1.
If, by the oath of twelve knights of the hundred — or, should knights
not be present, by the oath of twelve lawful freemen — and by the oath
of four men of every vill in the hundred, any one has been accused in
the presence of the lord king's justices of murder or theft or robbery,
or of receiving men who have committed such [crimes], or of falsification
[2] or arson, he shall go to the ordeal of
water; and if he fails [in the ordeal], he shall lose one foot. And to
increase the severity of the law, it was added at Northampton that with
the foot he should lose his right hand, and that he should abjure the
realm and depart from it within forty days. And if he should be cleared
by the [ordeal of] water, let him find sureties and remain in the kingdom,
unless he has been accused of murder or other disgraceful felony by the
community (commune) of the county and the lawful knights of his own countryside
(patria). If [now] he has been accused in the aforesaid manner of this
[sort of crime], although he has been cleared by the [ordeal of] water,
let him nevertheless go out of the kingdom within forty days and take
with him his chattels, saving the rights of his lords; and let him abjure
the realm [on pain of being] in the lord king's mercy. This assize, moreover,
shall hold good for all the time since the assize was made at Clarendon
down to the present, and henceforward during the lord king's pleasure,
with regard to murder, treason, and arson, and with regard to all [offenses
in] the preceding chapters, except minor thefts and robberies which were
committed in time of war, as of horses, oxen, and lesser things.
2. Item, no one, either in a vill or in a borough, shall be permitted
to give lodging within his house for more than one night to any stranger
for whom he is unwilling to be legally responsible, unless such lodger
has a reasonable excuse which the master of the house may prove to his
neighbours. And when he leaves, let him leave by day and in the presence
of the neighbours.
3. If any one has possessed [the proceeds] of murder or theft or robbery
or falsification, or of any other felony that he has committed, and confesses
it before the reeve of a hundred or a borough and before lawful men, he
may not afterwards deny it before the justices. And if, without [such]
possession, he admits anything of the same sort in their presence, this
likewise he may not deny before the justices.
4. Item, if any freeholder dies, his heirs shall remain in such seisin
as their father had of his fee on the day that he was alive and dead;
and they shall have his chattels, with which to carry out the testament
of the deceased. And afterwards they shall go to their lord and shall
perform to him their obligation for relief and other things owed from
their fee. And if the heir is under age, the lord of the fee shall receive
his homage and have wardship over him so long as is right. The other lords,
if there are several, shall [also] receive his homage and he shall perform
to them whatever obligations he owes. And the wife of the deceased shall
have her dowry and the portion of his chattels to which she is entitled.
And if the lord of the fee denies to the heirs of the deceased the seisin
of the said deceased ['s property] which they demand, the justices of
the lord king shall have recognition made in the matter by twelve lawful
men, as to what seisin in this respect the deceased had on the day that
he was alive and dead.[3] And according to
the recognition thus made, those [justices] shall make restitution to
his heirs. And if any one acts contrary to this [command], and is convicted
of so doing, let him remain in the king's mercy.
5. Item, the justices of the lord king shall have recognition made of
disseisins contrary to the assize from the time that the lord king first
came to England after the peace made between him and the king his son.[4]
6. Item, from the first Sunday after Easter to the first Sunday after
Pentecost, the justices shall receive oaths of fealty to the lord king
from all who wish to dwell in the kingdom: namely, from earls, barons,
knights, freeholders, and even peasants. And whoever refuses to swear
fealty is to be seized as an enemy of the lord king. The justices are
also to command that all those who have not yet performed their homage
and allegiance to the lord king shall come at the time assigned them and
perform homage and allegiance to the king as to their liege lord.
7. Item, the justices, by writ of the lord king or of those acting in
his place, shall enforce all rights and claims pertaining to the lord
king and his crown to the amount of half a knight's fee and less, unless
the case is so important that it cannot be decided without the lord king
or [unless it is] such as, through their own uncertainty, the justices
may report to him or to those acting in his place. They should, however,
to the best of their ability strive to assure the king's interest. Also
they shall hold assize concerning wicked thieves and [other] malefactors
of the land — which assize, by the counsel of the king his son and of
his men, is [to be held] throughout the counties to which they shall go.
8. Item, the justices shall see to it that the castles [5]
[supposed to have been] razed are totally razed, and that those to be
razed are well pulled down. And if they fail to do this, the lord king
wishes them brought to judgment in his court as men in contempt of his
command.
9. Item, the justices shall make inquiry concerning the escheats, churches,
lands, and women [6] who are in the gift
of the lord king.
10. Item, the bailiffs [7] of the lord king
shall be answerable at the exchequer both for their fixed rents and for
all sums acquired within their bailiwicks, except those belonging to the
[farm of the] county.
11. Item, the justices shall make inquiry concerning the custody of castles:
as to who owe [payments in this connection], how much [is owed], and where
[it should be paid]. And afterwards they shall give the information to
the lord king.
12. Item, [it is ordered that] a thief, from the time that he is captured,
shall be delivered to the sheriff to guard. And if the sheriff is absent,
he shall be taken to the nearest castellan, [8]
and the latter shall guard him until he is turned over to the sheriff.
13. Item, the justices shall have investigation made, according to the
custom of the land, as to those who have left the kingdom; and unless
they are willing to return within a stated time and to stand trial in
the court of the lord king, they shall then be outlawed; and the names
of the outlaws shall be brought to the exchequer at Easter and Michaelmas,
and shall thence be sent to the lord king.
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