(1) _The Grand Assize_ is not mentioned in Magna Carta; but some acquaintance with it is a necessary preliminary to a proper appreciation of the Petty Assizes. In the troubled reign of Stephen—which was rather the reign of anarchy in his name—lands changed hands frequently. This left to his successor a legacy of quarrels, too often leading to bloodshed. There was hardly an important estate in England to which, at Henry’s accession, two or more rival magnates did not lay claim. Constant litigations resulted, and the only legal method of deciding the issue was the _duellum_. At some uncertain date, near the commencement of his reign, Henry II. introduced a startling innovation. The holder of a property _de facto_ (that is the man in actual enjoyment of the estate in virtue of a _bona fide_ title), when challenged to combat by a rival claimant was allowed an option: he might force the claimant (if the latter persisted) to refer the whole matter to the oath of twelve knights of the neighbourhood. Henry’s ordinance laid down careful rules for the appointment of these recognitors. Four leading knights of the whole county were first to be chosen, on whom was placed the duty of selecting twelve knights of the particular district where the lands lay, and these, with all due solemnity and in presence of the king’s justiciars, declared upon oath to which suitor the lands belonged. Their decision was final, and determined the question of ownership for all time coming.[558] The name Grand Assize was applied alike to the procedure and to the knights who gave the verdict. The twelve knights thus anticipated the functions of a modern jury, while the king’s justiciars acted like the presiding judge at a modern trial.[559] ----- Footnote 558: See Glanvill, II. 7. Footnote 559: