Felony was determined by common law to be one of seven offenses: treason, homicide, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, and grand larceny, the last of which involved over 12d., where 12d. was enough to keep a man from starvation for eight days. High treaason included covered the making of counterfeit money and the clipping if coin. Burglary was an offense committed in times of peace and consisted of breaking into churches, houses, and into the walls and gates of villages and boroughs. These seven offenses could be prosecuted by indictment or private accusation by an individual. They were appealable, that is, the accuser must in general offer trial by battle. The penalties involved loss of life or limb or, if he fled, outlawry. Actually, the death penalty was replacing loss of life or limb. Death by hanging was the usual punishment. A felon's goods were confiscated by the crown and his land was forfeited to the crown for a year and a day and waste, after which it escheated to the felon's lord. The crimes of wounding, mayhem, and false imprisonment were not now felonies. The peace of the king now did not die with the king, but renewed automatically without an interval before the inauguration of a new king. Notorious felons who would not consent or put themselves on inquests for felonies with which they were charged at royal courts were put in strong and hard imprisonment to persuade them to accept trial by assize. This inducement progressed into being loaded with heavy chains and placed on the ground in the worst part of the prison and being fed a only little water one day and a little bread the next. Sometimes pieces of iron or stones were placed one another onto their prone bodies to persuade them to plead. This then developed into being loaded with as much iron as could be borne, and finally into being pressed to death ["peine forte et dure"]. Many of these men chose to die by this pressing so that their families could inherit their property, which would have been forfeited if they had been convicted of serious crimes. The most common cases in the Court of Common Pleas were detinue, "debt" [for money due from a sale, for money loaned, for rent upon a lease for years, from a surety, promised in a sealed document, or due to arbitrators to whom a dispute had been submitted] and "account" [e.g. against bailiffs of manors, a guardian in socage, and partners]. It also heard estovers [right to use during a lease] of wood, profit by gathering nuts, acorns, and other fruits in wood, corody [allowance of food], yearly delivery of grain, toll, tunnage, passage, keeping of parks, woods, forests, chases, warrens, gates, and other bailiwicks, and offices in fee.