.h.i.+ps of minors and the marriages of heiresses to the highest bidder, no matter how base. He appointed unprincipled men to be both sheriff and justice, enabling them to blackmail property holders with vexatious writs and false accusations. Writs were withheld or sold at exorbitant prices.

Crus.h.i.+ng penalties were imposed to increase the profits of justice. He a.s.serted over fowls of the air the same exclusive right as over beasts of the forest. The story of Robin Hood portrays John's attempt to gain the crown prematurely while Richard was on the Crusades to recover Jerusalem for Christendom.In 1213, strong northern barons refused a royal demand for service in France or scutage, arguing that the amount was not within custom or otherwise justified. John had private and public enemies. No one trusted him and he trusted no one. His heavy handed and arbitrary rule quickly alienated all sectors of the population: other barons, bishops, London, and the commons. They joined the barons to pressure him to sign the Magna Carta correcting his abuses. For instance, since John had extracted many heavy fines from barons by personally adjudging them blameworthy in disputes with others, the barons wanted judgment by their peers under the established law of the courts. In arms, the barons forced John to sign the Magna Carta correcting his abuses.

- The Law -

No one, including the lord of a manor, may take land from anyone else, for instance, by the customary process of distress, without a judgment from the Royal Court. This did not apply to London, where a landlord leasing or renting land could take distress in his fee.

No one, including the lord of a manor, shall deprive an heir of the land possessed by his father, i.e. his birthright.

A tenant may marry off a daughter unless his lord shows some just cause for refusing to consent to the marriage. A tenant had to pay an "aid" to his lord when the lord's daughter married, when the lord's son was knighted, or when the lord's person was ransomed.

A man [or woman] may not will away his land, but he may sell it during his lifetime.

The land of a knight or other tenant of a military fee is inherited by his eldest son. The socage land of a free sokeman goes by its ancient custom before the Norman Conquest.

If a man purchased land after his marriage, his wife's dower is still one-third of the land he had when they married, or less if he had endowed her with less. But he could then enlarge her dower to one-third of all of his lands. The same rule applied if the man had no land, but endowed his wife with chattel or money instead.

Dower law prevented a woman from selling her dower during the life of her husband. But he could sell it or give it away. On his death, its possessor had to give the widow the equivalent worth of the property.

A widower had all his wife's lands by curtesy of the nation for his lifetime to the exclusion of her heirs.

The Capital Messuage [Chief Manor] could not be given in dower or divided, but went in its entirety to its heir.

Heirs were firstly sons, then daughters, then grandsons per stirpes, then granddaughters per stirpes, then brothers, and then sisters of the decedent. [By taking "per stirpes" instead of "per capita", a person's share goes to that person's heirs if that person predeceases the ancestor-decedent.] Male heirs of land held by military service or sons of knights who were under the age of twenty-one were considered to be in custody of their lords. The lord had wards.h.i.+p over the heir's land, excluding the third that was the widow's dower for her life. He had to maintain the heir in a manner suitable to his dignity and restore to him when he came of age his inheritance in good condition discharged from debts. Male heirs of sokemen who were under the age of fifteen were in the custody of their nearest kindred. The son of a burgess came of age when he could count money, measure cloth, and manage his father's concerns.

Female heirs remained in the custody of their lords until they married.

The lord was bound to find a marriage for his ward when she became fourteen years of age and then deliver her inheritance to her. She could not marry without her lord's consent, because her husband was expected to be the lord's ally and to do homage to him. But if a female heir lost her virginity, her inheritance escheated to her lord. A woman with property could not do homage because she could not perform military service, but she generally swore fealty. She could receive homage from men.

b.a.s.t.a.r.ds were not heirs, even if their father married their mother after birth.

Any adult inheriting land had to pay a "relief" to the lord of the land. For a knight's fee, this was 100s. For socage land, this was one year's value. The amount for a barony depended upon the King's pleasure.

Heirs (but not widows) were bound to pay the debts of their fathers and ancestors. A man who married a woman who had inherited land could not sell this land without the consent of its heirs.

When a man dies, his wife shall take one-third and his heirs shall take one-third of his chattels [movables or personal property]. The other third he may dispose of by will. If he had no heirs and no will [intestate], all his chattels would escheat to his lord. Any distribution of chattels would take place after all the decedent's debts were paid from the property.

A will required two witnesses. The testator could name an executor, but if he did not, the next of kin was the executor. A will could not be made by a man on his death bed because he may well have lost his memory and reason. Also, he could not give to a younger son if in so doing, he would deprive his lawful heir. But he could give a marriage gift to a daughter regardless of the lawful heir.