Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776Reilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
There are personal actions such as "debt" for specific chattel
or specific sum of money. The action for debt splits into two actions.
The "detinue" action is for wrongful detention of personal property
which originally was rightfully acquired as by loan, rent, or left for
safe-keeping and its award is for the specific chattel detained or its
value. The action of "replevin" is available to the tenant to recover
personal property which had been wrongly distrained, usually cattle;
the goods are "repledged" pending action. Also, but rarely used, are
"covenant" to protect termors for leases of land for terms of years,
and "trespass": a semi-criminal action brought by a private party for
an offense punishable by death (or in the 1100s by mutilation) such as
murder, rape, robbery, or mayhem, that is done with force of arms and
against the peace of the king. The use of trespass grew as private
actions for felony were supplanted by public indictment. It occasioned
outlawry in default of appearance. About 1200, outlawry was not used
for crimes falling short of felony. These personal actions were
initiated in common law courts by their respective writs.
These are some of the cases of novel disseisin brought to the
king's court:
Woodbridge v. Bardolf (1194, king's court): Ralf of Woodbridge seeks
before the justices his free tenement in Hebston by the assize of novel
disseisin against Hugh Bardolf. Against which assize Hugh said that he
had that seisin by judgment of his court for the default of the same
Ralf. And the court has recorded the summons and distraints reasonably
made on the same Ralf. And Ralf himself has acknowledged the summons
and distraints and said that he ought not hold anything from him in
that land; rather, it is of another's fee. And because neither he nor
anyone for him has complained to the justices that Hugh unjustly drew
him into a plea concerning a tenement which Ralf himself held of the
fee of another lord, it is considered that Hugh hold in peace. And let
Ralf plead by writ of right if he want and be in mercy for his false
claim.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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